From the Touchline

28-05-06: Another one bites the dust

Yet another player can now taste the feeling of losing a major final to world phenomenon Vasco Guimaraes. This player is Simone Bertelli, of CS Reggiana, ex-U19 World Champion  in the 1990's who has today developed into an exceptional player. The Portugese won the final narrowly 1-0 against Bertelli who had beaten him 2-1 the day before in the Team's final between Reggiana and Eagles Napoli, in which Reggiana came out smiling. Guimaraes defeated fellow countryman, Loureiro in the Semi-Finals, while Bertelli knocked out, team-mate, Cremona from Malta. The U15 competition was won by Italian National U15 Champion, Mattia Bellotti, from Naples. In the final he defeated his team-mate, Simone Palmieri 2-0. Massimiliano Schiavone, from Bari, won the Veterans Title against Massimo Conti, in a very close encounter which ended 4-3.

Quarter-Finals

Massimo Cremona beat Francesco Quattrini 2-1

Simone Bertelli beat Luigi Pochesci 2-0

Sergio Loureiro beat Massimo Bolognino 5-3

Vasco Guimaraes beat Bruno Mazzeo 2-1

 

Semi-Finals

Simone Bertelli beat Massimo Cremona 2-1 (ms)

Vasco Guimaraes beat Sergio Loureiro 2-1

 

Final

Vasco Guimaraes beat Simone Bertelli 1-0

 

Other finals:

Veterans: Massimiliano Schiavone beat Massimo Conti 4-3

U19: Mattia Bellotti beat Simone Palmieri 2-0

Teams: CS Reggiana beat Eagles Napoli 2-2 (7-6)

28-05-06: Ternois-Sambreville Belgian Division 2 Champs

SC Ternois-Sambreville won the Belgian Second division this week-end ahead of SC Stembert B Team. The relatively young team won their first ever Belgian title in Mechelen and will be participating in the top division next season alongside various top teams such as Hennuyer and Charleroi. Templeuve have been relegated to this Division next season and will be favourites to win the title, however they expect tough opposition from the Stembertians, Jambes and Flanders, all of whom are expected to participate next season.

Final Standings:

1 S.C. Ternois-Sambreville 
2 S.C. Stembert 2 
3 S.C. Flanders 
3 Templeuve United T.S.C. 2 
5 S.C. Ternois-Sambreville 2 
6 S.C. Flanders 2 

28-05-06: England a step ahead of Scotland

In the UK & Ireland internationals, held in Dundee, England won the team's competition on Goal Difference after the table ended with bothe England and Scotland with nine points, the three-player Northern Irish team ended up last with no points. The individuals competition was won by Chris Thomas who beat Northern Irish veteran, Kenneth Beggs, 3-2 in the final. Two scottish made it to the Semis both losing out to their English and Northern Irish adversaries.

28-05-06: Bradley takes home the Yorkshire Satellite

Jeremy Bradley won the English Satellite held in Yorkshire on the 28th May, to win this honour he had a very hard time forcing extra time twice in the knock-out stage, in the Last 16 and the semi-finals, where he beat father and son Matt and Neil Lishman, the latter in the Semis. This year's entry wasn't as pleasing as last year's 51, however the 23 players present made the tournament once again successful. On saturday night the club organised a dinner with former Leeds United legend, Eddie Gray, present. The U19 competition was won by Solway's Daryl Shanks who defeated Matt Lishman 1-0 in the final. The veterans competition was won by Yorkshire's own Adrian Curtis who defeated his team-mate Colin Fletcher 2-0 in an interesting encounter.

Quarter-finals

Simon Bryan - Colin Fletcher 1-0

Kevin Adderley - Paul Lawrenson 2-4

Jeremy Bradley - Max Wright 2-0

Neil Lishman - Adrian Curtis 3-2

 

Semi-finals

Simon Bryan - Paul Lawrenson 1*-1 (shots)

Jeremy Bradley - Neil Lishman 0*-0 (shots)

 

Final

Simon Bryan - Jeremy Bradley 0-1

21-05-06: Cremona makes history

Massimo Cremona made history at the Maltese National Championships, held at Zabbar S.C. when he won the Maltese National Championships for the fourth time. He won the 1992-93, the 1994-95, the 2004-05 and now the 2005-06 to become the only Maltese player to win the National championship four times. He won the championships in the final seconds of his last game against Mark Gauci when he scored to win the game 3-2 and overcome Charles Aquilina to take the top spot. The surprise of the tournament was Samuel Bartolo the Valletta Player who managed to take third place and also beat the champion himself with a stomping 4-0 score. The second division was wonby Valletta Prodigy Mauro Camilleri who overcame his rival, Timothy Spiteri, by 3 points, to take his first ever MTFSA League. The top 8 division one players were Massimo Cremona, Charles Aquilina, Samuel Bartolo, Joseph Mifsud, Derek Conti, Mark Gauci, Hansel Mallia and Patrick Pace.

