The ESTFA had 5 players playing in Amsterdam today and each had varying fortunes.

Miguel Pereia and Daniel Elliot of Kent Invicta were our representitives in the Open category. Miguel lost both his games 5-0 to Bessim Golger and 7-1 to group winner Dimos Tsompandis. Daniel lost 11-0 to Alberto Apollo, 12-0 to Amaud Robillard and 3-0 to Dennis Landzaat

In the ladies Maria Carmo also of Kent Invicta finished 3rd overall with a 0-0 draw against Victoria Busing and another 0-0 against Annick Fraikin-Poncelet before losing 2-0 to eventual winner Jessica Hardenne

In the veterans tournament we had 2 representives, Phil Redman and Martin Hoods. Martin lost both his games 2-1 to Marco de Bruin and 4-0 to Fabio Belloni. Phil did a lot better, drawing with Rene Bolt 1-1 and beating Oliver Carion 7-0 to make the last 16 where he lost 2-1 to Oliver Pere.

Good luck to our teams competing tomorrow

Posted on You Tube is a Swedish TV clip with highlights from a couple of games featuring English players

Fast Tube by Casper

Several English players took part in the Major of Amsterdam tournament on 4/5 April 2009.

Yorkshire Phoenix were the only English team to enter, and knocked out a Belgian Rochefort B team in their group, to qualify for the last 16. Dutch side Delft proved too strong in the next round.

In the Open category, Chris Thomas made the last 32 and Alan Collins & Martin Hodds the last 64. In the veterans, Phil Redman made the last 16. All players had a great weekend in Amsterdam !

After a couple of unfortunate late withdrawals, a group of 11 England players headed for Vienna to take part in the FISTF World Cup. Saturday saw the Individual Competitions, with England represented in the Open, Veteran, U15 and U12 competitions.

Two of the undoubted star performers were Elliott Bellefontaine in the U12 and Brandon Lavender in the U15 category. Elliott had never even scored a goal at the previous world cup, however he stormed to a 3-0 win against his German opponent Rene Frey in the first group game. After a defeat to the seeded Italian player in his group, he needed a draw against another Italian, Bendrit Nevokazi to progress to the Quarterfinals. Despite being on the defensive for much of the game, Elliott defended well and nicked a superb breakaway goal to edge out his opponent 1-0.

In the quarter final, the run was sadly to end with a 2-0 defeat to Michael Caviglia of Italy, but well done Elliott on a couple of great wins !

In the U15s, Brandon set his standards early on with an 8-0 win against hapless Austrian Jakob Wasshuber. In the next game against the 8^th seed Petr Lysonek (Czech), he emerged with a narrow 1-0 victory to guarantee top spot in the group.

In the last 16, his opponent was Felix Wasshuber, who had little chance of avenging his brother’s earlier defeat as Brandon scored 9 unanswered goals. However the Quarter final resulted in a disappointing exit against the number 1 seed Mattia Bellotti from Italy, where Brandon had at least 50% of the possession but just couldn’t score, going down 3-0 to a very relieved number 1 seed ! Some great results there though for Brandon.

In the Veteran category, Phil Holmes, Phil Redman and Jeremy Bradley all made early exits at the group stage. Redman surprisingly had to face shots against Greek player Giorgos Drazinakis after they drew

After a couple of unfortunate late withdrawals, a group of 11 England players headed for Vienna to take part in the FISTF World Cup. Saturday saw the Individual Competitions, with England represented in the Open, Veteran, U15 and U12 competitions.

Two of the undoubted star performers were Elliott Bellefontaine in the U12 and Brandon Lavender in the U15 category. Elliott had never even scored a goal at the previous world cup, however he stormed to a 3-0 win against his German opponent Rene Frey in the first group game. After a defeat to the seeded Italian player in his group, he needed a draw against another Italian, Bendrit Nevokazi to progress to the Quarterfinals. Despite being on the defensive for much of the game, Elliott defended well and nicked a superb breakaway goal to edge out his opponent 1-0.

In the quarter final, the run was sadly to end with a 2-0 defeat to Michael Caviglia of Italy, but well done Elliott on a couple of great wins !

In the U15s, Brandon set his standards early on with an 8-0 win against hapless Austrian Jakob0-0. Bradley drew both of his games 1-1, but with his 2 opponents playing last, and needing a 2-2 draw or higher to both progress, the final score of 3-3 was perhaps predictable.

