The long and busy football season came to an end on a high note for the Dunoon Local Football Association with a tournament for under-10 and under-12 teams at the Dunoon sports ground on Sunday 6 November.
The tournament was arranged by the Dunoon LFA to assist clubs with registration funds for the 2023 -2024 season due to clubs constantly struggling to find the money at the beginning of the season.
FC Mimosa won both finals after receiving strong opposition from Chilly Boys FC and Pioneer FC. In the under-10 final, FC Mimosa beat Chilly Boys by 2-1 after they scored the only goal just before halftime to take a lead of 1-0.
In the second half, they stretched the lead to 2-1 before Chilly Boys scored a late goal. The win made Mimosa the first team to benefit from the assistance from the Dunoon LFA incentive tournament.
In the under-12 final Mimosa, who are the 2023 league champions, tooks on Pioneer and had to battle it out till the last minute of the match. With a 1-0 lead at halftime, Mimosa had to fight hard to keep as as Pioneer made life difficult.
Mimosa’s solid defence kept Pioneer away from their goal box, preventing scoring oppportunities. But Pioneer FC fought back with brilliant speed and ball control and outclassed Mimosa in the midfield to equalize 10 minutes before time.
The equalizer showed Pioneer the match was far from over. Both teams knew what was waiting on them in the penalty shootout.
Winning the toss, Mimosa opted to take the first shot. With the players lined up on the half line, the crowd was silent as the first Mimosa took his kick, shortly followed by sighs fo relief from Pioneer as is it sailed over the crossbar.
Pioneer then struck for a 1-0 lead, but it didn’t last as Mimosa equalized. A brilliant save made by the Mimosa goalkeeper, and a foul made by a Pioneer player, put the two teams’ level at 1-1 after three penalties.
As the pressure built up, Mimosa stayed calm and put two penalties home to snatch the trophy from Pioneer.
Their win saw Mimosa adding a second trophy to the league championship, becoming the first youth team to take advantage of the Dunoon LFA incentive tournament.
Dunoon LFA General Secretary Andrew Layitile said it was a challenging season, but the challengers were overcome and battles won.
“We hope 2023 will be an improvement for us,” said Layitile.