19-05-06: South African Subbuteo back on track

Reza Bodiat, from the South African Subbuteo Table Soccer Association announced that Subbuteo is back on track in South Africa, and he will be trying to re-establish a club in the Johannesburg area, along with the help of Clifford Graaf and others who used to play in the past and have now rekindled their interest in the game. They also plan to launch a league for Juniors in order to have some hope for the future of Subbuteo in the country. He also added that players in other parts of the country will also be looking to start up leagues which will help in the country's plan to organise the FISTF World Cup in 2010 to coincide with te FIFA World Cup in the country. He also remarked that they needed help in order to reincline themselves with the FISTF rules and also to obtain equipment, which at the moment isn't available in the country.

17-05-06: FISTF Meets Hasbro

Vincent Coppenolle, FISTF President, accompanied by Alan Collins and Pete Motley from the ESTFA, had a meeting with Hasbro and their PR Department. They seem to be very coopertive towards FISTF and admit that their products can be improved however nothing can be done for at least another six months. They said they were extremely enthusiastic about promoting the game amongst chidren and encouraging them to participate in tournaments and motivating them to join clubs. Hopefully in the future we will see better quality products from Hasbro and we hope that they will continue to work in collaboration with FISTF.

15-05-06: Tsombanidis takes one home

Giorgios Tsombanidis won the Greek Satellite in Athens, against Olympiakos star, Dimitris Mavromitros. The tournament saw an amazing barrage round in which five out of the six matches went to extra time. The semifinalists each came from a different club in Greece. Tsombanidis (Roligans) saw off Giorgios Aggelinas (Falcons) 2-0, whilst Mavromitros defeated Eugene Plytas (Atlas) 3-1. Tsombanidis' goal three minutes into the final won him the silverware leaving Mavromitros having to satisfy with his runners-up position.

14-05-06: Fraikin Overcomes all Odds

David Fraikin overcame al odds in the Northern Irish Grand Prix in Belfast, where he came out on top despite not being the strongest player present. There were several top players at the tournament including Olivier Pere, Joseph Mifsud, Chris Thomas, Massimo Cremona, Laurent Goor and Kasper Bennett, however Fraikin wasn't put off and overcame challenges from Hawkins, Pere and Mifsud to reach the final where he met Massimo Cremona who he beat on shots after the score at full time was 1-1. This was Fraikin's first FISTF tournament win. The six-player Veterans competition was won by Kenneth Beggs who thumped Adrian Curtis 4-1 in the final, the two also met in the group stage where Curtis forced a narrow 3-2 win over Beggs. The U19 competition was won by home player Andrew Morrison who defeated his Northern Irish comrade Georgia Lee. Meanwhile the U15 competition was won by Sam Curtis who won the tournament against weak oposition to obtain another GP Title. Finally the Ladies competition was won by world number one, Kamilla Kristensen from Denmark.

Quarter-finals

Massimo Cremona - Nathan Dupont 1-0

Laurent Goor - Chris Thomas 1-2 (ms)

Olivier Pere - David Fraikin 1-3

Joseph Mifsud - Kaspar Bennett 1-0

 

Semi-finals

Massimo Cremona - Chris Thomas 3-1

David Fraikin - Joseph Mifsud 2-1

 

Final

Massimo Cremona - David Fraikin 1-1* (shots)

 

Other finals

U19: Andrew Morrison 3-0 Georgia Lee

U15: Sam Curtis 3-1 Peter Morrison

Females: Kamilla Kristensen 8-0 Georgia Lee

Veterans: Kenny Beggs 4-1 Adrian Curtis

The Teams competition was won by A.S. Hennuyer of Belgium, they won a group of four ahead of English Premier League, Lega Liga Odense and Irish Premier League, to claim yet another title in the FISTF Circuit.

14-05-06: Verhagen does Dutch Double

Sao Paolo-based Dutchman, Eric Verhagen won the Dutch national championships in Nieuwveen by beating Maikel de Haas in the final. He came through from the semi-finals beating Martin Bom, who won the third place match against Nico Marks. Verhagen eliminated last year's champion, Rene Bolte in the quarter finals of the tournament as well as Lucas Creemers in the Last 16, Creemers saw off Marco Leeman creating the surprise of the tournament.

15-05-06: Wlodarczyck makes way for Klein

Nicolas Wlodarczyck had to make way for his FTC Beausoleil team mate, Herve Klein in the French National Championships held at Sucy-en-Brie for which 60 players attended to participate in 6 different categories as well as a Teams Championship also won by the southern club, FTC Beausoleil. Meanwhile Faycal Rouis won the second division ahead of Romain Lafontaine. The other categories were won by Jeremy Meyrand (U19), Benjamin Garnier (U15), Arnaud Le Teno (U12), Francoise Guyot (Ladies) and Henri Cornu (Veterans).