Steve Hawkins was just 20 seconds from topping his group, but conceded a last gap equaliser to Austrian Michael Hasieber, which meant he had to face number 1 seed Giacomo Monica of Italy in the last 32. Monica proved too strong with a 3-0 win over Steve. Alan Collins also qualified as runner up after a 2-2 draw with Austrian Horst Diemel and a narrow 2-1 defeat to Enrico Tecchiati. In the last 32 Alan was beaten 3-0 by Frenchman Thierry Vivron.

In the Open category, Chris Short was eliminated at the group stage despite a win against Belgian Nathan Dupont. Chris, Dupont and Spaniard Vincents Prats all scored one win each, but Chris was put out on goal difference by just 1 goal.

Chris Thomas also made it through the group after a 4-0 win against Paul Andreas of Cyprus. In the last 32 Chris went out 1-0 to Italy’s Saverio Bari, who went on to reach the final.

Eric Verhagen eased through to the final with knockout wins against Nathan Dupont (Belgium, 1-0), Raul Benita (Spain, 2-1), Simone Bertelli (Italy, 2-1) and Wolfgang Leitner (Austria, 2-1).

In a superb final game against Saverio Bari (Italy), after a 1-1 draw, Eric scored a golden goal to realise a dream and become World Champion for the first time !

Team Event

Unfortunately England were unable to field a junior team, so entered teams in the Open and Veteran categories.

Elliott Bellefontaine joined in a Team Europe side in the U12 event. The team secured 3^rd place and so Elliott got to bring home a medal !

The Veterans were quietly fancied to do well, however were unable to progress beyond the group stage. Defeat 2-1 in the first match against Spain was followed by a 1-1 draw against Germany, Phil Redman earning both victories. In the final game against Switzerland, a 3-0 win would have taken us through to the Quarter finals, however the final score was 3-1 – so near yet so far !

The Open team began with a 2-0 win against Germany, always a great start to any tournament !! A narrow 2-1 win against Portugal followed to pretty well guarantee a place in the Quarter finals. Eric Verhagen and Chris Thomas producing the wins in both matches.

For the final group game against Belgium, U15 player Brandon was given the opportunity to play and did himself great credit despite going down to Nathan Dupont. Sadly we lost the tie 2-1, which meant runner up spot and a game against number 1 seeds Italy in the Quarter finals. We always seem to get Italy in the Quarter finals and can never quite get past them – this year was no exception as the World Champions eased to a 4-0 win before going on to retain the title against Belgium in the final. We can take some consolation that the only countries to beat us were the 2 finalists !

Kasper Bennett flew the English flag in Rome and was rewarded with a place in the last 16 after brushing aside 2 Italian players in the group stage, then winning 1-0 against Federico Mattiangeli. Kasper then drew 3-3 against eventual finalist Massimiliano Croatti, but went out on shots.

World Number 1 Eric Verhagen reached the semifinals in Mattersburg. After 3 wins over Austrian players at the group stage, Eric beat Karl-Heinz Haider 5-2 before surprisingly losing on shots to fellow San Siro player Manfred Pawlica after a 2-2 draw.

A strong England squad was selected to contest the UK & Ireland Championships, held at the Holiday Inn Express, Cardiff Airport on 17/18 May.

Unfortunately Chris Short had to drop out due to work commitments, however after England Captain Pawsey made a few enquiries, the ESTFA Chairman Martin Hodds was free that weekend, so was able to take Chris’s place.

Individuals

Saturday saw the Individual Competition, with Scotland’s Mike Burns defending his title. Surprisingly the Champ was knocked out in the group stage with defeats to Kenny Beggs of Northern Ireland and our own Steve Hawkins. Steve topped Group 1 with wins over Burns (2-0), Beggs (1-0) and a 1-1 draw with Scotland’s Gareth Christie, who finished 2nd in a really tough group.

Group 2 wasn’t much easier, though England Captain Dave Pawsey won all 3 games comfortably against Hodds (2-0), Scottish Champion Steve Bennett (4-0) and Welshman Gareth Thomas (10-5). After Hodds and Bennett beat Thomas 6-1 and 8-1 respectively, the final game between the 2 meant Bennett needed a draw to advance on goals scored, with Hodds needing to win. However an excellent end to end game ended 2-2.

