The Old Paulines have successfully defended their N/national Club Championship again, scoring an ultimately comfortable win over the Executioners in the final and notching up their third win in succession.
As in the last couple of years, their strength in depth proved crucial, and even with a second team in the competition, the OPs’ first team could call on a squad including an unrivalled combination of champions.
The four in the final were Charlie Brooks (N/national Doubles champion), Dan Tristao (U25 singles champion), Tom Dean (North of England doubles champion) and Matt Shaw (Schools’ singles champion), while Ed Kay (U25 doubles champion) played in earlier rounds.
They scored a relatively easy win over the West of England in the quarter-finals, but faced a much stiffer challenge in the semi-finals, against an Alleyn Old Boys’ side boosted by the addition of newly crowned n/national doubles champion Will Ellison. It was a match that went down to the wire, but in the end the Paulines’ greater strength in depth saw them win through to the final by a margin of just over 20 points.
In the bottom half of draw, meanwhile, a withdrawal meant the Executioners had a bye into the semis, where they faced the Old Paulines’ second team, who had breezed past Christ’s Hospital in the quarter-finals.
From the off, the Executioners were in command, winning three of the four singles; and, although the Paulines started off well in the doubles, the greater experience of the Executioners (Tom Maconie, Marcus Bate, Chris Burrows and Andy Pringle) told, and they won through to clinch a place in the final for only the second time in the club’s history.
It was such unexpected success that almost led a non-final, as the Executioners captain had not booked his team’s services for the Sunday, when the final was planned – and three of the four weren’t able to make it at short notice. However, in a sign of true sportsmanship, the Paulines agreed to play the final on the following Wednesday evening.
With players struggling to get to the courts after work, it was agreed that two singles matches would be played, followed by the doubles, and that the final singles would then be played only if necessary.
When the doubles started, it was the Executioners who had a slight lead, but after the first round of doubles, the OPs had taken the lead comfortably. Although each match (Burrows/Maconie v Brooks/Dean and Pringle/Dyke v Tristao/Shaw) was very keenly contested and featured some excellent play, the Paulines won every game.
It was the same story in the second round of doubles: close games that all went to the Paulines. That gave them a lead large enough to ensure the final singles were not necessary and secured them a third successive title in this competition. On top of their five successive wins in the Owers Trophy, it confirms their position as the strongest Rugby Fives-playing club in the country.
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RESULTS
Preliminary round: tbc
Quarter-final: Old Paulines 2 bt Christ’s Hospital 121-31; Old Paulines 1 bt West of England 130-53; Alleyn Old Boys bt Derby Moor 126-68
Semi-finals: Old Paulines 1 bt Alleyn Old Boys 119-97; Executioners bt Old Paulines 2 101-59
Final: Old Paulines 1 bt Executioners 99-58