Peter Cohen reports:
This hotly anticipated rematch didn’t disappoint as the Superleague’s biggest rivals, Katona and WHOREFC, fought fiercely from top to bottom throughout this contest. The prize of a place in the final against the waiting Studs proved too big a draw for WHOREFC to turn down, defeating Katona by 4 games to 2 in a reverse of their league meeting back in June.
It could be argued that both sides were under strength, WHOREFC missing Seb Cooley and Mike Skjott, and Katona missing former MVP leader Billy Dennis. However, Will Skjott’s squad rotation policy through the league stage paid dividends, as he was able to call on experienced replacements in Ed Hewins and Simon Warren Thomas. Katona, with the smallest squad in the league, called up Superleague debutant Emmalina Thompsell who faced a huge challenge to step up to Dennis’ mark.
In the first rotation, WHOREFC’s Ed Hewins and Superleague specialist Simon Baring took on Kerry White and Peter White in a gritty match of real quality. Despite being the first game of the evening, it was a must-win for both teams as the remaining rotations all looked balanced on paper. Hewins and Baring displayed some outstanding top step attack to take the game 15-11, while Nick Bunyan and Warren-Thomas made quicker work of Luke Stradwick and Thompsell. 2-0 WHOREFC, the perfect start.
Bunyan and Baring then made it 3-0, dismantling P. White and Thompsell, while Stradwick and K. White gave Katona a glimmer of hope with an excellent 15-9 win over Hewins and Warren-Thomas. In the final rotation, Katona had to win both, and convincingly, to save the match. The two girls K.White and Thompsell struggled against Baring and Warren Thomas, losing to 3, while P. White and Stradwick added some respectability to the scoreline, winning 15-7 against Hewins and Bunyan, leaving the final match score at 4-2 to WHOREFC.
Nick Bunyan couldn’t conceal his pleasure at knocking his team’s arch rivals out of the tournament ‘I’m delighted, we showed our strength in depth today, taking them down pretty much with our B squad. Bring on the final!’
The watching Studs’ captain Spencer Chapman was cautious ahead of next week’s grand final ‘They’re a strong team, they showed that tonight. We’ve got a lot of respect for them, but we have proven ourselves too and I can’t wait until next week.’
Kerry White will top the MVP Race for this week, but Gareth Hoskins has to be favourite to take the title if he plays next week. Simon Baring continued his incredible run of form, extending his win-streak to 12 to move alongside Mike Skjott in consecutive games won.
Studs superb in 4-2 semi-final spectacular
Emails, texts, phonecalls and Facebook were buzzing in the aftermath of this incredible match – the same message being repeated: ‘What a game.’ And with good reason; the Studs booked their place in the final in the match of the tournament so far, defeating One Love by the smallest of margins.
One Love have improved continually from day 1 of the Superleague, so although a slight upset, it was perhaps no surprise when Alex Cybulski and Matt Stonebridge made their intentions clear by defeating the Studs’ Rob Desmond and Justin Byam Shaw 15-10. Going 2-0 down would have been disastrous for the Studs, but Gareth Hoskins and Spencer Chapman dug in to bring the scores level at the end of the first rotation with a 15-8 win over Arun Kalra and Raj Patel.
With the both teams level, the pressure mounted on the second rotation but both sides seemed to thrive on the occasion to produce the best Fives seen yet in the Superleague. Hoskins and Byam Shaw held on for a hard earned 15-11 win against Cybulski and Patel, leaving Kalra and Stonebridge needing a result against Desmond and Chapman. The One Love boys put up an epic fight to go ahead 11-9, but Desmond seized the initiative on the top step to inspire his side to a 15-13 win, taking the Studs into a 3-1 lead.
Going into the third rotation, the only way One Love could salvage this match was by winning both games, and by a combined 8-point swing. A tough ask given how close the first rounds had been, and especially given that it was ‘lights out’ at 10pm. Cybulksi and Kalra finished 14-13 against Desmond and Hoskins, with Stonebridge and Patel 8-12 against Byam Shaw and Chapman, when the lights went out. This resulted in the games being awarded to the winning pairs, one a piece, so a 4-2 overall match win for the Studs. Even if One Love had fought to win both games, they could not have gained the 8-point swing, so the integrity of the result was not in any doubt.
