California State Championship 2009 - Southern California Subbuteo Club

Date

Saturday August 15, 2009

Winners

California State Champion - Wayne Smith
Missions Trophy - Jason Mitchell
Sierras Trophy - Dominic Hutchinson

Participants

John Carroll, Dominic Hutchinson, Simon Hutchinson, David Jensen, Jason Mitchell, Kevin Nieman, Wayne Smith

Table

Goal difference was not used to separate players. In the event more than one player shared first or second place then a shoot out would have been used to determine which one would be in the higher position. If players shared third to sixth place then there was no need to separate them,

Pos	Name	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Wayne Smith	6	5	1	0	13	1	15
2	Jason Mitchell	6	3	1	2	4	5	10
3=	Kevin Nieman	6	2	3	1	4	3	9
3=	Simon Hutchinson	6	2	3	1	6	8	9
5	David Jensen	6	2	1	3	3	5	7
6	John Carroll	6	1	3	2	6	7	6
7	Dominic Hutchinson	6	0	0	6	1	8	0

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Report

As there were seven players and some had driven for several hours to reach the venue it was decided to this year's State Championship would use a "league" format. All of the players played each other once. The player with the best record was declared California State Champion. As there was no Mary Jane tournament the Missions trophy was awarded to the runner up.

Wayne Smith won the State Championship for the third year in a row. This year's race for the runners up position went down to last round of games. For the three State Championships there has been a different runner up. This year it was Jason Mitchell, who pipped last year's runners up, Kevin Nieman, and the first year's runner up, Simon Hutchinson.

Dominic Hutchinson was the only under 19 player, therefore, he was awarded the Sierras trophy without having to play a U19 game. He also deserved an "honorable mention" as even though he did not win any games he only lost by one goal in all of his games.

Round 1

Simon Hutchinson 1 v Jason Mitchell 0 (HT 0-0)
Pitch: Black
Jason: A very even game, Simon's flicking was not at his best. A draw would have been a great result, but Simon snatched the win.
Simon: The game started off as a comedy of errors as neither of us could keep the ball long enough to shoot. My goal came midway through the second half from a quick break and shot.

Wayne Smith 1 v Dominic Hutchinson 0 (HT 1-0)
This was Dominic's 250th game with the Southern California Subbuteo Club.
Pitch: Rookery
Wayne: Dominic's goalkeeping was incredible. Unfortunately the Rookery is badly warped again. Three or four times the ball would stop, then when a player touched the pitch [board] the ball would roll half an inch, Dominic had no offense, too bad as he scored against me last night in a friendly.
Dominic: I felt I played really well, my offense wasn't as good as it was yesterday. But some of it was still there. I am very happy that I saved eight to ten shots and only lost 0-1.

Kevin Nieman 1 v David Jensen 0 (HT 1-0)
Pitch: Drey
David: A good game with lots of open play. I felt I had more offense but Kevin came up with good defensive flicks in his own [shooting] zone. Kevin's goal was a slow roller which I should have stopped.
Kevin: Excellent offense on both ends. My goal was carefully set up through the center and I hit it softly in the hope that Dave would overcompensate. As it is, he watched it go. Bad for Dave, good for me. Fun match.

Round 2

Wayne Smith 4 v Simon Hutchinson 0 (HT 3-0)
Pitch: Drey
Wayne: Simon still hasn't got his touch back. I got out to an early lead, 2:30ish, and really wasn't put under a ton of pressure. I also got good bounces off Simon's defenders. Three of my four goals were off Simon's defenders.
Simon: Poor. Occasional good moves, but my flicking let me down.

David Jensen 1 v John Carroll 0 (HT 1-0)
Pitch: Rookery
John: I had a pretty good rhythm in the first half but Dave found an opening up the center on my defense, and chipped the keeper. I was frantic at the other end with four good opportunities but Dave's keeper stopped my shots.

Kevin Nieman 1 v Dominic Hutchinson 0 (HT 0-0)
Pitch: Black
Kevin: Frustrating game as my offense did not gain quality chances. Even so, I had pushed into Dominic's end frequently. It was about to end nil-nil until I rifled a shot from the right with 30 seconds left. I am very happy with the result.

Round 3

Wayne Smith 2 v David Jensen 0
Pitch: Black
No comments

Jason Mitchell 1 v Kevin Nieman 0
Pitch: Rookery
No comments

John Carroll 2 v Dominic Hutchinson 0
Pitch: Drey
No comments

A 45 minute break for lunch was taken.

Round 4

Simon Hutchinson 2 v Dominic Hutchinson 1 (HT 0-1)
This was Simon's 500th game with the Southern California Subbuteo Club.
Pitch: Rookery
Simon: Dominic was a formidable opponent. I kept stranding my goalkeeper and eventually he managed to score from it. My goals came from quick breaks in the second half. I always find it hard to play on the Rookery as the players and ball slide more than they do on the other pitches.
Dominic: Terrible game... my touch was off, I stranded my keeper, I couldn't save half the time [with the goalkeeper]. But I should have beaten him.

