Rotherham United Inclusion Team are winners of the Everton FC in the Community 2014 Sport Relief Cup.
On Monday 7th April RUCST took a team of participants, who have in the past or are still in the rehabilitation process of recovering from mental health illness’s, to take part in the tournament that consisted of teams from Everton, Notts County, Doncaster, Wrexham, Carlisle as well as some local health centres.The opening game was a disaster against Southwell; losing 7-0, but with a 3-1 victory in out other group game against Carlisle we progressed through to the cup quarter finals.
The quarter final was against Street Revolutions after the 10 minute tie we drew 1-1, so into penalties we went with the lads holding their nerve to win 4-3.
The semi-final game matched us up with Southwell again, with us looking for revenge after our defeat in the group game. We took an early lead only to be pegged back with a minute left on the clock we pushed on for the winning goal and a clearance deflected off our striker and in to the back of the net the last kick of the game to give us a 2-1 victory.
The final which was an extended game (8minutes each way) paired us up with Moss House who had beat 2nd favourites in their semi-final. Two minutes into the game we found ourselves 1-0 down but after a change in formation by half time RUFC were 3-1 up. At the start of the 2nd half, Moss House pulled one back but we hit back with 2 quick fire goals to make it 5-1. With 2 minutes to go and after a lot of pressure, Moss House pulled two goals back but the team held together to leave the final score at 5-3 to RUFC.
Disability coordinator Sean Graves said “So pleased for every player in the team who have overcome difficult times during their life’s but have used football as a tool to get out there and meet new people.
“This is the 5th tournament we have been involved in and the 1st time we have got past the group stages, so the players and everyone involved should be very proud of themselves. I would like to thank Everton FC for hosting and inviting us to the tournament.”
For more information please contact Sean Graves on:
Telephone: 01709 827767
Mobile: 07733410510
Email: sgraves@rotherhamunited.co.uk