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.
On January 10 we were joined by Lindsay Hamilton of Glasgow Football Tour. Check out their website here.
Lindsay spent the whole evening at the club filming the action and interviewing the players. She has produced a short film about the club which you must view here
Two Glasgow Cup Group B games were played. Willie Fleming drew 1-1 with Dave Gladman. Gladman took an early lead but Fleming drew level just before half-time. In the second match Fleming joined Gladman on four points with a 1-0 win over Tom Burns. In the league John Halpin and Dave Butler fought out a 1-1 draw. This put Halpin on top of the league, one point clear of Tom Burns. Butler remains undefeated but three of his matches have now finished in a draw.
Fleming defeats Burns in a somewhat fractious matchAnother draw for Butler
FISTF competition returns to Glasgow in February next year with an International Open. Not many FISTF events took place in 2020 and the Glasgow Grand Prix was one of the last, shortly before the pandemic hit.
Unfortunately because of the uncertainty which the pandemic continues to cause, the club took the decision not to run a GP. We do not know how international travel will look come February. It seemed more prudent to organise the smaller scale International Open. The competition will not be held at our usual venue of the much loved Normandy Hotel in Renfrew. Instead we will be playing in the west end of Glasgow at the Royal British Legion.
The event is open to all registered FISTF players but due to the smaller scale there will be a limit on the number of participants.
For more information and to register please visit::
On a wet and windy night only five players braved the conditions to play. Four cup matches were played.
First up was a preliminary round match in the Handicap Cup. Dave Gladman started a goal to the good against Dave Butler. Gladman’s strategy was clear from the start – keep possession. In the first half he did this pretty well, limiting Butler to one really good opportunity. Butler had much more of the ball in the second period and probably feels that he should have taken one of the two or three excellent chances he had. The Gladman goal survived, however, and he progresses to the next round where he will start his match against Brian Spoors with a four-goal deficit.
All the other matches were in the Glasgow Cup. Ryan McPhail played his first matches in Group A, against Dave Gladman and Baver Bari, players expected to finish in the top two places in the group. In the first match he demonstrated the improvement he has made in defensive skills losing only 1-0 to Baver Bari. In the second he proved that he knew something about attacking as well, taking a shock 2-0 half-time lead over Dave Gladman. Gladman is undefeated in league and cup this season and he was fresh from his Handicap Cup victory over Dave Butler. That record remains intact, however, as he scored two second half goals to secure a point which ensures that he finishes top of the group. McPhail, on the other hand, is starting to compete well and can be pleased with how his play is progressing.
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In Group B Dave Butler had a comfortable 3-0 win over Colin Berry. Butler scored in his first attack . Berry was never allowed to settle, his defence put under long periods of pressure for much of the game. After losing a goal so early he did well to resist the repeated waves of attack and limit Butler to two further goals. Butler moves to the top of Group B, ahead of Tom Burns on goal difference.
Handicap Cup
Preliminary Round
Gladman
1
0
Butler
Glasgow Cup
Bari
1
0
McPhail
Gladman
2
2
McPhail
Butler
3
0
Berry
Glasgow Cup results and tables can be viewed here.
The first club night of 2020 saw four league games take place and also the welcome return of former club member, Andy Shearer (pictured below) on holiday from New Zealand. The league games saw Baver Baver try to gain revenge over Colin Berry for his previous last second defeat in their previous fixture. After an exciting end-to-end affair, it finished 1-1, with both goals coming in the first half. Either player could have won but some good Berry goalkeeping kept Bari from finding the winner.
Tom Burns then extended his pole position in the league with a win over Brian Spoors. Three goals in the first half ended any chance of an upset. The first alternative old firm derby for a few years between arch rivals Colin Berry and Ronnie McKenzie produced the major talking points of the night. The game started off at a frantic pace with Berry making his intentions clear by hitting both crossbar and post in the first ten minutes. Indeed it was Berry who landed the first blow with a well taken goal midway through the first half. Although Berry dominated the first half, it was McKenzie who took control of the second. With five minutes to go Berry failed to take a chance to make it 2-0. This was to prove costly as McKenzie scored with the last touch of the game. A speculative long shot took an eternity to find the back of the net. Even although the ball crossed the line well after the final whistle had gone, crucially, McKenzie had flicked before the buzzer had sounded. The players had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Berry has improved significantly this year and and is now just one point short of last season’s total.
The final game of the evening saw Burns and McKenzie play out a ding dong match with chances galore. It was McKenzie who got karma, losing a goal in the last thirty seconds to go down 1-0. His fine play, however, will surely produce more positive results as the season progresses.
Only 3 matches played tonight and all were in the Glasgow Cup. In Group A Tom Burns looks likely to finish top after a 3-1 win over Dave Gladman. Burns took the lead in the first half only for Gladman to equalise just before the break. Burns got back in front in the second period and as Gladman committed players forward Burns sealed the victory with a third. Gladman is favourite to finish second but his final match is against Dave Houston who has proved a difficult opponent for Gladman in recent games.
The other 2 matches were both in Group B and both involved Malcolm Lees. Lees made a strong start to the season in the SPSL but has struggled to find his form in more recent matches and so it proved tonight. He suffered two 2-1 defeats against first, Willie Fleming and then John Halpin. Both opponents were well worthy of their victories and for John Halpin it was his second win over Lees in a row. All three players are likely to progress from the group but the final order is unlikely to be what would have been predicted.
