Press Report 11.2.08

by Graham Trimming

Junior British League 2nd Weekend (9-10.2.08)

Boys’ team are runners-up

For the second year in succession the Cippenham boys’ team finished runners-up in the Junior British League Division 2 completed at Wolverhampton over the weekend. The girls’ team finished fourth in Division 1. Both teams doubled their points tally from the first weekend, held in October, and retained their former positions.

The boys had two wins, both by 5-1, two draws and a defeat only to champions Bridge the Gorge who retained their unblemished record throughout the season. Andrew Linz scored maximums in both the victories while Edward Mitchell scored a brace against the bottom team Crusaders, and Ruihao Zhang did likewise against Uxbridge (Burton).

Perhaps a draw against third placed Halton was all that was really needed to secure Cippenham second place. It would seem as if this was in the players’ minds as they led 3-0 only to be pegged back to 3-3. A topsy-turvey match in which four of the six individual matches required a fifth game to decide them. Against Byng Hall, Cippenham went 1-0 up and then slumped to 1-3 down before gaining the point with another 3-3 draw. Both drawn matched were real team affairs with each of the Cippenham boys winning once and losing once in each match.

The girls’ best performance came against third-placed St. Andrews. Cippenham upset the form book with a scintillating 5-1 victory. Rachel Pilgrim and Rachel Farquhar won twice each while Catherine Hayes got the all-important fourth and winning set with a great victory over the much higher ranked Megan Sparrey.

The girls also beat bottom team Waterside B 4-2 but lost 5-1 to division winners Ballina and 4-2 to both Waterside A and Redland Bats.

League Tables:

 

P

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

Boys’ Division 2A

Bridge the Gorge

10

10

0

0

46

14

20

Cippenham

10

4

4

2

35

25

12

Halton

10

2

5

3

28

32

9

Uxbridge

10

3

2

5

26

34

8

Byng Hall

10

1

5

4

25

35

7

Crusaders A

10

1

2

7

20

40

4

Girls’ Division 1

Ballina

10

9

1

0

45

15

19

Waterside A

10

6

2

2

38

22

14

St. Andrews A

10

4

2

4

31

29

10

Cippenham

10

3

2

5

27

33

8

Redland Bats

10

2

3

5

22

38

7

Waterside B

10

1

0

9

17

43

2