28/02/2020
Division 1
Fleetwood A played their final match against Pilling A, in the knowledge that a draw would retain their title. However, a draw was never likely as they dropped only 1 mens to Michael Banks and Mike Aspden, and then proceeded to win all the mixed for a resounding 23-1 win! Cath Bagley was statistically the MVP ! Congratulations to Fleetwood for their 24th successive title - an astonishing achievement given the challenge they had from a strong Poulton side.
A tight match was anticipated as 2nd place Poulton played 3rd place Kingfisher A but Poulton ladies proved much too strong, winning all 6 whilst the men's ended 3-3. With the lead at 9-3, Poulton then won 5 of the next 6 games before Kingfisher rallied to take 4 of the last 6 games and claim a consolation point. Michelle Skinner, once again, the top scorer in the match with 7. Chris Foote, the only Kingfisher player to win more than half their games, with 5. Poulton finish their successful season in 2nd with Kingfisher a distant third.
Kingfisher B needed to win their final match to move out of the bottom 2. However, their hopes were quickly crushed, as Albany A cruised to an unassailable 11-1 lead after the levels. And when Albany took the first mixed set through Natalie Appleyard and Lee Williams, it was match over - The final score 21-3 to Albany. Despite the defeat, Sarah Woodhouse capped off a fine season as she was involved in all 3 Kingfisher wins - 1 ladies and 2 mixed splits. Rob Oakes with the maximum for the winners.
Division 3
The wooden spoon was at stake in the bottom of the table clash between Kirkham Charter B and Ribby Hall B. Kirkham were 1 point behind Ribby and therefore only a win would lift them above their rivals. In the ladies, Ribby had the edge at 4-2, but Kirkham's men proved much stronger by winning all 6 for a 8-4 lead. Ribby fought back by winning 3 of the next four games to reduce the deficit to 9-7 and give themselves a small chance. However this was quickly denied, as Kirkham won the next 2 sets for victory. 3 of the last 4 also went Kirkham's way for a final score of 16-8 ! The defeat consigns Ribby to last place whilst Kirkham finish 1 point ahead! Julie Lalouette was unlucky to finish on the losing team as she won an excellent 6 games. Kirkham must be grateful for Ian Cartmel who, played well under pressure, and comfortably won all his 8 games.
Promotion chasing Lids B knew that only a win against Stanley B, would make them runners up at the expense of Ribby Hall A. They made a solid start winning 4 ladies and 3 men's to lead 7-5 going into the mixed. The first 4 games were split but in the 3rd set Lids won both games to lead 11-7. Stanley replied by winning the next 2 to reduce Lids lead to 11-9. In the penultimate set, Lids pairing of Julie Bennett and James Norman won the 2 games to give Lids the win - both games won on setting 22-20! Last 2 games went to Stanley. Final score 13-11 to Lids and runners up spot. Kathy Howard and Marshall Collins won 5 for Stanley and Julie and James together with Wan Desmond won 5 for Lids.
Levels
After winning the first 6 games, Project 12 cruised to a 11-5 win, although Warton B put up a fight and actually won 5 of the last 10 games to earn themselves a point. Jon Jackson won 8 games and Giles Uppard was Warton's best player on the night. Project finish comfortably in third, but some distance from the top 2. Warton had a good season and finished mid table.
In their final match, Warton C had an important match against Bloomfield. The opening 4 sets were all split and then Gregor Creelman and Harrison Uppard won a pair to put Warton in front. Richard Pascucci and Phil Hough replied for Bloomfield to take the match to 6-6. In the final sets, Warton’s other pair of Stephan Martinovsky and Richard Bates won a set and Richard and Phil won another pair for a 8-8 final result. The draw, and the 2 points, was enough to take Warton off the bottom.
