SPORT: TIFA Championships Final 2005

Republic of Talamthom 1 - 0 Tománn Indo-China

So it came to this, after six matches, nine hours of football, all in front of a total of 180,000 football fans in Tománn Indo-China, and a good 4 million back in Talamthom, the TIFA Championships 2005 found themselves at the end of the road. It was time at last for the moment the teams had been waiting for, the final.

A sea of orange: The beautiful sight of the Tománn Indo-China fans in the Portela Hill stadium, Lhasa. This stadium will be used by the local team after the TIFA finals.

The final, along with all the other matches in the competition, was played at the purpose built Portela Hill stadium in the centre of Lhasa, Tománn Indo-China. Prior to the organisation of the tournament there had been not a single football stadium in the whole area of southern Tibet that Talamthom leases from the Chinese Soviet Republic. If it hadn't been for funding from the Tibetan Cultural Association and the local Governor's office the 30,00 seater stadium in Lhasa wouldn't have been anything more than a temporary stadium.

It was it was deemed necessary to invest in sporting enterprises in the region and following the final of the TIFAs the stadium will become the permanent home of TFA Division 2 team, the Tibet Tygers. The Tygers had been playing at a temporary stadium that was formerly a training ground of the People's Liberation Army, prior to the arrival of Tománnach Forces in the area.

The stadium had filled up by 1500 local time in preparation for the pre-match entertainment. This entertainment consisted of a concert that started with local Tibetan music and was followed by Tománnach Celtic Folk-Rock. Tománnach bands that were present included Whippin' Sally, Cheating Nashville and finished off with The Freetowners. All of which well and truly left the audience, both local and travellers, awestruck.

So on to the match. Talamthom and Tománn Indo-China had both beaten each other once before on the road to the final. Indo-China had startled Talamthom when they scored a massive victory over the 'Seat of Empire' in the opening match of the tournament with a 2-1 result. Later, when the two teams met again, Talamthom finally got their campaign to reach the final underway when they scored a 1-0 victory over the Colony immediately after beating Fealsamthom 4-3.

So with a beautiful rendition of Amhran na bhFiann by the President's Military Band it was time for kick off. When the match got underway there appeared to be no real options available for either side to break through each others' defence. Both teams were playing their football deep in there own halves, too concerned with giving nothing away. In the approach to half-time there seemed to be no let-up in the defensive playing style of both teams despite the effect it was having on the crowd, who, by this time, were looking slightly fed up with proceedings.

Luckily the second half started with a flurry of end-to-end activity that swung up and down the pitch in a seemingly perpetual motion. Then there came a key moment, George MacTíre, who'd been on the subs bench following a stomach virus through the week, was brought on in place of the struggling William Morgan. The effects for Talamthom was immediate. Where before they'd been struggling to really dominate the midfield play they suddenly appeared refreshed.

So it was that in the 85th minute when Justin Reid was brought down on the edge of the box that Talamthom were finally presented with a golden opportunity. There appeared to be an argument as to who was going to take the free kick involving all the key midfielders before the ball found itself at the mercy of MacTíre's boot. MacTíre stepped back and swerved the ball perfectly into the top-right hand corner of the goal.

MacTíre head over heals after scoring a free kick in the dying moments of the match.

The late timing of the opening goal proved decisive as Talamthom held on for three more minutes to take the win. The Tománn team climbed the steps and, to the cheers of the crowd, lifted the trophy aloft. This victory is a major one for Talamthom internally and has already worked to raise the profile of Talamthom's football development and, indirectly, the TFA domestic leagues. The TIFAs have been a success for the TFA, Tománn Indo-China and the Republic as a whole.

All attentions are now focused on Talamthom's 'senior' team in the EIFA World Cup following their successful navigation of the first group round. There next match will be against Mayo, for more details see here.