THE 2005 FCA SCOREBOARD 
Tampere finished in 3rd place in the League.
Tampere vs SKK Sharks (Saturday, September 3)
SKK Sharks won the toss and elected to bat. Tampere looked very flat in the field, and Timo Ilva's 100no formed the backbone of the total of 276/5. Tampere started slowly, and were looking in control, but then gifted away wickets in a collapse of 6/39. Balaji (80) and Rajeev (26) put on a solid 73 run partnership to halt the slide, but with the run-rate rising, Tampere folded for 233 in 42,3 overs. MoM(2): Balaji (80, and 1/43). Result: SKK Sharks won by 43 runs.
Tampere vs Turku (Saturday, August 27)
Turku won the toss and elected to field on a cool summer's day. The ground was soft after *very* heavy rain on the Friday night, and the squad did a great job removing all the standing water from the ground. As the ground dried out, the batting became easier, and Kuchey (85) and Mander (46) put on a suberb 160 run partnership to ensure a solid base. Sanjoy (77) and Shaan (43) then made the batting look easy with fluent innings to set an imposing total of 316/5. Moheb (1/20), Rajeev (2/20) and Balaji (1/5) then bowled very economically, and Kuchey took 4 wickets to ensure Turku fell well short - 135 in 33,3 overs. MoM: Kuchey (85, and 4/40). Result: Tampere won by 181 runs.
Empire vs Tampere (Saturday, August 13)
Empire won the toss and elected to field on a cool summer's day. The ground was soft after almost a week of rain, and the Flicx mat, together with a very slow grass outfield made getting runs very difficult, but an understrength Tampere made a good total of 209/10 in 40,5 overs after slumping to 3/36 early on - thanks to solid performances by Shamsul (58) and Shaan (53). Moheb (4/8) and Rajeev (4/7) then made easy work of the Empire innings (40/10 in 15,3 overs). MoM: Shamsul (58). Result: Tampere won by 169 runs.
Helsinki vs Tampere (Saturday, July 9)
Helsinki won the toss and elected to bat on a hot summer's day, and made 257/9 - assisted by some untidy bowling. Kuchey and Vinod made a bright 52-run start, but then after Tampere collapsed to 81/7. Sanjoy and Shamim staged a 63-run recovery, but Tampere were still dismissed for 153 in 34,2 overs. MoM(2): Sanjoy (36). Result: Helsinki won by 104 runs.
Tampere vs Vantaa (Saturday, July 2)
Tampere won the toss and elected to field on a warm summer's day. Excellent all-round fielding restricted Vantaa to 114 all out (including a staggering 27 wide extras) in 25,5 overs. Lucky (34), Mandar (35), and Sanjoy (16) all spent some good time out in the middle and Tampere were looking set, but after again losing some casual wickets, Vantaa fought back and dismissed Tampere for 114 in 24,4 overs. MoM(2): Mandar. Result: Tampere won on superior run-rate.
Espoo vs Tampere (Sunday, June 12)
Tampere won the toss and elected to field in overcast and damp conditions. Espoo got off to a flyer on the small ground and were going at about 7 runs per over before Nikhil struck. After a series of dropped catches, Ryland and Shamsul then took 3 wickets each to wrap up the Espoo innings for 191 in 33,3 overs. After a series of good partnerships, but some unnecesarily lost wickets, Shaan eventually guided the team to 195 with 6,4 overs to spare as the sun finally started shining. MoM: Shaan (60no). Result: Tampere won by 3 wickets.
SKK Lions vs Tampere (Saturday, May 28)
Tampere lost the toss and were asked to bat. Wickets tumbled from the start and Tampere were in big trouble at 5/22 (9,5 overs). A typical spanking innings by Usama lifted the run rate and then a good 45 run partnership by Ryland and Shamim ensured that the game went to 30,4 overs - and a total of 136 all out. The Lions' Pat and Simon then made light work of the chase - 140 in 27,4 overs. MoM: Usama (0/12, and 41). Result: SKK Lions won by 10 wickets.
Tampere vs FPC (Sunday, May 15)
Tampere lost the toss, and were asked to bat in very cold and damp conditions - battling to 3/99 (20 overs) when the rain finally halted procedings. Lunch was taken early, and the match was reduced to 32 overs-a-side. The final 12-over "slog" yielded a total of 152 all out (Mandar 47). FPC started steadily against some tight bowling by Moheb and then Usama, and were 1/58 after 10 overs. Lucky grabbed the wickets of the danger men, and even with some rusty early season fielding, FPC were bowled out for 120 in the 26th over. MoM: Lucky (3/31, and 9). Result: Tampere beat FPC by 32 runs.
2005 Season-opening friendly match vs Turku (Sunday, May 7), Pansio (Turku). (30 overs)
Tampere won the toss and elected to bat in very cool conditions - and were bowled out for 63 in (20,5 overs). Turku then chased down the target in under 10 overs. A second match (20 overs) was hastily arranged with a Turku B side - who made 97 off their allotted overs. Tampere lost a flurry of wickets trying to finish the game quickly, but reached the target in about 13 overs.
Turku Indoor 2005 (Saturday, April 29), Impivaara jalkapallohalli (Turku).
Teams: Tampere, Vantaa, Empire, Helsinki, Turku, & SKK.
Squad: Shamsul, Kuchey, Usama, Balaji, Shaan, Shamim, Moheb, Mugu, Omed, Akbar.
Final: Tampere beat Helsinki.
After falling to the hosts and champions of 2003 in a thriller, and then also stumbling in the bowl-off against Turku to determine the group leader, this exciting tournament will be well remembered for the manner in which Tampere successfully chased down the targets of MKK, SKK, Vantaa (Quarter-Final), Empire (Semi-Final) and finally Helsinki to take home the club's first trophy.
(Photos: Andy McGrath)