Big guns go head to head in dogfight
Superleague supremo Pete Cohen paid a welcome visit to Westway on Tuesday to review the progress of his 2010 creation. “It’s in good health, but I want it back, bigger and stronger in 2013.” were Pete’s words as he stormed into action against James Toop in the first of their blue-chip encounters in the rubber. James, a four-time winner of the Kinnaird Cup, and starting in the Superleague for the first time, teamed up with Robin Malacrida for Dossi’s Desperados against Pete, and Dom Redmond representing Westway Wildcats. James and Robin were always doing just enough to hold the Wildcats, and they closed the game out at 15-9, soon after word had reached them that teammates Jeremy O’Neil and Will Stead had defeated Tom Fletcher and Lia Redmond 15-6 in Match 2. The 2nd rotation nearly produced the shock of the evening with Tom and Dom combining well to take the early honours against James and Will before the latter pair drew level at 9s and then edged clear to win 15-10. 3-0 to the Desperados then, but the Wildcats soon clawed a point back with “Pistol” Pete powering his pair home with some fierce back court hitting against Jeremy and Will. Unfortunately, Pete couldn’t repeat the dose in match 5, as he and Tom were readily outpointed 15-7 by James and Jeremy. Berkhamsted schoolboy Will Stead had impressed all evening, and he and Robin took a commanding 11-5 lead in the final match against the Redmond sisters. But after some lengthy exchanges and typically dogged resistance from Dom and Lia, the impressive Ladies Champions secured a well-deserved second point for the Wildcats with a 15-14 win.
Desperado’s 4 – 2 Wildcats
Badgers brushed aside
In Tuesday’s second match, the Bateman Badgers knew they would be facing a WHOREFC team smarting from a brace of 6-0 defeats in Week 1. Will Skjott called on Westway Wizard, Ed Hewens, to steady the Windsor & Eton ship and the Old Harrovian showed his love for the courts by combining with Nick Bunyan, Johnny Saunders and Captain Skjott to record three victories for the loss of only 12 points in his games against Charlotta Cooley, Karen Hird, Emily Scoones and Izzy Watts. Izzy was involved in the two closest encounters of the tie, first with Charlotta to run Nick and Johnny close in the 2nd rotation, and then linking up with birthday girl Emily to take 11 points off Johnny and Will in the final game.
WHOREFC 6 – 0 Badgers
Warriors wow, Fivercide woe
Five Warriors met early on Wednesday evening for a Westway Pow Wow and final team selection. Chief Freddie (Rowe) was hitting the ball cleanly in the warm up, but would he select himself and stand in the way of Tournament MVP-hopeful, Lia Redmond? In a selfless move, Lia’s name was pencilled in on the team sheet and Freddie’s on Lia’s next batch of home-baked brownies. There were no such selection dilemmas for Fivercide captain, Phil Lyndon, who, after a series of late withdrawals, had to call up Spencer Chapman from the scorer’s box to complete his side. The move seemed to unsettle the Warriors and in the first game Phil coaxed Spencer along to a 15-9 win over Lia and Warrior #1, James Hammond. Unfortunately for Phil and Fivercide teammates Paul Kendall and Wendy Carling, that was their only point of the evening. Paul came closest to a 2nd win, pairing up with Spencer to a 15-14 loss to James and Will Betts, but the luxury of starting Ipswichian, Will Gibbons at #4 meant that the Warriors batted deep. Man of the match was Will Betts who showcased his repertoire of spinning and dipping cuts and drives from the back court. Six shots in the hole in the evening puts Will into a clear lead in the Golden Glove contest, and he’ll be looking to wrest the trophy from Seb Cooley’s hand this year.
Warriors 5-1 Fivercide