Birmingham XVII & XVIII | 09.04.10 | RESULTS PG 2

[Oliver St]

Congratulations to Jon G on winning this one. Once again he's England's pride. We need that man at the world cup in october .

[gdh82]

Last night certainly had a topsy-turvy, anything-could-happen feel to it. Through no fault of the players there was a 2 hour difference between the first and last arrivals. If anything this added to the uncertainty and excitement of the evening! We didn't know who was going to arrive when and what format we would be able to play. As soon as we achieved a fabulous four, however, we immediately got started with a x1 appetiser...

Grant N 0 - 5 Garry C
Jon G 7 - 3 Garry C
Garry C 3 - 2 Steve E

Scorelines don't always describe a match accurately and this was certainly was the case here. My 5-0 over Grant was never as comfortable as it looked, and as we discussed in the our pre-tourney friendly, winning in KO2 is all about the finishing. You can match your opponent who over the pitch but in the end, its the final third that matters. A little tweaking of your game in this area will definately pay dividends as you are much closer to us regular KOBRA players than you think. I know this from experience - look at my early days at KOBRA I where I scored less than 1 goal per game.

Jon had arrived straight from work, straight off the motorway in fact and hadn't picked up his joystick since that last UK tourney four months ago. If this gave me an edge then I was going to grab it! 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 I lead was feeling good but in a blink of an eye I was down 3-4 courtesy of a 'goal' off the post which didn't appear to cross the line and another through the side netting. Then again I'd have glady taken them too! Maybe this motivated me more, cause the scored remained 3-4 for the majority of the second half. I had decent opportunities to get back in this one but alas I couldn't convert them. Even a rusty UK Champ is damn difficult to beat who scooped a few late on to complete a slightly flattering 7-3 scoreline.

At this point in our sudden death x1 opening tourney, Steve had already beaten Jon and was favourite for the quick fire KOBRA title. Just before kick off Jon jokingly called over to me for a favour! hehe Friendships are temporarily put aside on the KO2 battlefield and I was gunning for my own reasons!!! Maybe Steve with one hand on the title had some gitters crossing the finish line but despite my rare 3-2 victory over him, Steve remained top due to a more evil goal difference.

[gdh82]

Appetiser over, everyone now arrived, it was time for the main course!


Round #1
Garry C 7 - 0 Grant N
Garry C 2 - 5 Steve E
Graham S 3 - 3 Garry C
Simon K 6 - 2 Garry C
Jon G 7 - 4 Garry C

I entered the players into the fixture program in finishing position order from the first tournament but once again my opener was against Grant, which ended 7-0. After a 4-month famine, Steve was not only tucking into this feast of KO2, he was hungry for revenge! A tight, tight game which remained 2-3 for a long time, but like all top players found the extra gears to pull ahead late on and finish 5-2 up.

Really grateful that Gra made the journey too last night making his KOBRA debut to be the super 6th player! Our games are frequently open affairs, just like this one. I started brightly though struggled to find the net and a 1-0 lead can change in seconds. Sutty's determination paid off though when he created two opportunities in quick succession and converted them both. So that's how you do it! I wasn't giving up either, even though my gameplay was more than a little laboured. Leading 3-2 I was kind of willing the final whistle to come. Late on, with Gra racing through, I took his player out. Justice prevailed however with Gra converting a dead straight free-kick 'lob'. Well played, mate. I remember I've skunked wins off you in the past and this (and probably more than this) has been on the cards for a while. B*stard!

Now I don't want this to sound like sour grapes but, man, my "contest" against Si was a bitter pill to swallow. Sure we all have the odd flukey goal which we didn't quite intend but I was in Jamsville for this game and the JamKing was in town! Your guess is as good as mine but I was 0-4 down at half-time and neither of us knew how. I perservered to bring it back to 2-4 but when my goalie's gloves appeared smeared in the red sticky stuff to concede a feeble fumble that wasn't even a shot I knew I'd been KOBRA'd! Let's just say this one landed nicely on a plate for Si who otherwise was having an outstanding tourney! You owe me mate! Just like against Ste, I felt I had a big say in this game but credit to Jon who wasn't being wobbled by his defeats elsewhere and came through the victor, 7-4

