Club Night 25/9/23

GTSA Evening Unveils Thrilling Matches and Surprises

Club’s Second Match Night of the New Season

GTSA gathered once again for an evening of precision flicking and nail-biting moments as they embarked on the second match night of the new season. With unfinished business from the previous season lingering in the air, players took to the pitch with gusto and determination.

Handicap Cup Final: WRIGHT Triumphs Over SPOORS

The opponents, separated by referee Willie Fleming

The Handicap Cup final was the highlight of the evening, featuring a showdown between two equally matched contenders, WRIGHT and SPOORS. With both players sporting the same handicap level, a closely contested match was anticipated. As the game unfolded, however, SPOORS found himself making critical errors upon which WRIGHT masterfully capitalised. The final scoreline painted a clear picture of WRIGHT’s dominance, with the match concluding 6-0 in favour of one of the season’s newcomers.

Chad Wright receives his trophy

Glasgow Cup Semifinal Upset: SMITH Outpaces HALPIN

In a surprising twist from last season’s Glasgow Cup semifinal, the newcomer SMITH clashed with club veteran HALPIN. The result was a fiercely contested match that ended with SMITH prevailing 2-1. The victory secured SMITH’s place in the Glasgow Cup final, marking a remarkable debut season for the Subbuteo player.

League Matches Unleash Frenzied Action

League matches added to the electric atmosphere of the evening as competitors battled for supremacy. Here are the results from the heated encounters:

  • SPOORS 1-7 BURNS: A dominant performance by BURNS left SPOORS struggling to keep up.
  • GLADMAN 2-0 MCKENZIE: GLADMAN secured a comfortable win over MCKENZIE.
  • SMITH 3-0 GREGORY: SMITH displayed formidable skills, defeating GREGORY.
  • FLEMING 2-0 WRIGHT: FLEMING’s precise flicking secured him a win against WRIGHT.
  • HALPIN 1-3 BURNS: BURNS continued his winning streak, overpowering HALPIN.
  • SMITH 3-2 WRIGHT: SMITH managed to edge past WRIGHT in a thrilling match.
  • GREGORY 0-2 MCKENZIE: MCKENZIE maintained his composure, sealing a victory against GREGORY.
Tom Burns faces John Halpin

Glasgow Cup Match Group Stages Heat Up

The Glasgow Cup match group stages also saw intense competition with two exciting fixtures:

  • GLADMAN 3-0 GREGORY: GLADMAN demonstrated his prowess with a convincing win over GREGORY.
  • FLEMING 1-4 BURNS: BURNS continued his dominance, securing another win in the group stage.

Friendly Challenge: FLEMING Takes On WRIGHT

In a friendly challenge match, FLEMING faced off against WRIGHT, resulting in a 2-0 victory for FLEMING. This friendly encounter showcased the camaraderie and competitive spirit that makes Subbuteo evenings at the club so enjoyable for all.

As the Club’s season continues to unfold, we can look forward to more thrilling matches, surprises and intense competition on the miniature pitch. Stay tuned for updates as the club’s talented flickers battle for supremacy.

New Season Begins

The club’s 50th-anniversary season began with a bang. A bit of unfinished business from last season, however, still had to be completed. With two quarter-finals and two semi-finals yet to be decided from the previous season’s Handicap Cup, anticipation ran high.

In the first quarter-final, JACK and BERRY clashed in a thrilling match. JACK held a one-goal advantage, but BERRY’s resilience prevailed, securing a 5-3 victory. As a result, BERRY advanced to the first semi-final, where he would face SPOORS.

The second quarter-final featured a closely contested showdown between BUTLER and FLEMING. FLEMING started with a one-goal lead, and when regular time ended in a 1-1 draw, the game headed into an exhilarating shootout. FLEMING emerged triumphant with a 3-2 shootout victory, earning him a spot in the second semi-final against WRIGHT.

In the first semi-final, SPOORS, armed with a one-goal advantage, squared off against BERRY. SPOORS showcased his prowess, winning the match 2-0 and securing a coveted spot in the Handicap Cup final.

The second semi-final witnessed WRIGHT, starting with a two goal lead, taking on FLEMING. Although FLEMING managed to score a late goal, he couldn’t find an equaliser, and WRIGHT claimed the match 2-1, earning his spot in the final.

The Handicap Cup final, set for a later date, will be a highly anticipated battle between WRIGHT and SPOORS. With both players having the same handicap we can expect an intense showdown to determine the 2022-23 Handicap Cup champion.

Brian Spoors
Chad Wright

In addition to the Handicap Cup excitement, the season also saw four league games that showcased some thrilling action:

ANDREONI dominated GREGORY with a resounding 5-1 victory.

The defending league champion, BUTLER, maintained his strong performance, defeating Handicap Cup finalist SPOORS 5-0.

ANDREONI faced a challenging match against club stalwart GLADMAN, resulting in a 0-3 loss.

HALPIN delivered an impressive performance with a 3-0 victory over JACK.

As the season’s early fixtures unfolded, BUTLER finds himself back in familiar territory, occupying the top spot on the league table, building on his success from last season.

Last night also saw the introduction of the inaugural Friendly Challenge competition. In an exciting debut match, WRIGHT faced GREGORY. In a surprising turn of events, GREGORY emerged victorious with a 2-1 scoreline, beating the higher-ranked player and earning three points. This new addition of a competitive edge to friendly matches promises to add an extra layer of excitement to the club’s fixtures.

As the 50th-anniversary season unfolds, the club eagerly anticipate more exciting matches and memorable moments. Stay tuned for updates on the Handicap Cup final, Association Cup Final, Glasgow Cup Final and the league standings as the season progresses. Here’s to another remarkable season of table football!

Dave Butler

Glasgow IO Plate

Final: Martin Bellefontaine v Andy Beskaby

Barrage

M Bevilacqua 3 0 B Ashley  
G Harrington 1 3 B Bari  
C Wright 0 3 M Bellefontaine  
G Badger 0 1 F Skinner  
O Mac Eό 0 0 A Fitzpatrick 0-2 sh
D Kaliszewski 3 2 C Thom  
F McKenzie 3 0 L Watson  

Last 16

M Bevilacqua 5 0 B Spoors  
B Bari 0 1 J Halpin  
M Bellefontaine w/o   K Smith  
F Skinner 1 1 J Harrington 1-2 sh
A Fitzpatrick 1 1 C Tarry 1-3 sh
D Kaliszewski 0 4 A Beskaby  
F McKenzie 0 0 C Matthews 0-3 sh
O Micheletti 2 0 D Gregory  

Last 8

M Bevilacqua 1 1 J Halpin 2-1 sh
M Bellefontaine 2 0 J Harrington  
C Tarry 0 0 A Beskaby 1-3 sh
C Matthews 2 1 O Micheletti  

Semi-Finals

M Bevilacqua 0 1 M Bellefontaine  
A Beskaby 1 1 C Matthews 3-1 sh

Final

M Bellefontaine 0 0 A Beskaby 3-1 sh
Plate Winner: Martin Bellefontaine
Baver Bari v John Halpin
Danny Gregory v Oriano Micheletti
Colin Tarry v Andy Fitzpatrick
Brian Spoors v Marco Bevilacqua

Glasgow IO: a personal perspective

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!!!’

GTSA Cup Draws

The draws have been made for the Association and Handicap Cups

Association Cup

Bye: R McKenzie

FlemingvG McKenzie
JackvButler
S McKenzievSpoors
SmithvBurns
GregoryvHouston
BerryvGladman
WrightvHalpin

Handicap Cup

Bye: Gregory

R McKenzievSmith
BurnsvWright
HoustonvBerry
HalpinvButler
SpoorsvGladman
S McKenzievJack
FlemingvG McKenzie

Club Night 3/10/22

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.

Check out the scores and league table here.

McKenzie lines up……..
McKenzie scores!
Gregory gets his first win
A busy night at the club

New Season Begins

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.

Gladman02Lees
Gregory14Smith
Burns13Butler
Spoors01Wright
Jack03Halpin
Lees30Halpin
Spoors05Butler
Jack05Burns
Wright33Smith
Gregory04Gladman

Check out the league table here.

Haverhill Subbuteofest 22

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 Thomas
Burns 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 Finch
Spoors defeats Harrington
Halpin 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 title
Plate Winners

Scottish Cup

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 1A1A4F McKenzie03S Fleming
A2A3Christie21Micheletti
B2B3Burns40Minty
Round 2C1C3Halpin30Nicol
D1D3Gladman04Bennett
A1A3F McKenzie02Micheletti
A2A4Christie30S Fleming
Round 3B1B3Baxter41Minty
C2C3Spoors30Nicol
D2D3Bevilacqua11Bennett
Round 4A1A2F McKenzie11Christie
A3A4Micheletti20S Fleming
C1C2Halpin40Spoors
Round 5B1B2Baxter12Burns
D1D2Gladman00Bevilacqua
Scottish Cup
Semi 1Bennett32Burns
Semi 2Christie22Halpin
Christie wins on shots 1-0
FinalBennett30Christie
League Cup
QF 1F McKenzie30Nicol
QF 2Spoors04Bevilacqua
QF 3Minty01Gladman
QF 4Micheletti02Baxter
Semi 1Gladman20F McKenzie
Semi 2Bevilacqua31Baxter
FinalGladman00Bevilacqua
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.

Scottish Championship Event 4

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.

The final Championship table looks like this:

FAPts
1Bennett781946
2Lees422529
3Beskaby363128
4Bari323625
5Christie361624
6Baxter332220
7Burns332119
8Gladman192119
9Spoors134419
10Bevilacqua282218
11Halpin131415
12Stewart184214
13R McKenzie152112
14S Fleming152011
15Thom6145
16Nicol4544
17Minty473

All the results:

Round 11R McKenzie20Lees
2Nicol07Bennett
3Beskaby12Minty
4Stewart10Spoors
5Bari25Burns
6Gladman
Round 21Bennett44Burns
2R McKenzie21Minty
3Stewart22Gladman
4Gladman02Beskaby
5Spoors08Lees
6Bari60Nicol
Round 31R McKenzie07Bennett
2Burns51Stewart
3Lees61Bari
4Beskaby50Nicol
5Minty02Gladman
6Spoors
Round 41Bennett71Lees
2Burns12Beskaby
3Minty12Spoors
4Spoors20Nicol
5R McKenzie22Gladman
6Stewart01Bari

Event 4 Table:

FAPts
1Bennett25510
2Beskaby1039
3Burns1597
4R McKenzie6107
5Lees15106
6Bari10116
7Spoors4106
8Gladman665
9Stewart484
10Minty473
11Nicol0200