The format of the event due to time constraints was for 2 groups of 4 with the group winners going straight to the final.
Malc was always going to be hot favourite for group 2 and so it transpired as he made light work of all the players. However it was good to see a new player attending the club and having his first taste of subbuteo and hopefully Shinpad will keep coming back for some more Hot Club Subbuteo action.
Group 1 would be a tighter affair with Mike and Dave starting as favourites but the recent form of Craig meant he couldnt be ruled out and the ever improving "Crazy" John Marshall looking to throw a spanner in the works somewhere along the line. Mike and Dave both started off with comfortable wins with neither Craig or John able to trouble them. The second round of group games saw Craig take a tight 1-0 win against John whilst the virtual group decider between Mike and Dave finished 1-1. Dave took an early lead and Mike equalised before half time. The second half saw no more goals so it went to the last round of games and it would go down to goal difference in their respective last matches to see who would go to the final against Malc. Mike with a slight goal advantage beat Craig 1-0 but Dave showed no mercy and against John to win 4-0 and take top spot in the group on goal difference.
Dave and Malc would play out a tight, tense match which could have gone either way. Malc took the lead with a long range vital strike and dave equalised in the 2nd half with a well worked goal down the left hand side and scored before Malc could set his keeper. The match went to shots and Dave took it 2-1 scoring his first shot and his last shot but missing the 11 shots in between! Malc scored to make it 1-1 with his 3rd shot but a mixture of erratic shooting and amazing goalkeeping saw the shots go to the 2nd round of sudden death shots where Dave planted his shot in the onion bag over Malcs keeper and with Malc having to score to stay in it he hit his shot high wide and handsome to give Dave his 1st WASPA win and deny himself of a second title!
All the players enjoyed the evening and welcomed playing matches that had a friendly but competitive edge. Special mention to Shinpad for playing in the event at his first ever club meeting and picking up the rules so quickly and a second mention for the Rugby Club who provided the players with some tidy pies on a cold evening in South Queensferry. We hope to build on this for our next WASPA event, "The Pizza Invitational" and look forward to welcoming all the Hot Club players back (and anyone else that wants to play) for that event next month!
(Report by Mike Burns)
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