U11 Football Finals Win!

U11 Football Finals Win! Our U11 football dominate their pool in the U11 football finals held at RSB on 9th December. After finishing 8th in the Under 11s Dubai South League, NAS Dubai qualified for the Division 8 U11s Finals tournament at Rashid Boys Secondary School.

NAS were drawn against Horizon International School and Kings Al Barsha School. The rules were simple, whoever wins the most games are the champions.

NAS’s first game was against Kings who came into the game needing the win to secure the championship. The match began with a lot of pressure from Kings. However, Callum Hamilton marshalled the defence well. Using the pace of Kai Woodhouse and Oliver McIntyre, NAS were set up to counter attack with a purpose. This was evident in NAS’s first goal. Oliver beat two players with quick step over, rolling the ball with his right and lashing an unstoppable shot with his left. 1-0 NAS. NAS finally began to take hold of the game. Zacharia Huda was controlling the midfield and dictating the tempo of the game. He found Rayan Elwan with a wonderful pass however Rayan was fouled, resulting in a free kick. Up stepped Oliver to score his second goal of the game. 2-0 NAS.

In the second half Kings put on more attacking players and goalkeeper Alex Lamb was forced into action making three saves. Alistair McLaughlin and Nicholas Ghantous were introduced into the game. Nicholas added pace and width to the NAS attack while Alistair added an extra attack threat up front. This paid dividends when Alistair’s shot took a deflection off a Kings player resulting in an own goal. 3-0 NAS. Josh Harbour was brought on to shore up the defence. Meanwhile Roberto Isern used his experience as captain to guide his teammates to defend as a cohesive unit.

Final score NAS 3-0 Kings Al Barsha

Man of the Match – Oliver McIntyre

The final was contested between Horizon International School and NAS Dubai. NAS started strongly with Kai Woodhouse having two great chances to score. However, Roberto Isern had to be on top of his game to stop Horizon’s star forward from scoring. Rayan Elwan worked very hard in creating chances for himself just missing the target on two occasions. Then he put Oliver McIntyre through on goal who also just missed. Zacharia Huda then forced a good save from the Horizon goalkeeper. With all this attacking pressure, Horizon threatened to score on the counter attack. Callum Hamilton made several vital interceptions including deflecting a shot onto his own post! 0-0 at half time.

In the second half, Nicholas Ghantous came on to add an extra dimension to the NAS attack. Rayan and Kai combined well together to open up the Horizon defence but failed to score, Then Horizon forced a superb save from Alex Lamb. Finally, NAS got the breakthrough they deserved. Nicholas beat a defender and shot from an impossible angle to make it 1-0 NAS. The crowd went wild. Alistair was brought on for Rayan, who had played very well, to stretch the Horizon defence further. Horizon were pressing and creating chances but Roberto was giving a heroic captain’s performance, putting his body on the line for NAS. Then Horizon gained a free kick 30 yards out. The Horizon striker powered a fierce shot toward the goal but Alex Lamb was equal to it making an unbelievable save. From the resulting save, NAS attacked and scored through Oliver. 2-0 NAS. Josh Harbour came on and almost scored. NAS continued to attack but without avail. However, the result was sealed and NAS were crowned Division 8 champions for 2014.

Final score NAS 2-0 Horizon

Man of the Match – Rayan Elwan and Roberto Isern

Man of the tournament – Oliver McIntyre