World Cup fever arrived early in Kingsclere

WORLD Cup fever began early in Kingsclere last Saturday, at a huge charity tournament, involving sides pulled together from local towns and villages.

Held at the Fieldgate centre in the village, the tournament: Kingsclere 2014 – the World Cup for Sense raised more than £500 for the charity Sense, which supports people with deafblindness, involved 15 teams from surrounding towns and villages, including Newbury, Kingsclere and Basingstoke.

Teams were named after international sides, including Democratic Republic of Congo, Iceland and Nigeria. The main organiser, Asa Oldring, said the atmosphere was “electric”, with three pitches at full stretch with more than 30 games.

Top performances came from Ecuador, Mongolia, Trinidad and American Samoa, with the final battle between Mongolia and Trinidad.

Trinidad quickly went one-nil up, after a goal by Callum Bush , who then scored a second time, after a flick around Mongolian goalkeeper Zander Oldring.

Despite the crowd getting behind the underdogs, Trinidad emerged champions with a final score of 2-1.

Mr Oldring, who said the tournament would return next year, along with a Champions League charity tournament at Northcroft Leisure, Newbury, in December, thanked people for their help and support, including Jean and Peter Milford, Sheila Oldring and Frobury Farm Sporting Club, which covered pitch fees.