13-05-06: Belgian Category Champions:

The national Belgium Category Championships were held in Templeuve on the 13th May. The categories played were U19, U15 and Veterans. Two of the six finalists came from the host club, who enjoy dominance in the Youth Categories and is known as the number one club for the upbringing of young players in Belgium. The champions and runners up were as follows:

Veterans
1. Steve Grégoire (Temploux)
2. Fabrice Mazzaglia (Charleroi)

U19
1. Logan Carette (Tournai)
2. Nicolas Baccega (Hennuyer)

U15
1. Jonathan Thulier (Templeuve)
2. Erwin Delaunoy (Templeuve)

07-05-06: Triantafillou Forfeit Winner

In the Greek International Open of Athens, Triantafillou emerged as the champion when Kostas Kechris, the other finalist, forfeited the match because his team-mate, Lazaros Papakostantinou, was set to referee the match. Kechris had beaten heavy favourite, Nikos Beis in the semifinals while Triantafillou eliminated Giorgios Koutis. The Veterans competition was won by George Drazinakis who defeated English-based Greek, Panos Stemitsiotis in the final. The Teams competition was won by Roligans Ilioupolis who overcame Falcons Athens, 2-1 in the most decisive match of the day.

Quarter-finals

Lazaros Papakonstantinou - Nikos Beis 0-0 (ms)

Dimos Tsombanidis - Kostas Kechris 0-1

Giorgos Koutis - Christos Archimandritis 2-1

Kostas Triantafillou - Giorgos Tsombanidis 3-1

 

Semi-finals

Nikos Beis - Kostas Kechris 0-1

Giorgos Koutis - Kostas Triantafillou 1-3

 

Final

Kostas Kechris - Kostas Triantafillou 0ff-3 

 

Veterans

1. George Drazinakis, 2. Panos Stemistsiotis

 

07-05-06: Matzinger brings home the Flash Cup

Markus Matzinger defeated Massimo Cremona in a repeat of the Amsterdam Semifinal between the two players, with Matzinger once again emerging victorious, the other semifinalists were Wolfgang Leitner and Manfred Pawlica, while the winners of the other categories were Gunther Bamberzky (Veterans), Christian Haas (U19) and Micheala Scherbaum (Ladies). Only six foreign plyers were present for this highly-prestigious competition and only one foreign team, being that of DLF Gorizia (ITA). The team's competition was wonby TFC Mattersburg who overcame the in-form hosts, TSC Royal Kaisermuhlen who had just eliminated Austrian Superteam, D.E.V.I.L.S. Austria, the other semifinalists were TFC Mattersburg's B Team.

Quarter-Finals

Cremona beat Gütl

Leitner beat Wittmann

Pawlica beat Bernardis

Matzinger beat Lenz

 

Semi-Finals

Cremona beat Leitner

Matzinger beat Pawlica

 

Final

Markus Matzinger beat Massimo Cremona 1-0

 

Other finals:

Veterans: Günther Bamberzky beat Michael Hasieber 1-0 (ms)

U19: Christian Haas beat Christoph Gerbasits 3-0

Females: Michaela Scherbaum beat Jennifer Kastner 1-0

07-05-06: Maltese Category Champions

The Maltese category champions and runners-up for the season 2005-06 are as follows:

U19:

1st Mauro Camilleri (Valletta SC)
2nd Timothy Spiteri (Valletta SC) 

U15:

1st Timothy Spiteri (Valletta SC)
2nd Andrew Abela (Valletta SC)

U13:

1st Matthew Pace (Hamrun TFC)
2nd Brandon Farrugia (Hamrun TFC)

Ladies:

1st Martha Camilleri (Pembroke SC)
2nd Tiziana Spiteri (Pembroke SC)

Veterans:

1st Patrick Pace (Hamrun TFC)
2nd Mario Spiteri (Reggio/ITA)

Martha Camilleri and Patrick Pace are champions for the second year in a row in their respctive categories.

07-05-06: Charleroi conquer Belgium

S.C. Charleroi confirmed their dominance in Belgium this year after winning the National League for Clubs, they completely dominated the tournament which was played over three days throughout the season, without losing a single match. The club obtained 42 points out of a possible 48, in turn finishing 10 points clear of the second placed AS Hennuyer currently ranked number 3 in the world.  Till the last day the fight for second place was very close and five clubs finished within four points of each other. Next season the Belgians plan on introducing another division because of the interest of several new clubs including SC Ternois-Sambreville, SC Flanders, Herla Chapelle and RSC Pays Blanc. The champions, Charleroi will be favourite once again next season, because of its high quality players and its immense squad depth, it is also rumoured that last season's world cup finalist and Begian Ace, Alain Hanotiaux will be rejoining his birth club from his current club Eagles Napoli.

Final Standings:

1 S.C.Charleroi 42
2 A.S.Hennuyer 32
3 S.C.Verviers 30
4 S.C.Stembert 30
5 S.C.Temploux 28
6 J.S.C.Rochefort 28
7 M.T.Tournai 8
8 Brussels S.C. W-B 5
9 Templeuve United 3