Bradford wins Tolstoy Cup 2016
Peace F.C. 5 - 1 War F.C. Peace. War. The age old struggle between good and evil. Mahatma Gandhi vs Tony Blair. In the end, only one can prevail. And on a chilly winter afternoon in late April, it was Peace F.C. that defeated War F.C., briefly bringing an end to world conflict.
Ironically enough, War started the match very much on the offensive. However, the momentum began to swing, and was well and truly turned on it's head when Peace's Mackenzie hit a shot from distance, which, in a moment that would have made Kieran 'Butterfingers' Mitchell himself blush, was spilled by War's keeper, who will remain nameless for his own sake. As the ball dribbled away into the net, so too did War's advantage.
Peace began to advance up the battlefield, netting twice more before the half came to a close. Their 3-0 advantage after 45 minutes was a good representation of how the game had been. Both teams were rewarded for their efforts with 15 minutes in the warm, which the cameraman wasn't fortunate enough to receive.
The second half started quietly, aside from the verbal taunts from the War squad, who came out full of confidence, which was surprising considering their performance up to that point. A stunning free kick from Peace's own Josiah gave his team a 4 goal lead, before War pulled a lucky (ish) consolation back.
Peace wanted another goal to ensure that international peace treaties would be signed around the world at the end of 90 minutes, and they got the chance after Isaac went down in the box and won a penalty. And, with (presumably intentional) shades of Xabi Alonso in the 2005 Champions League final, he missed the penalty but buried the rebound.
Not long after, the final whistle blew, and a mighty cheer went up around the northern stronghold of Keighley. Peace had not only won, but they had won convincingly, bringing the Financial Times' 4th most prestigious college sport trophy (2011) back to Bradford. They celebrated with a communal shower and an expensive curry.
Published by Kieren Mitchell, BA Television Production 2014-18