28/05/2019
UKI National League - 25th May
25th May 2019 and Bristol Manor Farm Football Club was the venue for the 2nd Round of the UKI National League, hosted and organised by Bristol Subbuteo Football Club. The sun was shining, the facilities were spot on and the vibe was convivial.
The players had come from far and wide to participate in the 4 Divisions and flick off was prompt at 9:15am.
Division 4 went down to the wire with Gareth Thomas (relegated from Division 3 at the last round) finishing level on points and goal difference with Adam Fraser - so Gareth’s tally saw him over the line and back to Division 3 at the first attempt. 3rd placed Taylor Randle scored one of the goals of the tournament striking from long distance and sending the ball into the top right hand corner of the goal with fearsome force.
Division 3 was always going to be close with the players taking part and so it proved with Gavin Gurney topping the Division and qualifying for the play-off, and Bob pipping Dave Croucher on goals scored for the right to meet Gavin in the final. Steve Badcott had won promotion from Division 4 but hadn’t played since the last UKI round so to finish 4th and score 8 goals would be a fine return on his day.
The Play-off final proved to be a tight affair. Bob scored first and looked comfortable at half time but 1 minute into the second half and that comfort would prove to be misplaced as Gavin equalised.
Bob had learned from his league match again Gavin earlier in the day when Gavin had ruled the mid-field and had won 3.1; this time Bob snuffed the oxygen of Gavin’s free flowing play in the middle of the park and took a rare chance to score the winner. Bob is promoted to Division 2.
Division 2 had 5 outstanding players gathered to do battle. Simon Donadel had won the Bristol Subbuteo League Division 2 and was ready to test himself to be ready for BSFC Div. 1 next season. 2 points divided the top 4. BSFC Champion Darren Barnes had suffered the ignominy of a shock relegation in the UKI National League Round 1 so was fired up to win promotion. Darren has had a good season winning the BSFC double so could be considered an early favourite to go up. He duly delivered and secured a place in the Division 2 play-off final to face Paignton’s Tony Maccann. It was tough on John lauder to get 2 wins and a draw and not make the final but he can feel pleased with himself today and Martin Bellefontaine’s only defeat against Tony did for his chances of extending his tournament to the play-off.
Darren’s red-hot streak continued as he beat Tony 2.0 in the play-off final, improving on the league 1.1 score line from earlier in the day. Darren is back in the UKINL top flight!
Division 1 was the astonishing Division of death with some fine players on show. Phil Dacey, the Champion from last season was unable to be available to defend his crown so it was down to David Lauder and Dave Samuel to try to keep the title across the border. By the halfway mark of tehn league fixtures David Lauder was leading the table and feeling the strain as much from the rounds of drinks and the competition and Aaron Skinner, BSFC’s number one player, was chasing him down, taking 3 points out of a maximum 4 in their head-to-head games. But it was Colin Tarry’s (Gillingham’s finest) 2.0 win over Aaron that upset the apple cart and meant that David and Aaron would finish level on points But David would prevail on a goal difference of 6 against Aaron’s 3. David Lauder is the UKI National League Champion!
It would be churlish not to point out that The Welsh contingent took 3 out of 4 Divisional titles today! Not only that but a special mention goes out to Colin Lewis for his fine support in reffing games and not even wishing to play. Thanks Colin: your experience and coaching efforts were much appreciated.
I think it is fair to say that the venue was a great success so thanks to Geoff Seller, Brian and Debbie for their support and kindness. Mat Le Tissier had been a guest speaker the night before and a Freddie Mercury tribute act was on shortly after us – I like to think we proved a fine balance of Mat’s skill and Freddie’s mimicked flair in our own way!
I thank Gavin Gurney for his tremendous efforts in helping me to move the pitches to the venue on the Friday taking out a significant chunk of his day to help and to Adam and Gavin and to all for their invaluable help in setting up on the morning of the event.
Thanks to all BSFC members who contributed, cakes, biscuits and fruit for the day.
Thanks to Crockers of Teignmouth for a fine job with the trophies.
And, finally, thank you to everyone that took part for making it such a sporting, friendly spirited and humorous occasion – that makes all the difference.
We look forward to releasing news of the date of the next round soon.
