Saturday 18 February 2017, Pretoria, South Africa
The eagerly anticipated start to the 2017 Pretoria Subbuteo season attracted a field of 12 entries - including Subbuteo debutants Marlin Boyd and Osvaldo van Niekerk. The theme of the event was….. "Derby Day", where Round 1 and Round 4 was reserved for the derby matches (home & away basis). Rounds 2 & 3 were pre-determined by way of random draw. Points were allocated as follows : 2p a win, 1p a draw ; however for "derbies" - an extra Bonus Point (BP) was awarded for the derby win, and where a derby matched ended in a draw, the "away" side earned an extra derby BP. What then followed was a series of matches which did not fail to deliver the thrills associated with derby matches - but dished up " the Subbuteo way".
As early as Match 2, we witnessed the "match of the day" as Rowin Wilson (Dortmund) took on Stanton Nortjie (Schalke 04) with a loud roar heard as Rowin took the lead on 10min of play ; An even bigger cheer sounded as Stanton scored a far post bullet on 13min to bring the tie level. In the dying stages of the match, Rowin pulled off a save over Stanton from a certain goal-scoring position - the final score 1-1, but Stanton beaming with confidence after earning his "away derby draw" BP!
Other action from Round 1 saw Bevin Reed (Liverpool) beat Jayden vd Merwe (Everton) by 1-0 to take their derby honours - although Jayden was hugely unlucky not to come away with a draw. Elsewhere Chessray Jooste (AC Milan) beat Adam Murray (Inter Milan) by 3-0 to go top of the standings at the end of Round 1.
The "Debutants Derby" ended Marlin Boyd (Barcelona) (0) v (0) Osvaldo van Niekerk (Espanyol) with Osvaldo earning the "away derby draw" BP.
The pick of Round 2 action saw Marlin hold the much fancied Bevin to a 0-0 draw - that result pushing Bevin down to 3rd place. Stanton held Sherwin Reed (Man Utd) to a 0-0 draw to move 4th overall. Chessray then dispatched of newcomer Osvaldo by 3-0 to maintain the top spot. Kegan vd Merwe (Real Madrid) got another win by 1-0 over Neilon Waterson (Man City) to go 2nd overall at the end of Round 2. In Round 3, Sherwin stunned Julian vd Merwe (Atletico Madrid) with an unexpected long range angled shot to win by 1-0. Jayden then beat Osvaldo by 2-0 to go 3rd. Kegan's 1-0 win over Adam consolidated the 2nd spot. Bevin then recorded a 1-0 win over Chessray to inflict the day's only loss for Chessray - however, the result still saw Chessray cling onto the top spot.
Round 4 - the final "Derby round" - produced some thrilling encounters, with positive results recorded in all 6 derby encounters. Marlin scored his first ever goal to beat Osvaldo by 1-0, ensuring the derby BP for Marlin in the reverse fixture. Sherwin then recorded a 2-0 win over Neilon, scoring both goals on the counter attack in true derby style ! Kegan then secured the title by way of a 2-0 win over Julian - his second goal a powerful stunner from distance, deemed by many as the "goal of the day", a great goal of title winning quality ! Chessray then repeated the first round result of 3-0 over Adam to secure 2nd place overall. Stanton then beat Rowin by 1-0 to end the day 5th overall. Jayden then got the reverse derby win over Bevin by 2-0 - a result securing 3rd place overall for Jayden.
All in all, a good start to the 2017 calendar for the club, with the promise of new players to join. As for achievements on the day, Kegan deservedly claimed the "King of Derby Day" title by accumulating the maximum possible points and conceding none to make him the 2017 PFC Copa del Apertura Champion ! It is also worth mentioning that Marlin Boyd, Stanton Nortjie & Sherwin Reed all enjoyed an unbeaten run on the day ! Sherwin & debutant Marlin also joined Kegan as the only other players not to concede all day ! To many present on the day, there was the general agreement that this tournament was probably one of the best that PFC has ever staged to date as we witnessed Kegan claim his 5th WASPA title to date!
