Club night 9/2/15

Tom Burns increased his lead over Dave Butler to 12 points, the latter having five games in hand. Burns, however, wasn’t celebrating as that increase was only one point as he secured a last minute equaliser against Ronnie McKenzie. McKenzie has done well against the top players already, going down 2-1 to Burns earlier in the season and managing a 0-0 draw against Dave Butler. So it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise that he had taken a 2-0 lead at half-time. McKenzie has recently changed from Sureshot to DST bases and the better control this has given him has allowed him to dominate the ball much more. McKenzie’s second match was against Dave Gladman, another player who is able to hold possession for long periods. McKenzie took an early lead but Gladman levelled before half-time. Both players added a goal in the second half, this time Gladman going ahead and McKenzie equalising.

 

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Burns drops points

 

Willie Fleming moved above Ronnie McKenzie in the league after gathering 4 points this evening. Fleming had much more of the play in his match against John Halpin and more attempts at goal. Halpin, however, was more direct and opportunist. Twice Halpin was ahead at 1-0 and 2-1. At 2-1 Halpin was extremely careless with a defender’s flick which allowed Fleming to quickly shoot into an open goal. This was the turning point of the game and it was Fleming who secured a 3-2 victory.  If Fleming created many opportunities against Halpin, he created few against Dave Houston. It has to be said also that Houston created even fewer. Sometimes 0-0 draws are exciting with lots of shots and saves and creative play. Not this one. Nevertheless, Houston’s goals conceded column is still in single figures, something shared with only Dave Butler and Barry Corr. But the number of goals he has scored is the second lowest in the league.

 

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Controversy!!

 

 

The first season in the league is always a difficult one. For Fraser McKenzie it’s a season for gaining experience and starting to be competitive. It will be many years before McKenzie will have the experience of his first opponent this evening, Dave Houston. Houston was in no mood to be merciful, leading 3-0 at half-time and adding another in the second period. In his last encounter with Colin Berry, McKenzie managed a 2-2 draw. This time, however, Berry made no mistakes and ran out a comfortable 3-0 winner. It was, in fact, Berry’s first win of the season and with games in hand over the three players above him he must hope to climb a little higher.

 

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League

 

Fleming 3 2 Halpin
Houston 4 0 McKenzie F
Fleming 0 0 Houston
Burns 2 2 McKenzie R
Berry 3 0 McKenzie F
Gladman 2 2 McKenzie R

 

 

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Club night 2/2/15

After the near full attendance last week, only six players turned up to play this evening. In their first league meeting earlier in the season Tom Burns beat John Halpin 4-0. But Halpin is a much tougher proposition now and he made Burns work hard for his 2-0 victory only sealing the win with a final minute goal. That Halpin is the most improved club player this season was further confirmed in his match against Dave Butler. It was into the second half before the league champion made the breakthrough. Two 2-0 defeats for Halpin but with both matches being against the club’s top two players, it’s a good measure of Halpin’s progress.

 

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With Dave Butler only playing one league match Tom Burns moved further ahead in the title race. In a first half which was littered with mistakes from both players Burns could manage only one shot on goal. Neither player was at his best but Burns did improve in the second period and was able to twice find the net.

 

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Baver Bari had beaten Dave Gladman in their two previous encounters. In the first half Gladman scorned several opportunities but the best chance fell to Bari who shot wide with an open goal gaping. Gladman controlled most of the second half maintaining possession for long periods and finally managing to convert two shots.

 

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In Group B of the Glasgow Cup Dave Butler beat Dave Gladman 3-0. It was a fairly even first half but Butler led courtesy of a very fine goal. It looked as if Butler was about to lose possession but a superb long pick-up set him up perfectly to chip in from an acute angle. At the beginning of the second half Gladman held possession for about five or six minutes but despite forcing two corners his play wasn’t quick enough to create clear opportunities. Butler, on the other hand, had no such difficulties and was able to carve out two further quality goals. Gladman has now played all his group matches and must wait for other results to see if he will qualify for the semi-finals.

 

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League

 

Halpin 0 2 Burns
Butler 2 0 Halpin
Gladman 2 0 Bari
Burns 2 0 Day

 

Glasgow Cup

 

Butler 3 0 Gladman

 

 

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Club night 26/1/15

There was an excellent turn-out tonight with eleven players attending. Tom Burns’ goals against column was increased from 6 to 8 by Baver Bari but unfortunately for Bari he allowed the Burns’ goals for column to go up by 7! Bari started well, took an early lead and had two good opportunities to score again. With Burns missing a couple of chances perhaps a shock was on the cards. Or perhaps not. Burns was to find his shooting boots and add considerably to his goals tally.

