Treble tops for jubilant Coppice

FOOTBALL: COPPICE FC are the tournament kings after clinching a quickfire silverware hat-trick.

The talented footballers kicked off with victory in the Hyde FC annual six-a-side competition.

They followed up in the Great Manchester Cup in Bury, before completing the treble in Bradford’s prestigious Jubo Dhol event.

Coppice, whose 11-a-side team won the Oldham Sunday League’s Challenge Cup final at the end of last season, topped their group in Hyde with four wins and a draw.

They met the host club in the final and recorded a 2-0 victory thanks to a brace from Nathan Eastmond.

Eastmond, who also bagged a hat-trick in the quarter-finals, was named player of the tournament, while Coppice had the distinction of keeping clean sheets in all eight of their matches.

The success continued in the five-a-side Greater Manchester Cup.

Boasting a 100-per-cent record in the group stages, they swept aside Clarksfield 4-0 in the last eight and defeated another team from Coppice 5-1 to reach the final.

And there was no stopping Coppice as goals from Danny O’Connell, who was player of the tournament, and Ikram Daud inspired their side to a 4-0 triumph.

The treble arrived courtesy of victory in the Jubo Dhol seven-a-side competition, which attracted teams from throughout the country.

Coppice struggled early on in the group stage, drawing against an impressive team from Scunthorpe and losing 1-0 to the hosts.

But they regrouped and two wins and another draw helped Coppice finish top the table.

They booked their place in the quarter-finals via a penalty shoot-out — Ricky Rathod pulled off a great save before Yasser Farooq scored the all-important spot-kick — while an Eastmond double clinched a semi-final berth.

Coppice were heading for the exit door after conceding a penalty with 30 seconds to go, but the chance went begging.

And they their nerve when it came to a spot-kick decider to clinch a place in the final.

Coppice proved unstoppable as goals from Eastmond (two), Daud and Ibrahim to seal a 4-0 win over the competition favourites from Luton.

A Coppice spokesperson said: “It’s a great achievement to win three tournaments in one summer and sticking to our principles of picking local youngsters and giving them a platform to shine.”