The Paella and The Plate

The extra long weekend saw the opportunity to sneak in some extra Subbuteo and 11 players turned out to take advantage. With players competing for The Paella Plate, a Spanish theme was used for the tournament, with play preceded by lunch of paella, tortilla and vino, then players each choosing a Spanish club to represent in the Swiss format competition. 10 players competed, while newcomer, Bay, elected to watch and play a few friendly games to get himself acquainted with the rules and techniques.

Highlights of the day’s play included AGP U/15 champion, Jonty Brener (Villarreal), win one of his first senior matches in the first round, Harley Ullrich (Espanyol) scoring one of the goals of the day with a low, drilled far-post rocket from a tight angle, Adrian Elmer (Hércules) picking up his first competitive points against Fabrizio Coco (Athletic de Bilbao) in 18 months and Dave Sultana (Celta de Vigo) firstly scoring his first competitive goal, then picking up his first competitive points with another goal in a 1-1 draw in the following match.

After 3 rounds, 3 players were level on 7 points. So, heading into the 4th and final round, Daniele Lombardi (Atletico de Madrid) was ahead on goal difference from Steve Dettre (Valencia), who he would face, and Eliot Kennedy (Barça) who was paired with Neil Brener (Málaga). Daniele came out victorious in the first of those match-ups 2-0, including a trademark goal on the run to finally settle the very tight match, while Neil’s ‘keeper was in inspired form, keeping Eliot out for large swathes of the match. While Eliot picked up the result to keep him level with Daniele, he was unable to beat Neil’s ‘keeper enough times to rein in Daniele’s superior goal difference. Meanwhile, both Tony Credentino (Deportivo de La Coruña) and Adrian, hoping to slip past Steve into a minor placing, cancelled each other out in their tight 0-0 draw, relegating them both to mid-table obscurity.
Maybe it was the food, maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the holiday, but the afternoon was one of the most relaxed tournaments in recent memory, with all players competing sportingly in great spirits. Many thanks to those who played, making it a great afternoon.

Full results here: http://subbuteoaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2016-March-Paella-Plate-WASPA.html

(Original report by Adrian Elmer here: http://subbuteoaustralia.com/?p=2423)