The MoneySaving Team descended en masse to the Liverpool Victoria-organised journalists’ Table Football Tournament last night. The party was a wee bit of fun pre-World Cup. Well fun for most that is…. as you may guess I’m quite ridiculously competitive – and table football is a game I like. I used to play in my hall of residence at Uni, and it was no laughing matter there.
So to decide who was with me (it’s a doubles game) I’d held heats beforehand at MoneySaving Towers, and MSE Neil just managed to triumph. To avoid calls of ‘why are you in the 1st XI (or 1st II)?’ I then played Neil and thankfully scored a 7-2 win proving my suitability.
Thus onto last night’s tournament itself, where we were fielding a massive four MoneySaving Teams. The round-robin was easy, staggeringly there were even people playing there who didn’t really know the rules or thought it was just a bit of fun!
There was controversy afterwards, when young Neil was spotted with a bottle of Corona in his hands, after I’d specifically barred him from alcohol. The others argued his corner, noting that playing in defence to my attack, with me grunting and growling was deserving of a stress relaxant. Perhaps winning the in-office trials was a poisoned chalice!
Onto the next section; the four top teams included two MoneySaving teams in the round robin. The key match was Neil and I (badged as Portugal) against Latvia, who were made up of the Liverpool Victoria hosts. Both teams being the only ones now unbeaten, a crowd drew. Many comments of ‘bloody hell they take it seriously’ were heard, and the tension racked up. At 5-5 a poor put-in from the opposition let me in with a straight shot from goal and it was victory. Then we played the MoneySaving 2nd XI for the first time and thankfully proved the selection system worked.
Onto the final, again against Latvia. My left hand was by this time literally blue, bruised from ramming it against the side of the table. Palms sweaty and stony silence amongst the spectators, I must admit my bottle was going. Yet the Schmeichel-like skills of Neil in goal kept the opposition out, and then he twice scored from defence. We were in the lead, and before my grip gave out, we knew we had to capitalise. Thankfully, the ball placed right, the goals kept going in and we hit the magic 6 goals, while they only had 4. So it was first and third places for the MoneySaving teams – and the inflatable trophy was ours.
Now all we need is Mr. Beckham and the like to follow suit and it’ll be a top summer.
