Date
Saturday July 12, 2008
Participants
Dominic Hutchinson, Simon Hutchinson, Munir Merchant, Kevin Nieman, Wayne Smith, Steve Tucker
Report
Steve Tucker beat Simon Hutchinson with a quickly taken goal in the third minute of the second half. He pushed the ball through a gap in Simon’s depleted defensive line, and shot before Simon could block the attacking figure with a defensive flick. The first half of the game had been fairly even. Simon had had the first shot of the game in the third minute shooting wide of the goal from the left side. Tucker had the next two shots, both striking a rolling ball, the first was wide of the goal, the second required the goalkeeper to save. Simon did attack more in the second half than he had in the first, making a number of shots, including one that Steve had to save. At the other end of the pitch Tucker was attacking at speed, striking rolling balls in the shooting zone, apart from the goal the other shots were all well wide of the goal.
The first half of the game between Dominic Hutchinson and Munir Merchant ebbed and flowed from one end of the pitch to the other. As a result there were only three shots on goal during the half. In the second half Munir had a lot more possession than his opponent, but kept getting the ball stuck between huddles of three and four players in the middle of the pitch preventing him for making a quick break into Dominic’s shooting zone. With just a minute left in the game Merchant’s throw in passed the ball just inside the shooting zone. The only figure able to get to the ball was level with it to the side. Munir’s flicked this figure, it struck the ball, which then struck one of Dominic’s figures and slowly rolled in the goal at the far post. “The shot was lucky,” was Dominic’s only comment after the game.
Both of Wayne Smith’s goals, against Kevin Nieman, came within a minute of each other in the eighth and ninth minute of the first half. For both shots Nieman used his goalkeeper’s rod to cover the near post and the figure in the middle of the goal. But Smith chipped the ball into the top corner at the far post. At the start of the game Nieman had soaked Smith’s pressure helped by Wayne unusually erratic flicking and shooting. “I am happy I kept him scoreless in the second half,” Nieman proudly commented after the game, as he had worked hard to stop his opponent from increasing his lead.
Dominic Hutchinson was the one who played Wayne Smith next. Wayne was on the attack for most of the game scoring two goals in each half before the “mercy” rule came into effect with 6:10 left in the second half. His first goal was described by Dominic as a “slow roller” from the left side of the pitch into the right side of the goal. The second was a “blast” from the center of the pitch into the left side of the goal. The third was scored from a shot from the right side into the right side of the goal. The fourth, and final, goal came from a shot from the left that went into the right side of Dominic’s goal.
The first half was described as “end to end” by both Munir Merchant and Steve Tucker, with only a “few” shots at goal taken by either player. In the second half Tucker’s shooting became more effective and after striking the cross bar of the goal several times he scored with what was described as a “rocket into the right”. Munir did get the ball into Steve’s shooting zone, but his few shots were all wide of the goal.
In the first three minutes of the game Simon Hutchinson has four shots on Kevin Nieman’s goal, one lead to a corner and the others were all narrowly wide of the target. Simon scored the only goal of the game with just two minutes remaining in the first half. He drove down the middle of the pitch and shot over the Nieman’s goalkeeper into the right side of the goal. In the second half Simon continued to have most of the offense. Kevin had to make two saves with his goalkeeper, and a goal was disallowed. Kevin did get the ball over Simon’s shooting line several times, but was forced wide which prevented him from getting into a position for a decent shot at goal.
Wayne Smith described his goalless game with Steve Tucker as “characterized by my beating on Steve’s goal, and Steve attacking on the counter attack”. Just in the first half Smith struck the crossbar twice, goalpost once, and forced Tucker to make three saves with his goalkeeper. In the second half it was more of the same as Smith tried in vain to score. His frustration mounted as the game continued. Shots he would have normally made either missed the goal or shot into Tucker’s goalkeeper. One attack in particular summed up Wayne’s frustration. Steve had left a “huge gap” in the middle of his defense. Smith pushed the ball through this gap and took the rolling shot that which struck the stationary goalkeeper and bounced safely away. Tucker had six shots during the game but none of them were on target. After the game Wayne summed up his performance as “painful”.
Kevin Nieman described his goalless tie with Dominic Hutchinson in just one word “Chaotic”. Nieman did have majority of the shots at goal and Dominic would wildly side-swipe the goal bound shot with the side of his goalkeeper. So violent was this movement that he hurt his hand twice when it struck the side of the fixed metal goal. The ball was side-swiped with so much force that it would be thrown from the table onto the floor, where it would bounce back up at face height towards his opponent. This convinced Nieman that it was part of an insidious plot to strike him in the eye and make him concede the game due to injury. At the other end Dominic did have three shots on goal, only one required Kevin to save. “I am happy the score was as I predicted,” Nieman stated after the game. Having lost to Wayne Smith 0-2 and Simon Hutchinson 0-1 in his previous two games he had predicted that this game would end 0-0.
In the first few minutes of his game with Munir Merchant Simon Hutchinson kept attacking his opponent’s goal. Unlike recent games Simon’s pressure paid off with a goal scored with a chip shot in the seventh minute. So as not to repeat last night’s concession of a goal Simon worked hard to keep possession in the middle of the field, and when Munir attacked he tried to force him wide. Despite Simon’s attempts Merchant almost scored with a long flick from his defense line that struck the ball in Simon’s penalty area. The elder Hutchinson was able to quickly snatch the handle of his goalkeeper and some how side-swipe the ball out for a throw in on the right. In the second half Simon continued to have most of the possession and scored a second goal, almost identical to the first, in the sixth minute. Thereafter, despite having the ball in his opponents shooting zone on many occasions either Simon’s second touch would come short, his shot would be wide of the goal, or weak. As a result Merchant only needed to make a couple of saves.
