English Premiership Round-Robin Tournament

[CraigSca]

Background

Before the IBM PC became a part of most everyone's household I was a big replayer of sports on the tabletop. Occasionally I like to break out some of the old games ro relive the days before random number generators and people jumping ugly over things like "waivers AI" or "too many pancakes!" What quickly drives me away from those days of yesteryear, however, is the fact that some of these table top sports games just take so dang long to play. To play a typical football game it takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. Baseball requires about 30 minutes if you get a good rhythm going. I've always been a big fan of table top sports games that will give you a statistically accurate result and some flavor for the game, but in a nice compact timeframe.

After reading some pretty good reviews on some of the Delphi forums I frequent, I decided to purchase a pretty nifty little tabletop soccer game called "The Beautiful Game". Its intent is to give you the flavor of soccer, but in a format that allows you to complete a game in about 10 minutes. Basically, it cuts out a lot of the "aimless" back and forth of the sport and only gives you the scoring highlights. The nice thing about it is, even though it's pretty darn accurate, there is an inherent chance factor in the game that will allow for short-term upsets, but long-term accuracy. That being said, I broke out the game for my first "serious" replay - a 2005-2006 EPL round-robin tournament.

Format

The top 4 teams in the division (Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool and Arsenal) will get a bye. The bottom 16 teams will get to a final-four configuration, and that's when the bye teams will get introduced into play. We'll play and home and home series (forgive the American-isms) between each team. If the teams split, then we'll use goal differential to determine the winner. If differential is the same, then I haven't a clue and I'll probably ask you all for help .

If you have any questions about the game, feel free to ask. It's available from Owzat Games out of the UK, and costs about $40, including postage. Oh, and I forgot to mention the best thing - the formulas to create a team are quite simple and included with the game. It comes with last year's EPL, but there are already free leagues available like last years, Welsh, Scottish, Spanish, Portugese, etc. Also, they'll be coming out with a World Cup expansion pack as well.

[CraigSca]

Sunderland vs. Chelsea

1st half:

22^nd minute, Chelsea: Sunderland’s goalkeeper fails to cut out a high cross, but it’s eventually cleared by the Sunderland defense.

36^th minute, Chelsea: A corner to the far post is headed back across the goal, but it’s alertly headed out by the Sunderland defense.

41^st minute, Chelsea: A well-timed run by Robben gets by the defense and his shot gets by the goalkeeper for a 1-0 Chelsea lead.

Second half


18^th minute, Chelsea: A quick Chelsea free kick and Robben is open in space on the edge of the area. A low shot in the corner beats the goalkeeper for a 2-0 Chelsea lead.

23^rd minute, Sunderland: A defensive header falls to Sunderland’s Whitehead and he takes a snap-shot from 12 yards away. Key save by Chelsea GK.

30^th minute, Chelsea: A through-ball splits the Sunderland defense and Crespo knocks it home for a 3-0 lead.

40^th minute, Chelsea: A hard, low cross into the crowded goal mouth is scrambled clear by the Sunderland defense.

FINAL: Chelsea 3, Sunderland 0

Goals: Robben 2 (2), Crespo (1)

[CraigSca]

Tottenham Hotspur at Sunderland

Sunderland is going to need this one on their pitch (ha!) if they're going to compete against a pretty good Tottenham side (double ha!).

1st Half:

3rd minute, Tottenham: Tottenham's Mido takes a speculative shot from 30 yards out to test the waters, but it's easily saved by the Sunderland GK.

22nd minute, Tottenham: a corner kick is played expertly to Keane on the edge of the box and hits it hard past the GK for a 1-0 lead.

24th minute, Sunderland: Elliott goes unchallenged with a header from 6 yards out but the Chelsea GK makes a fine reflex save. A heartbreaker for the Sunderland faithful.

44th minute, Tottenham: Sunderland's defender misses a tackle, leaving Keane in the clear from 10 yards out. He drives it low into the corner of the net for his second goal of the game. 2-0, Tottenham.

Second Half:

8th minute, Sunderland: Great footwork by Miller creates space for the shot from 12 yards out, but a fine full-length save by Hotspur keeps the clean sheet intact.

20th minute, Sunderland: Defender caught out of positio, but the snap shot from 25 yards out by Arca goes right to the GK.

28th minute, Tottenham: A clever run and cross into the area and a volley by Keane is stopped by a fantastic save.

Extra time, Sunderland: An angled free-kick across the face of the goal is volleyed by Hoyte, but it hits off the Tottenham defender for a corner.

Final: Tottenham Hotspur 2, Sunderland 0

Goals: Keane 2 (2)

Clearly, Tottenham is the better team here. However, Sunderland had a lot of great opportunities and the game was much closer than the final score. Despite having to play the next game away, Sunderland has to feel good about the way they played today.

[CraigSca]

Sunderland at Tottenham Hostpur

Tottenham took the first battle, 2-0. Though the score doesn't really show it, it was a highly-contested game. Tottenham should have a much easier time at home.

First half:

18th minute, Tottenham: A snap-shot into the crowded goalmouth by Jenas hits the Sunderland GK and is rebounded directly to Lennon for the easy header, 1-0 Tottenham Hostpur!

27 minute, Sunderland: A shot from an acute angle by Miller is blocked by a Tottenham defender.

43rd minute, Sunderland: A long ball into the area and Tottenham fails to clear. Whitehead takes the shot and a good save is made by the Tottenham GK.

Second half:

2nd minute, Tottenham: Sunderland is caught sleeping and Defoe is unmarked just outside the box. He cooly nets it from 8 yards out, 2-0 Tottenham, and this round is clearly over.

6th minute, Sunderland: Clearly not! A near post header by Kyle is good, cutting the Tottenham lead in half. Tottenham 2, Sunderland 1.

13th minute, Sunderland: Wow! A low cross into the area and Whitehead has a clear chance from 6 yards out. He side-foots it, but somehow the Tottenham GK beats the odds and comes up with the huge save!

18th minute, Sunderland: Here we go again - this team will not die. A diving header by Stead on a knee-high cross is saved by the Tottenham GK. Unreal.

29th minute, Tottenham: A poor clearance by Sunderland is intercepted and a clear chance for Lennon. The Sunderland GK hasn't got a chance against Lennon's rising shot. Tottenham 3, Sunderland 1.

34th minute, Tottenham: A Tottenham freekick is headed across the goal by Mido, but it's well-saved at the near post.

37th minute, Sunderland: A shot from the outside results in a goalmouth scramble, but the Tottenham GK dives onto the loose ball.

42nd minute, Sunderland: The GKs clearance is charged down by Le Tallec. He attempts a lob over the out-of-position GKs head, but is lands on the roof of the net.

Final: Tottenham Hotspur 3, Sunderland 1

Goals: Lennon (1), Defoe 2 (2), Kyle (1)

A ton of scoring opportunities in the second half, and a lot of them squandered by Sunderland. Perhaps that's part of what made them so bad. Tottenham Hotspur advances and will play the winner of Fullham v. Charlton.