It has been exactly one year since Good Games Bella Vista played host to Subbuteo Parramatta for the first time. Before the store was even officially opened, it enthusiastically let the club hold a Junior WASPA tournament during the April school holidays. And, so, one year on, the Junior players were back for an anniversary tournament. With 8 players in attendance, the tournament was the largest Juniors only tournament the club has held to date.
The Northern Falcons brought along a strong contingent to join some of the Subbuteo Parramatta regulars and a couple of new players. Oliver and Æowyn were the highest two ranked WASPA players and so took the seeded positions in each group. The other 6 were then drawn randomly into the two groups.
Round One saw Oliver battle his sister, Hermine, the far more experienced older brother taking the honours 3-0. Meanwhile, their club mate Jonas played brand new Subbuteo Parramatta player, Ethan, in his first ever tournament. Ethan put up an excellent showing, but Jonas pipped him 1-0. In Group 2, none of the four players could find the goal. The Elmer sisters hadn’t played since their outing in last September’s Sydney International Open and it was showing as relative newcomer, Angela, playing her second ever tournament, and youngster Moritz, were both able to hold them to scoreless draws.
The second round was a repeat performance in Group Two, with different player combinations. This time, Imojjen and Æowyn played out a scoreless draw, as did Moritz and Angela. In Group One, Hermine put in an excellent showing, also holding Jonas to a scoreless draw. Tournament favourite, Oliver, put 2 goals past Ethan, the result showing that Ethan was picking up the finer points of the game very quickly.
In the final round, Group One took its turn to go entirely without troubling the scorer as 2 very close games ended in 0-0 draws. Organisers were sweating over some results in Group Two, however, as further draws could have led to a 4-way shootout to determine group positions. In the end, however, both Moritz and Imojjen were able to slip goals past Æowyn and Angela respectively to make the table clear cut.
In the Semi Finals, Moritz played well against Oliver but Oliver’s finishing proved the difference with 4 unanswered goals. Meanwhile, Jonas managed a solitary goal against Imojjen to take his place in the Grand Final. The lower placed players also enjoyed consolation friendlies against each other, with all 4 tables in constant action.
In the 3rd/4th Place Play-off, Moritz and Imojjen played out another 0-0 draw, both agreeing their play had taken a turn for the worse as the day was fading. They were declared equal 3rd place getters. After their goalless draw during the group stage, the Grand Final between Oliver and Jonas was shaping up as yet another close affair. Midway through the first half, Oliver took a lead after dominating much of the play. However, Jonas took this as his cue to renew his efforts and began to carve out chances for himself. Over the course of the rest of the game, both players had a few chances to score but couldn’t dominate. In the end, the early goal proved to be the difference, with Oliver taking the title.
Many thanks again to Good Games Bella Vista for their hospitality, and to Hermann Kruse from the Northern Falcons for bussing the Junior Falcons across the extreme reaches of Sydney and refereeing at the tournament. Well done to all the players who all performed with the camaraderie and fair play that they have come to be known for.
(report by Adrian Elmer)
