Sven Schilling wins in Pretoria

Saturday 7 December 2019, Pretoria, South Africa
The 2019 Pretoria season came to an end this weekend, and PFC was honoured by the visit of German player, Sven Schilling from St Pauli SC.

A cold, wet & rainy December day saw 8 participants compete for the 2019 PFC Copa del Clausura - we had two Groups of 4 players, where the top 2 from each Group were to progress to the knockout rounds. The bottom 2 from each Group would go on to contest the Plate section.

Group 1 delivered no surprises as Sven Schilling and Jayden vd Merwe progressed to the Copa del Clausura knock-out round. Perhaps the only surprise was that Kegan vd Merwe ended 3rd in Group 1 as he battled to find the superb form he had shown over the past 3 months. The pick of Group 1 action was the final Group match which ended Sven 1-1 Jayden. A match where Sven took the lead, and Jayden (patient as always) got the equaliser. In real time, it appeared as if Sven got the winner late on for a 2-1 win - with what seemed as if the ball struck the inside netting on it's way out again, but VAR operator (Bevin Reed) intervened to clearly point out that the ball struck the upright on it's way out instead! All academic in the end as both players were happy with the draw to progress to the semi finals.

Group 2 delivered a "mixed bag" of results, with Bevin Reed and Gary Downs progressing to the Copa del Clausura knock-out round. But there was enough drama in this Group - as Gary showed excellent goalkeeping skills to post an unbeaten run to justify his progression to the semi final. In Match 7, Julian vd Merwe caused an upset by dispatching of Chessray Jooste by 1-0. In Match 11, Chessray took a 1-0 lead over Bevin, but Bevin got the equaliser to top the group and confine Chessray to a Plate semi final!

The Plate Semi Final 1 produced an epic clash between Kegan vd Merwe and Chessray Jooste - with Kegan taking the lead after 5 min of play, for Chessray to equalise 2 min later. Chessray then took the lead with 5 min left to play, with Kegan getting the equaliser 3 min from the end. In the end, Chessray progressed by 2-1 on penalty shots. The Plate Semi Final 2 only came to life in the last 5 min of play as both Julian vd Merwe and Conway Julie started probing and attacking - drama unfolded as Julian got the winner with just 3 seconds left to play to progress to the Plate Final!
In the Plate Final, both Chessray and Julian made some good saves to keep the score at 0-0, then one defensive error by Julian allowed Chessray in to clinch the Plate Final by 1-0. Perhaps some "revenge" for Chessray as he overturned the 1-0 Group 2 loss to Julian!

The Cup Semi Final 1 saw Gary Downs score a stunner to take the lead over Sven Schilling after 9 min of play, with Sven producing an immediate response to score on 11 min and then on 13 min again to progress to the Cup Final. In the other Cup Semi Final, Bevin Reed scored after 6 min of play, with Jayden vd Merwe equalising 4 min later to force the match into a shoot-out. In the end, Bevin prevailed by 3-2 on shots over Jayden, for Bevin to set up a Cup Final against Sven.
A tense Cup Final then unfolded, with Bevin holding his own against our German visitor, but in the end Sven scored twice in the last third of the allocated time to run out as 2-0 winner, and in so doing Sven Schilling captured the 2019 PFC Copa del Clausura title!

In the end, a memorable and enjoyable day as the curtain drops on the 2019 PFC Season!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Sven Schilling ended the day as the top scorer, including the fastest goal on the day - timed at 45 sec vs Conway Julie
"Safe Hands" : Gary Downs for good goalkeeping skills all day
"Moment of the Day" : Kegan vd Merwe had the goal of the day in his final Group 1 match vs Conway Julie
"Player of the Day" : Bevin Reed - posting an unbeaten run on his way to the final vs Sven Schilling

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. A BIG thanks goes out to Sven Schilling for competing in his first Pretoria event !!!!
Next - the PFC 2019 Season Awards on Saturday 14 December 2019.

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Bevin Reed wins the 2019 Scudo Campioni

