Heartbreak for Tarleton as Crosby lift the title
WINS in both of the women’s doubles was enough for a 5-3 victory and confirm not only the second division title for Crosby II, but a heart-breaking relegation for opponents Tarleton III in the final week of the ‘MKM Building Supplies’ Southport and District Badminton League.
This achievement for Crosby makes it a fifth consecutive season of lifting a division title.
With many of Crosby’s matches ending with a comfortable victory, encountering a Tarleton III fighting for their second division status was the perfect ingredient for a tense encounter.
A couple of scalp victories in the mixed doubles gave Tarleton the required hope of completing the task that no other second division side has able to achieve this season.
But despite the best efforts of the lower-ranked side, the quality of Crosby’s second team was enough to inch them over the line.
A dramatic three-set victory for Crosby pair Debbie Anacoura and Alice Arnstein over Tarleton’s Linda and Rebecca Evans 21-18, 12-21, 21-19 proved to be deciding factor.
By the end, it turned out that a final week win for Tarleton’s third team would still not have been enough as nearest rivals Victoria Hall II ended their league campaign with a 6-2 away win over Mawdesley’s first team.
Earlier in the week, Victoria Hall II suffered a tough 5-3 away defeat to Churchtown III in a rearranged fixture to heighten the pressure of being on the bubble of relegation.
But in what has been a tough season on and off the court Victoria Hall’s second team, they managed to produce the results when it counted as they collected their fifth win of the season.
This ended up being enough to extend their stay in division two for a fifth consecutive season.
Also doubling up this past week, was Churchtown III.
After seeing off Victoria Hall II, they made it successful end to their campaign with a comfortable 6-2 home win over an already relegated Westsands III side.
Elsewhere, Southport II battled to a deserved 5-3 away victory against fellow mid-table side Westsands II.
In the third division, an unexpected 4-4 draw for Hesketh Bank over Burscough Pioneers meant Ormskirk III were crowned champions of a division for only the second time ever.
With two of their regular ladies missing, this opened the door for the fourth place side.
Winning three of the four mixed doubles contests had an upset on the cards. But the fight and determination that has got Hesketh Bank to a deserved promotion saw them battle to a well-earned point.
Sadly for them, this meant they missed out on a division title that has seen them on course to secure for the majority of the season.
At the opposite end of the table, relegation was sadly confirmed for Woodvale’s fourth team.
Sending them down was their own third team in a 7-1 win.
After securing a 5-3 scalp in the reverse fixture, Woodvale IV was hoping to do the unlikely double and perform their own great escape.
Sadly for them, it went to form and they will now be preparing for life in the fourth division.
In the third division action, there were final week wins for St.
Cuthberts and Churchtown IV who both secured 8-0 home wins over the relegated Tarleton IV and Mawdesley II respectively.
In the fifth division, Formby Methodist missed out on their first of two opportunities of confirming promotion as they fell 6-2 at promotion rivals Hesketh Bank II.
Hesketh Bank’s strength in depth proved too much for their opponents in the end.
This result has put them ahead of Formby Methodist into second place for at least week.
It also
Mawdesley champions.
The second and final promotion opportunity for Formby Methodist will be against champions Mawdesley.
With the reverse fixtures ending 4-4 and 6-2 to Mawdesley, it will quite the achievement if Formby Meths join their upcoming opponents into the fourth division next season.
In the league’s top division, an unprecedented relegation for Southport’s first team is close to becoming a reality.
This is after Churchtown’s second team collected their third league win in their last four fixtures with a well fought 5-3 home win over a Westsands side that are still not quite mathematically safe from the drop.
Wins in both men’s doubles encounters was enough to give Churchtown II the win that they needed that takes them ahead of Southport into eighth place for the time being.
With both side’s respective final fixtures being against Crosby, Southport need to better Churchtown’s result if they want to avoid an outcome that this team has not had to deal with in their entire history.
Meanwhile, a 7-1 away win confirms III as leaders division against their own second team has put Ormskirk’s first team all but mathematically safe.
At the top of the division, newly crowned league champions Woodvale completed their unbeaten league campaign with a comfortable 6-2 away win over a Tarleton side that have recorded the club’s highest finishing position with a fourth place side.
In the league’s sixth division, a dominant 8-0 away win over bottom side Southport VI saw Westsands’ sixth team snatch promotion over long-time occupants Formby II in the final week.
After being in the chasing pack for the majority of the season, winning their last four games along with a couple of slip-ups from Formby II meant Westsands will be making a quick return to the fifth division.
Later in the week, Southport VI were performing double duty in what has been a tough season for them.
They ended their campaign with a 7-1 defeat over fifth place side Churchtown VII.
In the fourth division, a 7-1 away defeat for Westsands V over Southport IV has opened the door for Crosby’s third team to survive the drop. A strong and solid performance sealed a top half finish for Southport’s fourth team against a Westsands V that is now waiting on results elsewhere to find which division they will be playing next season.
A win for Crosby III over the already relegated Woodvale VI next week will see them move out of the bottom two and Westsands into the fifth division.
Elsewhere, division champions St. Cuthberts II completed their unbeaten season with a 5-3 away win over bottom half side Woodvale V.
Battling to a 3-1 lead after the mixed doubles and a couple of straight set wins in the women’s doubles gave St. Cuthberts their fifteenth league win of the season.
After securing promotion last week, Burscough Pioneers II ended their season coming back from an early deficit to secure a 4-4 draw at Formby’s first team.
That result saw Formby slip to a fourth place finish as a 6-2 home win for Westsands IV over Churchtown V gave them a top three finish.
While this is the official final round of league fixtures, some match-ups are still to be completed.
So along with next week’s Shield and Watkinson Trophy finals, the final few league encounters will also be confirming the final promotion and relegation places.
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