Ballyclare's Barry
Spence was on form in today's small WASPA event in Broughshane,
lifting the Summer Cup with victories against
local men Kenny Beggs and Colin Perry. Colin, who
is an avid collector, is continuing the comeback
to playing, following his recent appearance at
the Ballymena Open.
Kenny
Beggs, Barry Spence, Colin Perry
RESULTS
Barry Spence 2 Kenny Beggs 1
Barry Spence 4 Colin Perry 0
Kenny Beggs 2 Colin Perry 0
Five
Northern Ireland players are in the FISTF World
Rankings, following the Derry International Open.
See excerpt below.
Click this link for Full World Rankings
Italian,
Guido Cerullo, Wins Derry International Open
Italian player,
Guido Cerullo, won the Derry FISTF International
Open with a 3-1 victory over Dublin's Mark
Farrell in the Final, following a 2-1 semi-final
win against Northern Ireland's Kenny Beggs. The
other beaten semi-finalist was England's Alan
Lee. 28 players took part at the The Nerve Centre in Derry, travelling from England,
Wales, Rep of Ireland, Germany, Italy and USA,
giving it a true International flavour.
Kenny Beggs
(NIR), Jason Christopher (Eng), Paul Eyes (USA)
Bryan Arnold (USA), Paul Eyes (USA), Fred Elesbao
(Germany)
Derry's Lawrence Watson and Martinog Bradley
running the show
Northern
Ireland Players
There were 3
Northern Ireland players taking part. Kenny Beggs
topped his group, then beat Jason Christopher
(Eng) and Paul Eyes (USA) in the knockout stages
before a narrow semi-final defeat to eventual
champion, Guido. Martinog Bradley and Lawrence
Watson were knocked out at the group stages.
Quarter-Final:
Kenny Beggs (N.Ireland) 2 Paul Eyes (USA) 0
GROUP
STAGE
Group 1: Alan Lee, Jason Christopher, Andy
Fitzpatrick, Dee Jenkins
Group 2: Paul Eyes, Brendan Ashley, Lawrence
Watson, Tom Heslop
Group 3: Mick Hammond, Cayne Matthews, Martinog
Bradley, Dan Nicholls
Group 4: Fred Elesbao, Bryan Arnold, Oisin Mór,
Nicky Moore
Group 5: Mark Farrell, Richard Badger, Nick
Pearson, John Moore
Group 6: Guido Cerullo, Ruby Matthews, Mick
O’Brien, Gage Badger
Group 7: Kenny Beggs, Justin Scott, Brendan
Rodgers, Daniel Kaliszewski
BARRAGE
ROUND
Cayne Matthews 5 Brendan Ashley 0
Mark Farrell 5 Ruby Matthews 0
Justin Scott 3 Fred Elesbao 1
Richard Badger 2 Mick Hammond 1
Guido Cerullo 2 Bryan Arnold 0
Kenny Beggs 5 Jason Christopher 1
QUARTER-FINALS Alan Lee 1 Cayne Matthews 1 (shots 3-2)
Mark Farrell 4 Justin Scott 1
Guido Cerullo 4 Richard Badger 2
Kenny Beggs 2 Paul Eyes 0
SEMI-FINALS
Mark Farrell 2 Alan Lee 1
Guido Cerullo 2 Kenny Beggs 1
FINAL
Guido Cerullo 3 Mark Farrell 1
Wolverhampton
WIn Team Event
Wolverhampton
pipped Wobbly Hobby Club to the Team Title. Both
teams finished on 10 points so it was decided on
number of games won. It looked to be going
Wobbly's way until the final few minutes of the
last session between Wolves and Irish Premier
League A, when Mick Hammond snatched a late
victory over Kenny Beggs, which was enough to tip
the balance in Wolverhampton's favour.
It was Northern
Ireland's first FISTF event for 12 years. For a bit of
nostalgia, here are the previous International
Opens & Grand Prix organised by Northern
Ireland Table Football Association:
Eight players
attended the 2022 Beltane Cup at Derry City Table
Football Club's new premises, the Derby Bar.
