07/11/22: A thrilling and wide-open Richard Black Cup in association with Advanta Wealth at Eton on Sunday was won in the end by defending champions North Oxford.
Nine teams made it to the start line this year, with two newcomers to the competition in Windsor & Eton and R/repton. Sadly there was no Highgate team for the first time in a long time but Shrewsbury were out in force with two teams and defending champions North Oxford and regular challengers Ipswich were both there as well as an EFA team plus both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, whose experienced players were competitive all day and whose beginners gained invaluable experience.
North Oxford were looking to win for the fourth time in five editions of the Black Cup, the previous three wins having been achieved by more or less the same squad of players, with just Rachel Wood replacing Sarah Greasley from the 2017 winning team. This year saw some major changes, however, with star player Karen Hird moving to lead the R/repton team, Mandie Barnes taking charge of Windsor & Eton and Faye Kerr sunning herself on a Bali beach. This was the ideal opportunity for the next generation of North Oxford talent to come in and the experienced core of Harry Asquith, Rachel Wood and Francesca Turnbull were joined by Annalise Whitehead, Sophie Clifford-King and Erin Leatherbarrow.
Elsewhere, the top players were spread around the draw, giving the competition a fresh, exciting and most interestingly of all wide-open look at the start of the day. There were some morning issues with wet courts and lights that weren't working, but the players just got on with it and produced some exciting Fives and interesting results right from the start. North Oxford progressed comfortably from Group A with 3-0 wins over R/repton, Cambridge University and the EFA, finishing with a 2-1 win over the dangerous Shrewsbury 1 side. This left a final round winner-takes-all play off between Midlands rivals R/repton and Shrewsbury for the second qualifying place, and while Karen's presence enabled R/repton to win at first pair, Shrewsbury's greater experience and strength in depth saw them through at second and third to take their place in the semi-finals.
Group B started with a couple of superb matches, the experienced W&E duo of Mandie Barnes & Sian Evans winning third pair against Ipswich but the Suffolk side winning the other two pairs to win 2-1, while Shrewsbury 2's lower order were too strong for their promising but inexperienced Oxford University opponents. The OUEFC first string of recent leaver Sarah Jackman and fresher Hannah Davis (a striking talent returning to the game having played at Berkhamsted prep school up until the age of 11) got the student team on the board with a 15-8 win over their Shrewsbury counterparts to leave the group delicately poised. It was Ipswich and Windsor & Eton who proved to be the stronger teams over the subsequent rounds, both winning their next two matches. Ipswich did drop a point against Shrewsbury 2's second pair (a defeat which prompted a tactical change later in the tournament) but topped the group thanks to their head to head win over Windsor & Eton, who qualified in second place.
The lights were thankfully now back on and the first semi-final saw three time champion Mandie Barnes take on her former team in Windsor & Eton colours. With Highgate unable to field a side, Emily Scoones had been drafted in to bolster the W&E ranks and she & Bronte Capaldi found themselves up against Harry Asquith & Rachel Wood in the first pair match up. Harry & Rachel overcame a slight first game wobble to win 12-10 before producing a clinical second game performance to reinforce their status as the best pair in the competition. Annalise Whitehead - despite playing little Fives in recent months - was proving to be a revelation at second pair, her natural talent and athletic ability gelling perfectly with Francesca Turnbull's big game experience and excellent all round game. They produced their best performance of the day to overcome Mandie & Sophie Wisa in straight games at second pair with the pattern similar to the first pair - a narrow win in the first game followed by a dominant performance in the second. This was enough to send North Oxford into the final despite defeat at third pair for Erin Leatherbarrow & Sophie Clifford-King, who lost an epic encounter 14-12, 12-14, 10-12 to Sian Evans & Zhang Pulchan. This match may have ended in defeat for the North Oxford pair, but it was to prove crucial later on, as it meant that Sophie & Erin - who had not really had a close match all day to that point - went into the final battle-hardened and playing at their best.
The only team to break the NOEFC/Highgate sequence of finals in recent years has been Ipswich, and it was Ipswich who eventually made it through once again in the other semi-final against Shrewsbury 1. Ipswich tinkered with their pairing formula, with Louise Rymell responding brilliantly to the challenge of being promoted to first pair as she and Charlotta Cooley won convincingly 12-3, 12-6 against Rachel Ellis & Rose Farquharson. The Shrewsbury third pair of Jemima Dee & Scarlett Whittal were unbeaten all day and produced an equally convincing win over Elise Lau & Laura Eaden, leaving the tie to hinge on the second pair result, where Natasha Gregory & Aisha Parker were up against the talented but unpredictable Mupesa twins. This match was thrilling to watch and had a bit of everything - quality Fives, momentum shifts galore, pressure, tension and a little bit of edge at times. Shrewsbury won the first 13-10, Ipswich the second 12-9 and at 10-10 in the third it was impossible to pick a winner. In the end, though, it was the Ipswich pair who found the crucial cut returns when they needed them, taking their opportunities impressively to win the game 15-10 and take their team into the final.
Both teams opted to keep their pairs the same for the final, with Louise Rymell again given the tough job of stepping up to first pair to partner Charlotta Cooley, this time against the formidable and hitherto unbeaten Asquith & Wood combination. Louise fought hard and beating Charlotta is always a challenge, but Rachel & Harry were more than up to the job, producing a very thorough and efficient display to win 12-5, 12-5 without giving the Ipswich pairing a look in, to put North Oxford ahead in the tie. The Ipswich second pair of Natasha & Aisha however, buoyed by their terrific semi-final win, were leading the counterattack and put Annalise & Francesca to the sword in their first game. A fantastic turnaround by the North Oxford pair in game two saw them draw level, but Aisha & Natasha again took control in the decider to win an exciting and very high quality match in three games, levelling the overall score at 1-1 and leaving it all down to third pair.