(report by Julian vd Merwe)
The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at :
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As early as Match 2, we witnessed the "match of the day" as Rowin Wilson (Dortmund) took on Stanton Nortjie (Schalke 04) with a loud roar heard as Rowin took the lead on 10min of play ; An even bigger cheer sounded as Stanton scored a far post bullet on 13min to bring the tie level. In the dying stages of the match, Rowin pulled off a save over Stanton from a certain goal-scoring position - the final score 1-1, but Stanton beaming with confidence after earning his "away derby draw" BP!
After the drama of the knockout stages in the AGP17 the 3rd and 4th players in the group of four advanced into a Knockout Tournament that ran alongside the Knockout stages of the AGP17. In a thrilling competition full of incidents and some truly special goals Mcnulty clinched another title to head 4,000 miles back to Perth with another title in the bag. In the first of 2 Elimination play offs to make the Quarter Final Chris Thorn turned on a spectacular display too dispose of local boy Andrew Kuany in emphatic style with a 3-0 win. In the 2nd Elimination Play Off Yago Dzezlalija also put on a superb display in a 3-0 win against the 17yr old Local wonder boy Othniel in a gripping match that really showcased the beauty of Subbuteo in its finest essence. In the first of the Quarter Finals Ross Mcnulty came up against Jeremy Simpson and hos dangerous Leicester City Tokas, after an even start Mcnulty began to dominate play and toom the lead just before half time, Simpson tried his all and cannoned a shot against the post but Mcnulty broke quickly and rasped a fine strike past the helpless keeper to go 2 up with 5mins left, Simpson did his all but could not break down the organised defence of Mcnuty's Manchester City Tcha Arrows team and another goal was added to complete his advance into the Semi Finals.
Chris Thorn took on Kostas Barbaris In the 2nd game of the Quarter finals and yet again remained water tight at the back and the veteran 74yr old dominated and took the lead just before Half time with a wonderfully constructed goal of sheer patience that paid off. In the second half Kostas put Thorn under pressure but could not break down the defence and half way through the half Thorn added another beauty to join his club mate Mcnulty in the Semi Finals. In the 3rd game of the Quarter Finals local Australian Greek lad Terry Koutzas faced Melbourne girl and current Ladies No 1 Beth Eveleigh, again another very tight match was played out with Beth remaining extremely organised at the back and they headed into Half Time at 0-0, Koutzas finally broke away after a sustained period of pressure mideay through the second half and although Beth rallied she could not equalize and Koutzas advanced into the Semi Finals. In the 4th and final Quarter Final Richard Wilson was pitted against Yago Dzelalija and another classic encounter was evident with the first half ending 0-0 with each player going close on numerous occasions, in the 2nd half Wilson and his dangerous Tokas smashed in an unstoppable shot that nearly took the net out and Yago crashed out after such a valiant effort in another cracker.
The first Semi Final pitted Chris Thorn against the local Terry Koutzas and after both defences were so organised the game headed into extra time, again they could not be separated and the game headed into Penalties, it ended after the 5 penalties tied at 3 each they went into sudden death, Thorn missed his Penalty and Koutzas made no mistake to propel himself into the Final and deny Thorn of a possible show down with other Perth local Mcnultt. In the 2nd Semi Final Mcnulty faced Richard Wilson and his ever dangerous Tokas and after a fine quick counter attack a shot was placed into the top corner from the right too put him 1 up at half time, Wilson really went for it in the 2nd half and duly snatched a deserved equalizer with minutes left on the clock after a great strike, Into extra time and again it remained deadlocked at 1-1 and the 2nd Semi Final was to be decided on penalties, at 2-2 after 4 penalties each Mcnulty tucked away his 5th and Wilson missed to go out after such a terrific display in the tournament. The Final was a game littered with quick break aways and tight defensive discipline between Mcnulty & Koutzas but ultimately Mcnulty began to break down The Sydney TSC local and went in 1 up at the break, in the 2nd half Koutzas attempted to get back on level terms but a second and final killer goal landed Mcnulty his first title away from Perth
