Club Night 20/1/20

It was another busy night al the Legion with fourteen players attending. In addition to the twelve league players the club also welcomed Barry Corr and Andy Shearer. Twelve league matches were played

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The key match was between leading players Tom Burns and Dave Butler. Burns started the stronger, forcing Butler on to the backfoot. A poor defensive block by Butler allowed Burns to opportunity to score and he did. Burns continued to dominate but could not find a second goal. Gradually Butler started to gain more possession and it was he who was looking the more impressive. This time it was Burns who made a blocking mistake and the score was level. Either player could have scored the winner but Butler was more dominant in the second half and it was he who found the goal. Butler went on to defeat Dave Houston 2-0, making it eight wins from eight matches. Burns later had a good win against John Halpin, keeping him three points clear of Butler but having played three more.

Fraser McKenzie returned to league action and proved he will be a difficult player to beat, conceding only two goals in defeating Brian Spoors and drawing with Baver Bari and Dave Gladman.

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Butler21Burns
McPhail04Mathieson
R McKenzie11Houston
F McKenzie11Bari
Halpin20Spoors
McPhail04Berry
Burns20Halpin
Butler20Houston
Gladman00F Mckenzie
R McKenzie11Mathieson
F McKenzie21Spoors
Houston00Halpin

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The league table can be viewed here.

Club Night 13/1/20

Only two games were played this evening. Dave Butler continued his 100% record with a 2-0 victory over Brian Spoors. The winning margin could have been greater with Spoors’ goalkeeper performing heroically. Butler moves into second place in the league.

Dave Gladman remains unbeaten after a 1-1 draw with Baver Bari. Gladman’s opening five victories have been followed by three draws. Gladman had to work hard to salvage the draw after Bari had led for most of the match.

Butler20Spoors
Bari11Gladman

The league table can be viewed here.

Club Night 16/12/19

Tom Burns was presented with the Glasgow Cup after last week’s victory over John Halpin.

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After the previous busy two meetings only four players were present tonight. John Mathieson and Brian Spoors had travelled to Edinburgh for the Capital Cup organised by the new Edinburgh club.

Two Glasgow Cup matches were played. In group A Dave Gladman defeated Baver Bari 2-0. Gladman led 1-0 at half-time. In the second period Bari pushed forward and there was some nervous defending by Gladman. Late in the game, however, Gladman broke forward and sealed the match with a second. He has now consolidated his position at the top of the group. In group B Tom Burns recorded his second win, beating Colin Berry. Berry started well but two Burns goals in the space of a minute mid-way through the first half won the game.

The club will now have a Christmas and New Year break. The next meeting will be on Monday 6 January.

Glasgow Cup

Group A

Gladman20Bari

Group B

Burns20Berry

All Glasgow Cup results can be viewed here.

Club Night 9/12/19

Tonight saw another good attendance of nine players. Nine matches were played, three in the league and the others in the Glasgow Cup.

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There was, however, one match outstanding from last season’s Glasgow Cup, the final itself. Tom Burns lined up against John Halpin. The key moments of this game were to occur in the final moments of each half. It was an excellent encounter between two well matched players. Halpin drew first blood when a missplaced Burns block allowed him a clear sight of goal and he made no mistake with a well struck shot. A lot of the action was taking place in Halpin’s defensive right and it was from here that Burns eventually broke through and scored. Halpin had a great opportunity to take the lead but he delayed too long lining up his shot and the half-time whistle went before he fired into the net. It would have been a great boost to take into the second half.

The players remained deadlocked and it looked as if we were heading for extra-time. Then Burns’ spare goalkeeper lost possession and Halpin elected to try and score with 5 flicks. Unfortunately he failed to notice that there was only one defender between Halpin’s attacker and the goal when the ball was played through. From the resultant offside free-kick Burns moved the ball quickly forward to exploit the gap in the left side of Halpin’s area. Halpin’s blocks weren’t good enough and Burns struck the killer blow. Halpin barely had time to kick off. Heartbreak for Halpin, bliss for Burns.

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This season’s Glasgow Cup also got underway with four matches in group A and one in group B. In group A, Baver Bari and Dave Gladman both had 2-0 wins over Brian Spoors whilst John Mathieson drew with Bari and Gladman. Spoors has become more competitive in his matches and shows much better possession of the ball but still needs to create more scoring opportunities. In group B, Tom Burns eased out Dave Houston with a goal in each half.

In the league Dave Butler continued his upward trajectory with two 3-0 victories. The first was an expected comfortable win over new player Ryan McPhail and the second against a more difficult opponent in John Halpin. Butler now sits third in the table just three points behind leader Tom Burns and having played two games fewer. Dave Houston recorded his first league win by beating Ryan McPhail, the only goal of the game coming in the second half.

