Woodvale end ten-year wait for Trophy triumph
WOODVALE’S ten year drought of a Watkinson
Trophy title is now over, as their fifth team were crowned champions after defeating Tarleton IV 384-370.
Despite the near perfect season Tarleton’s fourth team have had, the experience of the players within Woodvale’s fifth team in this competition showed as they overcame a 40 point handicap disadvantage to win by 14 points.
Woodvale went into the contest as the most successful club in this prestigious competition with nine wins. However, the last time they had won this was back in 2012 by their sixth team. Ironically that team was captained by Andy Hurst, who captained the fifth team in this year’s final. Along with other former winners in their team, the confidence was there for Woodvale going into the contest.
The mixed doubles matches opened the final and it saw Woodvale produce some strong performances to give them a comfortable 46 points lead at the halfway point.
The fifth division champions did show some fight in the men’s and women’s doubles as they claimed a few sets to hopefully close the gap by the time the handicap would be announced.
One notable result saw Tarleton’s Liz Hawksby and Rebecca Evans topple Woodvale’s Rachel Mosscrop and Faye Lowery 25-20, 25-23.
But with Woodvale ending the match with a 54 points lead, many believed that would be enough to take home the trophy. That ended up being the case, as the handicap ended up being announced as 40 points for Tarleton. That result makes it a first title for Woodvale’s fifth team, but a record tenth for the club.
Woodvale’s success in the Watkinson didn’t quite branch out into their appearances in two of the three shield finals later in the week.
The final of the Fleetwood Hesketh Shield saw Victoria Hall produce a confident start with a 5-1 lead that was maintained for the rest of the evening to win 8-4 against Woodvale’s first team that were missing a number of their regulars.
It was a similar outcome for Woodvale’s fourth team, as they fell 10-2 to Hesketh Bank in the League Shield final. With both sides ending the season with relegation, a bit of unexpected silverware was on the line. The higher ranked side came out of the starting blocks well and showed great determination to produce a deserved comfortable victory and their second title in this competition.
A good final for the neutrals came in the St. John’s Shield as Crosby’s second team needed an extra set of mixed doubles to be crowned champions for the first time against Hesketh Bank II.
Despite having to overcome a +14 handicap in each game, the fourth division champions knew they had the players to lift another trophy in what has been a memorable season. The mixed doubles saw Hesketh Bank narrowly edge ahead 4-2 early on.
A couple of wins in the men’s doubles saw the underdogs be on the brink of victory. But wins for Crosby in all three women’s doubles contests and the last of the men’s doubles encounters meant we ended level at 6-6 and an extra set of mixed doubles was required.
Despite the tensions being at an all-time high for everyone involved, the skill showed in the end as Crosby’s Calvin
Chiu and Debbie Anacoura defeated Hesketh Bank’s Andrew Dolman and Sarah Cowle 30-25 to see Crosby crowned champions.
Completing the week was a much different event. It was the return of the ‘B Tournament,’ a handicapped competition that gives players a final chance of individual glory for the season. This is always a well-attended and exciting tournament to be part of or even spectate.
It ended up being a memorable final weekend of the season for Churchtown as they took home three of the five events that were available. This was highlighted by double success for first team member Joe Steele, who is no stranger to individual success at this tournament. A comfortable of straight sets win in the men’s singles over fellow Churchtown member Andy Owen followed by men’s doubles success with Owen over Woodvale’s Mike Johnston and Chris Chu meant two more titles were added to Steele’s already impressive collection.
Completing Churchtown’s hat-trick of ‘B Tournament’ titles was in the mixed doubles as the mix of youth and experience proved to be the perfect recipe for Mark Rigby and Faye Skinner. They came through a high-quality draw and ended up champions with a strong and solid win over Southport’s Jason Loffman and Laura Watts in the final.
In the women’s singles, the title went to Soutsands’ Malayphil Wareing, who battled through two tight sets over Woodvale’s Tasha Johnson.
Also ending with some silverware was Crosby in the form of the women’s doubles. After coming through some tight group games, Jenny Yu and Pei Yee Leong ended their run with a comfortably victory over Southport’s Laura Watts and Annette Softley.
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