Saturday 16 November 2019, Pretoria, South Africa : 
The 2019 edition of the Scudo Campioni event attracted a field of 8 players, including a return to the tables for Adam Murray after an 18 month lay-off. In Round 1 action, Kegan vd Merwe recorded a 1-0 win over 2018 defending Scudo Campioni Champion Jayden vd Merwe. Then, Conway Julie recorded a 1-0 win over Julian vd Merwe, and in so doing Conway became the first player to score on the newly laid "BUSBY PARK" pitch!
Chessray Jooste and Adam Murray probably produced the match of the day in Round 1, as Chessray scored after just 20 seconds of play. Adam then came back to take a 2-1 lead, whereafter Chessray pulled it back to 2-2 and then Chessray got a 3-2 win, scoring the winner direct from a corner kick - in off Adam's goalkeeper rod! Chessray went top of the standings at that point - actually Chessray went on to maintain the top spot right until the start of Round 4 matches.
The pick of Round 2 action saw Julian take a 1-0 lead over Kegan, only for Kegan to equalise with a contender for "goal of the day" - a sweetly struck low shot from a tightly marked position, squeezing in between keeper and post!
Round 3 action saw Gary Downs play to a 1-1 draw against Adam, with Adam pulling off one great save to deny Gary the win! Jayden got his title defense back on track with a hard fought 1-0 win over Julian, for Jayden to go 3rd on the day. Then, the top of the table clash saw Bevin Reed and Chessray Jooste play out to a tightly contested 0-0 draw.
Round 4 saw Gary and Conway play out a 0-0 draw - after much "talk" from both players leading up to the match, but in the end the "talking" was not matched with any goals! Adam then took a 1-0 lead over Julian, with Julian keeping calm - getting the equaliser 5 seconds from the end to salvage some pride on the day. Bevin Reed then scored a late goal to dispatch of Jayden's challenge - a must win game for both players, as a win for either would have secured a play-off place.
The pick of Round 4 saw Kegan triumph by 2-0 over Chessray - with Kegan clinching the Final play-off place against Bevin. That result was Chessray's only loss on the day, and it came at the wrong time for Chessray - as a win for Chessray would have made him the outright 2019 Scudo Campioni winner. A draw for Chessary would have earned the play-off final against Bevin!
The Play-off Rounds then produced more drama - as Conway Julie beat Jayden vd Merwe by 2-1 on penalty shots for the 4/5th place play-off. Chessray Jooste then beat Conway Julie by 3-1 on penalty shots, for Chessray to claim 3rd place overall.
The Final Play-off match : Kegan vd Merwe dominated possession but could not penetrate a well organised defensive line adopted by Bevin Reed, and Bevin was forced to play on the counter attack. At one stage it seemed like Kegan had accepted that this final will have to be decided on penalty shots, as he (Kegan) had thrown everything at Bevin. Then….one chance (and Bevin's only chance) right at the end saw the pace on the shot deceive Kegan, for the ball to creep in and hand Bevin the 2019 Scudo Campioni title!
Afterwards, Bevin declared that he was the "luckiest player in Pretoria" on the day. Nonetheless, this triumph marks Bevin Reed's 16th WASPA title to date!

Final Standings
1. Bevin Reed
2. Kegan vd Merwe
3. Chessray Jooste
4. Conway Julie
5. Jayden vd Merwe
6. Gary Downs
7. Julian vd Merwe
8. Adam Murray

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Result of the Day" : Conway Julie for his 1-0 Round 1 win over Julian, becoming the first player to score on the newly laid "BUSBY PARK" pitch
"Safe Hands" : Adam Murray pulled off no less than 10 good saves during his 4 group matches
"Moment(s) of the Day" : Chessray Jooste had 3 goals voted as the best on the day, including the fastest goal - timed at 20 seconds
"Player of the Day" : Kegan vd Merwe - posting an unbeaten run and forcing a play-off final against Bevin Reed

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. Next - the PFC Copa del Clausura.

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at :
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Cape Town Open 2019

A rainy day in Cape Town provided the perfect backdrop to this year’s Open tournament. A relaxed, fun afternoon, with plenty of laughter, jibes and goals. And a truly fantastic display of the old Subbuteo equipment and accessories by local collector Brendon!

The final capped it all off - an epic affair, decided ultimately by a dramatic own-goal in the last minute of play. Clinton Gahwiler took the honors while Wayne McKenzie was runner-up!

Jayden van der Merwe retains the League 3 Cup

Saturday 19 October 2019, Kempton Park, South Africa : 
Pretoria Flickers Club travelled to Bonaero Park for the staging of the 3rd and final leg of this year's League Championship. We had 6 players competing for the PFC League 3 Cup.
Pre-tournament favourites Bevin Reed and Jayden van der Merwe appeared to have laid the ghost to rest of their respective dismal runs during the League 2 Cup back in August. Indeed it was these two players who set the pace from start to finish, with Bevin leading the standings right up until Match 29 and Jayden constantly occupying the 2nd spot all day.
Kegan van der Merwe had a big say in his four scheduled matches against Bevin & Jayden, as Kegan managed a draw against them in all four those matches.
Those draws ultimately cost Bevin the individual honour of 2019 League 3 Cup winner, whereas the draws cost Jayden the honour of overall 2019 League Champion.
In the final match (Match 30), Jayden was only 1 point behind Bevin. A calm and patient approach by Jayden was rewarded as he triumphed by 2-0 over Conway Julie, and in so doing Jayden managed to retain his League 3 Cup title. This latest triumph also marks Jayden's 22nd WASPA title to date!
Although Jayden emerged as winner of the 2019 League 3 Cup, the triumph was not enough for him to retain his title as overall PFC League Champion. In the end Jayden only accumulated 39 points over the three League meetings. The honour of overall 2019 PFC League Champion was bestowed upon Bevin Reed as he managed to accumulate a total of 40 points over the three League meetings! Another closely contested League campaign in the end!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Bevin Reed ended the day as the top scorer
"Player of the Day" : Kegan vd Merwe for his 3rd place finish, boasting an unbeaten run on the day as well
"Fighting Spirit" : Conway Julie for his 4th place finish

