Bollington Firsts bow out fighting

THE last set of fixtures before Easter went some way towards determining the prospects of several men’s North West Counties League teams from the clubs in and around our town.

In one case, unfortunately, a team’s fate was conclusively sealed as Bollington 1 were relegated from Division Two East.

The ‘Bolly Firsts’ went down fighting with a 3-2 defeat of Hyde – but even a maximum points-haul from their final two fixtures would now leave them short of survival.

Prestbury 1 meanwhile took a massive step towards securing the Division Three South East title after defeating close challengers Grove Park 3 by the odd match in five.

The deciding first-string contest – narrowly shaded by Prestbury’s Paul Lomas against Tom Fairhurst – was of befittingly high quality and would have graced any Second Division fixture.

Further down in Division Three South East, Macclesfield Squash 1 won 3-2 at Alderley Edge 4 - with victories for Rob Alcock, Adam Colebatch and Neil Garner - to close the distance from safety to just 16 points.

The team currently in that coveted position above the relegation places happens to be Prestbury 2, who lost 4-1 to Crewe Vagrants 2. So, locally as well as competitively, a tense finish to avoid the drop looks in prospect!

In Division Four South, a local derby saw Bollington record a 5-0 triumph over alreadyrelegated Macclesfield Squash 2. And wins for Bauke van der Ploeg, Phil Colville and David Hunt enabled Prestbury 3 to beat Club AZ 3-2 - as well as keeping alive their slender hopes of staying up.

Prestbury 4 got back to winning ways in Division Five South - defeating Radbroke Hall 2 4-1 - although a victory elsewhere for Knutsford Sports 3 means that they cannot be caught by the ‘Fourths’ for a promotion place.

Bollington 3 continued their impressive end to the campaign by edging out Champions-elect Alderley Edge 6 3-2 for the second time within three weeks.

But Prestbury 5’s visit to Buxton 2 saw the Derbyshire hosts chalk up their second consecutive 5-0 win against a side from the village – having seen off the Fourth Team by the same score a week previously.

In the penultimate round of Cheshire League matches three days earlier, Bollington Ladies suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat at Brooklands 2.

The latter will provide the final Monday night’s opposition for Prestbury Ladies, who made virtually certain of fourth place with a 5-0 demolition of Alderley Edge 2.