Teams wrapping up the season in style
AS we enter the final week of the Southport Table Tennis League season we were left with four unresolved issues.
Who would be runners up in Division 1, could Argyle E complete an incredible escape from relegation in Division 2, will Crosby E pick up the point they need to become Champions of Division 3 and would Southport D pip Formby Village C to the second promotion spot in that division.
By far the closest tussle was between who would get promotion from Division 3 so we found ourselves at the Amelan Hall for our featured match between Southport D and Crosby F.
Although Southport started the week in third, 2 points behind Formby they knew that Formby had to play the Champions elect, Crosby E, in their final game and were unlikely to collect maximum points and therefore that a big win for themselves against Crosby F gave them every chance of taking the runners up place and promotion.
So, it was a Southport team filled with hope and expectation that took to the table on Tuesday evening. Captain Jordan Shandley was joined by Liam Chau, Baljeet Saluja and Liam Whiteley with Jayden Chau playing doubles.
Crosby, languishing second from bottom, had everyone’s favourite veteran Tony Bramham at No.1 along with Jacqui Schober Thomson, Steve Williams and impressive 13 year old Isobel Boyd.
It was soon evident that Southport were really fired up for the match and started in determined fashion with Liam Chau beating Tony to the loss of only 17 points.
Liam Whiteley followed this up with a 3-1 defeat of young Isobel who once more impressed in a 3-1 defeat.
Baljeet beat Steve Williams three straight to continue the home team’s dominance as they remorselessly collected the points. However, in the next match Isobel halted Southport’s momentum and once more underlined why she is so highly rated winning a fantastic match against captain Jordan 3-2.
Once again Izzy was always looking to use her big forehand loop and kill and hits the ball as hard as any local junior of her age. She is now starting to use her backhand as an attacking weapon and her rate of development is tremendous.
Sadly, for Crosby this was the high watermark of their evening.
Whenever you see a camera and a tripod at a match you know
Liam Chau isn’t far away (such is his dedication that he videos and analyses every match that he plays) and the youngster added to his growing reputation beating Jacqui to give him a fabulous average of 88% over the course of the season. He is an absolutely wonderful prospect.
Baljeet and Liam Whiteley completed their doubles beating Tony and Steve respectively.
In the battle between the two captains Jordan managed to beat Jacqui 3-1.
The doubles both went Southport’s way and we were treated to seeing young Jayden Chau teaming up with Baljeet.
Jayden is yet another fantastic prospect and it is wonderful for Southport table tennis league to see three such young talented players in this match and augers well not only for their respective clubs but the continued health of the League.
Southport D completed a 9-1 win that gave them confidence of finishing second and clinching promotion.
That would be very well deserved with an amazing run of 43 points out of 50 on offer in their final five matches which included their nearest rivals Crosby E and Formby Village C.
Southport didn’t have to wait long to find out their fate.
Their rivals for second spot, Formby Village C knew that they had to score at least seven points to regain the position and claim the last promotion place but, unfortunately for them, they faced champions elect Crosby E in their final match.
In a fabulous match which resulted in a draw and in which Jackson Cockbain lost his unbeaten record to young Callum Critchley Formby could only pick up five points thereby confirming Southport D as runners up and Crosby E as very well deserved Champions.
Sadly, Princes St F were unable to raise a team for their final match against Southport C who were awarded a 10-0 win.
Fortunately this did not affect the top of the table. The two Argyle teams finished with a local derby and honours even in a draw.
Of all the teams with something to play for Division 2 Argyle D’s task was undoubtedly the hardest.
Trailing Princes St D by eight points they improbably needed to win their final game against the Divisional Champions by at least nine points and hope that the Princes’ picked up no more than one point in their final two matches. Well, I did say they had a mathematical chance of escaping relegation!
In actual fact Princes St D playing their first of two games in the week produced their best performance of the season beating already relegated Southport B 10-0 with captain Ian Lunt the D team’s star player on the night to condemn Argyle E to the drop.
The following night Argyle D were the visitors to the Parc des Princes to play the Champions Princes St E and they compounded their misery losing 10-0, making the Princes’ the only team in the League to go the whole season unbeaten, some achievement.
Promoted Rainford Synergy beat Formby Village B 7-3 and Formby returned to action the following night, bouncing back with a 6-4 win against Princes St D in their final match.
Crosby D ended their season with a superb 8-2 win away at Waterloo.
In Division 1 Princes St B knew that they only had to avoid a 10-0 defeat in their match against Crosby C to take the runners up spot ahead of Crosby.
Despite this they duly thrashed their nearest challengers 8-2.
Crosby went with a team so strong that town champion Charlie Williams was playing at No.3 but the Princes’ were in irresistible form and could even afford a concession from Phil Petts who was suffering with a knee injury.
Despite the high stakes this was a wonderfully open match between two teams intent on enjoying themselves and playing great table tennis in a wonderful spirit.
Josiah Nix takes the honours as “Player of the Match” but a special mention for Jordan Pipet playing up from Division 2 who not only won all his matches but also beat Charlie in a fantastic game.
Southport A finished their season in style with a 10-0 thumping of already relegated Argyle B.
Crosby B performed impressively to beat Argyle A 7-3. Joshua Parker was Player of the Match with a fine double but the match was also notable for a brilliant double by young Luke Govier and a superb win for Issy Hamer against veteran Mark Jagger.
Champions Princes St A beat their C team cousins 9-1, despite a super win for Nick Wilson against Colin Turner.
Here are the final Promotion and Relegation positions:
DIVISION 1
Champions: Princes St A
RUNNERS UP: Princes St B
RELEGATED: Princes St C & Argyle B
DIVISION 2
CHAMPIONS: Princes St E
RUNNERS UP: Rainford Synergy
RELEGATED: Argyle D & Southport B
DIVISION 3
CHAMPIONS: Crosby E
RUNNERS UP: Southport D
Next week we have the semi finals of the three Divisional Cups.