Plate Winner: Martin BellefontaineBaver Bari v John HalpinDanny Gregory v Oriano MichelettiColin Tarry v Andy FitzpatrickBrian Spoors v Marco Bevilacqua
Chad Wright gives his impressions of his first FISTF tournament:
My first experience playing in an International Open came at the Glasgow IO in mid February. Having only started playing in the Glasgow Club the previous summer it was an event I had been really looking forward to and it didn’t fail to excite and entertain.
I was impressed with how well the event was organised and run and even more impressed with the level of skill in the players present: watching guys like Chris Thomas and Chris Short who make the game look so easy and up and coming stars like under 16’s Ruby Matthews who left a trail of very good players in her wake as she progressed to the team finals with Wobbly Hobby A team.
My own personal highlight, however, was playing in my first game on the Saturday in the individuals against Lawrence Watson from Derry City. For those who don’t know, Lawrence has a youtube channel (Watsies Subbuteo Art) promoting entertaining off-the-cuff videos on our beautiful miniature game and the players involved.
I came off the better in the game managing to keep a clean sheet in the process. But Lawrence was full of anticipation for the coming matches and was excited for the rest of the event. Our paths met again, however, as I was drawn to referee his last match in the Sunday team event Derry City V Edinburgh’s Golazzo. He was a near broken man, exclaiming he had played so badly and hadn’t even managed to score a single goal. Things weren’t getting any better! By half time he was 4-0 down to Marco Bevilacqua. His mood dropped further, intimating that he was going to give up the game as he was so bad (Obviously Lawrence’s words were a bit more colourful!). I said in passing to just keep trying, get a goal before he goes, a highlight to take away!! His team were shouting over encouragement too.
10 minutes into the second half Lawrence was now 6-0 down. It was looking like he was leaving Glasgow goalless! But a missed flick by Marco with 3 minutes to go gave Lawrence possession just on the halfway line. He worked it up the pitch and passed the ball through Marco’s defence to the 18-yard line. Marco got a great blocking flick from a wide player, goal side of the ball. Lawrence measured the shot and executed the flick… The ball hit the defender and lifted into the air, over the keeper and under the crossbar…. YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!! Even as the referee I let out a cheer, Marco too, high fives all round. Just that one goal is all it takes to keep you coming back!!!’
A good turnout of 10 players saw 11 league matches played. Two wins apiece for Tom Burns and Dave Butler consolidated their positions at the top of the league. Both have the same goal difference but Burns has scored two more goals. Butler, however, has a game in hand. Butler almost had a fright against the quickly improving Kevin Smith but but just managed to edge out the newcomer by 3-2. Burns too had to work hard to overcome Ronnie McKenzie, the latter playing his season opener.
Elsewhere Dave Gladman moved up to third with two victories and Danny Gregory recorded his first points by defeating David Jack.
The new season kicked off on the 22nd August with 10 players attending. It was a busy night with 10 league matches played.
A random draw of fixtures resulted in last year’s title contenders, Tom Burns and Dave Butler pitched against one another. It was Butler who came out on top and with a second victory over Brian Spoors he moves to the top of the table. Also on six points but behind on goal difference is Malcolm Lees who returns to the league after a six year gap.
It was a good night for newcomers Kevin Smith and Chad Wright who both won their first match and then played out a thrilling 3-3 draw against each other.
This Subbuteo extravaganza took place over the weekend of 30/31 July. On the Saturday there was a FISTF International Open for individuals as well as a Flats tournament. On the Sunday it was the FISTF Team event and a traditional Advanced Rules tournament. In addition there were a number of stalls selling all kinds of table soccer equipment.
Five Glasgow players made the almost 400 mile trip south: Tom Burns, Dave Gladman, John Halpin, Malcolm Lees and Brian Spoors. They were joined by Galazzo’s Gareth Christie. Burns, Lees and Spoors managed to qualify out of their groups into the Barrage. Unfortunately they were to progress no further. Halpin, along with Gladman and Christie in the Flats tournament did not qualify from the groups.
Lees v ThomasBurns wins against Boothman
In the Team Event Glasgow were drawn with Glide, Slide, Chip and Dip as well as White Star. A 4-0 defeat against GSCD was expected but in the crucial match against White Star they lost 3-1. This meant that Glasgow would compete in the Plate which they won defeating Wobbly Hobby B and Haverhill, each by 3-0.
