DalianDalian.com

The Dalian Wolfhounds once again joined up with our old friends Shenzhen and a couple of lassies from Shanghai to form a very successful Cobra force at the All China Games in Beijing. Whereas last year Shenzhen supplied most of the troops, this year Dalian upped its contingent to six and powered the team to glory.

The team played absolutely magnificent football all day Saturday. Edna was unanimously considered by all present to be the outstanding Goalkeeper of the Tournament (with apologies to baldy Brummies). She caught endless balls and cleared her lines brilliantly. Some of her saves were spectacular both in terms of athleticism and bravery. At midfield Laura yet again turned heads with her brilliant play – powering through for endless scores kicked off both feet. In the forwards the KK American force of Katie and Kathleen alternated all day and won lots of ball and competed tigerishly in the tackle. Portia made her bow at the great catch and kick game too and did very well. Rosie was also absolutely brilliant and was considered by many (non-Dalian) observers to be the player of the tournament. She kicked an amazing array of points from all angles in between breaks for exhaustion to keep the scoreboard ticking over at all stages.

It was by no means an all-Dalian effort though. Captain Fantastic Louise from Shenzhen was great in defence all day and Niamh at midfield was an absolute tower of strength. Throw into the mix Eimear, Prab, Vito and Maria from Shanghai and a powerful ostrigen cocktail of football beauty was concocted.

The ladies started off with a game against the strongest team in the competition, Beijing A and rattled them with some strong early attacks. Eventually however the Beijing girls’ overall power proved too much and they won well in the end. Next up was the Beijing B team and in this game the girls really started to flow. A flurry of brilliant points and goals gave us our first win of the day. Then came a titanic struggle with Hong Kong who would never have expected such a stern challenge from these unknowns from the wild north. They were stunned and despite a late comeback Dalian held on to score a memorable victory. That meant a final group game against Shanghai with the tantalizing prospect of a place in the final could Dalian / Shenzhen pull off a famous win. Alas it was not to be but the experienced team from Shanghai were given a big fright before eventually winning narrowly.

Undeterred our ladies marched on to the Bowl final where Hong Kong would be seeking revenge for their earlier defeat. There was never the slightest chance though as the Cobras were totally tuned in and scored a great 2 goals and 6 points. Amazingly Hong Kong were held scoreless – a stunning achievement for our team.

What a wonderful weekend for the girls team. Dalian has been put firmly on the map in Chinese ladies football and more importantly friendships have been created with girls from other cities that hopefully will be renewed the next time we enter battle. 1..2..3.. Cobras!!!