Cork side Heroes emerged triumphant in this year’s Marc Bigger Memorial Cup tournament.
Belfast Trailblazers Powerchair Football Club, supported by the Irish FA Foundation, played host to teams from Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Scotland in the tournament, which was staged at Newforge Sports Complex in south Belfast.
The competition is held annually as a celebration of powerchair football in Northern Ireland in memory of Marc, a Trailblazers founding player.
Eight teams were split into two groups, with the top two in each advancing to the semi-finals.
In Group A two Trailblazers sides cancelled each other out in the opening game with a 0-0 draw. Lisburn-based Lightning PFC secured victory over Strathclyde PFC before falling to narrow 1-0 defeats against both Trailblazers and Trailblazers Fire.
Both Trailblazers and Trailblazers Fire reached the semi-finals after defeating the young Strathclyde team, although the largest cheer of the weekend came from the Scottish contingent when Strathclyde managed to find the net twice against Trailblazers.
Four teams from the Republic battled it out in Group B.
Heroes PFC, led by guest England international Brad Bates, secured top spot with three wins. Meath and Fingal United finished in second place after an exciting 3-2 win over Midlands United was followed by a 2-2 draw with DCU Storm PFC.
Heroes overcame Trailblazers Fire 2-0 in the first semi-final before Trailblazers completed the final line-up, beating M&F United by three goals to nil in the last four.
The final was a thrilling, back-and-forth encounter with both teams showing their quality and creating good chances.
Ultimately no-one could break the deadlock, even after 10 minutes of extra time.
It meant the match was decided on penalties – and the heroes from Cork triumphed in the shootout to claim the trophy for the first time.
Irish FA President Conrad Kirkwood and James Thompson, the Irish FA’s Director of Foundation, showed their support and saw at first hand the high quality of powerchair football within Northern Ireland.
“A fun and competitive weekend was had by all as Marc’s legacy was honoured,” said Michael Hilland, who refereed the games. The event was organised by Trailblazers PFC’s Sean McKinney and Marina Lupari.
Action from the tournament
