This time, experience got the better of youth at the 32nd annual Nations Cup Soccer Tournament.
Despite a huge contingent of supporters, India just failed in its bid to repeat as Open Division champions, falling 2-1 to Ireland on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Hugh Boyd Park.
The wet conditions didnt stop an estimated 3,000 fans cramming around the Boyd oval to take in a rematch of the 2010 final. The vast majority were cheering for an India side attempting to become the first back-to-back winner since 2002. Instead, Ireland silenced the crowd with a pair of first half goals and hung on for its second championship in four years.
The wet natural grass field slowed Indias lethal transition game but so did some excellent defensive work by a veteran Irish squad which resulted in little space to generate scoring chances, despite India enjoying a significant advantage in time of possession.
Central defender Steve McAuley, who led Ireland in scoring throughout the weekend, made it 1-0 and Angus Burke doubled the lead on a brilliant left-footed volley at the back post. Former Vancouver Whitecap Jeff Clarke missed a glorious chance to make it 3-0 in the second half when his open net shot banked off the goal post.
India, which had rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat England 3-2 in the semi-finals, got on the board with 10 minutes remaining but, this time, there would be no thrilling comeback.
Everyone was fired up because of last years result, said Ireland coach Craig Burnham, whose squad had earlier slipped past Africa 2-1 in the semi-finals. It went our way this year. We took our chances and took advantage of some of the youth they had. We went for it and today was our day.
We knew they were fast and would try to come at us. We tweaked our game from last year where we had some guys stay at home defensively more and it helped locked down the field so they couldnt play in the space they wanted to.
India coach Brindy Braich thought his young squad experienced a bit of stage fright in the early going, playing in front of such a large crowd. It was also the teams third game of the day, having needed penalty kicks to win its final group game against Croatia on Sunday morning, before facing England.
Just to reach the final back-to-back is a huge accomplishment, said Braich. It took a while for our kids to get their feet moving and by the time they got the wake-up call it was too late. A turf field definitely would have helped our speed but there are no excuses. The better team won.
Just look at the size of crowd on this terrible day. I think the kids were a little nervous with that big of a fan base. We really wanted to (win it) for them but just being there is still a big plus.
Corner kicks ....
Canadas four-year run as womens champion ended with a 1-0 loss to Ireland in penalty kicks.
The Richmond News not only covered and sponsored the Nations Cup but made a difference on the field as well. News reporter Allan Campbells golden goal lifted Scotland past Fiji in the Over 38 final. Scotland also won the Over 45 title with a 1-0 victory against China.
Ireland made it three division titles by also taking the Over 30 crown with a 4-2 win over Scotland.