Round #2
Grant N 2 - 5 Garry C
Steve E 5 - 5 Garry C
Garry C 6 - 0 Graham S
Garry C 4 - 2 Simon K
Garry C 4 - 10 Jon G


Grant was playing down electric avenue for the second round. Bang, bang, two shots and he was in a 2-0 lead! Wow! Really was't fancying this game at all and was fearing the worst! Intelligently Grant sought to protect his lead by reverting to lockout which was working well until finally I grabbed a goal back and then a defensive error got me level once more. Although I went on to win, this was one battle of a game, I can tell you. Bearing in mind your tired state and the fact that you hadn't played since the UKCs, you at least clocked up a goal a game in a tough league. I hope your defeats last night don't discourage you too much Grant. Reversing some of these scorelines will be more the sweeter for it.

Another tense and tight encounter against Steve but this time I was pleased to claim a point. Didn't think it was going to happen when Steve's intended through ball not only evaded his striker but my keeper too! 4-5 down, late on, I claimed an a hard-earned equiliser. Phew! Second time round against Gra I didn't want to be punished again so tried to put my chances away and defend more tightly. Gra plays some pentrating through balls to his front men but this time managed to intercept more of them, while steadily converting my own creations thankfully, 6-0.

Set up nicely, I was ready for the re-run against my sparing partner who'd left me hit for six and concussed in round one. Ding ding! The gloves were off when keeper dropsy and Si's almost-wide shot bounced in off the post!!! De-ja-f**king vu! Getting back up off the canvas, I wasn't going to be knocked out this time. Playing well, I fought back to a 3-1 lead and thought my defence was on top - my keeper was certainly helping me when I needed it. Bang! I took another blow and it was 2-3 but late on I landed one more punch to seal it 4-2. Thank f**k for that! I must nevertheless give a big credit to Simon, who not only beat Jon in both games but restricted Jon to just one goal in the second match. Not many in the KOA who can say that!!!

This had upset the apple cart and inadvertently brought Jon back into the title race, which before hand looked like a two-horse race between Si and Ste. With one game to go, things were unbelieveably tight one point between all three players. This time Si joked that I should do him a favour! hehe Honest I tried, not for anyone else but for me! And you won't believe me when I say this but this was a close 4-10! All night I'd battled hard against everyone but Jon unleashed a clinical display of goals and was 5-0 at half-time from I think just 6 shots! My heart was sinking and imagined Si would think I'd just given up. I wasn't and I didn't! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! I pulled it back to 4-5 and suddenly I felt like I was back in it.... or so it seemed! Suddenly the undisputed UK Champ pulled out the big guns and machine gunned me, particulary with lethal edge of the box diagonal lobs to blow me out of the water and the others out of the title race!!!!! Respect to the undisputed UK Champion and reigning KOBRA King! Congratulations also on the news that you're to be a dad once again.

Looking at the table, it might look like I didn't have a good tourney but I actually felt like I did. I felt I gave some solid performances, its just the others are too damn good and the lines are fine in KO2. I hope others share this but its left me wanting more and I know the next tourney is coming soon.......

[alkis21]

Garry, I fixed the Birmingham XVII standings for you by removing Simon.

He certainly wasn't absent from the second tournament, what a performance! And Oliver has a point, England should get Mr. Goal Difference to the world cup.

[Jam King]

Well Well Well where to I start. Firstly congratulations to the champ Jon on a very memorable win even when you looked very much out of it. bugger . You never gave up mate and once again you amazing goal difference proved to be that extra point you needed well done.

Secondly a big thank you to garry for hosting what we agreed after the KO dust has settled was the best KOBRA yet. cheers mate.

I was one of the last to show up due to being on call and I just caught the last games of the warm up tourney and having seen Ste's result against Jon I could feel a mist of evil in the room and I knew tonight was gonna be very very tough as it always is as we had some of the best uk players in the room and obviously with Jon there we had the best.

Ok on to the tourey. I apologise if this is a bit scatty this is first review so I am trying to just piece together what happened last night.


