Eastern Bloc Dictator Fulfils His Iron Curtain Dream

Lakeside Cup, the inaugural WASPA tournament at Lakeside Futsal in Albert Park, Melbourne, was hosted by MTFC on the 9th of December 2017. A total of 10 players entered the tournament on neutral territory, for what is seen now as the central hub for Melbourne Subbuteo. For what it went down as a little bit chaotic where players had to mind junior futsal players coming in and out through the futsal courts and couldn’t help themselves have a go at the game on a spare table. Luke couldn’t enjoy his souvlaki peacefully as there would be a handful of curious rogue junior onlookers who were more interested touching the expensive personal gear rather than experimenting with the beginners sets. The tzatziki sauce had eventually run down to the bottom of the souvlaki roll and it just became an awkward soggy mess and the chips had gone cold.

But nonetheless the group stages had finally been completed after the lunch break where both Luke and Paul had claimed all 4 wins and faced Christos and Simon respectively in the semi’s. Those who did not make the top 2 in the group of 5 were placed in the placing finals where they play their opponent who achieved the same position as them in the group stage. Both fixtures between Anthony and Kevin, Arjuna and Juan had ended in 0-0 draws and went to penalties.

Anthony and Arjuna came out victorious finishing on 5th and 7th place.  The two brothers of Alex and Harrison faced each other for 9th place where Harrison came out as the victor with a 3-0 result.


The semi-finals were extremely tight and heated contests. Paul defeated Simon 2-1 while Luke defeated Christos 1-0. Luke had considered himself lucky as he managed to make 4 crucial reflex saves against Christos and cruelly went 1-0 up late on in the second half on the counter while still maintaining his clean sheet since the group stage.

The final was end to end action between Luke and Paul, both missing clear cut chances and having their shots saved after saved. The decider had also ended in a 1-0 margin late in the second half as well, but it took something special to break through Paul’s stubborn defensive line, with a 1-2 touching run down the middle of the defensive wall through the tiniest of gaps and a high risk in a possession turnover. Luke would consider himself lucky as everything seemed coming up Milhouse for him on the day.

The Melbourne Dictator of the East had won the Lakeside Cup without conceding a single goal and will temporarily rule the city with a tiny iron fist until the Asian Cup where he will be inevitably belted and be brought down back to reality.

In the meantime, the search for an un-interrupted souvlaki meal session continues…

The final standings:
1 Luke Radziminski
2 Paul Mercer
3 Christos Garagounis
4 Simon Briffa
5 Anthony Madiona
6 Kevin Grant
7 Arjuna Hanafi
8 Juan Menendes
9 Harrison Briffa
10 Alex Briffa