All the gear and no idea: Crafted goes football crazy

Yesterday, seven fighting fit members of our team embarked upon a 5-a-side football challenge against a smattering of Ipswich-based agencies at Goals Ipswich.

Prior to the tournament, which would see Crafted taking on Punkyduck, 20:20 and three&me, hopes were high that the boys could bring home the silverware, following a largely successful training session the week beforehand.

Three of the team members are also set to be involved in next month’s Crafted Trailwalker efforts and subsequently thoughts soon shifted to simply avoiding injury with a 62-mile walk across the South Downs ahead of them!

Nevertheless, the Crafted team showed plenty of competitive spirit to get off the mark with three points in their first group match, eventually edging out Punkyduck 10-6 as fitness eventually told in the second half amid the early evening gloom.

The guys enjoyed a brief break in proceedings before facing three&me head-on in a bid to extend their 100% record. Despite an evenly-contested first half, the sprightly three&me side eventually edged clear and some top goalkeeping ensured a narrow 4-3 defeat for Crafted.

Results then transpired to go against Crafted, meaning the best the team could hope for was a credible second-placed finish prior to their final clash with 20:20. After taking an early lead and enjoying the lion’s share of proceedings, 20:20’s fresher legs again told as they eventually recovered to claim a 3-1 victory.

Despite defeat in their last two games, Crafted avoided the wooden spoon on goal difference, with that accolade going to 20:20. Meanwhile three&me were deserved winners, with consistent goalkeeping and defending providing the ideal backbone.

Every team put up an excellent fight in what was a keenly contested tournament with three teams still able to win the competition going into the final round of matches.

There were plenty of highlights – the eager coaching from between the sticks from 20:20’s goalkeeper, expert refereeing from Crafted’s very own SEO executive, Nick Woolnough (who is also claiming the tournament’s unofficial golden boot) and heroic goalkeeping from our very own James Giles (AKA Gianluigi Buffon).

Final standings

1. three&me – 7 points (Goal Difference +4)
2. Punkyduck – 4 points (Goal Difference -4)
3. Crafted – 3 points (Goal Difference +3)
4. 20:20 – 3 points (Goal Difference -2)

Written by Lewis Mitchell