 

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Only two players, Dave Butler and Barry Corr have a realistic chance of overtaking Burns in the title race. Corr has already beaten Burns. Corr had to work hard for his four points tonight. He narrowly defeated Dave Houston who spurned a glorious opportunity to draw level at 2-2. Houston played the ball into an empty net, Corr’s goalkeeper having lost possession. Inexplicably Houston failed to notice one of his players in an offside position. Against Gladman, Corr lost an equalising goal with only 30 seconds remaining. Corr took the lead midway through the first half with a fine strike. Gladman dominated possession throughout the match but it was only in the final minute that possession was converted into a goal. The Corr defence had been drawn to the right side leaving a gap on the left which Gladman was able to exploit with a quick movement.

 

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Dave Butler is now 8 points behind Tom Burns but with three games in hand. Barry Corr is three points back but with a further game in hand. This was after Butler’s two comfortable victories, in the end, against Ronnie McKenzie and Colin Berry.

 

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If Willie Fleming had aspirations of catching the leaders, they took a severe dent tonight. John Halpin was able to breach the Fleming defence after only a minute’s play and then, a minute later, Halpin, taking advantage of the no-flicks rule at a free-kick, scored again. Halpin added a further two before half-time. Fleming steadied the ship and there was no further scoring in the match. Fleming came back with a two-goal victory over Colin Day another player who will have to look to cup competitions for possible silverware.

 

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In the Glasgow Cup, Dave Houston came back into qualification contention after a 3-0 win over Baver Bari. A draw against Ronnie McKenzie may prove sufficient.

 

League

 

Fleming 0 4 Halpin
Houston 1 2 Corr
Day 0 2 Fleming
Corr 1 1 Gladman
Butler 3 1 McKenzie R
Burns 7 2 Bari
Berry 0 4 Butler

 

Glasgow Cup

 

Houston 3 0 Bari

 

Other pictures from the night.

 

 

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Club night 19/1/15

Outside, the tennis courts were unplayable due to the covering of ice. The subbuteo pitches were, of course, ice-free but only six players turned up to play on them. Cold temperatures may have contributed to low turn-out but plenty of heat was generated in the few matches which were played. Two matches in group A of the Glasgow Cup saw qualification for both Tom Burns and Colin Day at the expense of Willie Fleming. Fleming played well against Burns and did not deserve to lose the match. Burns led 1-0 at half-time having scored against the run of play. Fleming equalised early in the second half. The goal was scored amid some controversy, Burns claiming that Fleming’s figure had shot with its fourth flick. The referee sided with Fleming. Burns’ winning goal came right at the end just after Fleming himself had claimed four flicks against Burns. The referee was deaf to the Fleming plea.

 

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Unfortunately Fleming did not recover from the blow of losing to Burns and in his second Glasgow Cup match succumbed to Colin Day by 3 goals to 1. In Group B Dave Gladman was able to strengthen his qualification chances with a 2-0 victory over Dave Houston.

 

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Only one league match was played with Dave Houston edging out Ronnie McKenzie with the only goal of the game.

 

Glasgow Cup

 

Fleming 1 2 Burns
Day 3 1 Fleming
Gladman 2 0 Houston

 

League

 

Houston 1 0 McKenzie R

 

As Fleming and Houston headed out into the cold night air, the remaining four played out a round robin from which Gladman emerged as winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Club night 12/1/15

Only four matches were played this evening, two in the Glasgow Cup and two in the League. We saw the return of Dave Butler who played in the two league matches. Signs of rustiness were in evidence and he dropped two valuable points against Ronnie McKenzie. No goals were scored and, in truth, the McKenzie goalkeeper was ‘man of the match’. Dave Butler often finds it difficult against Baver Bari and tonight’s match was no exception. Bari always posed a threat to the Butler goal and was in the match up until near the end but Butler secured victory with a goal in each half.

 

League

Butler
0 0 McKenzie R
Bari 0 2 Butler

 

In Group A of the Glasgow Cup, Colin Day managed to edge out John Halpin by a single goal. Day now joins Tom Burns on seven points. Willie Fleming is still to play. In Group B, Baver Bari had victory over Dave Gladman by 3 goals to 1, his second win in a row over Gladman. Bari, Gladman and Ronnie McKenzie all have three points after two matches.

 

Glasgow Cup

 

Day 1 0 Halpin
Gladman 1 3 Bari

 

 

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Club Night 5/1/15

The first club night of the New Year saw a rather disappointing turn-out of only seven players. Three games were played in Group A of the Glasgow Cup. Two victories for Tom Burns gave him a big step towards qualification. First up against Burns was John Halpin. Burns led 1-0 at half-time and thought he should have been two ahead but the referee chalked off a ‘goal’ for a free kick. But there was no fightback for Halpin as Burns added two second half goals to his tally.

