MILTON KEYNES INTERNATIONAL OPEN 2005 - Report from 'Flicker' by Victor Jones ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Milton Keynes serves up surprises, as favourites crash out early! A world without surprises would be an uninteresting place. And if Table Football tournaments always went as expected, there'd be no need to play them. Just give the trophy to the top seed, and save everyone the trouble of turning up. In the case of the Milton Keynes Open, that would have meant Phil Redman - winner of three of the last four international events in England - going back to Merseyside, trophy in hand, with another bunch of ranking points to preserve his 12th place in the world order. However in reality, Redman's post group progress towards another final started and ended with a last 16 match with John Brand, as the London TFC player caused one of the upsets of the season. Brand was no stranger to success of his own in his younger days, but lack of regular tournament play has seen his status slip in recent years. However he responded magnificently when facing one of England’s top players. In true cup upset style, Redman had the better of the game, but he couldn't make his numerous chances count. Brand on the other hand scored one of his limited shots, just before half time, and then held out, to seal a famous victory. Despite the setback, Redman was satisfied with the way he played. "I wasn't disappointed with my performance", he said after, "The ball just wouldn't go in". "John scored a cracking goal though". Things weren't going to plan elsewhere either. Rising English star Kasper Bennett showed what he is capable of when on form, by edging out Angel Valvarde - on paper, the Spanish contingent's best prospect for individual honours - in sudden death overtime. But the performance ranking second to Brand's victory was that of Josh Learner against Bob Varney. Even with the added pressure of organising the tournament, Varney would have been expected to breeze through the early knockout rounds, but he came unstuck against the Bristol youngster. After the pair had shared two goals in normal time, Learner held his own during the extra period, though Varney had the better openings. But neither could break the deadlock, so shots were required. It was there that Varney's experience shone through, as conversions from two wide positions secured victory for the Milton Keynes veteran. Elsewhere, Dave Pawsey twice came from behind to defeat Miguel Angel Lopez. The Spaniard - described as the next Carlos Flores - went ahead with a superb moving ball shot, but Pawsey hit back with a long-range equaliser. And after falling behind again, three further goals - and accompanying vocal celebrations - signalled victory for the Englishman. Meanwhile Juan Carlos Granados was making steady progress towards the final. With a slow tempo playing style using accurate short range flicks, speeding up in attack to devastating affect, he had rode his luck at times in the early stages. He himself had been caught out by a shot on the move early in his group game with Adrian Ritoridis, the talented Greek taking the lead with a superbly struck shot from the edge of the area, which found the top corner of the net. Ritoridis later equalised, having fallen 2-1 behind, but Granados grabbed a winner, to secure top spot in the table, and a slightly easier subsequent set of matches. Ritoridis instead had to face Trevor Cummings in the barrage round, and then, having beaten the Northern Ireland player in overtime, Chris Thomas in the last 16. Trailing 2-0 at the interval, Ritoridis was unlucky not to get something from his game against Thomas. But after dominating the second half, he had only struck posts and other near misses as reward for his efforts. At the same time, dogged resistance from Northern Ireland’s Kenny Beggs was causing Granados problems, but the Spaniard eventually broke the deadlock in first half stoppage time, before scoring two further goals after the interval. Granados' quarter final with Chris Short, who had only just edged past Dave Russell in the previous round, was a bad tempered affair, halted by debates over aspects of the rules. It was the Murcia player who kept his nerve to come through a 2-1 winner, scoring either side of Short's consolation strike. Varney followed his clubmate into the last 4 with a two goal victory over the EPL's Chris Thomas. But there was better luck for the English club side in the other quarter finals. Bennett had the better of his game against Brand, but despite a number of second half chances, it eventually took a goal seven minutes into overtime to secure victory. Pawsey's game with Shorab went all the way to shots. The Londoner had started well, attacking straight from the off, and he scored inside 50 seconds after a well worked move down the left wing ended with a chipped finish on the move. In a flowing game, chances alternated at each end, with each player taking