Jon G 6 - 7 Simon K

When Gaz did the draw and it came out that me and Jon were first I was strangely calm. We were setting up to start the game and Screech was the ref and we were both fine to carry on with that which proved to be a big decision. The game kicked off and what a game it was going to be I cant remember the exact order of the goals but they were flying in. Jon had Scott sent off for a nothing tackle. I think I took a 1 goal lead and jon got back to 1 1 and this continued till 5- 5 and then Jon made it 6 -5 but then he hacked me down in the box with Cox and he was off and i put the pen away. I then strangley struggled to get any chances even with Jon not having Cox but i managed to grab a 7th and the three points. Not a bad start to the tourney.

Grant 0 - 3 Simon

Next was Grant, who I have played against a few times now and even tho he is less experienced with Ko recently always makes life awkward for me which he did again tonight. He had a number of very good chances but my keeper stood up well and i took me till 5 mins and 1 sec before I finally converted a chance to settle my nerves. That late first half goal made all the difference and I managed to slot 2 more home in the second half to gain victory from a very tricky game. well played Grant

Simon 2 - 5 Steve

Remember me saying about the Evil mist well after this game a couldnt see the f*****g screen for the amount of Evil mist that that Mr evil had produce, B*****d. This was always gonna be a good game and both me and Ste were a little nervous to say the least. I was maybe more nervous to start and Ste took a 2 goal lead, his first goal from the touchline was totally class and prob the best goal I saw in the tourney. After a slow start I got it back to 2 - 2 with two quick second half goals and I had Ste on the ropes and I just hammered his goal and his keeper was saving everything and anything he missed I seemed to find the wrong side of the woodwork. After my blitz of Ste he had three shots in the last min and I think my keeper was having a toilet break and was no where to be seen for all three which was a little gutting but well played ste it was a good close game and our games normally have a burst of goals and they happened to fall your way this time, well done Mr evil.

Simon 6 - 2 Garry

This wont happen very often against my good friend and sparring partner but all can do mate is apologise for the result. In all my Kick Off days this had to be one of the most flattering results I have ever seen. We started the game with our usual bickering about who had the more central view and who's chair was closer which seem to bring a smile to the others faces. After we had matured a little we started to play and I found myself 4 0 up at half time without even trying and it became pathetic cause Gaz was actually playing some very good Kick off and he made some great chances but my keeper was outstanding. I think out of the 6 goals one was decent the other five were just unbelieveable and I even but a long high through ball through and it bounced off the keeper and squirmed in. Gaz got a couple of goals back but I it was my game from the start and even if gaz had scored 7 i would have scored 10 without even trying. We both normally take alot of satisfaction beating each other but the luck was so one sided, I was happy with the points, where to be honest a draw was prob fair, but I did genuinly feel sorry. Sorry mate

Graham 2 - 8 Simon

When me and graham play, it is never a dull game and we always have a laugh. I sometimes struggle against Gra as he defends well and has a nasty habit of lobbing me, but even tho I thought that after Gaz's game I couldnt have any more luck, well I did and Gra's keeper was just s**t plain and simple and I actually lobbed Gra for a change I think I did three and they all went in. A couple of sqirmy ones thru the keeper and before you know it it was 8 - 2. Overall Gra would prob agree that I did deserve the 3 points but it was never a 8 - 2 game.

Simon 3 - 1 Jon

I was praying fro Screech to raise his ugly head again but it never happened. I was very up for this game but I was also nervous about a big revenge can of greenaway whoop ass that may very well be coming my way in the next ten mins. But tonights tourney was to still throw up probably the biggest surprise to me and that was that at half time I was 2 - 0 up and Jon had not had a single shot of any description. I must admit I was defending well which you have to against the champ because when he gets going you are seriously in the s**t. But through a combination of Jon not firing on all cylinders and my good defending and conversion of my chances I went on to the most comfortable 3 -1 win against Jon that I couldnt of dreamed of.

Simon 6 - 1 Grant

Now I had just beat Jon so i was in with a very realistic chance of winning the tourney and i knew that this was a must win game.
It started a little slow and Grant defended well and he created a few good chances but failed to punish me. I eventually scored after about 3 long mins and it settled me down a little and I quickly followed it with a couple more in between Grants attacking spells. I started to think about goal difference and how it may come down to deciding the title so i just tried to be as clinicle as I could. Grant joked about not scoring against me all night and 20 seconds after he mentioned that he grabbed himself a very well taken and deserved goal. Even though Grant came bottom he still proves a very awkward customer and you have to be on your game to avoid any upsets that he will no doubt bring in coming toureys.

