Saturday November 6th 2021 saw the biggest turnout yet for the third GPHQ Doctor Soccer Carnival, with over 100 WA doctors getting together to play at Nedlands foreshore. Even the Fremantle Doctor showed up. Despite the windy conditions, high quality, entertaining football was on display.
Newcomers, Celtic Storm, came into the tournament under the radar but had a good mix of youth and experience. They started strong and secured top spot in their group with a bit of flair and performances that Ange himself would have been proud of.
Brecken Health also played their maiden tournament, combining the management skills of Damien Green and work rate of their GPs with the double-threat of Vaanitha Manickavasagar and Lucy Davidson. They progressed from their group this year and will look to go further than the quarters in 2022.
Also exiting in the quarters were Liquid Football. The talented team entered the competition highly fancied, even if it was just for Dan Johnson and Rohit Chaturvedi’s hair. They will be back more solid next year.
Without their talisman Michael Gendy, Jupiter FC, sporting their black away strip this year, bounced back after an initial defeat to secure a quarter final place in their quest to retain their title.
Living up to their name, The Invincibles went through the group stages unbeaten before bowing out to POSM on penalties in a tightly contested quarter final. Tournament regulars, renowned for their flare on the pitch and their enthusiastic fans off it, we look foward to seeing the Invincibles go all the way in their 4th tournament next year.
With good squad depth and tactical player rotation, POSM then grafted a semifinal victory to send Celtic packing – leaving Pete Connolly and Kevin Dolan dreaming of what could have been.
Subiaco Medics entered as one of the favourites to take the cup, with GP all-rounders Sid Semanta and Paddy Lee combining well with anaesthetists Dean Fulford and Andy Toner. They saw off champions Jupiter in the quarters but unfortunately ran out of gas against the pulsating AAA in the semi final.
This year’s plate was contested between SKG, Perth Urology Clinic and Coastal Orthopaedics.
Despite many interventions from the radiologists, SKG just couldn’t muster a goal this year. Hopefully we’ll see a contrasting outcome in front of goal at next year’s event. They may need a guided injection of young blood into the squad. And so, PUC took on Coastal in a winner-takes-it-all contest with the two teams inseparable after normal time. The tension was palpable in extra time with PUC showing a sense of urgency, impressive dribbling, and splaying cross field passes but unable to penetrate a Coastal defence that was showing no signs of fracturing. The cruciate golden goal was hammered to the net by Dror “Bierhoff” Maor, who was anything but Coastal’s achilles heel on the day.
And so, it was muscles and bones vs. vessels as POSM took on AAA in the GPHQ Doctor Soccer Cup Final. The game went to extra time, and with a skeleton squad, AAA were experiencing fatigue and claudication as POSM turned the screw but just couldn’t break the deadlock. It went down to penalties to decide it, with AAA finally rupturing the stalemate. A well deserved victory for the soccer-mad surgeons, who celebrated into the evening as the champagne corks fem-popped…
Top Scorer and golden boot winner, was cardiology doctor, Rob Hughes. He managed an impressive 5 goals with some heart-stopping performances that surely won’t go unnoticed by Arsenal fan tv. The fastest doc was Vascular surgeon Rob Tewksbury, who bypassed Paddy Lee and Dean Fulford in the sprint. Fulford took home the title of Perth’s Slickest Doc, with 2nd and 3rd placed Conor Lally and Antony Reilly not having the luck of the Irish on the day.
All team entry fees – $2,400 – were donated to Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation. Thank you to everyone who took part!
Our Photographer; Phil Elliot from Pixell Photography recorded memories of the day. All Photos can be viewed, and prints ordered here.