Jeff Parsons wins the first "Copa del Darlo" in Darlington

Jeff Parsons was victorious in yesterday's first Copa Del Darlo, which was held at the Longfield Cosmos stadium in Darlington.

All six entrants were very closely matched and the pre tournament betting was that anyone could win it.

Neil Youngson provided a Dutch master class in group one winning both his matches.

John Bottomley's typically English tournament performance left him bottom of group two without a win.

That left Holland to face Belgium (captained by Mr P "I pity the fool" Parsons), and Austria to take on Spain in the semi finals.

The resulting final (expertly officiated by Mr Youngson) was a close affair and was finally settled by a clinical Belgian finish after the game had gone on to shots.

Holland pipped Spain to 3rd place with a 1-0 win, and the Rubber Spatula play off was contested between Romania and Gibraltar with the former running out narrow 1-0 winners due to some excellent defending and goalkeeping ( I think Tim Krul was playing as a ringer !) from UEFA's newest members".

(Report by John Bottomley)