Clitheroe win saw change
IT was a weekend to remember for the Hyde household as brother and sister Danny and Millie secured three titles for Woodvale in what was another memorable A and C tournaments for the club.
The pick of the four finals featuring a Hyde came from brother Danny as he and his playing partner Michael Johnston battled hard to turn it around in a thriller against the tough Churchtown pair of Joe Steele and Andy Owen 11-21, 23-21, 23-21.
That result ended up being the second of two titles for Danny, as earlier in the proceedings, his first came in the men’s singles.
Coming up against Victoria Hall’s Matt Tolman, Hyde knew a tough match would be in store.
The Woodvale youngster pulled ahead after taking the first set 21-18.
But Tolman showed his experience by stretching the match to a third set after claiming the second set 21-16.
In the end, it seemed Hyde’s determination and fearless approach to the deciding set is what got him the title as he took the third set 21-14.
The hat-trick of Hyde titles came from sister Millie, who continues to show domination in all singles tournaments over the last few years with a commanding 21-11, 21-12 win over Victoria Hall’s Peggy Leong.
Sadly, Millie could not quite match the efforts of her brother.
Her appearance in the final of the mixed doubles with Churchtown’s Joe Steele turned out to be one final too many as they were quickly seen off by the formidable pair of Steven and Fay Andrews from Mawdesley 21-8, 21-8.
The last of the A finals saw a shock result in the women’s doubles.
It saw multiple champions Caroline Clucas and Caroline Walker fall to the Mawdesley/Churchtown pairing of Fay Andrews and Katie Dixon-Turner.
After winning this event nearly 20 times, the Victoria Hall pair have shown enough form in the league this season to show us no reason of why they could not claim another title as a pair.
However, Andrews and Dixon-Turner came out strong and showed great nerve when it counted and prevailed with an impressive straight sets win 21-15, 21-12 and take the title.
The C tournament has always given us a great indicator of the future of the league with many of this season’s A tournament finalists once being in the C finals earlier in their career. This year, it seems Churchtown’s youngsters are the ones to watch.
One Churchtown player that shone in particular was Max Felstead, who collected two titles on the night.
Back-to-back dominant wins in the men’s doubles saw Churchtown’s future show their abilities to the rest of the league.
In the men’s doubles, Felstead along with playing partner Matthew Westby saw off Woodvale’s Andy Hurst and Felix Watson 21-8, 21-7.
Later on in the mixed doubles, Felstead partnered Chloe Jackson and made quick work of a talented Southport pair in the form of David Morris and Rachael Mosscrop 21-5, 21-10.
There were other finals for Churchtown’s Westby and Jackson. Sadly for them, further success did not come their way.
In the men’s singles, Westby was narrowly defeated by Southport’s George Stretilov.
In the women’s doubles, Jackson along with playing partner Fay Skinner showed great fight in pushing their match into a third set.
But sadly for them, it was not enough as Woodvale’s Kayla Shandley and Tasha Johnson produced a solid team display in claiming the title 21-20, 19-21, 21-11.
There was an all-Woodvale final in the C tournament women’s singles final.
The honour of champion went to Helen Frain who saw off Jan Mort in two tight sets 21-17, 21-15.
Next week sees the league return to action for one more week before the Christmas break.
For more info as well as the latest news, results and league tables, be sure to check out the league’s official website, www.southportbadminton.com. Also, make sure you like the league’s official Facebook page. LIAM Watson has pinpointed the 6-0 drubbing of Clitheroe in the Lancashire Challenge Trophy as the turning point for Southport this season.
The Sandgrounders had won just one of their previous 10 league matches before the fixture with Watson fielding a strong side to face the Evo-Stik West outfit.
Southport have remained unbeaten since the mammoth win, clambering out of the National League North relegation zone and setting up a mouthwatering FA Cup second round replay with Tranmere Rovers on Monday.
The winner will welcome Premier League outfit Tottenham in the third round.
The League Two outfit travel to Haig Avenue next week after a 1-1 draw at Prenton Park and Watson - who is in his third spell as manager of the club - believes a desire to succeed in every competition has benefited his team.
When asked if he was surprised by the change in fortunes over the past six weeks after the 2-2 draw with Bradford Park Avenue at the weekend, the manager replied: “I can believe the turnaround in results.
“We were playing well and losing.
“We lost to York in a game where, as long as I live, I will never understand how we lost that game.
“We should have been five or six up at half-time and ended up losing 2-1. But we played good stuff.
“People will obviously say the turning point was Kidderminster, we went there and were 4-0 up at half-time but we played better against York.”
Watson continued: “The turning point for me was actually after beating Kiddy and putting a strong side out against Clitheroe in the Lancashire Cup and winning 6-0.
“All of a sudden, we played Boreham Wood on the Saturday and beat them comfortably and then we just started flying.
Southport welcome Solihull Moors on Saturday.