Holmes & Hills Solicitors’ 5^th annual football tournament took place on Friday 28^thOctober and the competition to win the Holmes & Hills Trophy was as hotly contested as ever. Eight teams representing local organisations Braintree District Council, Bidwells, Bensons School of Motoring, Barclays, Greenfields Community Housing, Unizone financial advisors and Lambert Chapman Accountants entered for the chance to win.

The teams were split into two groups of four with each team playing every other team in the group. Unizone were clear winners of Group 1 after some impressive performances and confidently winning all of their games in the group stages. In second place were Holmes & Hills who showed vast improvement on last year’s performance due to a number of new players joining their side.

Group 2 was closely contested and the referee was kept busy but Braintree District Council (BDC) finished top of the group after winning two games and drawing their last game against Lambert Chapman. Bensons School of Motoring gave BDC a run for their money when they played them in the first game of the evening and despite losing showed a clear determination to win the trophy back having won it twice before. After winning their games against Lambert Chapman and Greenfields, Bensons finished second in the group and secured their place in the semi-finals.

Group 2 runners-up Bensons played Group 1 winners Unizone in the first semi-final and both teams were reluctant to give the other even an inch of space to move the ball. After a number of strong tackles and impressive displays of skill, Unizone produced a series of play that saw them score the only goal in the game. Bensons fought to create goal-scoring opportunities and draw level but their strikers were denied on several occasions leaving Unizone to progress to the final with a 1 – 0 win.

On the other pitch the second semi-final between Holmes & Hills and BDC was just as close as the first. Both sides displayed good team play with some standout individual performances. Holmes & Hills and BDC scored a goal a piece but neither was able to break the subsequent deadlock thanks to some strong defending. Unfortunately for the goalkeepers the second finalist was to be decided by penalties. Both teams successfully scored their five penalties meaning it came down to sudden death. Holmes & Hills’ sixth penalty taker, Steven Hopkins, stepped up to the mark. BDC’s goal Keeper made a crucial save to put them into a game winning position, but in doing so he severely injured his wrist. BDC’s sixth penalty taker grabbed the opportunity and scored the penalty, putting them through to the final against Unizone.

With BDC’s goalkeeper unable to play in the final Holmes & Hills goal keeper stepped in to take his place. Both Unizone and BDC showed they were worthy of their place in the final with impressive performances and flairs of brilliance from players on both teams. Despite some strong tackles from both sides, both teams demonstrated they were not about to shy away from getting involved.  Unizone were the first to score, putting an impressive goal past BDC’s stand-in goalkeeper. Despite the early goal BDC kept their heads up, built pressure on Unizone’s defence and were rewarded with a goal of their own.

Unfortunately the game ended a goal a piece which meant the winners would be decided by the second penalty shoot out of the evening. This seemed to be going the same way as the first, with players confidently putting the ball into the back of the net, until BDC’s stand-in keeper made a surprising save. Once again BDC capitalised on their advantage and scored all five of their penalties, securing their second plaque on the Holmes & Hills Trophy. 

Holmes & Hills would like to thank all those who came along to play or support the teams and would like to congratulate Braintree District Council for winning the Holmes & Hills trophy for a second consecutive year.