The second pair had completed three games but third pair at this stage were still in the middle of game two. Things had started well for North Oxford, with Sophie & Erin winning a tight first game 12-9, thanks to some strong set piece work from Erin and some good attacking top step Fives from Sophie. The second game started even better for them, as they raced into a 6-0 lead, tantalisingly close to overall victory. Elise & Laura weren't done, though, and managed to up their game, cutting more effectively and stopping the flow of points against them. The momentum began to turn, the lead began to disappear and suddenly it was level at 8-8, with everyone watching and Ipswich seemingly closing in on a deciding third game with a following wind behind them. The semi-final experience now stood Erin & Sophie in good stead, as both NO players produced some good cutting under pressure to get themselves back on an even keel, as the score ticked on to 9-9 and then 10-9 to North Oxford. Sophie now stepped up and seized the moment, finding a fantastic cut return to go to 11-9 and then immediately repeating the feat first time at game ball, somehow getting a tough cut back into play and turning defence into attack in a couple of shots to end the match and clinch the Black Cup, much to the delight of her teammates (belatedly for Annalise who had had to dash off as soon as her match had concluded), although whether that was because they had won or had therefore got their hands on the bigger boxes of chocolate is a moot point. Richard Black and Krystyna Vargas were on hand to perform presentation duties.
The other five teams, meanwhile, had got stuck into the plate competition, which was a textbook example of how open and accessible Fives can be as a sport with nine times n/national champion Karen Hird rubbing shoulders with players from Oxford & Cambridge with three weeks of Fives under their belt and playing their first ever competitive matches. R/repton made it past Cambridge to make the final where they were thwarted for the second time in the day by Shrewsbury, the Salopian second string repeating the 2-1 win of their first team counterparts earlier in the day to win Plate A. The EFA side, with experienced campaigners Elana Osen and Natalie Lilienthal joined by the returning Olivia Prankerd Smith and a rotating cast of spare players and R/repton third pair players, had a bit too much nous for the two University sides to win Plate B and the day concluded with a second Varsity battle of the day and an identical result to the first (despite slightly different pairs) with Cambridge taking the honours 2 pairs to 1 after two matching 12-11 come from behind wins at first pair.
This was a vintage edition of what is now a well-established competition, with new teams, new players and new configurations creating a thrilling, unpredictable and most importantly fun day of Fives for all involved. Thanks go to Bill Norton and Ryan Perrie at Eton for hosting the competition, to the security team at Eton for their tournament-rescuing efforts to get the lights turned back on, to Advanta Wealth for their sponsorship, to Richard Black for the trophy and chocolates, to Dale & Krystyna Vargas for their support and to all of the team captains and coaches who put sides together and produced an excellent day of Fives.
Group A
1. North Oxford 11 points
2. Shrewsbury 1 8 points
3. R/repton 7 points
4. EFA 2 points
5. Cambridge University 2 points
Group B
1. Ipswich 7 points
2. Windsor & Eton 7 points
3. Shrewsbury 2 3 points
4. Oxford University 1 point
Semi-Finals
North Oxford beat Windsor & Eton 2-1
R.Wood & H.Asquith beat E.Scoones & B.Capaldi 2-0 (12-10, 12-3)
F.Turnbull & A.Whitehead beat M.Barnes & S.Wisa 2-0 (12-10, 12-5)
E.Leatherbarrow & S.Clifford-King lost to S.Evans & Z.Pulchan 1-2 (14-12, 12-14, 10-12)
Ipswich beat Shrewsbury 1 2-1
C.Cooley & L.Rymell beat R.Ellis & R.Farquharson 2-0 (12-3, 12-6)
N.Gregory & A.Parker beat A.Mupesa & A.Mupesa 2-1 (10-13, 12-9, 15-10)
L.Eaden & E.Lau lost to J.Dee & E.Hurford 0-2 (5-12, 6-12)
Final
North Oxford beat Ipswich 2-1
R.Wood & H.Asquith beat C.Cooley & L.Rymell 2-0 (12-5, 12-5)
F.Turnbull & A.Whitehead lost to N.Gregory & A.Parker 1-2 (3-12, 12-9, 7-12)
E.Leatherbarrow & S.Clifford-King beat E.Lau & L.Eaden 2-0 (12-9, 12-9)
Plate A
Play-Off
Cambridge University beat Oxford University 2-1 (12-11, 0-12, 12-6)
Semi-Finals
R/repton beat Cambridge University 2-1 (12-4, 1-12, 12-0)
Shrewsbury 2 beat EFA 2-1 (3-12, 12-3, 12-0)
Final
Shrewsbury 2 (C.Mainwaring, J.Wong, S.Whittal, L.Clarke, A.Beardsmore, E.Clarke) beat R/repton (K.Hird, Claudia T, Celia A, Tilly G, Hattie L, Christabel T, Serena D, Luna VP, Izzy H) 2-1 (1-15, 15-3, 15-3)
Plate B
1. EFA (E.Osen, O.Prankerd Smith, N.Lilienthal, various others) 4 points
2. Cambridge University (J.Tu, A.Davies, S-L Yuen, C.Bowman, A.Rothwell, B.Budge and L.Bland) 3 points
3. Oxford University (S.Jackman, H.Davis, E.Gilbert, J.Ebner-Statt, J.Howie, A.Simmonds) 2 points