Saturday, March 16, 2024
FitDistrict Training Studio, Bella Vista
The Falcons came, they saw, they conquered. On what was, results wise, not to be a great day for Western Sydney Subbuteo, it was the three visitors from Northern Falcons - Adrian G, Louie and Steve - who would take the honours, though nothing was quite straightforward with no player being able to completely dominate.
There was much excitement as Phil joined for his first ever tournament, bringing along his old lightweight Bradford City team for their first run out since a curry and beer evening back in his homeland in 1989. He was given a quick brush up on 21st century rule developments and thrown in at the deep end against Louie, suffering a 2-0 defeat but making a great fist of it for his first game in 35 years. Ray went ahead with a superb goal on the run against Adrian E, but was pegged back by a reciprocal, on the run, goal. Neither could find a winner, though Ray's 'keeper was named figure of the match. Adrian G used his experience to ease to a 2-0 victory over Tim, while Steve finished with the same result against Hipfingerz' Geoff.
In a very tight set of Round 2 fixtures, Louis beat Adrian E for the second time in succession, winning with a goal that was so surprising to both players that neither could quite figure out what had happened, except that the ball was in the back of the net! Geoff led for much of his game against Ray, only for Ray to find an equaliser with another goal on the run with the final flick of the match. Tim took a 1-0 win against Phil, which Phil was counting as a moral victory, the first of many moral victories he will win as a 'new' player! Adrian G continued his march to the top of the table with a 1-0 victory over Steve.
The Round 3 top-of-the-table clash between Adrian G and Louie lived up to expectations, with both players cancelling each other out and unable to bother the scoreboard attendants. Adrian E took an early lead over Geoff and game managed the rest of the match to finish with the win. But the action was all happening in the Ray vs Phil clash. Within 30 seconds there was uproar as Phil felt he had scored his first goal of the day, only to be denied by Ray and his controversial insistence on correctly applying the rules of the game. Ray then went ahead and was looking to ease to a comfortable victory, only for Phil to keep coming back at him, scoring an equalising 2nd goal in the final minute of play to record both his first competitive goals and his first competitive points.
Adrian E needed a victory over Adrian G in the final round to have any hope of winning the tournament, but could not find a way through in a very even, end to end match in which both players had their chances but in which neither could stamp their authority. Likewise, Steve could leapfrog his Louie with a victory over his son but, in the end, had to settle for a 1-1 draw, Louie holding on to his place at the top of the table. Geoff picked up his first win of the day with a victory over Phil, while Ray finished the day with his undefeated record in tact, courtesy of his fourth successive draw, this time against Tim. Talk about an accommodating host!!
With Louie and Adrian G finishing level on 8 points, and, having drawn their game against each other, it came down to Power Ranking points to determine the winner. Adrian G came out on top courtesy of having picked up his results against stronger opponents, overall, across the afternoon. The 1-2 Falcons finish was then reinforced by Steve's 3rd place finish, leaving the Western Sydney Subbuteo players, along with Geoff from Hipfingerz, to fill out the rest of the final table.
Another hugely enjoyable few hours of Subbuteo, highlighted by an excited new player keen to return again. Huge congratulations to Adrian G on his victory. It will now be up to the Western Sydney players to lift their game and reclaim their homeground advantage in next month's tournament!
(Story by Adrian Elmer)
Original post: https://sites.google.com/view/westernsydneysubbuteo/tournaments?0#h.wqccv2a3u4zs
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