Spencer Chapman was quick to praise his team but also offered congratulation to the opposition “A fantastic game last night. I think the boys were under a bit of pressure as pre-match favourites and made a couple of mistakes early on, but we held our nerve to make sure of it. One Love were good the whole way down, they’ve got better and better throughout this tournament, and it was great to see their captain (Alun Meredith) offering inspiration from the sidelines. It’s immense to be in the final and be guaranteed a medal. We’ve given 100% the whole way through and now just can’t wait for the final’
One Love’s Alun Meredith was upbeat despite seeing his team just miss out on the final “Incredible game. We could not have given any more, it went down to the wire and I feel a rematch is in order soon. Well done to the Studs”, while team-mate Alex Cybulski commented “Fives match of the season, no question”.
The Studs will have a close eye on next Thursday’s semifinal between Katona and WHOREFC, and if last night’s match is anything to go by then we are in for a incredible contest. Alex Cybulski briefly goes top of the MVP race, while Gareth Hoskins will be pleased with his third place ranking and will look to max out come the final.
Superleague Playoff Preview
With all four playoff qualifiers finishing within 5 points of each other (and three within 2 points of each other) the semi-finals and final are set to be extremely close games. Here’s a look at the four sides’ performances so far, and what we might expect from the final stages…
Aston House Studs (26 points) v One Love (21 points)
As the only unbeaten side in the Superleague it was fitting that the Studs, captained by Spencer Chapman, clinched top spot in their final match. The Studs have fielded no less than 11 players through the campaign, with top-12 MVP contenders Gareth Hoskins and Chapman providing consistency, and the likes of Jeremy Hindle, Justin Byam Shaw and Laurie Brock filling out the middle order with quality. Ewan Thompson and Ian Mitchell have been excellent at four, and Rob Desmond lately seems to have made the number one slot his own, boosting the strength right across the team.
One Love have been a revelation in this tournament, team captain Alun Meredith recruiting a crop of quality players from the London Universities, matched up with Midlands quarterfinalist Alex Cybulski. Highlights must include three 3-3 draws with Katona, the Studs and the Gangsters, while they smashed their way past the Academy and Four4Fives. Matt Stonebridge, Abs Bhattacharya, Raj Patel and Lev Gurdenli complete the squad, with Patel and Meredith currently running in the top 15 for the MVP.
As Chapman puts it, there’s ’unfinished business’ between these two sides, while Meredith insists that there’s ‘no pressure’ having got through to this stage. The Studs are the favourites, but there’s every chance One Love can revel in their underdog status and cause an upset.
Studs odds for the title: 5/2
One Love odds for the title: 5/1
Katona (25 points) v WHOREFC (24 points)
Considered a Superleague heavyweight before the tournament started, Katona are a side fielding three England handball intern/nationals, and between them the squad has won over 25 n/national and intern/national titles. Billy Dennis, Kerry White and Peter White occupy spots 1, 2 and 3 in the MVP race, while Luke Stradwick lies in 7th. Depsite drawing to One Love and the Studs, the team established their credentials early on with a 5-1 defeat of WHOREFC back in June, a result that Katona say they are confident will be repeated.
WHOREFC (Windsor, Henley, Oxford, Rugby and Eton Fives Club) had an abysmal start to the season, with a 5-1 defeat by Katona swiftly followed by a 6-0 thrashing by the Studs. Captain Will Skjott deserves credit for keeping morale up while sticking by a rotation policy that saw the team gain 23 points out of 24 in the last four fixtures – a stunning turnaround. Seb Cooley, Kinnaird semifinalist, is the natural number one, although has an able deputy in either Nick Bunyan or Ed Hewins who have both been used to good effect. Mike Skjott and Simon Baring have been the engine room of the team, both utterly reliable in the middle order, with Skjott posting 12 wins in a row, and Baring on a 9 win hotstreak.
Nick Bunyan let slip that his team would like nothing better than to knock their arch-rivals out, avenging their league defeat when it really matters. Peter White of Katona remained unconcerned but keen to ‘beat that lot again’. This one is too close to call, but one thing is certain – when the war of words stops and the match starts, we are in for a quality showdown.
Katona odds for the title: 3/1
WHOREFC odds for the title: 3/1