Peter Thomas winner in Melbourne

Northern Phoenix Waspa No.5
Friday 27th July 2018

The fifth Northern Phoenix WASPA took place on Friday the 27th July, 2018.

In what was undoubtedly the best ever Grand Final match hosted by the Northern Phoenix TFC, Peter Thomas took out Waspa honours with a hard fought victory over a gallant Luke Radziminski. In a tense and exciting encounter, the victory had to be decided by a penalty shoot-out after regulation and extra time couldn’t separate both combatants. Radziminski took a surprise early lead after just two minutes however Thomas struck back in the eighth and tenth minutes of the first half to take the lead. The match continued at a frenetic pace with both players missing chances to register further goals. Just when it looked like the final would finish 2-1 in Peter’s favour, Radziminski took his opportunity and struck the equalizier with 2 minutes left on the clock. At 2-2, extra time followed however both goalkeepers proved a stubborn last line of defence and would simply not be denied. In the shoot-out, Thomas held his nerve to register a famous 3-1 win.

The format for the evening included dividing all eight flickers into two groups – Thomas and Radziminski being allocated seeds in each group. All Round One matches were played in the now popular ‘Super 20’ format were each game lasted 20 minutes (no half time break being exercised). All subsequent Play-Off matches undertook a FISTF format i.e. thirty minute encounters with half time allocation allowing players to swap ends at the break.

In the Semi-Finals, Peter Thomas was ruthless against ATFA president Benji Batten securing a 9-1 victory although Luke Radziminski didn’t have it all his own way in the other decider against Christos Garagounis. In a close and even battle, late goals at the end of each half gave the MTFC President a 2-0 victory over his Northern Phoenix counterpart.

In other Play-Off matches, Paul Mercer took the honours 2-0 against the constantly improving Anthony Madiona in a thoroughly entertaining and free flowing encounter. In the other game, Beth Eveleigh and Kevin Grant went head to head in a tense and even contest that would only be decided by a single goal. On this occasion, it was ‘The Carpenter’ who notched up the win against Northern Phoenix’s own 2018 Asian Cup runner-up. No third place Play-Off match was contested so both losing semi-finalists shared the bronze medal honours.

All in all, the evening served up some wonderful table football at a venue that is fast becoming recognised as the home of subbuteo in the northern suburbs. The organisers would like to take this opportunity to thank the generosity of Darebin United (Apollo) Soccer Club for making the Mayer Park facilities available and supporting table football.

Final Standings:
1. Peter Thomas
2. Luke Radziminski
3. Christos Garagounis & Benji Batten
5. Paul Mercer
6. Anthony Madiona
7. Kevin Grant
8. Beth Eveleigh