Two exciting matches took place in Ruthin and Colwyn Bay to mark the beginning of the Cwpan Gary Speed tournament.
Northern Ireland and Gibraltar opened the tournament in the morning kick off at Ruthin, with Northern Ireland beginning their campaign as impressive 8-0 winners.
The evening match in Colwyn Bay saw Cymru face Japan. Adrian Harvie’s side went 2-0 up thanks to goals for Gruffydd Evans and Bobby Lewis, however a resurgence from the visitors saw them claw back two goals in the final eighteen minutes of the match with Yua Endo and Rento Kajiyama on the scoresheet.
With the game all square on the full time whistle, a penalty shootout was to decide the points allocation for the match (two points for the winning team, one point for the losing team). The shootout headed to sudden death and Japan were the victors 8-7.
Gary Speed’s mother, Carol, was in attendance for Cymru’s match at Colwyn Bay and welcomed the players on the field pre-match alongside Cymru Head Coach Craig Bellamy to officially open the tournament. Also in attendance were former Cymru player Kevin Ratcliffe, Cymru age group coaches Matty Jones, Craig Knight and Chris Gunter as well a former team mates of Gary Speed’s from Deeside Schools FA.
The tournament continues on Thursday 28 August when Northern Ireland will face Japan in Ruthin (KO 11am) and Cymru will face Gibraltar in Buckley (KO 6pm). Tickets for each fixture will be sold at the venues on match day, £3 adults and £1 children and the matches can be live streamed on the SolidSport platform.
