SEASON 2011/12

Irish Circuit Shared 31st Aug 2012
This season's Irish Circuit Table could not separate Kenny Beggs & Mark Farrell, who each won 3 events and finished runner-up in 3 events. Home advantage seemed to make a difference, with Beggs winning all the Northern events and Farrell winning the Southern ones. A special thanks to the 17 players who took part in the Irish Circuit during the season.

Mark Farrell & Kenny Beggs,
Joint Winners of Irish Circuit 2011/12

Beggs is All-Ireland Champion 25th Aug 2012

Northern Ireland's Kenny Beggs beat Mark Farrell in a pulsating Final at Dunmurry to win back the title which he lost to the Dublin man twelve months ago. Beggs started strongly, scoring early, but Farrell quickly equalised before Beggs struck again to lead at the interval. Farrell made it 2-2 after the break and gradually dominated possession but there was no further score, even after extra-time, so a shootout was required. Things looked to be turning in Farrell's favour as he led 2-1 with two shots each remaining but Beggs managed

Kenny Beggs scores the winning shot in All-Ireland Final

Barry Spence (NIR) finished 3rd, beating John Moore (ROI) 2-0 in the 3rd/4th Place Play-off, while Nicky Moore won the Plate by topping a three-player group ahead of Ernie Bickerstaff and Brendan Rodgers. It was Brendan's first taste of tournament action, and encouraging to see him make the long trip from Donegal Subbuteo Club to play in the Plate.

Brendan Rodgers v Nicky Moore

All-Ireland Trophy Winners:
Barry Spence (3rd), Mark Farrell (2nd), Kenny Beggs (1st), Nicky Moore (Plate)

4th Barbarians Clubnight Mon 20th Aug 2012, 7:30pm
Six players attended the 4th and final Clubnight of the season. Results

Belfast Barbarians players at the season's final clubnight in Dunmurry

TABLE
1. Kenny Beggs, 15 pts
2. Barry Spence, 12 pts
3. Alistair Morrison, 9 pts
4. Andrew Morrison, 6 pts
5. Ernie Bickerstaff, 3 pts
6. Stevie Gorman, 0 pt

Irish Rankings 31st July 2012
Dublin's Mark Farrell has overtaken Northerner, Kenny Beggs, at the top. Mark has steadily climbed the rankings since his return to action four years ago, improving his game by travelling to various UK tournaments and has finally knocked Kenny off the top for the first time in ten years.

Farrell Wins Kildare Open 28th July 2012
Mark Farrell won the season's 5th Irish Circuit Event in Celbridge Mill, topping a 10-player League with maximum points. Kenny Beggs was 2nd and Colin Tarry,who travelled from England, finished 3rd. This puts Farrell one point ahead of Beggs in the Irish Circuit Table with only the All-Ireland Championships on 25th Aug remaining. Full Results

See Colin Tarry's blogspot for his report on the day's play.

Beggs Wins Kings Way Open 26th May 2012
Kenny Beggs beat Mark Farrell on shots in the Final to win the 4th Event of the Irish Circuit 2011/12. Beggs had taken an early lead, which looked like being enough to clinch victory but Farrell equalised in the last minute to force extra time. There was no further score so the dreaded shoot-out was required which Beggs edged 2-0. The pair are now equal in the Irish Circuit Table, having won two events each, with only two events remaining.

Full Results | Photos

Kings Way Open Final: Mark Farrell 1-1 Kenny Beggs (shots: 0-2)

Nicky Moore had a good day, finishing 3rd, with a golden-goal victory over John Moore in the 3rd/4th Place Play-off. He led 2-0 at Half-Time but John pulled back to 2-2 in the 2nd Half. Nicky then regained the lead in the last minute but John still managed another equaliser with seconds remaining to take the match into extra-time. Nicky, however, scored the golden-goal to seal a thrilling 4-3 victory. Unfortunately for John, it was his 2nd golden-goal defeat of the day, having lost in a similar manner to Mark Farrell in the Semi-Final.

Barry Spence won the Plate, beating Alistair Morrison 2-0 in the Final.

Overall, nine players participated in an enjoyable day's play at the recently refurbished King's Way Church. It was encouraging to see Ernie Bickerstaff compete in his first Open event and Ken McKenzie play in his first northern tournament.

Semi-Finals
Kenny Beggs 2-0 Nicky Moore
Mark Farrell 2-1 John Moore (golden-goal)

3rd/4th Place Play-off
Nicky Moore 4-3 John Moore (golden-goal)

Final
Kenny Beggs 1-1 Mark Farrell
(shots: 2-0)

FISTF World Cup 2012 in Manchester 20th-22nd July 2012
This will be held in the Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City and will be sponsored by Subbuteo. Deadline for registrations 15th June 2012. Northern Ireland players wishing to participate, please contact Kenny Beggs. Places available in Individual & Team Events for various categories such as Open, Veteran, U19. If necessary, Irish Rankings will be used to decide qualification.