PFC League Champions :
2014 : Jayden van der Merwe
2015 : Jayden van der Merwe
2016 : Chessray Jooste
2017 : Jayden van der Merwe
2018 : Jayden van der Merwe
2019 : Bevin Reed

A big thanks to Gary Downs and his wife for hosting us, and the serving of a wonderful lunch on the day.

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. Next - the PFC Scudo Campioni event.

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Poster of the next event in Pretoria

Kegan van der Merwe retains the Players Cup

Saturday 14 September2019, Pretoria, South Africa : 
The PFC Players Cup (Europa League event) attracted a field of 7 players - including a welcome return for Chessray Jooste after a 10 month lay-off! The event turned out to be possibly the most exciting one on the 2019 PFC calendar yet - with plenty goals, to make up for the "lack of goals" from last weekends Champions League event!
Kegan vd Merwe got the defense of his title off to the perfect start with an emphatic 2-0 win over Conway Julie in Match 1. In Match 4, Julian vd Merwe dispatched of a somewhat "rusty" Chessray Jooste by 2-0. By the end of Round 2, the lead had changed at the top as Bevin Reed had a convincing 3-0 win over Conway. Gary Downs played a very tactical match against Kegan - cutting off Kegan's midfield supply, and Gary capitalised on a midfield error by Kegan to inflict Kegan's only loss of the day, the 1-0 loss costing Kegan the top spot at that stage.
Round 3 action saw Chessray celebrate a 1-0 win over Bevin, with Chessray pulling off 3 good saves to deny Bevin! Then, both Gary and Julian missed the chance to go top (at Bevin's expense) as they played out to a thrilling 0-0 draw!
The final two rounds of play then really defined the day - firstly in Match 10, we were treated to fantastic goalkeeping display as Jayden vd Merwe and Chessray played out to a 0-0 draw, with Chessray pulling off no less than 5 good saves to deny Jayden, and Jayden answering with no less than 3 saves of his own!
Bevin then reclaimed top spot with a hard fought 2-1 win over Gary - with Bevin scoring the "goal of the day" in that match. In Match 12, Julian had the opportunity to win the event outright - if he could past Kegan with a win. It was Kegan who took the lead midway. Kegan would then go on to score a fantastic second goal, but it was rightly dissalowed for offside by the referee (Jayden) as Kegan had "forgotten" his right winger in an offside position - a lifeline for Julian! But Julian could not force the equaliser (and earn a possible play-off place) as Julian's only loss relegated him to a 3rd place finish!
In Macth 13, Chessray would earn a play-off place with a win over Conway, but their match ended 0-0 for Chessray to claim a 5th place finish.
Match 14 - the decider, as a draw for Kegan would earn a play-off place and a Jayden win would give Jayden the play-off place. Kegan took the lead on 4 minutes, but Jayden struck back on 8 minutes with a fierce near post shot! A late error by Jayden allowed Kegan a famous 2-1 win for Kegan to retain his Players Cup title, and in so doing, Kegan vd Merwe secured his 8th WASPA title to date!
The organiser (and players alike) were so enthralled by the day's happenings, that we never agreed on a lunch break - which left the organiser slightly red-faced as we had a light meal AFTER the event! All was soon forgotten though as we reflected on yet another day of fantastic Subbuteo action!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Bevin Reed and Kegan vd Merwe ended the day as the top scorers
"Goal of the Day" : Being tightly marked from an acute angle, Bevin Reed gets the ball around and over the defender to place his shot high into the far corner in his 2-1 Round 4 win over Gary Downs !
"Tough as Nails" : Chessray Jooste for the best goalkeeping display on the day

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. Next - a return to Bonaero Park for the staging of the League 3 Cup.

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Cape Town City Subbuteo club - September tournament

A small event was held on Sunday with five players, but as usual great fun. John Fishlock finished top of the pile, his second win in a row. Mike Ryder had his best finish ever, and narrowly lost out on a first title on the basis of goal difference. Great to see the Sanya family back and loving it. And already threatening to introduce Subbuteo to Uganda…!

(In picture - the day’s Champ, John Fishlock. By mutual agreement he played his last match against Clinton on HW bases.)

