Date
October 21 2007
Participants
Adam Carlson,
Dominic Hutchinson,
Simon Hutchinson,
Edward Nathan,
Kevin
Nieman, Wayne
Smith
Winners
California State Championship
- Winner: Wayne Smith
- Runner up: Simon Hutchinson
Missions Trophy
- Winner: Adam Carlson
- Runner up: Dominic Hutchinson
Sierras Trophy (under 18)
- Winner: Dominic Hutchinson
- Runner up: Adam Carlson
Report
The night before the tournament a large fire broke out to the north of the venue. The strong winds fanned the flames as the fire moved south during the early morning hours and almost caused the postponement of the tournament as the hosts were prepared to evacuate their neighborhood. Fortunately the Los Angeles Fire Department contained the fire before kick off, and the inaugural California State Championship could proceed as the smell of smoke filled the players’ noses and the sky was darkened by the smoke and ash from this fire and the larger Malibu fire to the south.
The California Subbuteo Association would like to thank Irene and Wayne Smith for hosting the championship despite their lack of sleep as they had kept checking on the state of the fire all night.
Maricopa Cup rules were not used by the less experienced players, and a four goal winning margin ‘Mercy’ rule was used.
Wayne Smith was the first person to cause the ‘Mercy’ rule to stop a game as he beat Adam Carlson by 4-0. “Adam keeps getting better,” the victorious Smith said after the game. “He needs some tactics, but he can hit the ball six or seven times in row.”
Kevin Nieman beat Dominic Hutchinson with a goal in either half. “The first goal surprised me,” Nieman said “because I had to thread through two of his defenders to hit the ball, which I did. The second was just insurance. Dominic played very well.”
Dominic echoed Nieman’s feelings about the game. “It was really fun to play Kevin, especially when he is not warmed up.”
In his next game Nieman scored three goals against Carlson. “I kept my defense in place but I did not have an attack,” Carlson commented. “Great defense from both of us, but no attack from me.”
Nieman agreed with Carlson. “Adam’s defense is much improved. He blocked out many of my flicks. He knew what I was going to do. But my offense was too good.”
In the battle of the Hutchinsons father, Simon, beat son, Dominic, 2-1. “Dominic is getting good. His goal to equalize at the end of the first half was a cracker. As he is not playing beginners rules to have only been beaten 2-nil by Kevin and 2-1 by me shows how much better he is getting.”
“If only I had made that second shot,” was Dominic’s only comment as he was shaking his head after the game.
Smith beat late arrival Edward Nathan by 3-0, making his total seven unanswered goals in his first two games.
Nathan faired better in his second game as he tied Nieman 1-1. “I scored a quick goal,” Nieman said, “and he equalized with just two seconds remaining in the first half. I just couldn’t score in the second half so there was constant play up and down the pitch.”
“I aimed for the top corner to score my goal,” Nathan said. “There were very few opportunities and the second half was very cautious.”
Dominic Hutchinson overwhelmed Carlson with three first half goals. “The first goal was scored in less than a minute,” Dominic reported. “The second shot was into the top corner of far side of the goal from a very tight angle. After banging in three in the first half my shooting was horrible in the second.”
“He kept making me move my defense,” Carlson said, “so he could get into to shoot.”
A goal in either half allowed Smith to beat Simon Hutchinson. “My first goal was wonderful,” commented Smith. “Simon cut off all my attackers. The ball was deep on the left wing. I touched up to the ball with a defender, the second ball put him over the line, and I chipped it off the far post and in.
“Simon shut off my figures in midfield in the second half. I had attackers on the shooting line but I could not get the ball to them. I squeezed my second goal between the goalkeeper and the near post.”
“I liked my game and I attacked very well,” was how Nathan described his 4-1 victory over Dominic. “I took advantage of all my opportunities of shots to make goals.”
“My goal made it 1-1,” Dominic describing what turned out to be the goal of the tournament. “After his goal I flicked the kick off and the ball hit one of his guys, rolled along the shooting line hitting six of his guys. At the end of the line it touched one of mine and stopped perfectly. I shot before he had his hand on his goalkeeper.”
Smith ‘Mercy’ ruled Nieman, 4-0, in only 9:38 minutes. “I was on fire,” Smith commented. “Everything I hit went perfectly. I scored the first goal when Kevin did not think I could get to it. I scored another on a rolling ball. I scored the fourth when the ball landed perfectly for my player that I could shoot before Kevin could grab his keeper. I wish I could have that kind of luck every game.”
A stunned Kevin responded while shrugging his shoulders: “It is hard to defend against shots that seem impossible to make. Wayne was making every one of those.”
Simon ‘Mercy’ ruled Carlson two and half minutes into the second half. “The first half was all me as I pushed forward and took advantage of it to score three in the first half. I think Adam was stunned in the first. He defended better in the second but I still managed to get the fourth.”
“I felt my opponent was disheartened before he even started,” was Smith comment after he had ‘Mercy’ ruled Dominic. “We spent as much time laughing as playing.”
“I didn’t play as good as I could compared to other games,” Dominic responded. “This is only the second game today I didn’t score in.”
