Up for the cup!

Bahrain's battling expat footballers all want to get their hands on the prize GulfWeekly Premiership Trophy and kicked off their league fixtures on Monday evening.

The eight-a-side tournament is being held on the British School of Bahrain's artificial football pitch in Hamala and will run until the second week of May.

Paul Millington, league chairman, said: "First up were the pre-season favourites the Rugby Club versus the underdogs British School of Bahrain, closely followed by St Christopher's School against the Dilmun Club.

"The second round of friendly matches, however, took place last Monday with the Saar Eagles soaring high and the British Club attacking with flair."

During the friendly matches, the British School of Bahrain, ably led by their inspirational captain, manager and league chairman, Millington went up against the pre-season third favourites - the Saar Eagles - led by the 'wily old fox' Brian Cross.

The ebb and flow pattern of the match resulted in a 6-3 scoreline with the Eagles bagging the win after a close encounter with goals from Sam Awadh (2), Taz Awadh, Andy Oxon and Dan Niemeyer (2). The British School had the ever-dependable and all-round good lad Jim Bluett in their side.

Millington said: "I would like to make a special mention of the Saar Eagles captain Mickie Dismore who despite his age and obvious ailments ably led his team to victory."

The second match pitted the Dilmun Club with the British Club. In what was arguably the tie of the 'friendlies', the match swung back and forth until a late winner from Matt Irons settled the game with a 3-2 scoreline in favour of the British Club.

Millington added: "In what was an entertaining match, both sets of players played their part, with decent football, attacking flair and defensive grit which has become a hallmark of the recently formed league."

As for his team's strengths, he said: "The British School of Bahrain is really like an underdog team but we come out barking. We are there to give everyone a good game and if we get any points it's a bonus."

Don't miss the results and another squad profile in next week's GulfWeekly.