151017 | bsmttc

News Release - BSMTTC News 32

Dateline: 17 October 2015

Not a good week!

Last week saw the start of the various Divisional Cup competitions in the L&DTTL. The Divisional Cup competitions are individual knock out cup competitions for each division of the league, and all 9 of the Club’s teams were in the draw for Round 1, with matches played in the week commencing 12 October.

The Readman Cup

For the first time ever the Club had 3 teams in the Readman Cup, the Division 1 Divisional Cup, but by the end of the week only 1 was left in, the 1st Team, as they received a ‘bye’ in Round 1!

The A Team (Dave Roberts, Clare Peers and Dermot Tierney) faced Crosby High, whose team featured Welsh International player Ryan Jenkins. Despite the quality of the opposition the team put up a magnificent performance just losing out 5:3, with Dave taking 2 and Clare 1. On another day this could so easily have been a victory for the A Team.

The B Team (Barry Davis, Ricky Brown & Ian McElwee) in their debut season in Div 1 faced a formidable away draw to the newly formed all star line-up of Waterloo. And what a performance they put in. In the end they just couldn't overcome the might of Keith Williams and Steve Green, but went down fighting, 5:3 the final score.

The Rumjahn Cup

In the Rumjahn Cup, the Division 2 Divisional Cup, last seasons surprise semi-finalists, Dave Stoddern's D team, received a 'bye' for Round 1. However the newly promoted C Team faced what looked like a tough draw at home to Sefton Park, and without the benefit of team captain Ted Cramsie - off cruising the seven seas. However Colin Mitchell was able to substitute and together with acting captain Sam Pierce and Julian Quirk the team made short work of the visitors. Racing through to a 5:0 victory in extra quick time, with Julian and Colin taking 2 each.

Acting C Team captain, Sam Pierce, leads team to dynamic Round 1 win in the Cup

The Hyde Cup

In the Hyde Cup, the Division 3 Divisional Cup, the Club also had 2 teams. The usually tenacious E Team, captained by Brian Crolley, and the newly promoted F Team led by Dave Noden. In Div 3 there are no easy draws and no easy matches, but on paper the F Team looked to have the edge.

The E Team had a home draw against Maghull B. captain Brian Crolley reports, "We were well beaten by a very good team, John Langton,Steve Braddock, and Alun Chen. We all played pretty good but were out classed. Andy Cheung was our best player and Mal Kent beat Alun Chen in the last game of the night. I don’t think I need to say any more except to say that everybody enjoyed the match and we had a cup of tea at 3-0!". What more can be said, 1:5 was a fairly heavy defeat for this most competitive of teams.

The F Team faced a visit to Bootle YMCA A, and came away extremely disappointed with the result! Captain Dave Noden reports, "the least said about this match the better! Man of the Match Liam Shaw kicked off proceedings with a first ever win over yours truly following this with wins over Josh Taylor and ultimately over Mickey White in straight sets to clinch the tie. There will not be many matches where Micky or Josh will come away pointless but this was one". The match card opposite though shows that Dave might have won all three and 3 five setters all went the wrong way, Dave's two wins leaving the team on the end of a 5:2 defeat.

The Stamp Cup

The Club did not have any teams in the Forrest Cup this season, the Division 4 Divisional Cup, however the two remaining teams were both in Round 1 action in the Stamp Cup, the Division 5 Divisional Cup. And there were high hopes for the G Team under new captain Keith Dudley. However without their No.1 the team faced a stern test drawn away to QVC A. This proved to be a nerve tingling night for the team of Miguel Monteiro, Peter Ashley, Keith Dudley and Julia Cornish. After surprisingly slipping 3:1 behind, the team pulled it round to 4:4, leaving Peter needing the last set of the evening against the home No.1 to steal the match. In the end he proved no match for the funny pimple bat, and the team fell at the first hurdle 5:4.

That just left the H Team of Des Logan, Tom Bell, Mary Delamere and Billy Clayton with the task of trying to get another team through to Round 2. But the H Team also faced a tough draw, away to the very experienced Sefton Park C. Newly appointed team captain Mary Delamare reports, "we lost 5-1 to Sefton Park but it was a really enjoyable night. We only played the singles but the atmosphere was great and we look forward to playing them at home. Billy was our only winner. but I managed a 4 and 5 setter which I was pleased about because I am still not fully fit and only played at the last minute because Michal had to work late unexpectedly. It was a match played in the best of spirits".

So it looks like the Club's hopes rest almost entirely on the Division 2 Cup. Not a good week at all for our teams, but some enjoyable sporting matches all the same.