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Twenty players from Scotland and England took part in the Tayside IO at Tannadice Park in Dundee. All competitors were drawn in four groups and entered for the Open category. Four GTSA players, Baver Bari, Tom Burns, Dave Gladman and John Halpin made the trip north. Only Tom Burns qualified out of his group to reach the quarter-finals. There he lost to Scotland’s number 1, Steve Bennett. It was Bennett who went on to win the competition defeating Yorkshire’s Trevor Schott in the final. Dave Gladman, however, was successful in winning the Plate.

 

 

Only four teams took part in the Team event on the Sunday. With only a 3-man team Glasgow lost all their matches though they did manage some creditable performances. The competition was won by Dundee United’s A team who won all 3 matches.

 

 

Many thanks are due to Dundee United TFC for a well-organised and very enjoyable tournament.

The nine teams were drawn into 3 groups with Perugia, Athinaikos and London Essex seeded. Glasgow A found themselves in an extremely tough group with Perugia and Yorkshire Phoenix A. The Perugia team consisted of the de Francescos, fresh from their victories on Saturday as well as experienced campaigner Bob Varney and former Hot Club d’Ecosse stalwart Mike Burns. Yorkshire are popular visitors to Scotland and indeed were victorious in last year’s Glasgow International Open. Turning out for Glasgow were Tom Burns, Barry Corr, Colin Day and Dave Gladman. Against Perugia Glasgow suffered a 4-0 defeat then went on to lose 3-0 to Yorkshire. Colin Day managed a draw against Martin Hodds (Veteran finalist the day before) and Tom Burns and Dave Gladman both lost by a single goal. Perugia proved too strong for Yorkshire, winning the group with a 3-1 victory.

In group 2 Athinaikos were in firm control winning both their matches against Dundee United B and Yorkshire B 4-0. Only Tony McCann of Yorkshire was able to score against the Greeks as he lost 5-2 to Dimitris Kosmopoulos. It was Yorkshire who qualified for the barrage, overcoming the Taysiders 2-1.

Glasgow B were also in a tough group. The seeded team was London Essex, ranked 27 in the world. Dundee United A made up the group. They had Scotland’s number 1, 2 and 4 players in their team. Glasgow B were represented by Colin Berry, John Halpin, Fraser McKenzie and Ronnie McKenzie and they lost both their matches, 4-0 to London Essex but only 2-0 to Dundee A. Ronnie Mckenzie drew with Greg Dand and John Halpin with Dave Baxter. But it was Dundee United A who won the group with a shock 4-0 win over London Essex.

In the barrage London Essex swept past Yorkshire B but the Yorkshire A – Dundee United A match was a closely contested affair, the Scots winning 2-1. This was revenge for their loss to Yorkshire in the final of last year’s International Open. If anything the Yorkshire team was stronger this year with the inclusion of Brian Daley but it was the match between Daley and Steve Bennett which was to prove decisive, with Bennett scoring at the death to win 2-1.

Both semi-finals were close. Athinaikos beat Dundee United 2-1. Bennett defeated Panos Aliadis and Gareth Christie drew with the new Open Champion, Kostas Sesses 0-0 but the Greeks won the other two matches. In the other semi London Essex had a fine 2-1 victory over Perugia. The key match was between Mike Burns and Nick Maclochlainn. Burns led 1-0 at half-time but London Essex substituted Elliot Bellefontaine who came on to score a second half equaliser which turned the tie.

The final was also an exciting match and ended 2-2 with Athinaikos winning on goal difference. Dave Pawsey and Kevin Cordell both won their matches by a single goal but it was the comfortable victories of Kostas Sesses and Dimitris Kosmopoulos which made the difference.

Glasgow A were winners of the Plate. In a round robin of matches they defeated Dundee U B 3-0 and Glasgow B 4-0. Glasgow B were 2-0 winners over Dundee U B.

 

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Fifty players from all over the UK as well as Italy, Malta and Greece took part in the individual categories. This was a good increase on the 2013 Glasgow Grand Prix, also in the Normandy Hotel. With the help of sponsors McCrea Financial Services the event had been publicised in the Daily Record, Evening Times and by STV Glasgow. Partick Thistle’s Lyle Taylor had visited visited GTSA on our club night at Woodend.

In the Open, 24 players were drawn into six groups. Angelo Borg of Malta was pre-tournament favourite but Borg failed to win his group losing to London Essex’s Dave Pawsey. This meant that Borg, after beating Antonio de Francesco in the barrage, had to face number 2 seed Kostas Sesses in the quarter-finals. This was the key match and after deadlock at 2-2, it was Sesses who was to win on shots. Indeed, it was Sesses who went on to take the title with a 1-0 win in an all Greek final against Dimitris Kosmopoulos. No Glasgow player managed to get beyond the group stage though Barry Corr went out on goal difference. It was a good tournament for Dundee United’s Steve Bennett who, after winning his group, reached the semi-finals only to lose in extra-time to Kosmopoulos.

Though only seeded four, Stefano de Francesco of Perugia swept everyone before him to take the Veteran title. In his six matches he scored 35 goals and conceded none! The best result against him was by Manchester’s Malcolm Lees who lost 3-0 in the semi-finals. It was a successful day for Lees who earlier had beaten number 1 seed Giorgos Aggelinas in the group stage. Martin Hodds of Yorkshire Phoenix also performed well, taking the scalp of fellow club-mate, Brian Daley on the way to the final where he met the unstoppable de Francesco. Glasgow’s Tom Burns, Dave Gladman and Ronnie McKenzie all qualified out of their groups in second place but all were to lose in the barrage.

The Under-19 final did not start until 6.45 pm. This was because both finalists, Elliot Bellefontaine and Antonio de Francesco had performed well in the Open, the former reaching the quarter-finals and the latter, the barrage. It was an excellent and very close final. Bellefontaine scored in the first half and kept that lead until half-time. But de Francesco equalised in the second half to take the tie to extra-time. It took de Francesco only 2 minutes to score the all important golden goal, finding a gap in the middle of the Bellefontaine defence and driving home. It was unfortunate for Kent’s Joseph Kinrade that the delay to the competition meant that he was unable to play in the barrage. Glasgow’s Fraser McKenzie, however, qualified out of his group and went on to the semi-final losing to de Francesco. Joseph Kinrade had enjoyed earlier success in the Under-12 category winning the round robin against fellow Kent Players Thomas Price and Christopher Atkin.

Fifteen players took part in the Plate. In the final, Mike Burns, scoring the only goal of the game, defeated Trevor Schott.

 

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