WHAT’S NEW

The draw was made for the Glasgow Cup. There will be two sections of five players with the top two in each group progressing to the semi-finals. Dave Butler currently holds the trophy having defeated Tom Burns in last season’s final.

Barry Corr continued to climb the league and is now second behind Tom Burns. Winning only three of his four games in hand would see Corr move level with Burns. It was the McKenzie family’s turn to suffer at the hands of Corr. Fraser McKenzie was soundly beaten by Corr but the youngster was able to make it more frustrating for his opponent when he played Tom Burns. Baver Bari also moved up the table after recording his third consecutive win, this time beating Colin Berry. Colin Day looked to have the points secured against Ronnie McKenzie but a late defensive error allowed McKenzie to score and share the points.

Results

Barry Corr has given notice that he is a real contender for the league title this season after recording two significant wins tonight. First he inflicted on Tom Burns a first defeat in the campaign. There was only one goal scored in the game. It is true that Burns had more opportunities to score but the fact is he failed to find the net whereas Corr did. Colin Day has had a mixed start to the season but it has looked recently that consistency was returning. So it seemed to be when Day took the lead against Barry Corr. Day then missed further chances to take a 2-goal lead which would surely have secured the points. It was Corr, however, who equalised before half-time and then went on to score a second-half winner after Day overshot a simple block flick. Was Corr fortunate to pick up 6 points? Probably, but it would be too much to say he didn’t deserve them.

Tom Burns did stretch his lead at the top of the table after beating Dave Houston 2-0, both goals coming in the first half. Houston’s plan of trying to frustrate Burns was quickly extinguished after he conceded straight from the kick off.

Houston did get another point on the board after a 1-1 draw against the improving John Halpin. Halpin led at half-time but was pulled level in the second period.

Baver Bari had only managed two points in the league up until two weeks ago. Now he has managed two wins in a row, this time scoring the only goal of the game against John Halpin.

Only 5 players attended and 4 matches were played. Baver Bari, now officially a GTSA player, recorded his first league victory of the season and it was at Dave Gladman’s expense. After a goal-less first half Gladman scored straight from the kick off. As Gladman pressed for a second goal to kill the game he left defensive gaps which Bari was able to exploit, first to equalise and then to score the winner. It was a jubilant Bari who greeted the final whistle. But in his next match Bari lost out by the odd goal in a 5-goal thriller against Ronnie McKenzie. Twice McKenzie went ahead only to be pegged back. But Bari couldn’t pull it back a third time and lost a game which could have gone either way.

In a round robin of matches McKenzie and Gladman also faced each other. In a game of two halves, Gladman raced to a 2-0 half-time lead. McKenzie had several opportunities after the break but only managed a breakthrough in the final minute. Earlier Colin Day had edged out Dave Houston by breaking the deadlock less than two minutes from the end. Day had dominated the match but good defensive work by Houston limited the Day chances. Houston was fielding a team which he had just bought from e-bay and a couple of his figures appeared not to be fully formed. Afterwards Day claimed that he had played with only 10 men. Surely with the amount of experience behind them Day, Houston or referee Gladman would have spotted this?

Willie Fleming returned to action with a 2-0 win over Dave Houston. With an early goal Fleming was able to dictate play and, in the end, it was a comfortable win. It was a step up in Fleming’s next match when he played Tom Burns. Burns was never under real threat and was thus able to extend his lead at the top of the league. Once again it looks as if the league title will be fought out between Burns and Dave Butler, unfortunately absent tonight. Could Burns’ national and international commitment make the difference this season?

Dave Houston added to his points tally after a 0-0 draw with Dave Gladman. In a match littered with mistakes neither player could say that they deserved victory. Gladman could only manage a draw in his subsequent match with Colin Berry. Although Gladman had more chances to score he was never in control of the match. Indeed his goalkeeper had to produce a fine save in the dying moments to deny Berry all three points. It was also a night of two draws for Berry, his derby game with Ronnie McKenzie ending 1-1.

McKenzie finished the evening undefeated following a 2-0 victory over John Halpin and a goal-less draw against Colin Day.

It was Dave Houston’s first night of the new season. Not starting until November…tut, tut! He kicked off with two victories and scorelines which have come to be associated with the club’s founder member…1-0 and…..1-0. Baver Bari and Colin Berry were the victims.

