Match Day One

The Clubhouse

I’m not going to lie. It was my greatest ever Subbuteo moment. The ball had stopped just outside the 6 yard box, near its left corner. Steve’s ‘keeper was just 3 or 4cm from the ball ready for the block. The only figure that had a clean run on the ball was deep inside my own half with a few centimetres of wiggle room between defenders. I lined it up, flicked. The figure glided down the pitch. Struck the ball sweetly. Cut the angle perfectly. Chipped the ‘keeper at point blank range. Cannoned into the top right corner. I yelled. “Did that go in!??” From my angle, I couldn’t quite tell if it was the goalposts or the back of the goals that had rattled. But it had looked good. Steve was frozen. Jaw dropped. He eventually confirmed. Nothing but back of the net. The only problem with having your greatest ever moment is that things can only go downhill. After holding on to the lead for three quarters of the game, Steve put his equaliser past me with 40 seconds left on the clock. Bastard.

The Subbuteo Parramatta Spring League swung back into action with the opening match day of the 2015 edition. An expanded field of 15 will battle it out over the next few months, with multiple venues needed to handle all the fixtures. At The Clubhouse, after a few introductions, meeting some new players, things got underway well. Imojjen, making her début, showed that she already has a strong grasp of the Subbuteo Parramatta spirit – it’s not about whether you win or lose, it’s how well you can sledge Gordy. In her opening match against Todd, she conceded an early goal before settling her nerves and putting in a solid showing, the score finishing at 1-0. On the other table, it was generally agreed that Gordy and Steve played their tensest, highest quality match against each other, with Steve also taking a single goal advantage to full time. The second round saw Æowyn sub in for Imojjen to face Dom, fresh from his second place in the AGFA Cup on the weekend. The years of experience told with him winning 5-0, though not without having to make a save or two of his own as Æowyn got a couple of shots on target. Meanwhile, Gordy and Adrian played out another tense match, with Adrian winning by another solitary goal. In the evening’s final two matches, Dom settled quickly and ended up putting 3 past the ever improving Todd, while on the other table…

Having robbed Adrian of his moment of glory, Steve finished the evening by really stretching his hosts’ hospitality, stealing half a pavlova.

(report by Adrian Elmer)

Imojjen 0 – Todd 1
Dom 5 – Æowyn 0
Todd 0 – Dom 3

Steve Di 1 – Gordy 0
Gordy 0 – Adrian 1
Adrian 1 – Steve Di 1

Toongabbie West

Over on the other side of the railway line, an equally enjoyable evening played out. An inspired scoring spree by Paul Magee set the tone for the action. Paul raced to a 3-0 lead against Adam before Adam could respond, but Paul closed out the match for a 4-1 win. On the other table, Mat Barrie was benefitting from a rusty Fabrizio, who missed a raft of chances to go in 0-0 at halftime, Mat’s ‘keeping skills getting a real workout. But the patient build-ups eventually paid off and, though Mat did create a couple of chances, Fabrizio took a 3-0 win. David Rudd was making his competitive return after a decade off and, despite two losses, showed some flashes of skill. Steve and Fabrizio shared the spoils in their match-up. Steve opened the scoring in the opening minute with a cracking long shot, but made silly defensive mistakes with the freestander, allowing Fabrizio to score the equalisers. Steve then gave Matt (who, by virtue of alphabetical order, had a horror opening night’s draw!) his second 3-0 beating. Meanwhile David managed to push Paul all the way before Paul could claim his second win.

(report by Steve Dettre)

Mat 0 – Fabrizio 3
Fabrizio 2 – Steve De 2
Steve De 3 – Mat 0

Paul 4 – Adam 1
Adam 2 – David 0
David 0 – Paul 1

Full results and current table can be viewed by clicking here.