REPORT RE SEMI FINALS OF 2019 SPRING FIXTURES (19/11/19)

DIV 1

In the 1st Semi, an upset was on the cards as minor premiers, Black Widows, were up against Tarantulas who soundly beat them in the last week of fixtures just a week ago. However what a difference a week makes. One could attempt to argue that the substitution of Bill Brown for Roger Gore made all the difference for the Black Widows, but Bill and Roger had almost identical results in singles.

It was the reversal of the results in 2 matches that turned the tide. Martyn Clarke (Black Widows) avenged his 5 game loss to Bruce Taylor (Tarantulas) last week with an emphatic 3 game win in the Semi.

And in the match of the final, Adam Wood (Black Widows) reversed his 1-3 loss last week to Alan Bruhn with a nail biting 3-2 win in the semi. Adam was leading 10-7 in the 3rd game but squandered 3 match points and lose 5 straight points to go down 10-12. Alan won the next game and it seemed the momentum was definitely with Alan. It was a fascinating contest with the cunning and experience of Alan up against the wizardry and unique style of the somewhat brash youth of Adam. In the end Adam got there.

In the 2nd semi, Funnel Webs had a close battle with Red Backs. Red Backs looked to be cruising at 3-1 and with their number 1, Michael Wilson, up against the number 3 for Funnel Webs, the likeable Jonas Campbell, it was heading for a 4-1 lead. But no one told Jonas who astonished everyone with a 11-7,13-11,11-9 win. This seemed to spur on the Funnel Webs who won the next 3 matches and eventually claim a 6-4 win.

See details below:-

DIV 2

I would like to report on 2 very close semis in Div 2, BUT the truth is that both semis were absolute thrashings with neither losing team even winning a match.

In semi 2, I think the wrong Denis Orr turned up for theT-Bones. Denis finished well clear on the rankings in Div 2 but could not even salvage a match for the T-Bones who went home completely burnt. Rick Perry was the standout for the winning Sirloins with great wins over Desley Payne and Denis Orr. The only good news for the T-Bones was the improved form of Judy Zhang who had a very close loss to the very experienced, Steve Rowson (11-5, 10-12, 9-11, 10-12). Actually tying Steve 40-all on actual points won.

Briskets were totally outclassed by the Blades in the 1st semi. Well done that, despite the flogging, the Briskets did not throw in the towel in any of the matches. Well done to Colin Rule (subbing for Gordon Falkingham), Jim Kyle and Stephen Park (subbing for John Dale).