Studs, Desperados, Warriors and Whores into the Last Four
QUARTER FINALS (17/18 July)
Academy caned
Quarter final action and a potential banana skin for the Studs. At least on paper it might have been, but skipper Julian Black had not been able to field his strongest quartet at any stage of the regular season and, unfortunately for him, wasn’t able to do so here either. That was disappointing for the match as a contest, but good news individually for North Oxford’s Mandie Barnes and schoolboy Daniel Arwas, starting in the knockout stages of the Superleague for the first time. Ralph Morgan and Ian Mitchell completed the class for the Academy, but the Studs’ found their stride quickly and their foursome of Laurie Brock, Jeremy Hindle, Gareth Hoskins and Justin Shaw conceded only 17 points across the six games in the rubber. “Boomer” Hindle and Shaw were particularly ruthless in game six, shutting out Barnes and Arwas and proving there was no love lost between the North Oxford teammates with the Superleague at stake!
Academy 0 – 6 Studs
Whores cross the picket line
Whores v Westway I in the Superleague playoffs and a chance for Will Skjott and Freddie Rowe to showcase the depth of their respective squads. Perhaps Whore chef d’equipe Skjott felt under the greater pressure to win here as his team had already suffered two regular season defeats at the hands of Rowe’s rabble. A third consecutive reversal would surely be too tough to swallow? His team of Ed Hewens, Nick Bunyan, Harry Turnbull and Mike Skjott were out to prove a point. The first rotation saw Hewens and Turnbull line up against Tom Fletcher and Dom Redmond, and Bunyan and Mike Skjott against MVP headliners Will Betts and Lia Redmond. And it was the Whores who drew first blood, winning the games to 8 and 7. Westway Wiz Hewens wasn’t for stopping in Rotation 2 either as he linked up with Skjott to defeat Betts and Dom, again to 7. The parallel game in the rubber was pivotal and Fletcher and the younger Redmond had to win to keep the Wildcats in the competition. In a gruelling encounter, they matched Bunyan and Turnbull for most of the game before the greater weight of the Whores’ shots began to tell and they finally licked the Cats to 10. With the match lost, the Wildcats were just playing for pride, and they earned that in spades with a very satisfying win in the top match of the night, Fletcher and Betts shocking Hewens and Bunyan with a win to 9. Mike Skjott, making a welcome return to Superleague this season, and a tough nut to crack in this format, raced to victory in the final rubber of the match, thereby enhancing an already stellar record in the Superleague annals.
WhoreFC 5 – 1 Wildcats
Seminal moment for Warriors?
Another day, another Westway v Whores confrontation, and not long for the local boys to spend licking their wounds. This time Warrior Chief Rowe was able to call on the pride of Westway, Pete Cohen, to head up a strong team completed by Guy Chapman, James Hammond and Abhishek Bhattacharya. Always a quick starter, Cohen teamed up with Hammond to notch up the first point on the board with a 15-8 win over Al Taylor and Simon Warren-Thomas. The parallel game could have gone either way, but a classy encounter saw Chapman and Hammond edge out Hugo Tobias and Johnny Saunders 15-11. Cohen returned in imperious form in game 3, hunting down Tobias and Warren-Thomas 15-6, and Chapman and Hammond made sure the Warriors would progress to the semi-finals with a win to 8 over Taylor and Saunders. The final rotation brought on the game of the night, Cohen and Chapman against Taylor and Tobias. Perhaps the failing light and a darker, softer ball levelled the playing field a little for the Whores, but Tobias and Taylor played out of their skins to lose by the narrowest margin to their highly ranked opponents. The sixth game was an almost equally tight affair, but Hammond and Bhattacharya were riding high, and they braved it out to win to 12. Is Superleague Fives coming home in 2012? The Warriors certainly think so!
Warriors 6 – 0 WhoreFC2
Young Guns (Go for it)
Ryan Perrie, sidelined by an ankle injury from regular season action for the Desperados, rejoined his compadres from the victorious 2011 Gangstas to shoot it out against Fivercide in the last of the WSSL quarter finals. Perrie paired up with regular “pardners” Anthony Theodossi, Andrew Joyce and Jeremy O’Neill, and the fearsome foursome went head to head here against Chris Austin, Karen Hird, Alex Nice and Phil Lyndon. So strong were the Desperados that they conceded only 11 points in quick fire action over the first two rotations to secure their semi-final berth. But Aldenham Ace Chris Austin, and Karen Hird, enjoying her promotion to the number 2 slot, upped their game in the top contest of the rubber, and Theodossi and Perrie had to play well to rustle up the win to 7. George and Andrew would have been proud of them….
Desperados 6 – 0 Fivercide
MVP and Golden Glove
Lia Redmond (231 points) was back on court this week, but now gives way to Will Betts (237) at the top of the individual honours board. Will and Lia look to slug it out over the next two weeks along with Jeremy Hindle (220) and James Hammond (211) for the coveted Top Gun award.
The Golden Glove is also up for grabs. Will (11) and James (8) are very much in the running for that award too, but Anthony Theodossi (8) and Jeremy O’Neill (6) look to be shaping up for a challenge, and reigning hand, Seb Cooley (2), can never be underestimated.