Colin Berry was to suffer defeat again at the hands of Colin Day who now hopes that his campaign is back on track. Day scored early but it was two quick goals in the second half which killed the game. Berry scored a consolation goal in the final minute.

Willie Fleming and Dave Gladman are, according to Barry Corr, the Jack and Victor of GTSA. And they can still produce a good game of Subbuteo. There is no truth in the rumour that referee Corr fell asleep as Fleming and Gladman played out a 0-0 draw. Each player had the better of one half but neither could find a way to the back of the net.

Barry Corr had earlier played Martin Phee. The match was poised at 0-0 at half time but three quick goals by Corr after the break led to Phee abandoning his goalkeeper and defence to allow Corr to score another 10 goals.

Is it crisis time for Colin Day? Following last week’s two defeats to rivals Tom Burns and Dave Gladman, Day started the night with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Martin Phee but then went down to a 1-0 defeat to John Halpin. So far this season Day has lost 10 goals, an average of 1.6 goals per game. This doesn’t sound bad until it is compared to last season when Day lost only 12 goals in the whole league season, an average of less than 0.5 goals per game. His goals scored average is actually better than last year so it is clear where the problem lies. Colin Day has always been synonymous with sound defence. It’s early days yet, however, and he was certainly unlucky against Burns and Gladman.

It is looking as if 2014 will be the breakthrough year for John Halpin. He is now starting to compete well against the established players. As well as seeing off Colin Day, he was extremely unlucky against Dave Gladman. He conceded the only goal of the game with the very last flick of the ball. It was only in the last five minutes that Gladman began to dominate. Halpin had produced earlier chances and could have won the game. Halpin’s possession game has improved enormously and with that has come more confidence.

Two players looking to achieve more consistency are Baver Bari and Martin Phee. Both are capable of fine play but find it difficult to sustain it over the whole course of a match. They faced each other tonight with Phee pulling back a half-time deficit to draw 1-1. Bari had earlier scored two goals against Barry Corr but had conceded five. It was Corr’s first win of the season but of course it was only his second match. With Dave Butler absent, Tom Burns was able to stretch his lead at the top of the table to six points after defeating John Halpin.

Due to a hockey committee meeting in the Snug, GTSA were displaced to the main bar area. Playing conditions were made intolerable due to increased sound levels after the influx of hockey players added to tennis, bowling and bridge players already present. Even the familiar shouts of Baver Bari were lost in the sea of noise created.

The difference between success and failure can be very small indeed and for Colin Day what could have been a very successful evening turned out to be anything but. He raced to a two goal lead against Tom Burns only to concede two goals a minute either side of half-time. The first was a penalty when a Burns’ shot hit Day’s hand inside the box. It was Burns who went on to score the winner in the second half. Then Day faced Dave Gladman and with the two players locked at 1-1 both had chances to go ahead but it was Gladman who scored after an error by Day in trying to force a throw.

Gladman completed a good night with a 1-0 victory over Martin Phee in a very closely contested match. Phee also competed well against Tom Burns with Burns leading 1-0 at half time. As Phee pushed men forward, however, Burns was able to exploit the space created and run out 5-1 winner. This keeps Burns top of the league, 3 points clear of Butler who has a game in hand.

Meanwhile Dave Butler kept pace with Tom Burns with 2 wins of his own. But he had to work hard for both with a 1-0 win over Willie Fleming and a 2-0 win over Baver Bari. Fleming claimed a penalty kick near the end but the referee saw nothing untoward. Fleming and Bari had previously played each other but neither could manage a goal.

It was a busy night at GTSA with 11 players attending and 10 league matches played. Tom Burns leads the league after two league wins this evening to add to his previous 4 points.

Dave Butler stays in second place 3 points behind but with a game in hand. Colin Day was holding Butler at 1-1 at half-time but the league champion ran out 3-1 winner. Barry Corr played his first game and drew 2-2 with John Halpin in a match which Corr really should have won. Halpin remains undefeated after 4 games following a 1-1 draw with Colin Berry.

Willie Fleming opened his account with 2 victories which took him straight to third place. His wins were narrow, however, his victims being Martin Phee and Ronnie McKenzie.

Fraser McKenzie had a tough baptism but showed that he could compete well in matches against Martin Phee, Dave Gladman and father Ronnie. Ronnie too had a difficult start losing by a single goal to both Tom Burns and Willie Fleming.

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