SEASON 2008/09

All-Ireland Championships 2009 12th Sept 2009

Open Final: Kenny Beggs 1 John Moore 1 (shots: 1-0)

Kenny Beggs retained the All-Ireland Open title, beating John Moore on shots after a close final which ended 1-1. John dominated the first half but Kenny gradually came into the game and took the lead midway through the 2nd half. This prompted John to attack again and he was rewarded with an equaliser to take the game into extra-time. Kenny had possession for the whole of the extra period but he couldn't break down John's solid defence, so a shoot-out was required. John missed all five shots, while Kenny scored only one to win the Championship by the narrowest of margins. Results

Kenny made it a double by defeating David Clegg 2-0 in the Veteran Final.

There is a new name on the Under-19 Trophy, as Mark McKane knocked out reigning Champion, Peter Morrison, on shots in the semi-final before beating Adam Scullion 2-0 in the Final.

Nicky Moore beat Alistair Morison 1-0 in the Plate Final.

Mark McKane, new All-Ireland Under-19 Champion

Photo Slide Show:

Venue: Kingsway Church, 9:30am. Directions | Map
Seeding as per Irish Rankings

Final Barbarians Clubnight 31st Aug 2009
There were only three players at the final Clubnight of the season. They played each other twice in a mini league. Results

Yorkshire International Open 1st/2nd Aug 2009
Northern Ireland's Kenny Beggs was Runner-up in the Veteran event, losing 0-1 to England's Phil Redman in the Final. Results

In the Open, Kenny lost 1-2 to Chris Thomas, drew 1-1 with Dave Baxter and drew 2-2 with Brian Clark, whose equaliser 10 seconds from time eliminated Beggs from the group, enabling Baxter to progress along with Thomas. Baxter  and Thomas eventually met again in the Final, which Thomas won 2-1.

Kenny also played for Yorkshire 'A' in the Team Event. They finished 4th in a six-team round robin. Cardiff topped the table ahead of English Premier League.

9th Barbarians Clubnight 29th June 2009
Nine players attended the penultimate meeting of the season. Seven took part in the Swiss Ladder, while two newcomers, Cahill Murphy and Philip Morrison, played a couple of friendlies. Good to see Davy Clegg making his first appearance of the season. The former Northern Ireland Champion played well but finished 6th, despite only losing one match. It was a personal best for Nicky Moore, who finished 2nd, while Kenny Beggs topped the table with maximum points. Results

8th Barbarians Clubnight 1st June 2009
The 8th Clubnight of the season comprised of a seven-player Swiss Ladder topped by Kenny Beggs, with Barry Spence runner-up. Results

Hodds Wins Belfast International Open 9th May 2009
England's Martin Hodds took the honours at the 2009 Belfast International Open. The Number 2 seed won his group matches comfortably, beat Ireland's Mark Farrell 1-0 in the Quarter-Finals and recovered from a two-goal deficit in the Semi-Final to beat Scotland's Brian Clark on shots. He had another shoot-out victory in the Final against Number-1 seed, Kenny Beggs of Northern Ireland, following a scoreless draw. Full Results | Photos

Belfast International Open Final: Hodds v Beggs

Beggs also had to settle for runner-up in the Veterans, losing 0-2 to Scottish player, Steve Bennett in the Final.

Peter Morrison beat David Knox 4-0 in the Under-19 Final, while Neal Hermon won the Plate, beating Alistair Morrison on shots.

Martin Hodds with Winner's Trophy at Belfast International Open

BBC Radio Ulster Interview 6th May 2009
Barry Spence & Kenny Beggs were interviewed on BBC Radio Ulster's Alan Simpson Show. There was a short match in the studio with commentary from sports presenter, Jackie Fullerton. Glentoran player and Northern Ireland International, Gary Hamilton, also took part. You can hear the Interview online at Alan Simpson Show 06/05/2009 , position 01:12:15 on the timeline.

Beggs Wins Barbarians League 20th April 2009
Eoin Adams made a welcome comeback, playing in his first club meeting of the season. He was unbeaten in the 10-player Swiss Ladder but just pipped into top spot by Kenny Beggs, who can no longer be caught in the Championship Table

Mcilroy in Milton Keynes 28th/29th Mar 2009
Stuart Mcilroy was in action at the Milton Keynes Grand Prix. In the Individual event, he beat Paul Andreas 1-0, lost 1-3 to Chris Aggelinas and 0-3 to Kasper Bennett. Representing Yorkshire in the Team event, he beat Kwiatkowski of Sparta Spreeathen 1-0, drew 3-3 with Hennuyer's Olivier Pere and lost 1-2 to David Lauder of Cardiff.

