Following their successful trip to Belgium last year, Raging Fever again embarked on 'international' duty, this time to compete in a six-a-side tournament organized by Queen's Park Supporters and played at Hampden Park, Glasgow (well, next door anyway).

Fever flew up to Scotland on Friday afternoon, checked into their city-centre hotel, and then headed out onto the town to enjoy a few quiet pre-match beverages…

On turning up at Hampden on Saturday morning, Fever's first job was to locate their goalie after the ever resourceful manager John Matthews had commandeered the services of a local keeper. On meeting up, it soon became apparent that the new man, James, wasn't local at all, instead turning out to be an exiled Wycombe Wanderers fan!

The first group game was against Ayr United, a team Fever had beaten previously at Worldnet. Fever made a good start and raced into a two-goal lead after Steve Fuller finished smartly from a corner and then Rob Muskett picked up a loose ball, turned, and hit a looping volley just between the crossbar and the flailing keeper. Fever took their foot off the gas at this point, though, and conceded a soft goal just before the interval. Matthews chose to use a two-team strategy for the tournament and so the entire team (excluding the keeper) was swapped at half time. The new lineup, however, took their time getting into the game and so the scores were soon level. Fever, however, showed some determination not to let a two-goal lead slip and created a number of chances, finally being rewarded with the winning goal when Stuart Burson finished off a neat move involving Steve Gilbert and Nick Wehmeier.

Oxford's next game was against an unknown quantity, Coasters, a team from the town of Oban (somewhere in Scotland apparently). This match started disastrously as a terrible performance and some very suspect defending meant Fever were 5-0 down at half time. This gave Team B a stiff task to try and take something other than pride from the game. They started positively, though, and soon scored after Nick W took a man on and finished neatly at the near post. It wasn't long before they scored again, Wehmeier scoring with an easy finish after the keeper could only parry Gilbert's smart shot into his path. The match passed with little further incident and Fever were able to reflect on a very poor start but a confidence-building second half in which they were the better team.

The Coasters result set up the final group game as a 'winner takes all' match against Rangers. Fever took it all, thanks to a smart finish from Fuller in the first half. The other highlight of this match was James Longshaw's best shot of the tournament, kicking himself after missing an easy chance in front of goal.

So, finishing second in the group, Fever qualified for the knockout stages and were drawn against the tournament hosts, Queen's Park, another team they had beaten in the past, albeit with a very different lineup. This quarter final was again a game of two halves as the 'A' team conceded three before the break, leaving their teammates with a very difficult task to take anything from the game. Fever 'B' did rally in the second half but their efforts weren't enough, as the game finished 3-0 and Fever again went out at the quarter final stage.

With the football out of the way, Fever then got down to the serious business of the weekend, enjoying a Saturday night out in Glasgow. A good weekend was certainly had by all and Fever look forward to future trips to Scotland.

Fever, 1st half: James, James Longshaw, Andy Clyde, Russell McSweeney, Steve Fuller, Rob Muskett
Fever, 2nd half: James, Nick Holloway, Nick Wehmeier, Stuart David Burson, Steve Gilbert, John Matthews

Goals: Wehmeier (2) Fuller (2) Muskett, Burson

Oh, apparently, this happened too, if Nick Holloway is to be believed:

Messrs Longshanks, Holloway, and gaffer Matthews guested in an 'all-star' international friendly at the end of the tournament. Matthews turned out for the Belgian PSG supporters' team which featured some of our friends from Namur. Shanks and Holloway did their bit for Anglo-Scottish relations, appearing for the hosts, Queen's Park. Holloway stole the show in an unfamiliar forward role, grabbing two classic poacher's goals reminiscent of Lineker in his prime – giving the watching Fever manager some food for thought for future selections!