Steve 3 - 3 Simon

Me an Mr Evil had a little look at the table before this game and it was the top of the table clash at the time so we both took our seats and we were both crapping it big time and we were nervously laughing like a pair school girls but we eventually pulled ourselves togther and started and I went into a quick 2 goal lead which seemed to rock ste and he missed a few good chances that the evil one would normally put away. The second half started with Ste scoring and it made the third goal very importand and I managed to catch Ste on the break and score a simple chance. Then suddenly without warning the Evil fog returned and and it was 3 -2 and we were both just going for it now. It was a very good game and quite a high quality one but with about 20 secs left Ste calved me open a slotted it past my keeper to make it 3 - 3. A draw was a fair result and well played to Ste for not giving up, you really are a class player Mr Evil.

Garry 4 - 2 Simon

This was a make or break game cause if I jammed this i think Gaz would have broke my neck. I started the game with a bit of luck and fluked a goal off the post and the signs were looking bad for Gaz again but things were different and I could actually see the concentration on his face, he wasnt gonna let me win this even if it killed him. It was much the smae as the first game with possession and chances. Gaz took his chances very very well and played some lovely flowing footy that I struggle to defend. 4 - 2 was probably a little flattering to Gaz in this game and maybe a draw would of been fair but after our first game Gaz definately deserved 3 points from our meetings tonight and Im glad he did. well played Mr Currier.

Simon 4 - 2 Graham

After looking at the table Jon was somehow back in it the bugger. and I needed my arch rival Gaz to do me a serious favour. Me and gra got going and it was a scrappy game and I think Gra did about 1000 lobs in ten mins (gotta be some kind of record) I thought it was waynie in disguise. Luckily my keeper stood up well to all but one of them. I did have a lot of chances but just wasnt scoring and I eventually got a goal and knew that one wasnt enough cause of the intensity of lobs by Mr lobtastic sitting next to me. i eventally got another goal and then Gra scored his lob which made it 2-1 and a got luckyand scored a third and eventually made it 4. Gra got a late goal which wasn't a lob !!!!. Well played gra you certainly kept me on my toes.

I looked at the table at the end and even though I lost out on goal difference I know that I couldnt have done anymore and jon was the deserved Champ with another fine goal scoring display. One day Jon One day .

Garry, Ste and myself stayed behind for a couple of warm down games and we were all buzzing about the tourney. Jon just seems like a machine its gonna take somethibg special to knock him off top spot.


Well played every one it was one of the most enjoyable tourneys I have been to thank you again Gaz.

[Yoda]

Cheers for the invite and hosting again Gaz. Great fun despite getting beat in all 14 games. I say it every time that I will practice before the next one to ease my humiliation but I may have to invest in another joystick to make it worthwhile.

Well done to Jon & Steve for winning the tournies, and to Si, Gra & Gaz for the lessons in finishing.

Curses to the dastardly smug git who labelled my great Lineker-esque finish as a Walk of Shame against Steve. I get precious little to celebrate in tournies and then to be derided in such a manor was a kick in the unmentionables.

[hogstrom]

As expected Jon won the bigger tournament, well done! Seems like this group of players is getting better and better. Superb performance by Simon!! Only beaten on goaldifferance by Jon G. Have you been practicing hard before this or is it just a really good day?!

Im jelous on you all. As i have said i million times before, it´s so sad that i dont live closer to England or any other active area like Bremen, Athens or Milano. i would without hesitation have travelled far for getting ko2 action once a month or so.

[gdh82]

Garry, I fixed the Birmingham XVII standings for you by removing Simon.

Much appreciated, Alkis. Thank you.

[gdh82]

Curses to the dastardly smug git who labelled my great Lineker-esque finish as a Walk of Shame against Steve. I get precious little to celebrate in tournies and then to be derided in such a manor was a kick in the unmentionables.

Missed this moment so glad you mentioned it! I rarely score a Walk of Shame mainly because they take quite some skill and composure so well played for clocking one up so early in your KOA career!