Group 3 was comfortably won by Mike Parnaby, with wins over Scotland’s Neil Christopher (3-1), Northern Ireland’s Stuart McIlroy (3-1) and Wales’ John Lauder (3-0).

In Group 4, English National Champion Chris Thomas eased through with wins over Scotland’s Kevin Christopher (5-1), Welshman Colin Lewis (3-1) and Ulsterman Eoin Adams (9-1).

So 4 of the 5 English players advanced to the Quarter finals, and 3 of them made it to the semis. Chris Thomas beat Gareth Christie 3-0, Steve Hawkins beat Kevin Christopher 2-0 and captain Pawsey beat Stuart McIlroy 5-0. Mike Parnaby went down 1-5 to Steve Bennett.

So to the semis, and in the all English clash, Steve Hawkins upset the odds to beat Chris Thomas 2-0. His final opponent would be Dave Pawsey, who knocked out Steve Bennett 3-0.

An all English final was played in front of a sparse crowd, with most players having gone to watch the FA Cup final on TV ! A tense first half finished goalless, however Pawsey’s rich vein of form continued after the break to leave Hawkins trailing in his wake to the tune of 4-0 !

Nice to see the England Captain back on form and taking the title.

Teams

England made a solid start in their attempt to wrestle the title from the Scots. After Scotland defeated Northern Ireland 3-1 in the opening game, England beat the hosts Wales 2-1. Captain Pawsey continued his strong form with a 5-0 defeat of Colin Lewis.

In the 2nd round of games, Scotland first beat Wales 3-0, leaving England needing a good win over the 3 man Northern Ireland team.

Thankfully a good all round performance saw us win 4-0. Steve Hawkins notched the biggest win, 5-1 against Eoin Adams and Dave Pawsey won 2-0 against their danger man Kenny Beggs.

After Wales and Northern Ireland drew their final game 2-2, this left Northern Ireland in the wooden spoon position. And so to the final game, England v Scotland. Thanks to the comprehensive win against Northern Ireland, England went into the game ahead of the Scots by the slenderest margin of 1 goal ! This effectively reduced the match to a sudden death tie – a win for Scotland, whatever the margin, and they would retain the title, but a draw would be enough for England.

Early goals from Hodds and Pawsey put England in a commanding position at 2-0 up. Pawsey was quickly pulled back by Scotland captain Mike Burns, however Chris Thomas also scored against Steve Bennett to restore the lead. At half time, Hodds was 2-0 up on Kevin Christopher, who was substituted for his brother Neil, and England led the tie 2-0.

Pawsey fell behind in the 2nd half, however Hodds and Thomas both extended their leads, and with Hawkins drawing 0-0 with Gareth Christie, the 2-1 lead looked to be enough. Hodds went on to win 4-0, and though Bennett pulled a goal back to 2-1, Hawkins sealed the England win with a late goal to win his game 1-0. So 3-1 to England, and the title recaptured, but credit to our rivals from north of the border for their part in a cracking tie !

Darren Clark and Kasper Bennett made the trip to Bologna, and both made it through their groups. Darren went down 1-0 to Malta’s Joe Mifsud in the 2nd round, while Kasper triumphed by the same score against Carmine Napolitano. Unfortunately the run ended with a 1-0 reverse to Francisco Mattiangeli in the last 32.

Saturday was GP day, and England’s best performer was Andrew Hillerby, reaching the semi final before going down by a golden goal to eventual winner Mike Burns. Richard Pepper and Paul Lawrenson also qualified from their groups, but were beaten by Hillerby and Ireland’s John Moore in the Quarter finals. Pepper also made it to the final of the Veterans competition, where he lost narrowly to Nicky Moore.

In the team GP team event, Yorkshire Phoenix beat Belfast Barbarians B team 4-0 to set up a final clash with Irish Premier League. A close final finished 2-1 to Phoenix, with Kenny Beggs and Richard Pepper netting the wins for Yorkshire’s first FISTF title.

In the IO, Andrew Hillerby went a step further but lost 4-2 to Kenny Beggs in the final. Andrew knocked out Richard Pepper in the semi finals as the veteran Pepper qualified from his group again. Richard also finished 3rd in the Veterans category. Paul Lawrenson didn’t make it through this time, but did win the plate competition.