|
eFlicker.net
|
Short is the new Master
Chris Short succeeded Phil Redman to the second major national title, by winning the English Masters on Sunday.
Having taken Redman's English National Championship crown in Preston in February, Short came from behind to register a 2-1 victory against the Merseysider himself in the Masters final.
Short had though come within a minute of elimination in the semi-finals, but a late equaliser forced a successful overtime period against Chris Thomas, as he struck the winning goal from a tight position.
Redman meanwhile overcame Kasper Bennett by the odd goal in three in the other semi.
The final proved just as close.
In a slow methodical battle, with both players cancelling each other out with excellent block flicks, chances were far and far between. Aside from a long range effort by Short, some 8 minutes had passed before the first real clear-cut opportunity was created, but it was a telling one.
Redman threaded the ball through a hole on the right side of the defence, and whilst Short got another good block in, the Hitdorf player expertly looped the ball off the defending figure and into the net to take the lead.
Short twice went close in the closing moments of the half - first hitting a post, then shooting wide after creating an opening for himself.
However the West Midlander turned the game around early in the second half, capitalising on two rare errors by Redman.
On 19 minutes, as Redman was rebuilding the right side of his defensive line, to mark up attacking figures, he left a gap in the middle and Short took full advantage by hitting the ball into the shooting area before planting it high into the net from distance.
And barely 3 minutes later, Short had taken the lead.
He lined up a shot from the right; Redman's block fell short, leaving Short with enough to get on a shot to chip past the keeper.
Redman applied pressure in searching for the equaliser, but couldn't craft any clear-cut opportunities and it needed good blocking from the Merseysider to keep him in the game when Short attacked.
And the Wolverhampton player almost embarrassed Redman a minute from the end in trying to roll the ball under the keeper from an angle. The effort however lacked sufficient power to worry his opponent.
Redman did though create chances in the closing stages. Short incorrectly assumed that a figure and offside and allowed Redman to line up a shot, which was pushed aside by the keeper's rod.
And then with just five seconds to play, Short hit a moving ball in the area. Redman had no choice, or time, other than to play on, but his shot was deflected wide as Short held on to become the new English Master by defending the past Master.
Despite several full international players declining entry to the tournament for various reasons, qualification to the semi-finals by the highest four ranked players had not been without its difficulties.
The two highest ranked players in each group met in the opening session and Redman - a 1-0 winner over Chris Thomas in the tougher Group A - and Short - who beat Bennett 2-1 in the other pool - gained the early advantage.
But Redman was pushed close in a subsequent 3-2 win against Peter Thomas, before being held to a 2-2 draw by Matt Lampitt and surprisingly fell behind to Nicky Chappell though struck back strongly to win 9-1.
A routine 5-1 success over Adrian Curtis was enough to ensure top spot in the group.
Curtis had caused the Thomas brothers problems, holding Chris level at half time, having taken the lead, and only conceded defeat when he missed the ball with a simple flick in front of his own goal, allowing his opponent to score the winner.
The Peterborough player also led Peter Thomas - who was playing with a heavy cold - 1-0, before his opponent found his shooting touch after the break, scoring three times in the second half, though also missing a penalty.
But it was the Thomases who found themselves in an effective play-off for the second semi-final place in the last session of group games, and their draw was enough for Chris to advance.
A virtuoso display of goalkeeping allowed Victor Jones to keep Short goalless for the first half of their group B clash, but two second half goal, the second via a precise spin flick followed by an excellent chip shot, put paid to any aspirations of an upset.
Eventual group runner-up Bennett also had close fought wins versus Jeremy Bradley (1-0) and Martin Hodds (2-1).