[gdh82]

As expected Jon won the bigger tournament, well done! Seems like this group of players is getting better and better. Superb performance by Simon!! Only beaten on goaldifferance by Jon G. Have you been practicing hard before this or is it just a really good day?!

Good question. Maybe Si will answer for himself but imho Si's been on a steady rise for a while and those of us who play him regularly know how he is an especially strong defensive player, and regularly has one of the best defences in the league. Last night he applied those skills to tremendous effect, particularly in the second game limiting Mr Goal Difference to just one goal!

Btw really enjoyed your write-up, Mr King!

Im jelous on you all. As i have said i million times before, it´s so sad that i dont live closer to England or any other active area like Bremen, Athens or Milano. i would without hesitation have travelled far for getting ko2 action once a month or so.

You're right here too, John. I think we sometimes take it for granted though. Those of living where you mentioned are fortunate to have fellow KO2 fans close by, and a combination of willing from the organiser and support from nearby players makes it happen. I sometimes like to think that new players are waiting to be found and it just takes that bit of luck to bring them together but also know how hard it can be for that to happen. Be great if you could somehow uncover some new Swedish players in your neck of the woods.

[Jam King]

Cheers Gaz to be honest I enjoyed writing it, I also enjoyed yours as always.

To answer the question about beating Jon twice, I think you need a little luck when playing playing somone as good as Jon and I got that in the first game when he had Cox sent off with about two mins to go but up until that point it was a very even open game and the pen and red card just swung it my way where to be honest a draw was prob fair. I felt that I did deserve the second win and I think Jon will be the first to admit that. I did play good relaxed KO on the night which helps and I did have the bit of luck you need but I think I played well enough to earn the second place which I was very pleased with.

Gaz, Ste and myself get together normally once a week for a few games which always makes good practice and playing against those two who are great players can only improve my game. I am prob the best of us defensively whereas those to have more attacking qualities than I have. This has helped me develop my defensive game as I have to defend against the waves of varied attacking options from Mr Currier and the Evil one.
Its just three mates getting together each week to have a laugh but it just happens to make good regular practice, which you can see we all benefit from.

[gdh82]

As we discussed, I intend to trial the latest KO2CV on friday with full APT choice. Whatever players' views on cpu-controlled slides/headers, assisted dribbling control and assisted trapping control, each player can decide their own preferences.

By way of some feedback, just to say that the trial went aptsolutely fine. Using keys 1-8 to select tactics is much easier and seems natural now. It even makes you wonder why didn't we do this before now? And as host I actually enjoyed giving over the APT choice to the players themselves. Rather than the organiser dictating these areas, players via two extra yes/no questions on the team screen, come up with their own combinations for their matches. Of course there's the argument about how much say we should have over our opponents' settings but that's another matter. I might prefer my opponent to play with/without particular settings but personally I would not seek to impose this.

Enough rambling! I've been listening to that excellent Hives track this morning and realised how it lends itself to a KOA remix! Not as good as this or this but just a bit of fun, and should be read with a smile on your face (or not at all!)



Choose what I want cause I can and if I don't because I wanna
Be ignored by the stiff on the board because I'm gonna.

Each player decides what each player decides because we wanna
Gonna get through your head what the Camberman said because I'm gonna

Hate to say its APT now
Alright! Come on!
I do believe its yes or no

Now the choice is all out and you knew cause I wanted to
Turn your back on the top (organiser) that's been planning the lot - because we're gonna.
No need for you to obey - because you danna.
No need for you to obey - because you danna.

Hate to say its APT now
Alright! Come on!
I do believe its yes or no

Do what I please when I play KO2CV because I wanna
Gonna call all the shots, don't say we cannot because we wanna.

Beat me once, beat you twice cause what I know I'll tell because I wanna
Attend if you risk, insert the latest disk and play out loud because we wanna, oh yeah!

[Steve1977]

Been over a week since this tournament and I still havent posted my review ffs! I felt like I had this in the bag...then Si had it in the bag, Jon G was doing that bad he probably wanted to put the bag over his head! then he ended up winning the fucker!

You can't keep him down and what a player to come away with the trophy