It was hat-trick of wins for Preston's Santos as they secured the Abdul Valli Cup for the second year in a row.

It followed their victory in the Summer 2003 Cancer Relief Tournament in Blackburn in July, officially making them the kings of the one-day football tournaments.

They have had their fair share of critics over the past couple of years and it seemed most of the crowd were willing unseeded Boyscouts to victory in the final at the Preston Sports Arena.

But credit must be given where credit is due and Santos remain a very difficult side to break down and lethal on the counter.

Boyscouts were a revelation, beating Santos in the group stages and then going on to dispose of Azzuri, Nile FC and Canaries to reach the final.

Santos on route to the final eased past Phoenix in the second round (4-0) before coming up against Deepdale in the quarters. A penalty in normal time settled the tie, just when we thought we were heading for a goalkeeper showdown in a penalty shoot-out. (Fayyaz Bharucha was in nets for Deepdale).

In the semi-finals it was another spot-kick for Santos which saw them overcome Bolton Asians. And whilst we would have to say the penalty was contentious there were no excuses for Bolton Asians team's behaviour after the game.

As in finals gone by when it goes to penalties Santos have a goalkeeper with a sixth sense. Ibrahim Nakhuda pulled off three saves in the shoot-out in a final which saw a total of 6 penalties missed.

The game of the tournament saw Whalley Rangers take on Canaries in the quarters. Whalley Rangers went ahead within minutes of the kick-off. They then repulsed wave after wave of attacks until Canaries eventually broke through. Soon after Canaries were awarded a penalty and a chance to seal the game. Mr Kalang will forgive us for saying we've seen better penalties than that.

Six days later the under 12s and under 14s tournament took place at Westview Leisure Centre. A total of 24 teams took part with 12 in each section.

Fishwick Rangers came out on top in the under 12s, beating underdogs Deepdale All Stars in the final. Favourites Crazy Gang were beaten in the semi-finals by All Stars.

In the Under 14s OBC, Real Preston, Real Deepdale, Frechwood F.C all showed signs of being potential cup winners. Eventually after a hard forced match OBC outwitted Real Preston in the final on penalties.

During the day over 200 kids participated in the tournament from different backgrounds.

The Abdul Valli Cup is an annual charity tournament held in memory of Abdul Majid Valli. Abdul who was an active member of the community who helped organise many sporting events in the region. He tragically died at the age of 27 in 2000.

Player of the tournament: Imran Patel (Real Canaries)

This tournament was made possibe with assistance from:

ASIAN BUSINESS FEDERATION

LANCASHIRE CONSTABULARY

ARMED FORCES CAREERS OFFICE

CANARIES FC

SPOTLIGHT ON SPORT

BIG THANKS TO:

The Referees - particularly Ismail Esat and Jim Bryson, Preston Sports Arena, Hakim, (caterer), To the sisters who provided food and drinks for the volunteers, All the volunteers - special thanks to Alli Tilli, Ashfaq Patel, Musa Roked, Badre Alam Akubat, Shoeb Bax, Hafiz Ismail Bax, Masood Saiyed, Mehbub Member, Yacoob Bodi, Anis Faruki and Canaries FC.