+++++
Chris Thomas 0 Phil Redman 1
Adrian Curtis 2 Matt Lampitt 3
Peter Thomas 1 Nicky Chappell 0
Chris Thomas 1 Matt Lampitt 0
Phil Redman 3 Peter Thomas 2
Adrian Curtis 3 Nicky Chappell 1
Chris Thomas 2 Adrian Curtis 1
Phil Redman 2 Matt Lampitt 2
Peter Thomas 3 Matt Lampitt 2
Chris Thomas 5 Nicky Chappell 0
Nicky Chappell 1 Phil Redman 9
Peter Thomas 3 Adrian Curtis 1
Phil Redman 5 Adrian Curtis 1
Peter Thomas 1 Chris Thomas 1
Nicky Chappell 1 Matt Lampitt 5
Standings
Phil Redman 13 pts
Chris Thomas 10
Peter Thomas 9
Matt Lampitt 7
Adrian Curtis 3
Nicky Chappell 0
Kasper Bennett 1 Chris Short 2
Martin Hodds 0 Steve Hawkins 2
Kasper Bennett 4 Victor Jones 0
Chris Short 4 Martin Hodds 0
Jeremy Bradley 1 Steve Hawkins 0
Kasper Bennett 1 Jeremy Bradley 0
Chris Short 2 Victor Jones 0
Martin Hodds 2 Victor Jones 1
Kasper Bennett 6 Steve Hawkins 0
Steve Hawkins 0 Chris Short 3
Martin Hodds 0 Jeremy Bradley 0
Jeremy Bradley 4 Victor Jones 0
Chris Short 2 Jeremy Bradley 0
Martin Hodds 1 Kasper Bennett 2
Steve Hawkins 0 Victor Jones 1
Standings
Chris Short 15 pts
Kasper Bennett 12
Jeremy Bradley 7
Martin Hodds 4
Steve Hawkins 3 (GD -9)
Victor Jones 3 (GD -10)
Phil Redman 2 Kasper Bennett 1
Chris Short 2 Chris Thomas 1 (ot)
Phil Redman 1 Chris Short 2
3/4: Kasper Bennett 0 Chris Thomas 1 (shoot-out only)
5/6: Peter Thomas 2 Jeremy Bradley 1
7/8: Matt Lampitt 3 Martin Hodds 0
9/10: Adrian Curtis 1 Steve Hawkins 4 (Curtis retired early in second half)
11/12: Nicky Chappell 2 Victor Jones 1
+++++
Of the 8 players making their second Masters appearance, 6 at least equalled last season's performance.
Only Phil Redman (2nd, down 1) and Victor Jones (12th, down 2) failed to improve their final position.
Chris Thomas matched last season's third place finish.
Biggest improvements came from Kasper Bennett (4th, up 4) and Matt Lampitt (7th, up 4).
+++
Nicky Chappell and Steve Hawkins answered eleventh hour appeal to compete as "wildcards" at the Masters, after Alan and Antony Collins were forced to withdraw on the morning of the event, claiming a car breakdown. Chappell - an unwilling participant - was already scheduled to attend as he was providing the San Siro Stadium pitches, whilst Hawkins was only formally asked to play at 8 o'clock, just a hour and a half before the scheduled start.
+++++
English Masters 2006 - Final qualifying table
(FISTF ranking for April 2006 in brackets)
1. (23) Darren Clark 762.50
2. (24) Bob Varney 721.13
3. (25) Shorab 697.05
4. (27) Chris Thomas 633.00
5. (48) Dave Pawsey 366.85
6. (49) Kasper Bennett 344.35
7. (67) Phil Redman 254.25
8. (94) Chris Short 198.00
9. (107) David Russell 175.80
10. (109) Adrian Curtis 174.90
11. (121) Jeremy Bradley 159.35
12. (125) Paul Lawrenson 152.68
13. (128) Matt Lampitt 147.70
14. (146) Alan Collins 125.38
15. (172) Malc Dickson 98.60
16. (173) Algy Taylor 97.85
17. (182) Martin Hodds 87.75
18. (197) Peter Thomas 80.70
19. (231) Victor Jones 65.15
20. (249) Anthony Collins 58.15
Got News? E-mail us at flicker1995@yahoo.co.uk