A 15th WASPA title for Bevin Reed

Saturday 7 September 2019, Pretoria, South Africa : 
A very cold Pretoria spring day saw only 5 players take part as Conway Julie was absent due to a business trip. We witnessed a very low scoring event, but not due to lack of finishing but rather due to sound goalkeeping from all participants - there was enough goal mouth action as the players battled it out for 2019 PFC Champions League supremacy.
Bevin Reed raced to a 100% start as he exacted some sort of retribution from his first two matches - first beating Julian vd Merwe by 1-0 and then Kegan vd Merwe by 1-0 too. Retribution in the sense that these two players handed Bevin his only defeats during last month's League 2 event.
2018 defending Champion, Jayden vd Merwe could only come away with a 0-0 draw against Gary Downs in Round 2 - as Gary pulled off no less than 3 massive saves to deny Jayden.
The BIG match came as early as Round 3 when Bevin & Jayden played to a thrilling 0-0 draw, with Jayden squandering a clear cut chance at the death - but Bevin's goalkeeper got a slight nick to force the corner. Bevin remaining top at that stage.
Jayden then followed with a 1-0 win over Julian - again, some retribution as Julian had also beaten Jayden during last month's League 2 Cup.
Julian then took a 1-0 lead over Gary, but Gary got the equaliser close to the end as he kept the pressure on the two (Bevin & Jayden) front runners. Kegan then upset Jayden's chances of forcing a play-off final when their match ended 0-0.
The day's final match ended Gary (0) - (0) Bevin. If Gary had won that match, the event would enter a 3 way play-off, but Bevin kept calm and the draw was enough to hand Bevin the honours of 2019 PFC Champions League winner - this marks Bevin's 15th WASPA title to date!
This triumph for Bevin Reed then also sees Jayden vd Merwe relinquish the title he has been holding since 2017!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Bevin Reed ended the day as the top scorer
"Tough as Nails" : Jayden vd Merwe for sound goalkeeping and fighting until the end to hold onto his title, boasting an unbeaten run
"Player of the Day" : Gary Downs for an unbeaten run, rewarded by a 3rd place finish overall

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. The next event - the PFC Players Cup (Europa League event).

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at :
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

A surprising but worthy winner in Bonaero Park

Saturday 17 August 2019, Kempton Park, South Africa
Pretoria Flickers Club returned to the home of "The Cougars" (Bonaero Villa) for the staging of the 2nd leg of this season's League campaign.
What then unfolded was a day of shocks as the event yielded a surprising but worthy victor.
In Round 1, Julian vd Merwe scored with just 20 seconds left to earn a 1-1 draw against League 1 winner Bevin Reed. In other Round 1 action, Kegan vd Merwe recorded a 1-0 win over Conway Julie to tie Jayden vd Merwe at the top after Jayden had earlier beat host Gary Downs by 1-0.
Round 2 saw the first shock as Julian handed Jayden his first loss on the day, a famous 1-0 victory for Julian! Kegan then pulled off another surprise by beating Bevin by 1-0 for Kegan to go top! Kegan would actually go on to complete "the double" over Bevin in Match 20 - another 1-0 victory for Kegan!
At the lunch break, both Bevin & Jayden conceded that "this was not their day". After the lunch break it was actually Kegan & Julian setting the pace, with Jayden constantly trying to catch up. Round 4 saw Kegan maintain top spot over Julian as these two played out to a 0-0 draw, after much domination by Kegan.
In the return leg between Julian & Kegan (Match 27), it was Julian who scored with a "mid range" shot to stun Kegan by 1-0, effectively ending Kegan's challenge!
In Match 29, Julian secured the title in style - scoring a massive long range shot to beat Conway by 1-0!
In the end, no excuses from anybody as Julian put on a good display - sound defence and good attack play ensured an unbeaten run as Julian "rolled back the years" to capture his 4th WASPA title to date!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Julian vd Merwe ended the day as the top scorer
"Comeback Kid" : Despite two losses, Jayden vd Merwe clawed his way back to 2nd overall
"Player of the Day" : Kegan vd Merwe's 3rd place overall was a bit unjust, as he played well to set the pace all day
"Moment of the Day" : A long range strike from Gary Downs in Match 16 to beat Jayden by 1-0

A big thanks to the Downs household for hosting us, putting up with our "noisy" antics and the serving of wonderful lunch on the day!

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. Next - the PFC Champions League event.