Kenny Beggs topped the 6-Round Swiss Table, with
Martinog Bradley 2nd and Barry Spence 3rd. The
Club was pleased to welcomenewcomer,
Frankie Connolly from Donegal.Results
England's Aaron
Skinner won the Dublin Open, beating fellow
Englishman, Kevin Cordell, 2-1 in the final. Best
player from Northern Ireland was Barry Spence who
reached the semi-final. Dublin's Mark Farrell was
the other semi-finalist. Aaron's son, Finley made
it a Father and Son double by winning the Junior
title. Martinog Bradley beat Mick O'Brien in the
Plate Final. It was the biggest Irish Circuit event of the season so
far, with 17 entrants, six of whom travelled from
England. Many thanks to John Moore, Mark Farrell
& Andy Fitzpatrick for organising at the
excellent Cherrytree Pub in Walkinstown, Dublin 12.
Dublin Open Final: Aaron Skinner
2 James Cordell 1
Northern
Ireland players in action ...
Three
Northern Ireland players took part. Barry Spence
made the Semi-Finals, losing to 1-2 Kevin
Cordell. Kenny Beggs lost 1-2 to Barry in the
Quarter-Finals and Martinog Bradley won the Plate
with a 3-1 Final victory over Mick O'Brien.
Barry Spence (Semi-Finalist) v Aaron Skinner
(Winner)
Plate Final: Mick O'Brien 1 Martinog Bradley 3
Kenny Beggs v Andy Fitzpatrick
Dublin Open 2022, Cherrytree Pub, Walkinstown
Derry City
Easter Cup 25th April 2022
Derry City TFC played the first
tournament at their new venue, The Derby Bar in Great James St, BT48
7DF. Kenny Beggs topped the 5-player table ahead
of Barry Spence.
Mark Farrell won
the 2nd event of this season's Irish Circuit in Ballymena, with a 3-0
victory over Martinog Bradley in the Final.
Losing semi-finalists were Barry Spence and Kenny
Beggs. John Moore beat England's Joe Harrington
in the Plate Final and Daniel Kaliszewski beat
Fiona Moore in the Junior Final.
The WASPA event was hosted by Kenny
Beggs & Barry Spence at Ballymena
Showgrounds, home of Ballymena United FC. There were a few
drop-outs due to covid but still a good turnout
of 14 players, including Donal Convery and Colin
Perry making a comeback on the Irish Circuit
after many years. Great to have the two Junior
players (Daniel and Fiona) and a big thanks to
Gerry and Joe Harrington who travelled from
England. There was also coverage by local
newspaper, the Ballymena Guardian
Final: Mark Farrell 3 Martinog Bradley 0
Plate Final: Joe Harrington v John Moore
Group matches in
the Des Allen Suite, Ballymena Showgrounds
All 14 Players at the Ballymena Open
Group Match: Colin Perry 1 Craig Stewart 1
Group Match: Barry Spence 1 Donal Convery 0
Group Match: Mark Farrell 1 Kenny Beggs 1
The venue
...
Directions: Exit M2 onto Raceview Road and follow
the signs to Ecos Centre. Take first exit off
Roundabout onto Kernaghan's Lane, then turn right
towards Showgrounds car park (Coordinates:
54.8707822803542, -6.263059970260716). Tournament
is in the Des Allen Suite, above the Main Stand. See Map.
A mini-WASPA tournament was held in
Broughshane, near Slemish Mountain, to enable
players in the area to get some practise for next
week's Ballymena Open. Kenny Beggs and Barry
Spence had narrow victories over Donal Convery
before drawing 1-1 with each other. The draw was
enough for Beggs to top the table on
goal-difference.
Donal
Convery, Kenny Beggs & Barry Spence
RESULTS
Kenny Beggs 2 Donal Convery 0
Barry Spence 1 Donal Convery 0
Kenny Beggs 1 Barry Spence 1
Martinog Bradley
won the first event of the 2022 Irish
Championship Circuit at the Sean Bheairic Visitor
Centre in
Falcarragh. He topped the 7-player table ahead of
Kenny Beggs on goal-difference, after the pair
drew 2-2 in the final game. Barry Spence finished
one point behind in 3rd place. Andy Fitzpatrick,
making a comeback after 15 years, came in 4th.
Martinog
Bradley (left) receives trophy from Event
Organiser, Brendan Rodgers
Check out the Official Facebook Page for the FISTF World Cup to
be held in Rome on 17th-18th September.
