(Report by Julian vd Merwe)
The 2016 edition of the PFC Gold Cup was played under the theme "EURO 2016" with each player "adopting" a nation from the Euro's. We had 8 entries with the following nations partaking : France, Belgium, Croatia, Portugal, England, Germany, Italy & Poland. The players got to play 4 matches by way of random draw - with 2 points per win & 1 point per draw awarded. What followed was some tasty match-ups which afforded the "fallen giants" from the 2016 Euro's the chance to "rise up" again !!! Aside from a few "runaway" results, the match-ups produced some evenly contested matches & we witnessed 29 goals scored on the day, dished up "the Subbuteo way". The shock result came as early as Round 1 when Sherwin (Germany) beat Julian (France) by 1-0, a result which marked Sherwin's first ever triumph over Julian!
At the end of Round 1, Chessray (Croatia) went top of the standings after a thrilling 2-1 victory over Kegan (Portugal).
Round 2 produced two massive results as Jayden (Belgium) was held 0-0 by Sherwin (Germany) and elsewhere Kegan (Portugal) equalised with a long range shot against Bevin (England) to earn a 1-1 draw !!! Round 2 also saw Adam (Italy) record his highest scoring match to date, as he beat Subbuteo debutant Bradley Drywer (Poland) by 3-0!
Round 3 then shaped the day's event. A defensive error by table topping Chessray (Croatia) allowed Bevin (England) to win the match 1-0, the result knocking Chessray back to 4th place. Sherwin (Germany) then beat debutant Bradley (Poland) by 1-0 to tie elder brother Bevin at the top on 5 points. The last match of Round 3 produced the "match of the day" - more so for the response from Jayden (Belgium). The match got off with Julian (France) taking the lead after 2min's. Jayden knew a big response was needed if he were to successfully defend his 2015 Gold Cup title - Jayden stormed back with fast furious attacking play to score 4 unanswered goals in a constant 8 min assault on Julian's goal to triumph by 4-1 and reclaim top spot at the end of the round !!! At the end of Round 3 we had three players tied on 5 points each, making Round 4 matches even more intense.Chessray (Croatia) beat Adam (Italy) by 2-0 to end the day 3rd overall - an effort which saw Chessray rewarded with the new PFC club shirt. Jayden (Belgium) beat elder brother Kegan (Portugal) by 3-0 to maintain 1st spot with 7 points. Bradley (Poland) gave Julian (France) a real scare as he hit Julian's left post but in the end Bradley earned his first point by way of a 0-0 draw, bringing host Julian's (France) miserable day to an end !!! When the two brothers Sherwin (Germany) and Bevin (England) met, the objective was clear - a win for either would tie Jayden on 7 points to force the event into a Final Play-Off match. Bevin secured that Play-Off match thanks to a 3-0 win over Sherwin. The result saw the ever improving Sherwin capture 4th place overall on the day. As was expected, the Final between PFC's top two ranked players produced a quiet, tense but yet exciting affair - a defensive error by Bevin (England) on 4 min's allowed Jayden (Belgium) to take the lead. With 3min's left to play, Bevin done well to penetrate Jayden's tight defense but saw his final shot go sailing over Jayden's crossbar! In the end Jayden held out to win the Final by 1-0, to successfully defend his Gold Cup crown and record his first title for the 2016 calendar year after so many runner up placings for the year. As is now customary, Jayden was also rewarded with the new PFC club shirt for his efforts. Finally, PFC wishes to welcome newcomer Bradley Drywer to it's ranks - happy flicking!
Thanks to all for attending and making the day a success once again.
Final Standings
Jayden vd Merwe (Belgium)
Bevin Reed (England)
Chessray Jooste (Croatia)
Sherwin Reed (Germany)
Adam Murray (Italy)
Kegan vd Merwe (Portugal)
Bradley Drywer (Poland)
Julian vd Merwe (France)
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