NAFC Students Lift Cup
A team of NAFC Marine Centre Students have won the Skretting Trophy for the first time in the annual Skretting Aquaculture Shetland Five-a-Side Football Competition.
The victorious team of Merchant Navy Officer Cadets studying at the NAFC Marine Centre and coached by lecturer Adam Thomson was one of two NAFC teams in the competition. The other comprised students from the Anderson High School enrolled at NAFC through the Shetland Learning Partnership.
The NAFC Cadets started slowly, drawing their first and losing their second games but quickly got their act together and went on to win four of the seven matches in the group stage of the competition. In the pivotal match against Grieg Seafood 'B' star player Steven MacLeod helped the cadets come back from two goals down to win 3-2.
NAFC-2 also did well in the group stage, convincingly winning their first two matches. Sadly, their final match saw them pitted against their fellow NAFC students with the winner to go through to the semi-final. The less experienced younger team's lack of substitutes was telling by this stage and on tired legs they were unfortunate to lose 2-0 to the in-form cadets.
In the semi-final the NAFC Cadets gained their revenge against Grieg Seafood 'A' who had defeated them 3-0 in the group stage, winning by the same margin. The final, against Cooke Aquaculture, was much less exciting with both teams determined to give nothing away and a 0-0 draw was played out. So it came to penalties which the Cadets won 2-0, thanks to two saves from star goalkeeper Andrew MacDonald, to win NAFC the Skretting trophy for the first time.
Coach Adam Thomson paid tribute to both NAFC teams and extended a big thank you to competition organisers Gordon Reid and Bill Johnson, to the referee, and to all them teams for a well fought out tournament played in good spirits.
NAFC have competed in the Skretting competition since 2003 but despite having reached one previous final this is the first time they have lifted the trophy.
The full team were: (Back Row L-R) Adam Thomson (coach), Scot Marnoch, Shaun Jamieson Robbie Anderson, Alistair Birse; (Front Row L-R) Steven MacLeod, Andrew MacDonald, Corey Mason.