Steve Tucker and Kevin Nieman’s game was another one described by the players as “end to end action”. Most of the action was in midfield, between the two shooting zones. When a player was able to push the ball into his opponent’s shooting zone, he could not get into a position to take a good shot at goal due to the defensive blocking flicks of the other. Kevin came the closest to scoring with a second half shot from an odd angle. He shaved the ball, striking it as hard as he could, and the shot struck the near post of the goal.
It was the fifth minute of the first half when Wayne Smith scored the only goal of the game against Munir Merchant. As their game wore on both players started to complain about the unevenness of the surface of the Highbury pitch making the ball roll in unpredictable ways. After the game both players recounted situations where the ball had rolled away from a figure or curved in an unpredictable manner.
The game between father, Simon, and son, Dominic Hutchinson, was all about Simon attacking and the younger Hutchinson defending in numbers. As all of Dominic’s players were within 3 – 4 inches of his shooting line Simon kept pushing more figures forward to try and find a way around or through into the shooting zone. In the tenth minute of the first half a quick switch from the right wing to the left side followed by a defensive error, resulting in a blocking figure having to be moved back, gave Simon the space he need to chip the ball over the goalkeeper. In the seventh minute of the second half the elder Hutchinson won a free kick on Dominic’s shooting line. He touched the ball to another figure and quickly passed it back to the first figure. This rapid movement had allowed him to make his way through Dominic’s defense and have a clear shot at goal. Which he scored from with a chip over the goalkeeper. After the second goal Dominic started to push figures forward when he had possession, exploiting the lack of Simon’s defense. But he was unable to take advantage of this possession as his attacking figures were soon out numbered by Simon’s figures, that were quickly flicked back into defense from attacking positions. Dominic did only have one shot that needed to be saved, he flicked a figure from his defensive line that struck the ball in Simon’s penalty area. The power of the shot was demonstrated by the way the ball bounced off the goalkeeper, bounced once, and stopped about three inches from Dominic’s shooting line.
In the last round of games of the day Dominic Hutchinson was awarded a 1-0 win as Steve Tucker had had to leave.
The remaining two games would determine who would be bottom of the table & who would be top. In the unlikely event Simon Hutchinson would beat Wayne Smith he would finish in first place.
Alas, it was not to be. Simon hung on defending his goal against Smith’s pressure until the tenth minute of the first half, when he missed the ball with his spare goalkeeper. Smith made it look a lot easier than it probably was as he banked the ball off a defending figure into the goal. He doubled his lead just before half time. As the second half wore on the players’ fortunes changed. Simon’s game started to fall apart, and the luck that had evaded Wayne all day seemed to come to him. As Smith said after the game “There were four of five plays where the [roll of the] ball was miraculous”. Simon stranded his goalkeeper a second time, leaving Wayne with a straight shot from close to the penalty spot into an open goal. While his fourth goal was a spectacular shot from the right, while Simon was preparing to take a defensive flick, the build up did contain some lucky rolls of the ball as it missed Simon’s defenders by what seems like a hair’s breadth. The game ended as a “mercy” rule win with just 8 second remaining.
The loser of the game between Munir Merchant and Kevin Nieman would finish in last place. Nieman quickly took the lead in the second minute. With a couple of long flicks he pushed the ball into his opponent’s shooting zone, touched up with a long flick, then scored with a shot into the upper left of Merchant’s goal. Kevin’s second goal was scored in a spectacular manner. The ball was near Munir’s penalty spot, and the only figure Nieman had that could reach the ball was to the left of the ball and level with it. Kevin’s flick skimmed the edge of the ball with a powerful flick and the ball flew into the goal to the surprise of both players. Merchant pulled a goal back just before half time. Munir had moved rapidly down the right side and pushed the ball into Nieman’s shooting zone to a figure on the left. His chip shot was perfect and the ball flew into the left side of the goal. The second half was more even than the first. Munir only managed one more shot, which Kevin had to save. At the other end Nieman’s three shots were all wide of the goal. After the game Merchant complimented his opponent “Kevin’s touches in the first half were the best touches I have played against today”.
Final table
| Pos | Name | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Wayne Smith | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 14 |
| 2 | Steve Tucker | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 3 | Simon Hutchinson | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 11 |
| 4 | Kevin Nieman | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -4 | 9 |
| 5 | Dominic Hutchinson | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 8 |
| 6 | Munir Merchant | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 7 |
Results
| Steve Tucker | 1 | v | 0 | Simon Hutchinson |
| Munir Merchant | 1 | v | 0 | Dominic Hutchinson |
| Wayne Smith | 2 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
| Steve Tucker | 1 | v | 0 | Munir Merchant |
| Wayne Smith | 4 | v | 0 | Dominic Hutchinson MR |
| Simon Hutchinson | 1 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
| Dominic Hutchinson | 0 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
| Simon Hutchinson | 2 | v | 0 | Munir Merchant |
| Wayne Smith | 0 | v | 0 | Steve Tucker |
| Kevin Nieman | 0 | v | 0 | Steve Tucker |
| Simon Hutchinson | 2 | v | 0 | Dominic Hutchinson |
| Wayne Smith | 1 | v | 0 | Munir Merchant |
| Kevin Nieman | 2 | v | 1 | Munir Merchant |
| Wayne Smith | 4 | v | 0 | Simon Hutchinson MR |
| Dominic Hutchinson | 1 | v | 0 | Steve Tucker |
| Steve Tucker had to leave early, therefore, Dominic Hutchinson was awarded 1-0 victory | ||||
MR indicates Mercy Rule win.