Soccer

THE kingdom’s young guns are firing on all cylinders with some impressive performances this season as they inch up the table behind the ‘big two’ and keep their dreams alive of holding aloft the coveted Gulf Weekly Ladies League Premiership Trophy.

Bahrain’s U16 National team, currently third in the table, outpaced Royal Arsenal 5-1 in an intense game.

Eliana Rahbany, the U16 team manager, said: ìAll I can say is that the key to our victory was good organisation, teamwork and a strong defence.

"The Royal Arsenal team played well and they fought until the end. It was a very cold night and although we had quite a few players carrying injuries we managed to stay focused."

Dynamic forward Zainab Al Qaidoom bagged all five goals for her side with Darya Vysehgorodskaya notching the opponent’s single reply.

John Mackenzie, one of Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain’s coaches, said: "The game was played in good spirit and despite the score-line the action from both sides was entertaining and it really was an attacking game."

In the other fixtures, St Christopher Senior’s remained undefeated with a 6-0 victory over RCSI. Arsenal’s Dial Square lost to Joga Bonito 4-2 and plucky Woolwich Arsenal girls put out the Eastern Flames 4-1.

Earlier this week Dial Square faced Bahrain’s U16 National team, Eastern Flames went up against RCSI, Woolwich Arsenal took on Royal Arsenal and in a crunch fixture St Christopher’s Senior’s took on Joga Bonito. Matches are staged at Batelco’s grounds in Hamala starting at 7pm.

AFTER four victories and a draw, the smart money is on Olympique de Bahrain (OdB) finding success this season in the Bahrain Expat League after they trounced St Christopher’s 9-0.

The game started frantically with an early goal after a throw-in, deflected by a header from midfielder Mehdi Ait Yahoui into the box where forward Farid Abderezzak coolly slotted home before leaving the field with a knee injury. Winger Mohammed Lousfi notched the second with a shot under the crossbar and the first half ended with Ait Yahoui scoring his first and midfielder Jaouad Rahou bagging a brace.

Lousfi found the net again to notch the sixth before Rahou recorded his second hat-trick of the season.  Substitute Jonathan Parrod added his name to the scoresheet and Ait Yahoui notched his second of the evening with a clinical left-footed shot.