Unlike normal
FISTF Tour events, players can only qualify for
the World Cup after being nominated by their
National Association (NITFA in the case of Northern Ireland) or
through the World Ranking. The process is
explained in detail at the following link: FISTF Qualification Process
NORTHERN
IRELAND SQUAD SELECTION
Northern Ireland
is allowed two individual representatives per
category and one Team per category. The Team
Squad may consist of up to 6 players.
The advertised
closing date for initial applications was Mon 7th
Feb 2022, to allow time to book cheap flights.
Selection for the individual event was based on WASPA Rankings (Jan 2022) because they are the most
relevant for active Northern Ireland players.
The players listed
below all confirmed their entry before the
deadline, so their places in the team are now
guaranteed. The top two players in each category
will also play in the individual events, with the
third player being listed as a reserve in case of
drop-outs.
Applications are
still invited to fill the remaining team places,
on a first-come, first-served basis. Please
register your interest by emailing Kenny Beggs, ken@nitfa.org.uk and keep checking here for
updates.
OPEN
VETERAN
Martinog Bradley (40)
Simon Stewart (124)
Lawrence Watson (91)
Eoin Adams (unranked)
Craig
Stewart (272)
To be eligible,
players must also be registered by their country
with FISTF. The current list is available here: FISTF-Registered Players. Type 'NIR' in the search
box to see the list of Northern Ireland players.
Note: Travel and
Accommodation will be self-funded.
Derry City
TFC Winter Cup31/01/22
Seven players took
part in a league format evening. Lots of tight
games and good performances from Dee Jenkins,
Oisin Mor and Lawrence Watson.
Kenny Beggs took
the title with 5 wins out of 6 and 1 draw in his
final game. Martinog Bradley came in runner up
after a thrilling 2-2 draw with 3rd place Barry
Spence and a 1-1 draw against Kenny. Results
A small tournament
was organised in the village of Broughshane to
welcome back Donal Convery to the game. Playing
for the first time in 15 years, he was up against
his former Northern Ireland & Belfast Barbarians team-mates, Kenny Beggs
& Barry Spence and showed signs of the form
which took him to the 2004 Home Internationals in
England
and 2005 World Cup in Belgium. The event was played as a
round-robin, with Kenny topping the table on 6
points.
RESULTS
Barry Spence 1 Donal Convery 0
Kenny Beggs 1 Barry Spence 0
Kenny Beggs 3 Donal Convery 0
FINAL
TABLE
P
W
D
L
F
A
Pts
K.Beggs
2
2
0
0
4
0
6
B.Spence
2
1
0
1
1
1
3
D.Convery
2
0
0
2
0
4
0
Donal Convery 0
Barry Spence 1
Barry
Spence Wins Derry Christmas Cup 13/12/21
A tight run race
to the finish following a 0-0 draw between Spence
and Bradley, which took the competition to the
last 2 games of the night with Bradley narrowly
in front on goal difference. Oisin Mor proved too
tough defensively for Bradley and another 0-0
wasn’t enough. Spence got the goal he needed
against Watson to finish 2 points clear at the
top of the table.
Barry
Spence receives trophy from Martinog Bradley
TABLE 1. Barry Spence 13pts
2. Martinog Bradley 11pts
3. Lawrence Watson 7pts
4. Oisin Mor 6pts
5. Craig Stewart 2pts
6. Dee Jenkins 1pt
R.I.P.
Adrian Curtis 9/12/21
The Subbuteo World
is mourning the sudden loss of England's Adrian
Curtis at the age of 63. Adrian was a welcome
visitor when he played tournaments in Belfast and
Bangor. Northern Ireland Table Football
Association offers its condolences to Adrian's
family and friends, in particular his son, Sam,
who accompanied him on his trips to the province.
Flashback to 2007,
when host nation, Northern Ireland, finished
Runner-up to Scotland in the UK & Ireland
Internationals, breaking England's dominance of
the competition.
Barry Spence won
the Derry City 5th Anniversary Cup with a
golden-goal winner against Kenny Beggs in the
final. Beggs had led 1-0 for most of the match
but Spence turned the game around with a superb
last-minute equaliser on-the-move before scoring
the winner in the first minute of extra-time.
Barry Spence (right) receives
trophy from Lawrence Watson
Spence equalises against Beggs to take the game
into extra-time
American
Champion Visits Derry 24/10/21
American Subbuteo
Champion, Patrick Sheridan, took time out from
his Irish holiday to visit Derry City's famous
Shed for some friendly matches against Martinog
Bradley and Kenny Beggs.
