Following England’s spirited performance in the World Cup, the ICS’ heroes at ICSFC also reached the semi-final of the annual ‘Lloyds Bank 5-a-side’ tournament, held at the University of Cumbria last week.

After defeat from our first 2 warm-up matches against Harrison Drury, expectations were low going into the tournament. However with the addition of our new kit, there was a renewed sense of optimism and confidence amongst the team.

The players battled through a gruelling group stage, firstly holding our old rivals Harrison Drury to a 1-1 draw, before notching up victories against Kieron Bassett FC and OSG solicitors.

A further draw against Lloyds left ICS in 2nd place going into the final group game against the much fancied and 2017 winners Scott and Wilkinson.

After winning their opening 4 games, they couldn’t find a way past a stubborn ICS defence and were lucky to escape with a point, were it not for some sloppy finishing from ICS’ self-proclaimed galacticos.

After finishing in second place in the group, ICS faced the winner of Group 2, the highly feared and dangerous Begbies Traynor.

With the match tied at 0-0 with 1 minute to play, penalties appeared to be on the horizon. But it wasn’t to be, with Begbies stealing a goal late on and going on to the final to become the eventual winners, beating Scott and Wilkinson on penalties.

A valiant effort from the ICSFC team! We will keep you up to date with how the team progresses.