St.Olave's Win The Williams Cup

Mark Williams reports:

05/03/17: St Olave's won the Williams Cup by just 3 points for the first time for 20 years and the third time overall. They had the strongest team in depth, with particularly strong first and second pairs, and won all but one of their matches - being held to a draw by Eton. As a team they played consistently strong fives throughout the day, and thoroughly deserved their success.

Harrow also had a strong team in depth, but their first pair dropped some surprising games as well as being soundly defeated by St Olave's. The team defeated their other opponents except drawing with Eton, finishing as runners-up a point ahead of Eton.

Eton also had strength in depth, and were undefeated as a team. It was a day when they tended to lose the really close games which made a significant difference. Their first pair took a game off both St Olave's and Harrow, but dropped a game against both Highgate and Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury began with comprehensive win against Highgate and also obtained full points against Berkhamsted , and Westminster. However, they lost to the three strongest teams and lacked their usual depth in these matches, finishing three points behind Eton.

Highgate beat Berkhamsted and drew with Westminster, but were defeated by the four strongest teams. They had a relatively inexperienced team who competed hard all day.

Westminster beat Berkhamsted and drew with Highgate, and were defeated by the other teams. They competed hard and clearly improved as the day went on.