Action packed 2017 Pretoria Cup event

Saturday 8 April 2017, Pretoria, South Africa

The event attracted a field of 11 entries and was played under two catergories where the top 5 ranked players competed in the Cup section (A section) and the
remaining 6 players competed in the Plate section (B section).

Cup Section Summary (Regional tournament)
The event started in explosive fashion when Chessray Jooste dispatched of Bevin Reed by 2-1 : an action packed match where Chessray scored two goals in the
space of a minute, and Bevin managing the consolation only within the last minute of play. Kegan vd Merwe scored with only 50 sec left on the clock to hand
Jayden vd Merwe a first round defeat by 1-0. In Round 2 , Kegan then scored two goals in the final two minutes of play to beat Julian vd Merwe by 2-0 with Kegan topping the standings at that stage. Bevin & Jayden then produced a thrilling 0-0 result, with Jayden hugely unlucky to hit the post no less than three times in the match! Julian & Chessray then produced an entertaining 1-1 draw, with Julian taking the lead after 10min but Chessray was back level a minute later!
In Round 3, Bevin defeated Kegan by 1-0 and when Chessray beat Jayden by 1-0 it was Chessray who went top for the first time on the day - it is worth mentioning that these two matches played out at the same time, and the goals were scored exactly at the same time in each match! Jayden then salvaged some pride on
the day by way of a full time strike to win 1-0 over Julian. In the final round of action, Bevin then fought to a 1-0 victory over Julian - a match where Julian hit the post three times, and Bevin scoring with only 10sec left on the clock.
That result secured 3rd place overall for Bevin on the day. Then the final match saw Kegan v Chessray - a "winner takes all" encounter which started at a very cautious pace, but when Chessray took the lead, Kegan then responded with attacking play and found himself back level with 5min still left on the clock. However, a little too late for Kegan as the draw was enough for Chessray to claim the 2017 Pretoria Cup prize. This triumph marks Chessray's 9th WASPA title to date!

Plate Section Summary (promotional tournament)
As was expected, goals were always going to be at a premium in this category - as was evident by way of several 0-0 results over the various rounds of play. However, this did not decrease the excitement levels as the points standings were constantly changing and adding to the thrills of this category throughout the day!
The much anticipated and talked about match up between newcomer Marlin Boyd and Adam Murray got this section underway and it was Marlin who walked away with the bragging rights thanks to a 1-0 victory! Elsewhere pre-section favourite Stanton Nortjie had to settle for a point by way of a frustrating 0-0 draw with newcomer Osvaldo van Niekerk.
The big matchup in Round 2 saw Marlin earn another point over Stanton - the result surprising all as Marlin suddenly found himself setting the pace in this category by remaining top after two rounds of play! In Round 3, Neilon Waterson held Marlin to a 0-0 draw and when Rowin Wilson beat Osvaldo by 2-0 the lead suddenly changed as Rowin was now on top. Stanton continued his unbeaten run to earn a draw against Adam.
In Round 4, Neilon preserved his unbeaten run to hold the much fancied Adam to a draw. Mayhem then followed when Osvaldo recored a 1-0 win over Marlin - all eyes were now focused on the final match of Rowin v Stanton. A win for Stanton would declare him Pretoria Plate winner whereas a draw for Rowin would afford him the honours. Would Stanton deliver - as he could not manage a win in the previous 3 rounds of play all day ? Rowin's disciplined defending in the match was not helping Stanton at all - as Stanton's attacks down the middle, to the right, down the middle again could not find an opening. Then with 50sec left, Stanton tried a sweeping attack down the left wing for the first time - a wise choice as the move rewarded Stanton with an opening which he converted to win the match and the 2017 Pretoria Plate by 1-0! A momentary lapse by Rowin as he suffered his only defeat on the day, and he certainly deserved a bit more than 2nd place based on his overall performance on the day!

In the end, a very enjoyable day of Subbuteo action......once again!
Thanks to all who attended and helped to make the day a huge success as always!!

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

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