August 23rd 2005

Kanata Lightning wins International Tournament

The team at the Upper Austria Cup Opening Ceremonies in Wels.

The Kanata Lightning U15B OYSL capped an excellent trip to Austria by bringing home the top trophy for their age group from the Upper Austria Cup International Youth Tournament. The trip started in the historic city of Graz with one week of training with two UEFA Professional/A Licensed coaches at the facilities of the Steirischer Fussballverband.

A lecture on modern offensive tactics delivered by Coach Helmut Kronjäger (UEFA Pro License), Technical Director of the Styrian Football Federation and National Coaching member.

Kanata Lightning players receiving instructions from Coach Hans Strikovic (UEFA A License), Head Coach of the Styrian Football Federation during a training session.

The week concluded with a friendly tournament with a Scottish Premiere U16 youth team (Inverness Caledonian Thistle) and a local Austrian side. With jet lag still a factor, the team dropped both results but gained valuable experience.

Following a rest day in a thermal spa, the Lightning traveled to the picturesque mountain town of Kapfenberg to play a touring US side (SOCA Virginia) at a facility being used as a training base by Fulham FC. Following a solid 4-1 victory over the Americans, the players enjoyed an autograph session with the Fulham players including Canadian National player, Tomasz Radzinski.

From here, the team continued on to the city of Wels for the Upper Austria Cup. The tournament is a major draw with participation by 21 nations for the 2005 edition including such pro youth teams as F.C. Steaua Bucharest of Romania and Spartak Moscow of Russia. At the U15 age group, participating nations included Bosnia-Herzegovnia, Bulgaria, Jordan, Austria and Canada. Drawn with SV Wallern of Austria and FK Jedinstvo Bihac (youth team of NK Jedinstvo of the Bosnia-Herzegovnia Premiere League) of Bosnia, the Lightning had to play each side twice. The first game saw a hard fought, card filled (8 yellow 1 red to Jedinstvo, 2 yellow to Kanata) match with Jedinstvo end in a 1-1 tie. The second game was against SV Wallern where a late goal saw Kanata grab all 3 points. The return match with Jedinstvo was again a spirited affair with Kanata coming back twice to earn a 2-2 tie. A further tie 1-1 tie with SV Wallern saw Kanata through to the semis.

The semi final match against SPG Sipbachzel/Alhaming (Austria) was another close game. Tied at 1-1 after regulation time, the Lightning grabbed the win on a goal with 3 seconds left in extra time, narrowly avoiding a penalty shootout. Meanwhile Jedinstvo disposed of the team from Jordan resulting in a 3rd match against the Bosnian squad.

Kanata Lightning and SPG Sipbachzel/Alhaming before the semi-final.

The final was played in the beautiful Mauth Stadium in Wels and proved to be another thriller. The Bosnian side took the lead early in the second half from a free kick. Matching red cards saw both squads reduced to 10 men. Jedinstvo then engaged in some blatant time wasting that resulted in 6 yellow cards and 3 minutes of added time. With 30 seconds left, the Lightning tied the game on a breakaway, again sending the game into extra time. Due to another red to Jedinstvo, the Lightning then enjoyed a 1 man advantage throughout extra time. Using the extra space, the team patiently worked several openings before finally scoring the eventual winner with five minutes left.

Kanata accepting the Upper Austria Cup.

Combined with the almost daily cultural excursions, the trip was a huge success and well worth the hours of effort and fund raising put in by the organizers.