Jason Mitchell 1 v David Jensen 0 (HT 0-0)
Pitch: Drey
David: I thought it was a pretty even game. We both had a number of shots. Jason got a good shot late in the game and capitalized on it.
Jason: A tough match. David's defense was so good I was limited to a couple of shots. It was a relief to score with only two minutes left.

Wayne Smith 3 v John Carroll 1 (HT 2-1)
Pitch: Black
Wayne: Playing John is always fun. I found that I play a bit wacky, long bomb offense instead of working the ball up the pitch. For the second game I scored from with a flick from my half of the pitch. John's speed got him his goal, and it as off one of my defenders. I scored my first goal off one of John's defenders.
John: It felt good to have scored one on Wayne.

Round 5

John Carroll 1 v Simon Hutchinson 1 (HT 0-1)
Pitch: Drey
Simon: This was the best game I have played today. A good goal about 2/3rds thought the first half. But I couldn't hold onto my lead as John equalized early in the second half. John pulled off a string of saves in both halves to stop me from scoring. At the end I stranded by keeper but John rushed and could not score.
John: Simon had great speed of play on a attack and caught me flat footed. I found a decent chip to equalize and it was back and forth from there.

Jason Mitchell 1 v Dominic Hutchinson 0 (HT 0-0)
Pitch: Black
Jason: Another tough game with Dominic. His defense thwarted all of my attacks. I scored early in the second half and held on.
Dominic: The stress of playing five games in a row is showing. I played terribly.

Kevin Nieman 0 v Wayne Smith 0
Pitch: Rookery
Kevin: Wayne's shots never hit target, and that's what saved me. He pushed into my [shooting] zone but earned frequent goal flicks. I pressed as hard as I could, but the Rookery's erratic surface made play very... well... erratic!
Wayne: The Rookery did it again. Both Kevin and I were thwarted over and over by passes curving as much as eight inches from their original path. If the weather is favorable the Rookery is quite satisfactory, but when it isn't it's a disaster.

Round 6

Kevin Nieman 1 v Simon Hutchinson 1 (HT 0-1)
Pitch: Black
Kevin: Simon scored with five seconds left [in the first half], and I shouted a foul word in frustration at Simon's excellent effort. In the second half it was back and forth until I ramped a shot just in the left side of Simon's net making it 1-1. It was an exhausting match.
Simon: With 45 seconds left in the first half I made a quick break up the right, went around Kevin's defense and shot to score with five seconds left. I am still frustrated that I could not hold the ball for long enough to frustrate Kevin more and stop him from getting any decent shots on goal. At the other end I would get the ball through Kevin's defense and bottle it, I know I can play better than this.

David Jensen 1 v Dominic Hutchinson 0 (HT 0-0)
Pitch: Drey
David: I pressed very hard bit Dominic kept making very good defensive flicks. I was able to score early in the second half and just tried to control the ball and slow the pace down.
Dominic: Playing six games in a row really impacted the score of the game. I couldn't flick. At least I have a break now.

Jason Mitchell 1 v John Carroll 1 (HT 0-1)
Pitch: Rookery
Jason: A hard game that I was desperate to win, probably my worse game today but I still managed a point.
John: Back and forth with plenty of opportunities missed. We tended to bypass the midfield and attack directly.

Round 7

Before the final round of matches was played there were three players who could finish in second place: Jason Mitchell, Kevin Nieman, and Simon Hutchinson. In the unlikely event Jason was to beat Wayne Smith he would finish in second. If Jason lost to Wayne then either Simon or Kevin could finish in second place providing they won their games. If they both won then a shoot out would be needed to decide who would win the Missions trophy.

David Jensen 1 v Simon Hutchinson 1
Pitch: Rookery
David: I scored relatively early and went on the defensive. Unfortunately I let in a slow rolling shot I should have saved. After Simon tied it up the game was very even.
Simon: It was close, the pitch was definitely a contributing factor. I was not too worried to go down early as I had come back against Dominic with two goals in the second half. On a better pitch I feel I would have won it.

Wayne Smith 3 v Jason Mitchell 0
Pitch: Black
Jason: Just the usual result versus Wayne. I let him win again!
Wayne: I was feeling bad, but flicking well. It took me a while to score as Jason made a bunch of saves early on. Every bit of luck went my way. It was a nice way to end the day.

Kevin Nieman 1 v John Carroll 1 (HT 0-0)
Pitch: Drey
Kevin: This was the match of the day for me, but the first half was marred by a dog poop that forced a timeout by John [The Hutchinson's' have a new eight week old puppy that "likes" the corner of the "Subbuteo room"]. Afterwards play was open but scoreless in the first 15 minutes. The second half started with a goal by JC followed quickly by a goal by me. I was desperate to score, but failed. I feel fortunate to tie as JC always plays me hard.
John: Early on I knew it would be tough. Kevin's flicks were accurate and he was not missing. I thought I shifted the momentum by scoring but Kevin came back with a goal.

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