Gladman v FinchSpoors defeats HarringtonHalpin v Thomas
Meanwhile Gareth Christie was victorious in the Advanced Rules tournament beating former Scottish International Simon Goodman in the final.
The final match – Christie wins Advanced Rules titlePlate Winners
The Scottish Cup took place in Letham on 22 May. Thirteen players competed in four groups with the winners of each group qualifying for the semi-finals. Meanwhile eight players who did not qualify competed for the League Cup. Group winners were Gareth Christie, Tom Burns, John Halpin and Steve Bennett.
Round 1
A1
A4
F McKenzie
0
3
S Fleming
A2
A3
Christie
2
1
Micheletti
B2
B3
Burns
4
0
Minty
Round 2
C1
C3
Halpin
3
0
Nicol
D1
D3
Gladman
0
4
Bennett
A1
A3
F McKenzie
0
2
Micheletti
A2
A4
Christie
3
0
S Fleming
Round 3
B1
B3
Baxter
4
1
Minty
C2
C3
Spoors
3
0
Nicol
D2
D3
Bevilacqua
1
1
Bennett
Round 4
A1
A2
F McKenzie
1
1
Christie
A3
A4
Micheletti
2
0
S Fleming
C1
C2
Halpin
4
0
Spoors
Round 5
B1
B2
Baxter
1
2
Burns
D1
D2
Gladman
0
0
Bevilacqua
Scottish Cup
Semi 1
Bennett
3
2
Burns
Semi 2
Christie
2
2
Halpin
Christie wins on shots 1-0
Final
Bennett
3
0
Christie
League Cup
QF 1
F McKenzie
3
0
Nicol
QF 2
Spoors
0
4
Bevilacqua
QF 3
Minty
0
1
Gladman
QF 4
Micheletti
0
2
Baxter
Semi 1
Gladman
2
0
F McKenzie
Semi 2
Bevilacqua
3
1
Baxter
Final
Gladman
0
0
Bevilacqua
Bevilacqua wins shots 1-0
Congratulations to Steve Bennett who beat Gareth Christie in the Scottish Cup final and to Marco Bevilacqua who won on shots against Dave Gladman in the League Cup final.
The fourth and final Championship event took place in Glasgow on Sunday 20 March. Only 11 players took part and although Steve Bennett dropped points for the first time in the four events, he still came top of the table. In fact Tom Burns led Bennett 4-1 with only 6 minutes remaining but a remarkable come-back saw Bennett draw 4-4. Gareth Christie missed out on the event and so fell back to 5th spot. Tom Burns had missed Event 3 and so had to settle for 7th. Top GTSA player was Malcolm Lees who finished 2nd whilst Baver Bari was 4th. Final placings will determine who can take part in the World Cup in Rome in September.
Nineteen players contested the Plate over 5 rounds. The competition winner was Richard Badger of Wolves who defeated Glasgow’s Baver Bari in the final.
Final: Bari v Badger
Round 1
Jeremy Boothman
0
1
Nick Pearson
Baver Bari
1
1
Brian Spoors
Bari shots
Kevin Cordell
2
0
Gary Stewart
Last 16
Nick Pearson
0
1
Gage Badger
Baver Bari
3
1
Martin Campbell
Kevin Cordell
2
0
Danny Lilley
Lucasz Whittle
0
3
Malcolm Lees
Cayne Matthews
1
2
John Halpin
Joe Harrington
3
0
Finn Skinner
Richard Badger
4
0
Brendan Ashley
Shaun Dunne
2
1
Ruby Matthews
Last 8
Gage Badger
1
4
Baver Bari
Kevin Cordell
2
1
Malcolm Lees
John Halpin
3
2
Joe Harrington
Richard Badger
4
0
Shaun Dunne
Last 4
Baver Bari
3
1
Kevin Cordell
John Halpin
2
3
Richard Badger
Final
Baver Bari
0
5
Richard Badger
Cayne Matthews v John HalpinBaver Bari v Brian SpoorsKevin Cordell v Malcolm LeesJeremy Boothman v Nick Pearson