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Jayden vd Merwe)

Bevin Reed wins the 2019 Gold Cup

Saturday 13 July 2019, Pretoria, South Africa : 
The big question on everybody's mind was whether Jayden vd Merwe would make it 5 straight wins in this event - as Jayden has captured every edition of this event since it's inception back in 2015? Having already won it 3 times in a row between 2015 - 2017, the "original" Gold Cup was permanently handed over to Jayden where it is proudly displayed on his bookshelf in his bedroom!!!
Round 1 action saw Jayden record a lucky but hard fought 1-0 victory over Julian vd Merwe where Julian tested Jayden's goalkeeping skills on no more than two occasions. Conway Julie took a 1-0 lead over Kegan vd Merwe, but Kegan soon scored afterwards to restore parity. Bevin Reed then raced to top spot thanks to a 2-0 win over Gary Downs.
Round 2 saw Gary score an acutely sliced shot (at pace) to register a 1-0 win over Julian - a stunning goal certainly worthy of "Goal of the Day". Bevin had to grind out a 1-0 win over Kegan to remain top. Then….the MAJOR upset of the day, as Conway took a 2-0 lead over Jayden - this spurred Jayden into action with him getting 1 back, but all too late as Conway recorded a famous 2-1 over tournament favourite Jayden!
The pick of Round 3 saw the massive clash between Bevin and Jayden - the result went Jayden's way by 1-0, a "must win" for Jayden following the Round 2 disaster against Conway. That result also saw Jayden tie Bevin on 4 points on the standings - with the added comfort that Jayden was ahead on the "head to head" rule. Gary then dispatched of an "out of form" Kegan by 2-0, with Gary then joining Jayden and Bevin on 4 points overall!
In Round 4, Gary and Jayden played out to a 0-0 stalemate with both players missing out to go top. Bevin then topped the standings by himself with a 1-0 win over Conway. Earlier, the battle for 5th spot ended in a 0-0 draw between Kegan and Julian.
The business end of things - Round 5 saw Gary and Conway play out a 0-0 draw in the battle for 3rd spot, with the draw being enough to hand Gary a well deserved 3rd place finish. Jayden then offered himself a glimmer of hope to hold onto his title by recording a 1-0 win over Kegan. It was Bevin who would have the last say - as he completely dominated to record a 2-0 win over Julian and thereby breaking Jayden's 4 year reign as Gold Cup Champion!
Jayden will certainly look back at the Round 2 horror against Conway and the Round 4 stalemate against Gary as the defining moments when he had to "let go" of what has become his favourite event on the PFC calendar. Taking nothing away from Bevin - a well deserved triumph as Bevin occupied top spot from "start to finish". This latest triumph then also marks Bevin Reed's 14th WASPA title to date!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Bevin Reed ended the day as the top scorer
"Player of the Day" : Gary Downs for a well deserved 3rd place finish
"Result of the Day" : Jayden vd Merwe for inflicting Bevin's only loss in Round 3
"Moment of the Day" : Conway Julie for the massive Round 2 upset win of 2-1 over Jayden

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. The next event - the PFC League 2 Cup, as we make a return to Bonaero Park !

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

South Africa: 2019 Tokai Garage Classic Part 2

Part 2 of the Tokai Garage Classic! Nothing like a bit of garage Subbuteo to warm a Cape Town winter. The usual suspects, plus great to have Jeremiah’s mother join us too - it was very plain to see where Jeremiah’s footballing brain in fact comes from!

John ended up topping the tables, but had to survive a few end-to-end battles.

Special thanks to Fiona and Janine for the delicious catering :)

Final standings
John 13
Wayne 12
Clinton 11
Angus 8
Mike 7
Jeremiah 5
Yoga 0

The "Bonanza" in Bonaero Park

Saturday 15 June 2019, Kempton Park, South Africa : 
Firstly, a big Thank You to Gary Downs and his wife Carol-Lynne Downs for hosting this event, and the serving of a fantastic lunch on the day!
Pretoria Flickers Club returned to Bonaero Park - the home of the 2018 PFC League 1 Cup defending champion Gary Downs.
What then unfolded on the day has been dubbed as the "Bonanza in Bonaero Park", as we were treated to great companionship, fun & thrills as only the sport of
Subbuteo can produce.
Round 1 action saw the 2018 defending champion Gary Downs hold his own in an entertaining 0-0 draw against the much fancied Jayden vd Merwe. After being
frustrated by Conway Julie in previous events this year, it was Bevin Reed who eventually recorded a 1-0 victory over Conway. Elsewhere, Kegan vd Merwe and
Julian vd Merwe played out a thrilling 0-0 draw.
By the end of Round 3, the standings already took on a familiar look - with Bevin topping the standings, Jayden in 2nd whilst Conway and Kegan were scrapping it out
for 3rd spot. Round 4 then produced the match of the day as Bevin raced to a 2-0 lead over Jayden, but even Bevin stated that the "job was not done yet" as Jayden
stepped up his game to pull one goal back, but eventually ran out of time as Jayden suffered his only loss of the day by 2-1 over Bevin.
In the return fixture (Round 8) between Bevin & Jayden, it was Jayden who dominated the match - but Bevin defended well as that match ended 0-0.
In Round 10, Gary needed a draw to clinch 4th place overall, but Bevin triumphed by 1-0 over Gary with Bevin just confirming his dominance on the day!
Conway clinched 3rd place overall on the day - with three consecutive draws against Gary, Kegan and Julian in Rounds 8,9 and 10 respectively. It is also worth mentioning
that Conway only suffered two 1-0 losses all day - those losses coming against the top two players of the day - Bevin & Jayden respectively.
The number 13 will have new meaning for Bevin Reed after this event - as this triumph marks Bevin's 13th WASPA title, and interestingly enough this was Bevin's first
triumph in 13 months - as he last captured the 2018 PFC Challenge Cup in May of 2018 !
Joke of the day : the organiser (Julian) made the trip all the way to Bonaero Park, and forgot the PFC League 1 trophy all the way back in Pretoria. Gary's wife quickly improvised
and purchased a small momento to ensure the day's winner did not leave "empty handed". Then the race back to Pretoria to present the League 1 trophy to Bevin, as the photo
portrays a different (more familiar) background. I promise that the trophy will now be the first item to be packed when we make another trip like this (chuckle)!!!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Bevin Reed ended the day as the top scorer
"Player of the Day" : Conway Julie for a well deserved 3rd place finish

