Viestit

[excluding]

Pojat!

Just to let you know that it might be possible to get to Vienna cheaper by flying with Ryanair from Tampere to Bratislava (which is only 60kms from Vienna) via Frankfurt.

It would involve much more stuffing around (eg the need to get to Tampere and then from Bratislava to Vienna, maybe by bus, and to overnight at Frankfurt Hahn on Sunday night on the way back), so it may well not be worth it from a convenience or even cost point of view. But if money is an issue, at the moment you could do a return airfare with Rynair, flying out on Friday 11 May and returning on Monday 14 May, for about 56 euros, excluding taxes, luggage fees and booking fees. Taxes and fees might amount to another 80 euros or so (but I am guessing about this - have not checked).

Anyway, this would involve:
                     
Fri, 11 May 07
Flight   FR1922         
17:10       Depart       Tampere (TMP)
18:40       Arrive       Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN)
Adult Reg Fare       19.99 EUR
         
Fri, 11 May 07
Flight   FR4182         
19:55       Depart       Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN)
21:25       Arrive       Bratislava Vienna (BTS)
Adult Reg Fare       15.99 EUR         
                 
Sun, 13 May 07
Flight   FR4183         
21:50       Depart       Bratislava Vienna (BTS)
23:30       Arrive       Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN)
Adult Reg Fare         19.99 EUR                  
    
Mon, 14 May 07
Flight   FR1921         
13:10       Depart       Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN)
16:45       Arrive       Tampere (TMP)
Adult Reg Fare       0.01 EUR
            
You can of course check out Ryanair's website if you want to know more. And no, (i) I don't work for Ryanair and (ii) I am not planning to go to Vienna myself, unfortunately.

Cheers!

Eliot

This should be OK for me....may just have to check what time it is by the time I have to play my third game, but looking forward to 3 tough games on Thursday  

Yes, Zinga is 100% right. Not sure if it was the same for Puppe, but in ALL my matches at Milton Keynes the referee would say 'block' or 'block flick' after a save.

The problem I had in this game is that the ref did not say 'block' after I took the spare goalkeeper off, and them I flicked again before he could take his block flick.....

2. Becky

The wisdom of the day: subbuteoplayers do it in the scoringzone.


I'm sooooo good  :lol:

 :lol:  :wink:

And I thought you were a nice boy Hönkki!!

I will try to come too!

At this stage I should be OK for both

[Chris Walker (FISTF ranking 521) 0-0]

Here's a match report and some overall comments on the tournament.

Chris Walker (FISTF ranking 521) 0-0

A game I should have won and thought I had actually won :-). Stavros had maybe 60% or more of possession and lots of shots, but I kept and blocked very well, and was always dangerous on the break. My third goal, with about 5 minutes left, broke his spirit.

Steve Hawkins (FISTF Ranking 85) 1-1

A great result for me. My 3-0 win in the previous gave me a lot more confidence and reduced my nerves considerably. To be fair, Steve had more of the game, but his only goal came when I gave away possession with my freestanding goalkeeper! He scored first but I was really pleased to equalise in the second half.  Steve had a 2-2 draw with the tournament winner (Angel Valverde) on Sunday, which made me feel even better!!

Paolo Barone (FISTF Ranking 312) 2-2  

I needed only a draw to qualify, but only just managed to get it. Paolo could not qualify having lost all 3 games before, and was therefore very relaxed and attacked a lot. He scored first, then I equalised off a corner with a 'Finnish' goal (ie hit the moving ball) and loved it!! He scored again but I equalised with about 4 minutes left. Went for the winner, but happy not to lose!

I was surprised and delighted to qualify second in my group and without a loss. It was probably one of  the easier groups, but I was still really pleased.

Round of 32: Chris Thomas (FISTF Ranking 26) 1-6

Chris, the No 2 player in England, was simply too good for me. He was the quickest player I have ever played against, consistently hitting a moving ball 6-8 times in a row, making it very hard to defend. I made the mistake of playing too fast myself in the first half and gave away too much possession, and was down 0-4 at half time. Tightened up and slowed down a little in the second half (and he probably relaxed a little), and managed to do much better. Very pleased to score (with a longish shot) to save a complete whitewash.

Dimitris Mavromitros (Greece, FISTF ranking 70) 0-6

Another player too good for me. Described himself as No2 in Greece, and I believe him! He scored three goals in the first half by knocking the ball through my defence (set up well) and hitting a moving shot into the corner....was down 0-5 at half time and facing a thrashing. Played better and smarter in second half, giving away a few free-flicks (not on purpose) stopping his moving shots.

Dave Pawsey (England, FISTF ranking 56) 1-3

I played really well in the first half and was leading 1-0 at half time, having scored my best goal of the weekend after a good curl which took Dave completely by surprise. Yippee!! With luck, might have held on for a draw, but once Dave scored his first goal he relaxed and played much better, pushing me hard. Could not hold on....

Luca Licheri (Italy, FISTF ranking 245) 1-2

Very disappointed and unlucky not to draw. I was leading 1-0 until I gave away a stupid free kick with my (and his) defence wide open with 1 minute left in the first half. I did not wait for his block flick after taking off the free-standing keeper (I was trying to get the ball upfield quickly) and he scored straight after the free-flick. Quite an even second half, until he scored with 1 minute left....bugger!!

