The nearly men of football played the game as it should be and came away with the cup.

This years Abdul Valli Cup was competitive as always and for a moment it looked like the winning team would be one from outside of Preston for the first time.

Fishwick Rangers have been accustomed to losing in the latter stages but this time round there were no mistakes. Despite finishing second in the group of death they overcame Al-Wadha FC, Canaries B and Bolton Asians to finally put any jinxs and voodoos behind them.

A combination of great goalkeeping from Imran Adam (he conceded 2 goals in two tournaments) and lethal finishing by Mohsin Patel was too much to handle. Oh and that man Fiaz Ahmed was around too making a complete nuisance of himself. Although he was slightly more chilled than a week earlier which made a change!

Nile again went out in the quarters for the second time in seven days. It was a dodgy penalty but arent they all.

The holders and triple winners Santos were dumped out at the group stage level after losing to Fishwick and drawing against the surprise package - Rome FC.

The kids at Rome are quickly growing up and went on to amazingly beat Canaries A before going out to Bolton Asians. But they had done enough for everyone to sit up and take notice by going 6 straight games without conceding a goal.

Bolton Asians lost in the final for the second time despite the heroics of Inamul who scored two good goals in both the quarters and the semis.

FOR THE RECORD

The tournament is held in memory of Preston sports organiser Abdul Valli who tragically died aged 27 in 2000. The tournament held at Preston Sports Arena has raised over £5000 for charity since it was first held in 2000.

Meanest defence:

Fishwick Rgs 1

Highest scorers: Fishwick Rgs 17

Most points in groups:

Al-Wadha / Nile 13

Image player of the

tournament: Mohsin Patel

(Fishwick Rangers)

Best goal: Mo Ali (Canaries B)

Strangest name: Audley Assassins

Sponsored by: The Army, Surestart Preston

Big thanks to: Zuber Hansrod, Musa Roked, Ali Tilly, Javed Haji, Sajid Maqbool of Asia FC, Alam Akubat, Zuber Bargit, Abdul Rauf, Eamonn Mcnamara (Preston Sunday Lge), Anis Farouki, Ashfaq Patel and all the referees