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. The next event - the PFC Gold Cup, played under an "international theme".

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at :
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Promotion for forthcoming events in June 2019

A quick look at the promotion of forthcoming events with the great job of some of our active clubs.

In Italy, the "69ers" will hold a tournament in Borgo Vercelli and they proudly told the local newspaper the tournament is played under WASPA banner, which is a great form of respect.

In South Africa the Pretoria Flickers have revealed the poster of their next tournament.

In Derry (Northern Ireland), the next DCTFC tournament will be held next Monday.

Finally, the amazing job done by our Spanish friends of Marina Citerior SC who have had support of local sponsors and will hold a special tournament on June 21&22. Rumors said Carlos Flores Lopez will be taking part, which is fantastic for WASPA. there will be a prize money and all details are available from https://www.portaldelamarina.org/evento/torneo-de-subbuteo/

Thanks once again to all organizers for the efforts to promote the game!

Tokai Garage Classic in Cape Town

Sunday, 9th June 2019
Cape Town City Subbuteo club recently went ‘retro’ by taking the game back to its roots - into the garage! The Tokai Garage Classic was a relaxed, fun event, which climaxed however into a tense penalty shoot-out between Wayne and Clinton.

We were very pleased to add a new junior to our team in Jeremiah Sanya, who impressed with his determination, focus and enjoyment of the game. It very much looked like we can look forward to his on-going participation. Quite possibly, Jeremiah is also the first Ugandan player to take part in a WASPA event. A note of thanks also to his father Tom who helped with the organisation.

Regular Mike impressed with some fine performances which saw him topping the table at one point. We also welcomed Lyle to his first WASPA tournament (having played a few times at work before), and it was great to have David back for his second event, who looks very much like he’ll also be a regular moving forward! Last and certainly not least, it was really great to have Wayne back and playing again. It’s just not the same without his energy in the room. Er, … garage.

Results were as follows:
Jeremiah v Wayne 0-1
Lyle v Mike 0-3
David v Clinton 0-1
Wayne v Clinton 0-1
Mike v David 0-0
Jeremiah v Lyle 0-3
Lyle v Wayne 0-1
David v Jeremiah 2-0
Clinton v Mike 0-1
Mike v Wayne 0-3
Jeremiah v Clinton 0-3
Lyle v David 2-3
Wayne v David 1-0
Clinton v Lyle 2-1
Jeremiah v Mike 0-2

Final standings:
Clinton 12
Wayne 12
Mike 10
David 7
Lyle 3
Jeremiah 0

Penalty Shootout:
Wayne v Clinton 2-3

Exciting Challenge Cup event in Pretoria

Saturday 18 May 2019, Pretoria, South Africa :
The "usual suspects" gathered for the 2019 edition of the Pretoria Challenge Cup whereby 6 players battled it out for the 2019 title. As compared to last month's low scoring event - we actually witnessed about a 67% increase in the number of goals scored this time round! A very exciting event unfolded - from start to finish, and in the opening round we saw 2018 Challenge Cup defending champion Bevin Reed dispatch of Kegan vd Merwe by 1-0, whilst Jayden vd Merwe set the early pace with a 3-0 win over Gary Downs. A 1-0 win for Julian vd Merwe over Conway Julie meant that Julian would occupy 3rd place at the end of Round 1 matches.
It was actually Julian who consistently managed to occupy 3rd spot most of the day - but both Kegan and Conway were hot on his heels all day long!
When Kegan beat Gary by 2-0 in Round 4, and against all odds Conway frustrated Bevin (yet again) to a 0-0 draw - these 2 players (Kegan and Conway) appeared favourite for 3rd place, especially after Julian suffered back to back losses (2-1 to Bevin in Round 3 and then 1-0 to Jayden in Round 4).
In Round 5, the battle for 3rd place intensified - firstly, Conway had to come from behind to secure a 1-1 draw against Kegan. Julian then capitalised on two defensive errors by Gary to take a 2-0 lead, before Gary pulled one back to hand Julian a 2-1 win to clinch 3rd place overall!
As fate would have it, the final match saw the top 2 players (Jayden & Bevin) play the title decider - Bevin needed a win to hold onto his Challenge Cup title, whereas a draw would be enough for Jayden to wrestle the title from Bevin!
Before the match, Bevin openly disclosed what his approach would be : score first and then defend for all his worth! Bevin did exactly what he predicted - taking the lead after 4 minutes of play and then went ultra defensive. Jayden then played a cautious match - not over committing as he would open himself to a counter attack from Bevin that would put the match truly out of his reach! Jayden's patient approach was rewarded as he found an opening to fire in the equaliser with 30 seconds left to play!
The draw confirmed Jayden as 2019 PFC Challenge Cup winner - an unfortunate and "cruel" way for Bevin to surrender his 2018 Challenge Cup title!
This triumph marks Jayden's 21st WASPA title to date!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Jayden vd Merwe ended the day as the top scorer
"Player of the Day" : Julian vd Merwe for consistently maintaining 3rd place all day
"Moment of the Day" : Conway Julie for holding BOTH Jayden and Bevin to a 0-0 scoreline
"Pressure Pot" : Bevin Reed, constantly under pressure to maintain his 2018 Challenge Cup title and actually fighting back through the rounds, only to concede an equaliser to Jayden in the last 30 seconds of the last match of the day!

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success.
The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Pretoria Cup & Plate Event

Saturday 27 April 2019, Pretoria, South Africa:
The 2019 edition saw six players complete a full round robin format where the player topping the standings would be awarded the Pretoria Cup - whilst positions 2 and 3 would compete the Pretoria Plate Final.
It turned out to be a low scoring event - probably due to the 7 week or so hiatus for Pretoria Flickers Club!
The 2018 Pretoria Cup defending champion Jayden vd Merwe got his 2019 campaign off with a narrow 1-0 win over Julian vd Merwe, after Julian pulled off no less than 3 brilliant saves to deny Jayden early on. Bevin Reed started the day with a 2-0 win over Gary Downs whilst the other tie of Round 1 saw Kegan vd Merwe having to equalise for a 1-1 draw with Conway Julie.
The tie of Round 2 saw Bevin and Jayden play to a pusating 0-0 draw, where Bevin dominated possession with Jayden playing on the counter attack - and Jayden
could have actually "stolen" it if he had not shot high over the bar on the stroke of full time!
Round 4 results really defined the day - as Jayden virtually sealed topped spot with a 1-0 win over Conway as Julian held on to fustrate Bevin to a 0-0 draw!
The battle for 3rd spot (Gary v Kegan) ended as 0-0 and we were still not sure who would clinch the remaining spot to compete the Plate Final as Bevin lie in wait!
Bevin then secured 2nd spot on his own after a 0-0 draw with Kegan in Round 5 - at that stage it appeared as if Kegan had done enough to secure 3rd place.
The final match saw Gary score in the final quarter of the allocated playing time to record a 1-0 win over Jayden - and with Jayden offering no resistance as he had already secured the Cup, it was Gary who then tied Bevin for 2nd spot and Gary's effort was rewarded with a Plate Final play-off against Bevin!
In the Plate Final, Bevin did not have it as easy as the 2-0 Round 1 win over Gary - a fantastic Plate Final ended 0-0, and the drama of penalty shots (with cellphone VAR on standby) then followed. After sudden death and after 7 shots each it was Bevin who prevailed by 4-3 to clinch the 2019 Pretoria Plate!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Jayden vd Merwe & Gary Downs as joint top scorers in a goal stricken event
"Player of the Day" : Bevin Reed as the only unbeaten player on the day - without conceding any goals all day too
"Comeback Kid" : Gary Downs for his 5th Round 1-0 win over Jayden to gain a "Plate Final" spot at the expense of Kegan vd Merwe

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success.

