By Jason McAuley

 Village Manchester F.C have ended the season on a high by snatching an amazing 3-2 injury time victory in the GNL Cup Final against midlands side, Leicester Wildecats FC. 

 The lads were presented with their 4^th trophy in 3 years but it was far from a straightforward win for Manchester’s only gay men’s football team after the Leicester side went into a 2-0 lead after only 20 minutes played.

 A rousing half time team talk from the VMFC management team sparked the Manchester players into action in the 2^nd half by grabbing a goal back to make the score 2-1 with 30 minutes remaining. Plenty of chances followed but the clock gradually ticked by without another goal and it looked likely to finish 2-1. That was until Village FC’s hero, Alex Kirkham, was introduced to the game. With only two minutes of the match remaining, Kirkham ran towards goal and rocketed the ball off the crossbar and into the net to bring the scores level.

 Both sets of supporters were ready for extra time but Kirkham’s equaliser wasn’t to be the end of it. As the referee looked at his watch to blow his whistle for full time, Kirkham used his pace against a tired Leicester defence to dance through and slot the ball into the corner of the net to give Manchester an injury time 3-2 victory.

 It was heart breaking for a Leicester team who had given everything to try and win the closely contested cup final but it was to be Village Manchester FC’s day and the celebrations went on through the night at Taurus Bar on Canal Street.

 The Village FC team can now look forward to travelling to the Barcelona Eurogames in July and the new season which starts again in August. They are always on the look out for new players so if you are interested in getting involved visit the club website http://www.vmfc.co.uk/