Nathan performed his only ‘Mercy’ rule over Carlson. “I scored the first goal at about 10 minutes (in the first half) and the second just before half time. I aimed for my goals. I had to make one or two saves too.”
“He made me move my defense into offense,” Carlson replied, “and he did get some good moves.”
“My flicking failed me,” was Nieman’s commented following his 0-3 defeat to Simon. “Simon’s offense was much better than mine, hence the 3-0 score.”
In the last game of the Round Robin Simon beat Nathan with a second half goal. “It was a close one,” Nathan said. “I don’t think I had a shot at goal.”
“It was a hard game,” Simon replied, “and it was very close. Fortunately I got the vital goal after the start of the second half.”
Undefeated Smith, Simon Hutchinson, Nathan and Nieman qualified for the State Championships, so the younger Hutchinson, Dominic, and Carlson qualified for the Missions Trophy final.
Despite Dominic having lots of shots that he could not control to get on target the Missions Trophy final ended scoreless. Adam won the following shoot out scoring on his first and fifth shots, while Dominic failed to score any of his. “That was a close one,” said the victorious Carlson clutching the trophy.
“It was a pretty good game,” said Dominic. “Adam deserves the trophy.”
Smith ‘Mercy’ ruled Nieman for the second time in the first Championship semi final. “I did not have the luck I has in the first game,” Smith reported. “Kevin changed his tactics to try to steal every long pass. Sometimes it paid off and sometimes it did not.”
“Despite the ‘Mercy’ rule I felt I played much better and with more urgency,” Nieman replied. “But once again this is Wayne we are talking about and the score reflects the difference in the skill level.”
Simon won the other semi final beating Nathan 3-1. “The score was not a fair reflection on the amount of possession we both had,” Simon said.
“Another tight game,” was how Nathan characterized it as the first half had ended with the score tied 1-1. “My touch left me at the final stages.”
As they were the only players under 18 years-old Dominic and Carlson played for a third time, for the Sierras Trophy. This time Dominic was the winner with a goal in either half. “I am pleased I won,” the victor said after the game. “We have shared the glory with one trophy each.”
“He messed up my defense so that really made me mad,” Carlson replied. “Dominic played great.”
The Third place match in the Championship ended in a goalless draw. “I was cautious in this game,” Nathan explained. “It was another tight game.”
“I tried to score and had a few opportunities,” Nieman said in a disconsolate tone. “Edward stranded his goalkeeper twice and I missed both. It encapsulates my entire day.”
The State Championship final paired Smith with Simon Hutchinson. Smith won scoring three second half goals. But it was not all one way as Simon defended with his usual zeal and had a number of attacks that ended in a couple of saves and a couple of shots that narrowly missed the goal. “That was by far the best game I played today,” the victorious Smith said. “It was not I got lucky bounces. I made some good shots. The first goal I found it hard to believe I made it. It was extremely hard to break down Simon’s defense, especially in the first half.”
“I tried my hardest to get the better of Wayne,” said the defeated Simon. “And despite all those efforts Wayne still won by three goals.”
Round Robin
A four goal mercy rule was used in all games| Kevin Nieman | 2 | v | 0 | Dominic Hutchinson |
| Wayne Smith | 4 | v | 0 | Adam Carlson |
| Simon Hutchinson | 2 | v | 1 | Dominic Hutchinson |
| Kevin Nieman | 3 | v | 0 | Adam Carlson |
| Wayne Smith | 3 | v | 0 | Edward Nathan |
| Dominc Hutchinson | 3 | v | 0 | Adam Carlson |
| Edward Nathan | 1 | v | 1 | Kevin Nieman |
| Wayne Smith | 2 | v | 0 | Simon Hutchinson |
| Edward Nathan | 4 | v | 1 | Dominic Hutchinson |
| Wayne Smith | 4 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
| Simon Hutchinson | 4 | v | 0 | Adam Carlson |
| Wayne Smith | 4 | v | 0 | Dominic Hutchinson |
| Edward Nathan | 4 | v | 0 | Adam Carlson |
| Simon Hutchinson | 3 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
| Simon Hutchinson | 1 | v | 0 | Edward Nathan |
| Pos | Name | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Wayne Smith c | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 15 |
| 2 | Simon Hutchinson c | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
| 3 | Edward Nathan c | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | Kevin Nieman c | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 7 |
| 5 | Dominic Hutchinson m | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 12 | -7 | 3 |
| 6 | Adam Carlson m | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 18 | -18 | 0 |
m Missions Trophy finalists
State Championship
Semi finals | ||||
| Wayne Smith | 4 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
| Simon Hutchinson | 3 | v | 1 | Edward Nathan |
Third Place | ||||
| Edward Nathan | 0 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
Final | ||||
| Wayne Smith | 3 | v | 0 | Simon Hutchinson |
Missions Trophy
Final | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adam Carlson | 0 | v | 0 | Dominic Hutchinson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Shoot out | 2 | v | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Sierras Trophy (under 18)
Final | ||||
| Dominic Hutchinson | 2 | v | 0 | Adam Carlson |