Having seal qualification for the final of the IFCPF World Championships in Salou, Spain, with wins over Northern Ireland, South Korea and Chile, the Scottish CP Football Squad were determined to go one better that their 2022 campaign.
The Scots were up against Northern Ireland again in the final and as the teams took to the pitch in the warm Spanish sunshine, hopes were high of a first World Championships title.
It was Scotland who started the match the strongest and took the lead in the 7th minute through captain, Matthew Wynne. The Scots grew stronger as the first half progressed and goals from Jamie Mitchell in the 23rd minute and Mark Robertson in the 24th minute gave them a comfortable 3-0 lead at half time.
The second half was closely fought but a second goal for Matthew Wynne in the 34th minute put the tie to bed and Scotland ran our comfortable 4-0 winners. The full-time whistle was met with wild celebrations from the Scotland supporters, players and staff.
In the 3rd/4th play off match at the Championships, Chile staged an impressive comeback from 3-1 down at half time to clinch 3rd place with a 6-4 victory in extra time.
In addition to being presented with the IFCPF World Championships trophy, Scotland captain, Matthew Wynne was awarded the tournament’s Most Valuable Player accolade and Martin Hickman was recognised as the Top Goal Scorer at the Championship.
The Scottish players and staff who have represented Scotland at the IFCPF World Championships are as follows;
James McAlpine
Jamie Kelly
Kerr MacKenzie
Mark Robertson
Martin Hickman – Top Scorer of the Tournament Award (7 goals)
Matthew Wynne – Most Valuable Player Award
Blair Glynn
Sean Millership
Barry Hunter
Christopher Moore
Dean Thornton
Jamie Mitchell
Jon McFarlane
Logan Smith
Billy McAdam (Head Coach)
Ryan Coleman (Coach)
Greig Taylor (Coach)
Kirsty Pitts (Physiotherapist)
The congratulations of everyone at SDS goes to all the players, coaches and support staff on their IFCPF World Championships win.