VALLETTA SUBBUTEO CLUB MALTA

Four members of our club took part in the Coppa Italia that took place in Salerno, Italy. Three of them play with the same team of CCT Roma, Derek Conti, Samuel Bartolo and Mark Gauci. Steve Austin played for Spezia and made his debut with the italians. The team of Roma reached the quarter final after qualified from the group in second place after eventually winners Pisa. In the quarter final played against Reggiana and lost with the score of 2-1. Spezia reached the Semi Finals in the 'Cadetti' section and Austin did very well winning all the matches and lost only one match.

    CCT Roma with the 3 Maltese players             Steve Austin in action with Spezia

In the first day of our club the club fixture organizer Felix Rizzo organized the Valletta Cup. The atmosphere was very good as we wished. Finally Derek Conti won the cup by beating Mark Gauci in the final with the close score of 2-1. After the matches the members watched the serie A match between Napoli and Milan ended on 2-2 with Malcolm Adilla having fun seeing Napoli scoring in the 93min....

                           Conti and Gauci before the final

Our club president and player Derek Conti reached the Semi Final in the International Open of Naples. He lost only with the current world champion and then eventually winner of the tournament Daniele Bertelli with a sudden death goal. The tournament took place in Naples on the 3rd and 4th of October. Mark Gauci a member of our club also took part in this tournament but was eliminated in the last 16 stage against the italian Di Vincenzo. On saturday Conti and Gauci played the team competition with CCT Roma and were eliminated in the Quarter Final stage against Pisa with the game finished 2-2 and Pisa won because of the goals. Mark Gauci was making his debut with the club of the capital and it went well for him with good results.

On Sunday 20th of September the MTFSA organised the National League for clubs. There were six clubs partecipating and there was a very nice atmosphere at the Maria Assumpta School were the competition took part. The clubs were, Valletta SC, Hamrun TFC, Hamrun B, Hamrun C, Misrah Kola A and Misrah Kola B. Representing our club there were six players, Roderick Sciberras(captain) , Mario Camilleri, Steve Austin, Andrew Abela, Malcolm Abdilla Castillo and Richard Abdilla Castillo. Winning the first four matches both Valletta Subbuteo Club and Hamrun TFC played the last match to decide who was going to win the league. Our players did very well and made all their efforts but Hamrun won the match with the close score of 2-1 and they became champions, with our boys finished in second place. WELL DONE BOYS!!!!!!!

Every year the Maltese Olimpic Comittee organise a friendship tournament beetween Malta and Sicily. This year took place in Marsala, Sicily between the 10th and 13rt of September. For the maltese table football team played two players, Samuel Bartolo and Mark Gauci with Massimo Cremona, and Hansel Mallia as coach. The players for Sicily were Emilio Richicci, Morabito and Berselli. The maltese did well and the final score was 6-2 for Malta. Samuel won 2 matches and drew 1 and Mark Gauci won 2 matches and lost 1. Massimo Cremona won 2 matches and lost 1 match. After the games the maltese received the gold medal from the president of the MOC DR Lino Farrugia Sacco.

Samuel Bartolo in action against morabito 2-1         The Maltese team that won the gold medal

Last 5th and 6th September a maltese contingent went to represent Malta in the FISTF World Cup that took place in Rotterdam Holland. From our club there were five players that played for Malta. In the Open Category Mark Gauci, Derek Conti and Samuel Bartolo and in the Veterans Steve Austin and Joe Zammit Pavia. The success came from the maltese champion Mark Gauci that reached the Semi Finals and was close to play the Final, but Daniele Bertelli denied it with his win of 2-1. Derek Conti won his Group with a nice win over an ex world champion Massimiliano Nastasi 3-2. After the group he played with another maltese player Hansel Mallia and lost the game in the extra time with a golden goal. Samuel Bartolo did not qualify from the group, playing with Massimo Bolognino loosing 3-2 and the other important game loosing again 3-2 with the frenchman Gorgette. In the Veterans Category Joe Zammit Pavia passed the group in second place after Nuno Noronha, then was eliminated with the englishman Phil Redman. Steve Austin lost his two group matches with close score and did'nt pass the group. In the Open teams category Malta was eliminated at the Quarter Final stage and in the Veterans Malta did not pass the group stage. Mark Gauci in action against Bertelli

The season of the Valletta Subbuteo Club ended this month with the winner of the top division was Derek Conti followed by Samuel Bartolo in the second place.  In the beginning of the season the Valletta Cup was organized and the winner was Mark Gauci, and he even won the Christmas Cup organized in December. It was an honour for the club when he also won the National Championship followed by his clubmate Derek Conti.As always in the end of the season the Annual General meeting was held in our premises in Valletta and the following members were elected:-

Derek Conti- President

Malcolm Abdilla Castillo – Secretary

Richard Abdilla Castillo – Cashier

Felix Rizzo – Sports Director

Samuel Bartolo – PRO

The elected committee will work to keep the members in a friendly atmosphere and continue working on the positive past of this club.

You can find some articles on maltasport.com and on maltastar.com

http://www.maltasport.com/modules/knowledge/item.php?itemid=4008

http://www.maltastar.com/pages/ms09dart.asp?a=2887

Mark Gauci won his 3rd cup of the season and this time was the President Cup. Only 4 players took part in this competition, but still a good level was shown. The first Semi Final was between Mark Gauci and Charles Aquilina. Gauci showed his good form with his attacks and even scored the goal in the first half. In the second half Aquilina tried hard to score and hit 2 times the post. The match finished 1-0 for Gauci. In the second Semi Final Samuel Bartolo won the game by the score of 4-1. Bartolo took the lead in the first minutes and than controlled the game and scored 3 more times to go to the Final.  The Final was a very close game. Gauci was better in the first half and missed many chances of goal. In the second half Bartolo tried to score the winning goal but it was difficult because Gauci defended very good. The match went in the extra time and in the 3rd minute Gauci scored the goal that gave him his 3rd honour of the season.

Gauci and Bartolo before the Final

On Sunday 14th of December was organized the Valletta Subbuteo Club Christmas Cup. The competition was organized on a knock out basis. Mark Gauci once again showed his good form by beating joe pavia 4-3. Charles Aquilina in the Semi Final 3-1. In the Final he played once again like they did in the Valletta Cup with Derek Conti and won by the score of 3-2 to win his 4th title of the Christmas Cup...

The goal of Derek Conti in the Final