Northern Phoenix WASPA No.1

Table Football finally arrived to Melbourne’s northern suburbs with the Northern Phoenix TFC hosting its inaugural WASPA on the evening of Friday, 02nd June. Six competitors took part in the event - a round robin competition – each player competing against one another in a five match league format. Ten minute halves were the order of the day as players representing four various TFC franchises jostled for the honour of taking home the inaugural Northern Phoenix title.
The first game of the evening had an extraordinary start as outsider Kevin Grant scored within the opening 60 seconds of the contest against Steve Dettre. A major upset was looming however it wasn’t long before Australia’s Subbuteo Godfather equalised, going on to win the contest 3-1 in a highly entertaining encounter. As the games unfolded, it became apparent that the race for the top prize would be a two horse contest between Steve Dettre and Benny Ng. Both competitors cancelled each other out in their Round Two head to head clash after battling out a 0-0 stalemate. It wasn’t until Round Four however that Ng took the outright lead in the competition after Dettre could only manage a draw against the competition’s host - Chris Garagounis. Ng kept his composure and went on to secure the inaugural Northern Phoenix Waspa after sealing a 2-0 victory against Kevin Grant in the final round of competition.

In other highlights, Simon Briffa continued his fine table football form by notching up a win and two admirable draws in a highly free flowing display on the evening. Paul Mercer also produced a similar output, showing why he remains one of Victoria’s top flickers with a very composed and calculated performance. It is an even more impressive achievement when one considers he hasn’t taken part in any competition for the past four months.
In summary, the 15 matches produced a total of 27 goals in what was a sure sign of how defences dominated proceedings during the course of the evening. More importantly, a fun night was had by all as the Northern Phoenix launched itself onto the Australian Table Football Scene.

(Report by Christos Garagounis)