Tarleton toasting yet another success
THE successes for Tarleton keeps on coming as their third team secured promotion to the second division for the first time ever after producing a narrow 5-3 win over nearest rivals West End Park II in what was a dramatic week 17 in the ‘Master Lock & Safe’ Southport and District Badminton League.
With their first and fourth teams securing cup wins and promotions of their own, the 2021-22 season has become one to remember for the club of Tarleton. There was another opportunity of possible success, this time for their third team with a spot in the second division for the first time in this team’s history at stake.
Standing in their way was a West End Park II side that sat third in the division and still had a fighter’s chance of snatching that second promotion spot.
There were no signs of pressure early on, as Tarleton came out of the blocks well with a comfortable wins in the majority of the mixed doubles. This moved them into an early 3-1 lead. However, wins for West End Park in both of the women’s doubles matches forced Tarleton to win both men’s doubles if they wanted promotion confirmed before the last round of matches.
That achievement manged to be unlocked as the 5-3 win was confirmed after Tarleton’s Chris Smith and Mike Woods defeated Johnathan Foster and Brandon Hall 21-19, 21-11.
At the opposite end of the table, the relegation of Southport IV to the fourth division was confirmed after losing 8-0 to division champions Churchtown IV. Looking likely to join them is bottom side Formby.
With the amount of games in hand still making it mathematically possible to survive relegation, their 7-1 loss to eighth place side Woodvale V makes it only a matter of time before their fate is sealed.
In other third division action, it ended stalemate between the battle of the mid-table sides Southport III and Mawdesley in their 4-4 draw.
In fourth division news, the struggles for Mawdesley’s third team were confirmed, as their 5-3 loss to mid-table side Hesketh Bank II relegates them to the fifth division for next season. That makes it three relegations in the last four seasons for Mawdesley III.
Joining them will be Southport V. Their relegation was confirmed after suffering a 6-2 defeat to an in-form Woodvale VI side that was bottom back in February and have now won four of its last five league matches to survive the drop.
Interest still remains high in the promotion spots as St. Cuthberts’ 7-1 win over their own second team puts the pressure on their fellow promotion contenders.
One of the them being second place side Ormskirk III.
Their impressive 8-0 win over fifth place Burscough Pioneers II keeps them three points ahead of St. Cuthberts in third.
A draw in any of Crosby and Ormskirk’s remaining matches will be enough to confirm promotion for both of them.
Life in the second division only lasted three seasons for Hesketh Bank, as their 6-2 defeat to promotion bound Churchtown III means it is now mathematically impossible for them to get out of the bottom two.
Despite Hesketh Bank’s best efforts to keep their survival hopes alive, the quality of Churchtown ended up being too much and Hesketh Bank’s first spell in the second tier of Southport Badminton will be over.
That result means Mawdesley survive the drop despite suffering a tight 5-3 loss to mid-table Victoria Hall II.
As for promotion, a surprise 6-2 win for Southsands over division champions Tarleton keeps their hopes of promotion mathematically possible.
Despite going into the match undefeated for the season, Tarleton went into the contest with a couple of notable absentees from their regular line-up. That was enough to inspire Southsands to cause an unlikely upset to keep their slim hopes of promotion alive.
Also coming out victorious this past week were Tarleton II and Woodvale III who collected wins over Ormskirk II and Woodvale IV respectively.
At the top of the first division, Woodvale continue to put the pressure on leaders Churchtown with an 8-0 win over their own second team.
That result has them level on points with Churchtown. However, with the defending champions having two games in hand, it will need a lot of help from elsewhere if Woodvale have any realistic possibilities of reclaiming the Championship Shield.
There were a couple of well fought wins for Crosby and West End Park over Churchtown II and Southport II respectively.
Those results should see both sides conclude their campaign with a top half finish.
The only side that can prevent that is Southport, who quickly saw off an Ormskirk side that is now one loss away from confirming relegation back to the second division.
In the fifth division, while Southsands III remain in third place, their narrow 5-3 win over mid-table side Southport VI keeps them in the driving seat for the second promotion spot due to their game in hand.
After a confident start to the match, Southsands III looked to be in firm control in collecting their tenth win of the season. But their lower ranked opponents producing somewhat of a comeback, everything was still all to play for.
In the end, a late burst from Southsands was enough to inch them over the line.
That result keeps them two points behind second place Churchtown VI, who benefitted from a Crosby III side that fielded two players short of a full team. Their 7-1 win over the sixth place team keeps them ahead of Southands’ third team for the time being. But knowing that their destiny is not in their own hands, they will keep an eye on other results for now.
Meanwhile, there were commanding 8-0 wins for division champions Tarleton IV over bottom side Southsands IV as well as Formby Methodist over Woodvale VII.
But nothing could separate bottom half sides Hesketh Bank III and Churchtown VII in their well fought 4-4 draw that saw a strong fightback by Hesketh Bank.
Next week sees the final league of matches take place and the conclusion of all the remaining promotion and relegation places.
For all the latest news and results from the league, be sure to check out their official website, www.southportbadminton.com.
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