turns in attacking, and Pawsey grabbed an equaliser with 6 minutes played, working the ball up field, before chipping in from a central position. Shorab wasted his next attack when hitting the crossbar with a clear shot. And the costly miss was made worse by an even costlier miss by his spare goalkeeper minutes later at the other end. Two flicks later, Pawsey rolled the ball into the empty net to go 2-1 ahead. For once the goal was not met with the usual histrionics. There was still time in the half for Shorab to force a save with a shot from a corner routine, and despite Pawsey twice going close early after the break, Shorab fashioned a well worked equaliser on 20 minutes, hitting the ball low into the goal, again on the move. But though Pawsey hit the post with 5 minutes to go, overall chances were at a premium in the second half. Extra time couldn't separate the pair - Shorab hit a post when he should have scored, whilst Pawsey put a guilt edged chance well over the bar. The EPLer proved more accurate in the lottery that is shots though, as he avenged a previous shots defeat to Shorab at August's Worthing National Open. That victory put Pawsey through to a semi final against Varney, which was, in contrast to his earlier games, a more tactical match-up. The Bristol player forced a save within the first minute, and later hit the crossbar. Varney's build up play was more patient, and was almost rewarded when a shot was just pushed wide by the goalkeeper's rod. Another good save denied Varney late in the period. The second half was more of a midfield battle, with few clear chances, although Pawsey came close to winning when he hit the underside of crossbar in final minute. Overtime proved more productive for Pawsey. He may have rolled the ball wide from a tight angle when presented with an open goal half way through, but he was not to be denied and two minutes later, he played the ball through his opponent's defence, before tucking it away in the bottom corner of the goal to reach his first international final since last season’s Knighton event. With Granados beating Bennett in the other semi, thanks to two first half goals in a fairly one sided match, the final looked a tough prospect for Pawsey against a player against whom he had lost 5-2 in the previous day's team event. As in his semi, Pawsey was drawn into another tactical affair. But enjoying some good possession in first half, he was lacking the final touch in front of goal. Granados on the other hand was creating chances, and he forced two saves from his opponent's keeper, before going ahead on 10 minutes with an attack through his opponent's defence, finished with a chipped shot from a central position. The lead lasted less than two minutes, as Pawsey quickly hit back with an effort that crept over the keeper. The English player went close at the start of the second period, but again it was Granados, committing more figures to attack, who had the clearer opportunities. And a deflected shot with 5 minutes to go secured a 2-1 win for the Murcia player. As expected, representatives from Asociacion Murciana and the English Premier League had dominated the latter stages of the tournament, but it was not necessarily the names that many would have predicted. That however is the beauty of competitive Table Football. TEAM EVENT -------------------- Perfect Murcia! Asociacion Murciana proved too strong for their opponents in Saturday's team event. The quartet of Angel Valverde, Juan Carlos Granados, Miguel Angel Lopez and Bob Varney all finished with perfect records as the Spanish side added the Milton Keynes title to those won within the past month in London and at their domestic championships. With final opponents EPL playing a man short – a reversal of fortunes from when the pair met in the final of last season's English IO – the odds were always stacked against the English team. And whilst Varney sat it out, Granados secured a comprehensive 5-2 victory over Dave Pawsey, whilst Valverde and Lopez squeezed past the two Chris’s, Thomas and Short, as Murciana completed a 4-0 success to add to their three earlier maximum wins. The EPL had been within 30 seconds of having to face the Spaniards in the semis, rather than the final, when the Irish Premier League almost edged above the all-star team in their preliminary group. A match draw when they went head to head would suited the IPL, and with Kenny Beggs holding a 2-1 lead over Dave Pawsey, it appeared that they were destined for the easier semi-final against Cardiff. However a last gasp Pawsey equaliser, coupled with wins for Thomas and Short against Gary and John Moore respectively, gave the match victory to the EPL, ensuring that they avoided another early match up with Murcia, as had been the case at the London Grand Prix. Instead EPL beat Cardiff 3-1 to book their final place. Meanwhile Yorkshire Phoenix won the Plate with a 3-1 victory over an understrength London TFC side.