So, I lost all three games for TSPA White Star on Sunday, but was very pleased to have been picked for their A team. The team captain told me that he would deliberately put my against the strongest players on the other team with no real expectations, in the hope that the stronger players on our team could beat their weaker players, and that's pretty much what happened. So I was pleased to have led and pushed my opponents in two of the games.

Overall, a great experience and I am sure I would improve if I could play in such tournaments regularly. So keep going for it guys! It was also great travelling with Puppe - it's great to have company and support from another familiar face at the tournament.

I have some suggestions for the Futures tournament, but will save them for another posting as this one is much too long already!! Please don't hesitate to ask me anything you'd like to know about the games and lessons learnt - I'm still trying to work them out myself

Puppe and Eliot, did you need to be the referee in any game ?

Maybe Puppe answered already, but yes, we were both required to referee several games on both days. I think I refereed 5 or 6 games in total. I quite enjoyed it and had no real problems, even if I was unclear on some of the rules the players were able to sort them out for me! I had to make a couple of tricky decisions (eg whether a defender was moving) but all my decisions were accepted OK. I was maybe a little lucky!

No worries Puppe! It was great we were able to go together, and well done for posting a couple of great wins (and a great result against the finalist Kechris from Greece). As for ranking me above Becky, I am honoured if a little surprised :wink:

I'll put up another posting with some comments soon, but for everyone's info, here are the main results (will let you know about the full results when available):

Open

Last 32

M Cremona 5 - 1 V Kadinopolous
L Martinelli 0 - 2 M Tilgner
P Hipfinger 0 - 1 A Valverde
T Taylor 0 - 3 D Pawsey
L Papakonstantinou 2 - 1 J Finch
K Stamakostas 1 - 1 A Buhl Hansen KS won on shots
C Short 2 - 0 E Licheri
E Kennedy 1 - 6 C Thomas
V Prats 4 - 0 G Baghino
M Kapsampelis 1 - 0 S Hawkins
D Mavromitros 3 - 0 M Lampitt
K Kechris 3 - 2 J Granados
P Dacey 1 - 0 A Ritoridis
L licheri 0 - 1 A Martinez
A Grorud 3 - 2 P de Leeuw
J Bradley 1 - 3 K Bennett

Last 16

M Cremona 6 - 0 M Tilgner
A Valverde 1 - 0 D Pawsey
L Papakonstantinou 2 - 1 K Stamakostas
C Short 1 - 3 C Thomas
V Prats 4 - 0 M Kapsampelis
D Mavromitros 1 - 2 K Kechris
P Dacey 4 - 0 A Martinez
A Grorud 1 -3 K Bennett

Qtr-finals

M Cremona 0 - 3 A Valverde
L Papakonstantinou 4 - 3 C Thomas
V Prats 1 - 3 K Kechris
P Dacey 1 - 3 K Bennett

Semi-finals

A Valverde 2 - 1 L Papakonstantinou
K Kechris 3 - 2 K Bennett

FINAL

A Valverde 4 - 1 K Kechris

Veterans

Qtr-finals

P Redman 5 - 0 K Dyson
P Holmes 4 - 0 P Erb
M Giacomo 5 - 1 T Prohle
L Commons 0 - 6 P Stemitsiotis

Semi-finals

P Redman 4 - 1 P Holmes
M Giacomo 2 - 1 P Stemitsiotis

FINAL

P Redman 1 - 3 M Giacomo

Under 19

Semi-finals

J Noguera 9 - 0 B Lavender
B Kegebeim 2 - 0 J Ros

FINAL

J Noguera 7 - 3 B Kegenbeim

Under 15

B Kegenbeim 5 - 1 B Lavender
M Kwiatkowski 2 - 1 D Stemitsiotis

FINAL

B Kegenbeim 4 - 3 M Kwiatkowski

Ladies

1st: S Wright
2nd B Bale

Sportsman award: Eliot Kennedy

I was really pleased to get the sportsmanship award. I am sure it's because I have been playing here in Finland for the last 7 months  

Yes, some good - and not so good!! - tight games last night. Well done to Kaitsu and Vesa, so far at least  

Lads

For your information, final numbers for Milton Keynes are:

Open: 71
Vets: 20
Under 19: 5
Under 15: 5
Ladies: 2
Team: 19

They are having 9 groups of 4 and 7 groups of 5 for the Open on Saturday, so we'll get lots of games  

Will let Hönkki know how we go by text....

So you went public Zinga!? .
d.[/quote]

Thanks for saying something nice about me.    And thanks for the practice games - it was excellent training for me in the lead up to the UK on the weekend.

Very interesting  :wink:  

No worries! I shall be as merciless as the Finnish winter's day is cold - and short!! :wink:.

Seriously, I think Puppe and I can play without fear and should try not show too much respect to our opponents. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain....

Kiitos Miku! It's a real shame you can't be there, but I'm sure Puppe will have a beer or three for you  :beer: