Marco Bonciani reigns in Firenze

On Monday evening the club of Firenze in Italy was holding a great WASPA tournament with 15 players taking part. After the group stage, two knock-out events were played. For the big win, Marco Bonciani took the honors after defeating Mirco Pasquini. Sergio Robertilello and Mirco Masini reached the semis. Riccardo Ferri won the consolation tournament. Congratulations to all the players involved!

Mcnulty prevails in Perth

On Sunday the 20th November we hosted a tournament to welcome and flick with one of the lads from Jurrong  Central in the warm, funny and mecurial Irwin Iskandar. On a warm 30dc day in the Avon Valley we played a league format with 5 players in one game against each other and a Play Off knockout format for the finals. Here are the full standings and results.

Players: Ross Mcnulty, Hugh Best, Irwan Iskandar, Chris Thorn, John Harty

Final League positions:
Mcnulty 12
Iskandar 7
Thorn 7
Harty 6
Best 0

Knock out results:

4th V 5th
1 Harty
1 Best
1-1(after extra time) (Harty wins on penalties)

2nd V 3rd
0 Iskandar
0 Thorn
0-0(after extra time) (Iskandar wins on penalties)

1st V 4th
0 Mcnulty
0 Harty
0-0(after extra time) (Mcnulty wins on penalties)

3rd & 4th Play off
0 Harty
0 Thorn
0-0(after extra time) (Thorn wins on penalties)

Grand final
1st V 2nd
2 Mcnulty
0 Iskandar

Next Pretoria event on December 10

Kye Arnold on-form in Kent

Kent Invicta had a WASPA night on Friday with 8 players taking part. Kye Arnold was the player on-form with some good results to win the Kent WASPA night with a 3-0 final victory over Rhys Williams. Louis Singh and Finn Taylor were the losing semi-finalists as the 8 player field enjoyed some great games in the tournament.

In addition, the players looked smart in their new Kent Invicta kits, sponsored by robotsoflondon.co.uk and kitmania.co.uk !

Final placings

1. Kye Arnold
2. Rhys Williams
3. Finn Taylor
4. Louis Singh
5. Paul Frank
6. Josh Foreman
7. Terry Arnold
8. Simon Keane

Alberto Gagliardi still on top in Macerata

 
Last Friday it was good to see some action in Macerata (Italy) where the local club was organizing a tournament with the old rules. 12 players were attending and there were many games for everyone. In the end, Alberto Gagliardi defeated Rocco Iarlori in the final to claim the title. Paolo Guidara won the game for the third place against Mario Marcolini. The games were played in the local games shop and everyone had a good time. Well done!

Nigel Lamond wins his first WASPA CUP title in North Shields

Shock waves rumbled down Trinity Street last night as Nigel Lamond picked up his first WASPA title.  Maybe not as shocking as the language used by the drunken lady who invaded the venue before flick-off!  She was quickly dispatched by taxi to another part of Shields and with the swear box bulging, the action began...

The opener between Andy and Dave was another tight affair.  The pace was hot from the off which resulted in frequent changes in possession and a lot of huffing and puffing.  After half time Andy started to take control and scored a real cracker that looped into the top right hand corner. Despite working hard, Dave could not find that recent good form and Andy edged it 1 - 0.
Dave played Nigel in game 2.  From the off it was apparent that Nigel meant business.  He kept his defence well organized, kept good possession, created good chances, passed well, flicked well and was cool with his finishing. Dave just could not find that touch and was frustrated by Nigel's possession play. 2 - 0 to Nigel.
The decider between Nigel and Andy was a great game.  Both players really went for it but never lost their shape.  Some aggressive attacking play from Andy, thwarted once again by Nigel's cool possession play and some great flicking all around the pitch.  Both players had chances to win this game but it was Nigel who took advantage of a defensive error to slot home.  Andy really pressed hard for the last few minutes but couldn't find that final pass he needed.  1 - 0 to Nigel.

Another great little tournament in Shields. Thanks to Chris Kaberry for refereeing and Andy Mill for his hospitality.  Well done lads!

Second stage of the Scottish circuit for Bennett

STFA Circuit 2.4, Sunday 20 November 2016.

Sunday 20 November 2016 and it is freezing outside as players converge on Glasgow to compete at the Normandy Hotel, Renfrew.

A few notable absentees on the day but that didn't affect the players who did make it!
Group 1: Gareth Christie, Rob Conway and John Halpin.
Group 2: Steve Bennett, Dave Baxter and Baver Bari.
Group 3: Malcolm Lees, Andy Beskaby and Tom Burns.
Group 4: Colin Berry, John Mathieson, Craig Thom and Dave Minty.

Group 1 
opener was Christie v Conway and this was an unbelievable game!
Conway hustled and harried Christie throughout this game and made life extremely tough for his opponent, so much so he took the lead early in the second half, a lightning strike to stun Gareth.
Christie was finding things tough going, we are beginning to see a resurgence with Conway's game of late but Christie dug in deep and got a foothold in the match and started to put pressure on and it paid off midway through the second half with a well worked deflection shot from the corner of the shooting area and over the keeper into the far corner.
The game ended 1-1 and heartbreak for Conway.
John Halpin and Rob Conway fought out a tough 1-1 draw, in the end it was probably a fair result given the past history between these two. The draw turning out to be beneficial to Conway.
The final game of the group saw Halpin giving Christie a real run for his money and this one ended with a bit of a disagreement between Halpin and the referee, but to no avail and it ended Christie 2-0 Halpin.
Christie in top spot with Conway's two draws gaining him second spot, Halpin aggrieved at finishing third in the group!

