John Spight Memorial Tournament 2010

Swindon Senior Flames - 2010

The Swindon Senior Flames took part in their very first national tournament and finished in a very credible 8th position.

Having recently secured the inaugural BiSHA South West League title, this tournament was the first opportunity to see how the Flames would compare against teams from the established leagues. Having been drawn in a group containing previous BiSHA National Champions and teams that have competed throughout Europe, the Flames new that it was going to be difficult to claim a quarter final slot from the group stages. The first game saw the  flames. The Flames secured a 2-2 draw against the Staring Frogs from the Southern A League before going down 4-1 to former BiSHA Champions Borehamwood Crusaders. The results meant that the Flames had pushed the Staring Frogs into 3rd place and had claimed the quarter final position on goal difference.

Local rivals Oxford Fong Pei awaited the Flames in the Quarter Final. After a late night team building exercise which took place in many local licensed premises, the Flames put up a great performance against the current BiSHA National vice champions, going down 3-1. 

The positional games saw the now weary Flames lose out to the Crusader Kings 1-0 and West Coast Wasps 7-2.

The Flames Coach Shaun Ryan said "Coming into the weekend, no one expected the team to do well. We have proved that as a very young side we can compete with any of the teams in the country, and with the continued development programme being run at Swindon we will in the next couple of years be competing for the top positions. We achieved our objectives this weekend and the team had a great party on Saturday night."

Team Manager Nigel Davies said "We would like to thank Borehamwood Crusaders and the Spight family for inviting us to the tournament, where we have made / renewed many friendships."

The Flames return to league action in September, and having already qualified for the BiSHA National Finals in December.