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Next event in Pretoria

Jayden van der Merwe captures the 2019 Founders Cup

Saturday 16 March 2019, Pretoria, South Africa:
Always a special event on the Pretoria calendar - the Founders Cup is played annually in the month of March to celebrate the formation of the club.
The 24th of March will mark the 6th year of existence for Pretoria Flickers Club!
The day started with a massive tie, where Kegan van der Merwe beat the 2018 defending champion Bevin Reed by 1-0. Julian van der Merwe's lead over Jayden van der Merwe virtually lasted a few seconds as Jayden equalised straight from the restart. Gary Downs was setting the early pace by way of a 1-0 Round 1 win over Conway Julie, followed by another 1-0 win over Kegan. In Round 3, Jayden recorded his first win of the day with a 1-0 win over Gary and then Conway further halted Bevin's progress with a late equaliser for a 1-1 draw with Bevin.
In Round 4, Conway turned heads with a classy 2-0 win over Kegan whilst Gary maintained the top spot with a 1-0 victory over Julian. The tie of Round 4 saw Bevin and Jayden play out to tactical 0-0 draw.
Round 5 saw Gary surrender his lead at the top after a 1-0 loss to Bevin, with Bevin forcing his way into contention - but ultimately Bevin had to relinquish his 2018 title and settle for 2nd place overall.
The last match of the day saw Jayden sneak past both Bevin and Gary, thanks to two well taken goals for a 2-0 win over Kegan !
This triumph sees Jayden vd Merwe get his hands on the Founders Cup again after 6 years, and the triumph also marks Jayden's 19th WASPA title to date !

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : went to Jayden van der Merwe - once again ending the day as the top scorer.
"Player of the Day" : went to Gary Downs for leading the standings all the way up to Round 5, where a loss to Bevin relegated him to 3rd overall. All indications are that Gary is due some honours soon ?
"Comeback Kid" : despite a Round 1 loss for the 2018 defending champion, Bevin Reed forced his way back into contention but had to settle for 2nd place ultimately.
"Moment of the Day" : went to Conway Julie once again for his 1-1 Round 3 draw against Bevin, followed by a classy 2-0 Round 4 victory over Kegan .

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success.

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at :
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Cape Town City Subbuteo Club: March Event

Last Sunday Liverpool played Everton. Considering that Cape Town City Subbuteo Club tends to be dominated by Liverpool supporters (shock-horror), and that this event was at the same time as that derby, we actually had a good turnout. Albeit not one Liverpool supporter. And neither our solitary Everton supporter.

We did however have a visiting West Ham supporter in England international Justin Finch. Fantastic to have him playing his first ever tournament in Africa after all these years. And a great privilege for us - with many lessons to be learnt.

Warm welcome back to the game for David Clamp, who played his first Subbuteo games in 40-something years.

It was great to see 4 juniors playing, and in fact have one of them make the semi finals for the first time at a Cape Town event.

One of the stand-out moments was young Rafael’s disbelief when Justin scored against him using a long-range flick off his own defensive line. Any thoughts of it being a fluke were put to put to bed however when he repeated the feat in the final, against Clinton.

SEMIS
Clinton v John 6-1
Justin v Rafael 6-0

FINAL
Justin v Clinton 5-1

Sean proves his class at Joburg Summer Cup

Sunday the 17th of February saw the Joburg Eagles hosting their annual Summer Cup played at Randburg AFC. After a couple days of welcome rain, the players were greeted to a glorious Highveld summer's day with high humidity levels after incessant rain.
There were a total of 15 players from both both the host club, Joburg Eagles, and the Pretoria Flickers. In keeping with tradition of the FA Cup and local Nedbank Cup fixtures on the same weekend, all draws were random, and this caused some interesting matchups in the first round.
Johan Niewenhuys from the Eagles caused the biggest shock by defeating one of the favourites, Jayden van der Merwe from Pretoria Flickers, on penalties after a tight goalless game. The tie of the round was the 'Green Family' flick off between father Greg and daughter, Alyssa.
The game ended goalless and went to the dreaded penalty shoot out where Alyssa was in sublime form by saving a number of flicks and then converting her second penalty, which was voted Goal of the Day. She was roared on by the local support and surprised her father by advancing to the next round. The only junior in the tournament, Jason Pienaar, had an impressive showing against the very talented Kegan van der Merwe from Pretoria and went down by a solitary goal in a very tight and entertaining game. Chris also surprised Gary by eliminating him in the shoot-out after a goalless tie.
The quarters dished up one of the oldest derbies in world Subbuteo, where best friends for over 60 years, and Subbuteo adversaries for almost the same period, Chris and Johan, flicked off with the usual good natured chirps and taunts. The game ended goalless and Chris qualified for the semis by clinching a nailbiting 3-2 penalty victory. The remaining top seeds, namely Clifford, Sean and Jason Kennedy, advanced to the semis.
Clifford and Sean advanced to the final by accounting for Jason and Chris respectively.
The final saw the two good friends and Subbuteo rivals, Clifford and Sean, square off in a mouth-wateriing final. Sean proved his class and welcome return to the Eagles by securing a well deserved 1-0 victory and secure his first, of many future titles for 2019.
Jason also stamped his return to the Eagles, by defeating Chris in the 3rd place play-off to claim the bronze medal. Once again, Nita dished up a culinary treat to insure all players were sufficiently nourished.
Thanks to all in making the Joburg Summer Cup 2019 a great success.