3rd Barbarians Clubnight Mon 23rd April 2012
The third Clubnight of the season at King's Way Church, Dunmurry.
Five players attended, including newcomer, Stevie Gorman.
The round-robin finished as follows:

1. Kenny Beggs, 12 pts
2. Barry Spence, 9 pts
3. Alistair Morrison, 6 pts
4. Ernie Bickerstaff, 1 pt
5. Stevie Gorman, 1 pt

Irish Circuit 2011/12
Event 3: Farrell Wins Celbridge Open 31st March 2012
Mark Farrell won the season's 3rd Event of the Irish Circuit 2011/12 in Celbridge, beating Kenny Beggs 1-0 (after extra-time) in the Final. Mark had previously lost 1-4 to Kenny in the group stage but he regained his composure to beat Barry Spence 4-1 in the Semi-Final before getting revenge against Kenny in the Final. The six entrants competed in a single group, with the top 4 qualifying for Semi-Finals. Dublin's Ken McKenzie made a welcome return to the Subbuteo scene. Full Results | Photos

Celbridge Open Final: Mark Farrell 1-0 Kenny Beggs (after extra-time)

Semi-Finals
Mark Farrell 4-1 Barry Spence
Kenny Beggs 2-1 John Moore

Final
Mark Farrell 1-0 Kenny Beggs (golden goal)

3rd/4th Place Play-Off
John Moore 1-0 Barry Spence

5th/6th Place Play-Off
Nicky Moore 1-0 Ken McKenzie

PLACINGS:
1. Mark Farrell
2. Kenny Beggs
3. John Moore
4. Barry Spence
5. Nicky Moore
6. Ken McKenzie

Barbarians Return to Kingsway 26th March 2012
With renovations now complete, Belfast Barbarians returned to the club's old venue, Kingsway Church in Dunmurry, for the 2nd Clubnight of the Season. Ernie Bickerstaff was a welcome newcomer and he joined in the four-player round robin. Results below:

Stephen Rodgers 2-0 Ernie Bickerstaff
Kenny Beggs 3-0 Barry Spence
Stephen Rodgers 1-5 Barry Spence
Kenny Beggs 4-0 Ernie Bickerstaff
Kenny Beggs 4-0 Stephen Rodgers
Barry Spence 4-0 Ernie Bickerstaff

TABLE:
Kenny Beggs 9 pts
Barry Spence 6 pts
Stephen Rodgers 3 pts
Ernie Bickerstaff 0 pts

Subbuteo Relaunch 24th Jan 2012 Subbuteo was relaunched at the London Toy Fair in Kensington Olympia. It will be available on Amazon from 5th March 2012, fifteen years after last being sold in the shops. Related Link

New Club in Donegal 22nd Jan 2012
Brendan Rodgers has formed the Donegal Subbuteo Club. Hopefully we will see them in action on the Irish Circuit soon.

Beggs Wins Dunmurry Open 7th Jan 2012
The 2nd Event of the Irish Circuit 2011/12 saw 10 entrants playing each other once in a league format. Kenny Beggs just pipped Mark Farrell and John Moore on goal-difference after the three players finished on equal points for the second successive tournament!! They drew 0-0 with each other and beat the rest of their opponents to finish level on 23 points. Beggs' goal-difference was only better by +1 but was enough to prevent All-Ireland Champion, Farrell, from winning his 4th consecutive Irish Circuit Event. Full Results | Photos

Trophy Winners: John Moore (3rd), Kenny Beggs (1st), Mark Farrell (2nd)

Final Session: Farrell 0-0 Beggs - enough to clinch victory for Beggs

... Player ............... Pts (Goal-diff)
1. Kenny Beggs ....... 23 (+25)
2. Mark Farrell ......... 23 (+24)
3. John Moore .......... 23 (+21)
4. Barry Spence ....... 16
5. Alistair Morrison ... 12
6. Andrew Morrison .. 11
7. Peter Morrison ....... 9
8. Nicky Moore .......... 8
9. John Hughes ......... 1 (-27)
10.Jacob Hudson ....... 1 (-32)

VENUE:
St Colman's Parish Church Halls, Salisbury Place, Kingsway, Dunmurry.
Parking available at venue.

Map of Venue Area

St Colman's Parish Church Halls

Belfast Barbarians Clubnight Tue 20th Dec 2011
Belfast Barbarians League Season commenced at Belvoir Parish Church. Six players took part and finished as follows: 1st Kenny Beggs, 2nd Andrew Morrison, 3rd Barry Spence, 4th John Hughes, 5th Peter Morrison, 6th Jacob Hudson. Results & Championship Table

Peter Morrison in action at Belfast Barbarians

Irish Circuit 2011/12
Event 1 - Farrell Wins Maynooth Open Sat 12th Nov 2011

Current Irish Circuit Champion, Mark Farrell, began the defence of his title at the Mantra Bar, Maynooth with victory in the first Irish Event of the season. It couldn't have been any closer, though, as there was a 3-way tie which meant shoot-outs were required to separate him from Kenny Beggs & John Moore.

Mark Farrell clinches Maynooth Open with shoot-out victory over Kenny Beggs

With other Northern Ireland regulars being unavailable, Beggs was the North's only representative. He managed to inflict a rare defeat on the in-form Farrell but defeats to Gary Moore & John Moore prevented him from topping the table outright. In the deciding shoot-outs, he beat John Moore 3-2 but lost 1-2 to Farrell to finish runner-up. Full Results | Photos

Maynooth Open - Final Placings
1. Mark Farrell (ROI)
2. Kenny Beggs (NIR)
3. John Moore (ROI)
4. Gary Moore (ROI)
5. Nicky Moore (ROI)
6. Shane Butler (ROI)

More reports on Table Football Association of Ireland website

Barbarians Postponed Tue 27th Sept 2011
The start of the new season has been postponed until further notice as there were not many players available for the above date. Club members will be contacted to arrange a more suitable date.-