 

Halpin stops a Burns chance

 

Burns’ second victory was even more comfortable, a 5-0 win over Colin Berry. Burns’ remaining game against Willie Fleming will be crucial. A win for Fleming and a draw between Fleming and Colin Day could see Burns eliminated.

 

 

Berry gets burned!

 

 

Colin Day kept on track for qualification although he found it difficult against Colin Berry. The only goal came in the second half after a period of sustained Day pressure.

 

 

 

 

Glasgow Cup

 

Group A

 

Halpin 0 3 Burns
Burns 5 0 Berry
Berry 0 1 Day

 

 

Only two league matches were played both involving Fraser McKenzie who continues to improve. He lost out 4-1 to dad, Ronnie with the scoreline rather flattering McKenzie senior. Fraser then played Dave Gladman who looked to be in control of the match at 2-0. Then McKenzie scored to make it a nervous last few minutes for Gladman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

League

 

McKenzie F 1 4 McKenzie R
Gladman 2 1 McKenzie F

 

 

Dave Gladman now moves into second place ahead of Barry Corr but Corr has several games in hand. Meanwhile Ronnie McKenzie moves up three places into fourth.

 

 

 

Club night 22/12/14

Play was displaced into the main bar area because of the bar staff’s Christmas party. The first games of this season’s Glasgow Cup were played and the four matches produced an astonishing 23 goals! Two games were played in each group. John Halpin and Colin Berry drew 4-4. Halpin had a golden chance to seal victory right at the end. Berry’s goalkeeper had given away possession but Halpin, with the goal gaping, could only hit the post. Tom Burns and Colin Day shared 6 goals equally. Twice Day went two goals ahead at 2-0 and 3-1 but Burns pulled it back to 3-2 just before half-time. The second half had just started and Burns was level. Day had lost out to Burns in their earlier league match again after having a two goal lead but this time neither player was able to find a winner, both perhaps being a little more cautious than in the first half.

 

 

 

 

 

In the other group Ronnie McKenzie played two matches. First up was Baver Bari. McKenzie scored first and led until three minutes from the end. Bari’s equaliser drew the attention of the whole bar as we saw and heard a fine demonstration of the Bari goal celebration. But it was McKenzie who then took advantage of Bari’s lack of concentration to score and take the three points. McKenzie was quick off the mark in his next match against Dave Gladman, scoring after 2 minutes. But Gladman equalised only a minute later and he went on to show some clinical finishing in a 5-1 victory.

 

 

 

Glasgow Cup

 

Group A

 

Burns 3 3 Day
Halpin 4 4 Berry

 

Group B

 

Bari 1 2 McKenzie R
Gladman 5 1 McKenzie R

 

 

In the league Tom Burns took an early lead against Dave Gladman who had given the ball away at the kick off. Gladman hit back straight from his second kick off but it was Burns who scored twice to take a 3-1 half-time lead. Gladman held possession for most of the second half but could not find a goal, allowing Burns to stretch his lead at the top of the table.

 

 

 

 

Fraser McKenzie continues his improvement and he collected his first points of the season by drawing with both Colin Berry and John Halpin. McKenzie found it tougher against Baver Bari although he was only a goal down at half-time. This was Bari’s fourth league win in succession and he moves further up the league.

 

 

 

 

 

 

League

 

Burns 3 1 Gladman
McKenzie F 2 2 Berry
Halpin 0 0 McKenzie F
McKenzie F 0 4 Bari

 

Finally, on behalf of GTSA, John Halpin wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Club night 15/12/14

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.

 

 

The Glasgow Cup

 

Group A Group B
Tom Burns Baver Bari
John Halpin Ronnie McKenzie
Colin Berry Dave Gladman
Colin Day Dave Houston
Willie Fleming Dave Butler

 

 

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

 

Corr 3 1 McKenzie R
McKenzie F 1 5 Fleming
Bari 2 1 Berry
McKenzie F 0 7 Corr
Burns 3 1 McKenzie F
McKenzir R 1 1 Day

 

 

 

 

Club night 8/12/14

Burns loses unbeaten record

 

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.

 

Where’s the ball?

 

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 kicks off for the second time in a minute

 

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.

 

Halpin holds Houston

 

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.

 

 

Bari edges out Halpin

 

Burns 0 1 Corr
Corr 2 1 Day
Houston 1 1 Halpin
Halpin 0 1 Bari
Houston 0 2 Burns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Club night 24/11/14

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?

 

Day 1 0 Houston
Bari 2 1 Gladman
Gladman 2 1 McKenzie R
McKenzie R 3 2 Bari