Stuart Mcilroy performed well in Milton Keynes

Belfast Barbarians 6th Meeting 23rd Mar 2009
Kenny Beggs topped the nine-player Swiss Ladder at the 6th Barbarians' Club meeting of the season, one point ahead of Peter Morrison. Results

Farrell On Form At Barbarians 23rd Feb 2009
Dublin's Mark Farrell won the latest Belfast Barbarians Club Meeting. In a Knockout-Cup format, he beat Peter Morrison in the 1st Round, Stephen Rodgers in the Semi-Final and Kenny Beggs in the Final to complete an excellent debut at the Club. Mark made the long trip with Barbarians' regular Southern player, Nicky Moore, who finished 4th on the night. Results

Mark Farrell v Stephen Rodgers at Belfast Barbarians

Subbuteo World Mourns Iain Bell 1st Feb 2009
The Subbuteo Community has been shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Scotland's Iain Bell, one of the sport's true gentlemen. Iain was no stranger to Northern Ireland, having travelled to a number of our tournaments and he always made us feel very welcome at his events in Dumfries. He will be sorely missed and our thoughts go out to his wife, Gillian, and the family circle at this sad time.

The late Iain Bell (right) at Bangor Open 2004

Hermon Makes a Comeback Mon 26th Jan 2009
The January Belfast Barbarians meeting saw a good turnout of eleven players taking part in a three-group tournament. Kenny Beggs beat Barry Spence on shots in the Final, following a scoreless match. Beaten semi-finalists, Nicky Moore & John Hughes played each other in a 3rd/4th Place Play-Off, which Nicky won 1-0. Results

Former Northern Ireland Junior Champion, Neal Hermon, made an appearance. Despite two single-goal defeats to Stephen Rodgers and Alistair Morrison, he showed signs that he will again be a force to be reckoned with once he has a few more games under his belt.

Neal was National Junior Champion in 1989 & 1990 and represented Northern Ireland at the 1990 World Cup in Rome.

Belfast Barbarians Christmas Clubnight 15th Dec 2008
With only five players in attendance, the planned Doubles Competition did not take place but a Mini-League was played instead. The evening was rounded off with the usual Christmas food and drink. Results

Dunmurry National Open 29th Nov 2008
Kenny Beggs won both the Open and Veteran events, with Final victories against Gary Moore and Stephen Rodgers respectively. Peter Morrison beat John Hughes in the Under-19 Final and was runner-up to Mark Farrell in the Plate. Full Results | Report

Dunmurry Open Final 2008: Gary Moore 0 Kenny Beggs 1

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY:
The day was rounded off with an International Friendly between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which the Southern lads won 2-1, giving them their first victory over the North since the 2004 UK & Ireland Internationals in Preston.

Competitors at Dunmurry Open 2008

2nd Barbarians Clubnight 17th Nov 2008
Thirteen players attended the latest Barbarians' meeting. Continuing this season's policy of varying the format, there was a tournament consisting of four groups. The group winners qualified for the semi-finals, while group runners-up played off for positions 5-8 and the rest played off for positions 9-13. Results

Nicky Moore v Peter Morrison at Belfast Barbarians meeting

Subbuteo: Plastic Fantastic
Interesting article in The Independent newspaper.

NITFA has been invited to challenge the Eggheads on the BBC2 Quiz Show. BBC Reps will be coming to Belfast on 17th & 18th Nov to meet potential teams. Eoin Adams, Davy Clegg & Barry Spence are interested but they need a team of 5 players. Please contact Eoin if you wish to join them.

Following the recent launch of Subbuteo nostalgia book, Teenage Flicks, Radio 4's 'Today' Programme had a related broadcast. Comedian, Arthur Smith, who contributed to the book, was interviewed along with England player, Martin Hodds. Download the Interview "A light-hearted collection of reminiscences of teenage Subbuteo fandom - from some of Britain's best-known football professionals, pundits, enthusiasts, comics and gossips - interleaved with beautifully shot scenes from the sub-beautiful game itself."

Europa Cup - Manchester 25th/26th Oct 2008
Northern Ireland had no teams at Europe's top club competition but Kenny Beggs and Stuart Mcilroy were in action for Yorkshire Phoenix. The Yorkshire club finished 20th, with victories over Barcelona, Madrid & Elbeuf, a draw with Hot Club d'Ecosse and defeats against Rochefort, Cardiff, Pisa, Issy & White Star. Results

Stuart Mcilroy during a 1-1 draw with a Madrid player

Kenny Beggs 1 Adrian Ritoridis (White Star) 1

Reigning champions, Pisa, retained their title, beating Murcia in the final. Celebrations seem to be getting more exuberant - after scoring a golden-goal in the semi-final, Murcia's Angel Valverde couldn't contain his delight - sprinting across the hall and sliding along ecstatically on his knees before being mobbed by his chasing team-mates. All good clean fun, although the same cannot be said about FISTF Sports Director, Heinz Eder, who broke his hand after punching a wall !!! He won't be flicking in anger for a while !

Belfast Barbarians Begin New Season 6th Oct 2008
The new season flicked of with a six-player round-robin. Goal-difference was disregarded, with a shoot-out being used to separate players on equal points. 1st: Kenny Beggs, 2nd: Barry Spence, 3rd: Peter Morrison, 4th: Nicky Moore, 5th: John Hughes, 6th: Alistair Morrison. John Hughes beat Alistair Morrison in a shoot-out to settle 5th/6th place. Results