Glasgow Cup Final (2018/19)

Burns21Halpin

Glasgow Cup (2019/20)

Group A

Bari20Spoors
Gladman11Mathieson
Mathieson00Bari
Spoors02Gladma

Group B

Burns20Houston

League

Butler30McPhail
Butler30Halpin
McPhail01Houston

The league table can be viewed here.

Club Night 2/12/19

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In what was the best attended club night for some years, twelve club members enjoyed a great night’s subbuteo. Tom Burns returned to the top of the league with two comfortable wins over Ryan McPhail and Colin Berry. A win for Dave Gladman would have kept him in number one spot but his match against Ronnie McKenzie ended in a 2-2 draw. Gladman had to twice come back from a goal down. McKenzie played impressively this evening displaying excellent possession play. Against Willie Fleming, McKenzie didn’t, however, have quite the finishing touch. The game finished 0-0 but Fleming conceded that McKenzie was unlucky not to take all three points. Goals came more easily for McKenzie in his 4-0 victory over Brian Spoors.

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Spoors did add another league point against Dave Houston, the match finishing 1-1. That was Houston’s first league point, having lost his other four matches. Houston does have a decent defensive record with all those matches having been lost by a single goal, the latest tonight to John Mathieson. Scoring goals remains his problem.

One player who doesn’t usually have a problem finding the net is Dave Butler and tonight he added five goals without reply, Colin Berry conceding three and John Mathieson two. Butler therefore maintained his 100% record after three matches, moved up to sixth place from which he is expected to climb in the coming weeks. Mathieson played a good match against Butler and felt perhaps he could have run the former Glasgow number one a bit closer.

The club welcomed the return to action of John Halpin who had missed the start of the season due to a hand operation. Halpin just managed to get past Ryan McPhail with a 1-0 win but was better pleased with a 3-1 defeat of Willie Fleming, who is struggling to find the form which won him the Association Cup. McPhail has only gained one point thus far but for a player new to the league he has been competitive in his matches and avoided heavy defeats.

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Berry03Butler
Burns51McPhail
Houston11Spoors
Butler20Mathieson
Fleming00McKenzie
Halpin10McPhail
McKenzie22Gladman
Berry04Burns
Houston01Mathieson
Fleming13Halpin
McKenzie40Spoors

The league table can be viewed here.

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Club Night 25/11/19

Eight players attended on an evening when Dave Gladman maintained his position as league leader. Tonight he was held to a goal-less draw by a determined John Mathieson. Gladman did have more possession and did have the best of the chances but he could not break the deadlock. Mathieson always carried a threat and could easily have taken all three points. Mathieson also had a good scoring draw against Willie Fleming. Fleming started well and soon took the lead. Thereafter, however, his play was error strewn and it was no surprise when Mathieson equalised with a quick thrust through the middle of the Fleming defence. From there on in neither player was able to produce the quality to take all three points. Fleming thought he had equalised at the death but he failed to notice one of his figures on the touchline in an offside position.

The club were delighted to welcome the return, after a five year absence, of Dave Butler. It seemed that he had lost none of his skills as he used his trademark quick short passing moves to race to a 3-0 lead against Baver Bari. But Bari scored each side of half-time to get himself right back into the game. Butler, however, did not panic, got back in control of the game and added a fourth.

It was also a debut night for new member Ryan McPhail. It will be a steep learning curve for McPhail but he did manage to get a first point on the board. That was against Brian Spoors and the 1-1 draw was also a a first point for Spoors. McPhail also managed respectable scores against the very much more experienced Willie Fleming and Baver Bari. The win for Bari put him up into second place.

McPhail11Spoors
Butler42Bari
Fleming41McPhail
Gladman00Mathieson
Mathieson11Fleming
McPhail02Bari

The league table can be viewed here.

Club Night 18/11/19

Sadly only one league match took place tonight. It was, however, a top of the table clash between Tom Burns and Dave Gladman. Both players came into the match with four wins and no points lost. Burns had most of the first half but apart from when he hit a post did not have really open chances. About 10 minutes in, as figures were pulled about the pitch, large gaps appeared in both defences. It was Gladman who was able to exploit the gap and he fired home from a central area.

Burns’ attacking line-up for the second half kick-off made clear his intentions. But such a strategy always carries the risk of weakening the defence. Gladman was able to break away down the left and loft in a second goal. Burns powered forward and the game was now being played in the Gladman area as Burns forced corners and throw-ins. Clear cut chances were now coming for Burns and at last he scored with five minutes still on the clock. Gladman kept possession for a couple of minutes but when he lost it, the final minutes were again spent in the Gladman area. To his frustration, however, Burns could not find the equaliser as somehow Gladman held out. Gladman had defended well but he was able to convert two of the few opportunities he had.

Burns only lost two league matches in the previous three seasons. It remains to be seen whether this defeat will be significant.

Gladman21Burns

The league table can be viewed here.

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The draw was made for this season’s Glasgow Cup

Group A

Spoors, Mathieson, Gladman, Bari, McPhail

Group B

Fleming, Burns, Houston, Berry, Halpin

Club Night 11/11/19

Only 3 matches were played tonight and it was basically a round robin between Baver Bari, Colin Berry and Brian Spoors. First up was an emphatic 6-0 win for Bari over Spoors, a win which took Bari to joint top of the league. Bari dominated a match in which Spoors struggled to keep possession of the ball. Spoors almost managed to reach half-time only a single goal down but conceded in the last seconds of the half. Although he did have a couple of chances, the tale of the second period for Spoors was one of collapse.

Spoors’ performance was much improved in his second match against Colin Berry. He retained possession much better but although he did create opportunities, the search for that first goal continues. A single first half goal was enough for Berry to take all three points.

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The evening finished with a remarkable game between Bari and Berry. A draw would have been enough for Bari to go clear at the top of the league. Although the first half finished goal-less, Bari looked the much likelier to score. Shortly into the second half Bari took a deserved lead with a lovely angled chip from the right wing. As Bari continued to attack Berry broke forward to win a free-kick which led to him firing home the equaliser. As Bari pressed forward the Berry defence held firm. Then, with seconds remaining Berry again counter-attacked, sending a long ball into the Bari area and following up with a strike from distance on the run. He could not have made a better connection and the ball bulleted into the top corner. All present were stunned. The whistle sounded. It was a win Berry scarcely deserved but then again no-one could disagree that it was a goal fit to win any match.

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Bari60Spoors
Berry10Spoors
Berry21Bari

The league table can be viewed here.

Club Night 4/11/19

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The final of the Association Cup, held over from last season was finally played tonight. Willie Fleming who had edged out Tom Burns in the semi-final, faced Baver Bari. The two had recently played a league match which ended in a narrow Fleming victory. Fleming took an early lead. Both players then had chances but a major controversy arose just before half-time. Fleming thought that his shot had resulted in a second goal but Bari and sections of the on-lookers were convinced that the ball had hit the bar and had not crossed the line. The referee, however, had immediately awarded the goal and was not to be persuaded otherwise.

The second half started well for Bari as he hit back with only a minute gone. Thereafter Fleming tried to smother the game and Bari, when he did get possession, was too rushed in his play and surrendered the ball too easily. With time running out Fleming was able to seal victory with a third goal and thus take the club’s most prestigious trophy.

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In the league Tom Burns went to the top of the table, albeit on goal difference, with two victories. The first was a comfortable victory over Brian Spoors and the second a difficult 1-0 win over Willie Fleming. Fleming could count himself unlucky to lose all the points in this match. Dave Gladman also maintained his 100% record coming from behind to defeat Dave Houston. Houston scored straight from the kick-off with a piercing move through the middle of the Gladman defence and held the lead until half-time. Gladman showed some resilience by equalising and then scoring a late winner. Houston was disappointed to suffer a second narrow defeat, this time to Baver Bari who moved up to third place.

The league table can be viewed here.

Association Cup Final

Fleming31Bari

League

Burns10Fleming
Houston12Gladman
Burns50Spoors
Bari10Houston

Club Night 21/10/19

Five games took place this evening.

Bari01Fleming
Berry11Mathieson
Fleming70Spoors
Gladman30Berry
Bari53McKenzie

Dave Gladman managed to consolidate his position at the top of the league with a 3-0 victory over Colin Berry. Gladman has started the league preferring playing a faster game than his slower possession style. This allowed Berry much more possession and opportunities than is normal against Gladman but he was unable to take any of those opportunities. In contrast Gladman was able to breach the usually solid Berry defence by employing swift attacking moves. Berry did manage to get his first point on the table, coming from behind to draw 1-1 with John Mathieson. Berry took only a minute to equalise after losing a first half goal. Berry was able to prevent Mathieson reproducing his flowing play of last week but a share of the points was probably fair.

Willie Fleming opened his campaign with two wins, the first a hard fought one against Baver Bari. Although both players had numerous chances, only one goal was scored. Bari could reasonably argue that he deserved to take something from this match. Fleming had less difficulty in his second match with a crushing victory over Brian Spoors.

The club welcomed the return to action of Ronnie McKenzie in a high scoring match against Baver Bari. McKenzie scored first but found himself 3-2 down at half-time. The outcome was in doubt until the final moment when Bari sealed the match with a fifth goal.

The full league table can be seen here.