Match Point | Catherine Etoe

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Camden New Journal - MATCH POINT by CATHERINE ETOE
Published: 31 July 2008

Camaraderie after tragedy is a credit to young footballers

DESPITE having watched almost as many games of youth football as I’ve had hot dinners, I can say in all honesty that I never cease to be amazed by the quality of players produced in this borough of ours.
From the vast artificial arena of Market Road, to the high-walled space at Swiss Cottage, the parched pitch final days at Highbury and the school playgrounds of all shapes and sizes, home-grown boys and girls have continued to dazzle me with skills fit to grace levels far higher than most of them will be lucky enough to reach.
So it was again on Saturday, as I watched ever so cool but nonetheless eager teenagers from club teams and street sides grapple for a place in the final of the long-standing Unity Cup at the lively Warren pitch.
Sadly, a place that resounded with the sounds of the beautiful game in action has fallen silent in the days that have followed those opening matches.
Instead of the clang of leather on metal as footballs rebound off its latticework of fencing and the crowing shouts of aspiring Thierry Henry’s nutmegging opponents with the latest trick, there is a still calm around the usually bustling place.
The sudden death of one of those self-same dazzling players (see page one) in the midst of one of those matches has muted all that for now as youngsters pay tribute to his memory with flowers, verse and football shirts.
Their team spirit in the hours before Daniel Noel died was refreshing to see in an era when the public have been browbeaten into believing that the capital’s youths are best avoided.
Organisers of the tournament, set up several years ago to bring communities together through sport, tell me that the camaraderie they have shown in the days that have followed have been equally so.

* A minute’s silence will be observed in the remaining Unity Cup matches throughout August. Friends of Daniel will also be gathering in his memory at the pitch on Saturday at 2.45pm.

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