Group 2
pitched Steve Bennett starting off his day against Baver Bari. This final score line should have been a lot different if Baver had scored his two early chances which saw Bennett a bit lax in defence. Bennett eventually woke up and scored all four of his first four attacks, the game ended rather one sided at 8-0.
Next game was Baxter v Bari and a wee shock in store for the Dundonian as he conceded all three of Bari's efforts and lost it 3-2.
Dave's next game was against fellow Dundonian, Bennett.
As far as recent games have gone between these two it was another tight battle only to be won 3-1 by Steve, a brilliant consolation goal scored by Dave late in the second half.
Congratulations to Baver on finishing second in the group!

Group 3
was clearly the group of death, but for who!
As it turns out it was for Andy Beskaby as he lost his opener 3-1 to Malcolm Lees who would later appear in the final and a 2-0 loss to Tom Burns would see Andy not progressing from the group which is uncharacteristic for Beskaby!
Honours for top spot were won by Malcolm Lees in a tight and challenging 2-1 victory over fellow GTSA player, Tom Burns, a result that clearly was one that Tom wanted to win!

Group 4
was surely going to be Colin Berry's come the end of his three games and he didn't disappoint.
In the GTSA derby he got the better of Mathieson albeit by a solitary goal in a 1-0, Mathieson improving all the time.
The DUTFC derby between Craig and Dave saw Craig victorious in a 2-1 opener.
Thom failed to keep the winning formula as he went down 1-0 to Mathieson and after another close battle he went down 1-0 to Berry, this result securing a 9 point total for Berry!
Dave Minty playing in only his second STFA event lost 4-0 to Berry and 2-0 to Mathieson, not a bad start for the new player!

The Quarter Finals
saw Christie edge out Burns 2-1 in a very hard fought game, one that Tom felt aggrieved not to have drawn level at half time only to lose out by a second as the ball crossed the line after the whistle.
Steve Bennett had it fairly easy as he racked up a 7-0 against John Mathieson, that said John certainly improving!
Probably the most enthralling game in this round was Conway v Lees as this one ended up at 1-1 after extra time and saw Lees go behind on shots only to recover and win on shots 2-1.
In the remaining match it was Colin Berry who overcame a brave battle against Baver Bari with a 3-2 victory, a great performance by Baver seeing him run his clubmate close!

Semi Finals
and Malcolm Lees made short work of Colin Berry with a thumping 7-0 victory to take him into the final but against whom, Christie or Bennett?
This second semi final was as close as these two have played out a game in recent times but this one was a defensive and midfield battle for supremacy!
There weren't many attempts at all on either players goals such was the defending, but a well placed strike midway through the first half was it, a final score of 1-0, tight again!

The Final
and Malcolm Lees is thirty minutes from his first circuit victory!
The first half was fairly tight with both players going end to end and Steve's defence a pale shadow of the way he played in the semi final but he went in at half time with a deflected goal over the keeper.
The second half was however a more polished half by both players but perseverance paid off for Steve as he scored another two before Malcolm gifted a fourth by losing it with his spare keeper, Steve finished that with one touch but near the end Malcolm got on the scoreboard with a cracking goal but in the end it was not enough.
Result: Bennett 4-1 Lees

Renaud Parisel on fire in Vresse

Last Sunday the club of Semois SC bases in Vresse (South of Belgium) was holding a 10th WASPA tournament with unfortunately no player from any other club paying a visit due to several circumstances, including bad weather. The tournament took place in a fair and friendly atmosphere with local player Renaud Parisel being in great shape as he won all his game without conceding a goal. He beat Patrick vander Linden who loses his third final in a row. Local star player Pascal Droeven was not in a great day and took the third place whil Marc de Vos and Tom Léonard showed great improvements since the last tournament. Congratulations to the club of Semois for their efforts and hopefully they will get some more players in the future!

Thomas Eppensteiner wins in Hungary

Thomas and Gabor

Last Sunday there was a WASPA tournament in Szombathely, Hungary. It was another good day of table football with 10 players taking part, 6 from Hungary and 4 from Austria. in the end, it was an international between two players from TFKN Dragons and Thomas Eppensteiner defeated Gabor Baross to claim the trophy. Alfred Strommer took the third place. Thanks to Andrew for making possible to host the first WASPA event in Szombathely.

The first tournament of Derry City TFC

Finalists Brendan Rodgers (Donegal subbuteo)
and James Mc Gillian (Strabane Subbuteo)

Martin Bradley (D.C.T.F.C) presenting Brendan Rodgers (Donegal Subbuteo) with the winners trophy

Monday night was an important day for Subbuteo in Northern Ireland as Derry City TFC was holding a very first tournamennt under WASPA banner. it was nice to see 8 players competing, including Craig Stewart (Belfast), James Mc Gillian (Strabane Subbuteo) and Ireland's Brendan Rodgers (Donegal subbuteo). After the group stage and the semi-finals, Brendan Rodgers defeated James Mc Gillian in the final. Martinog Bradley and Martin bradley lost in the semis. It was the first of a hopefully long streak of tournaments and this might be the beginning of a new chapter for the history of the game in Northern Ireland.