With frequently changing lineups for both teams in the week leading up to the match there was some nervousness on both sides as to whether we would have 8 players in each team. As it turned out the WFA ended up with 9! We had a great match and the closest game in this series of WFA vs RFA matches that we have ever had with the RFA now leading the contest 5 matches to 4. In the end it came down to just 7 points and all the ‘What if’s’ and ‘If onlys’ that come with a game like that we mentioned in the post match chat at the Queen. Ollie and Ben played the game like they were playing with a golf ball whilst Dan and Howard battled against Giles and Tom for a 16-15, 15-16 scorecard! Thanks to all the last minute replacements who made this fixture and who all played such important parts in the day.
Narrow loss for Wessex vs Marlborough Ist IV
Wessex fell to a narrow loss against the Marlborough 1st IV last week. Thanks to Bill, Rupert, Andy and Martin for playing a Thursday afternoon against the boys, looks like a good match. Just now looking for the singles scores…..
New Season
Good opening night to the new season last night with a few new faces, but a serious omission by HFA meant that no sausages had been ordered. He has just one job to do……. Anyway, as you can see initiative was used to good effect. Hopefully see more of you there next week.
New Fives Season
The first night of the Wessex 2019-2020 fives season will be on the 17th September. We will then play every Tuesday (bar a Christmas break) till the Letchworth Bowl which is normally at the end of April. Club evening normally start around 1830 and we play till about 2145 following which we have drinks and sausages in the Wykeham Arms. Please come and join us!
Letchworth Bowl Winners
Tuesday 30th April saw our traditional end of season tournament being played for the Letchworth Bowl. Last year’s winner Giles Munn was paired this year with Wendy Carling and having won all their group games came up against Ben Chua and Dan Thompson in the final. For Dan this was only his 5th time playing fives…. which was 4 times more than Giles’ partner Chris Jack had played when they won it last year! A good final was won by Giles and Wendy 11-6 and so Giles joins a select group of players in having retained the Letchworth Bowl. Previous back to back winners are Frank Akerman (1985/ 86), Tony Letchworth (1989/ 90), Tony Wolstenholme (1995/ 96)…. and a bloke called Will Ellison (2007/ 8). Giles still has some way to go before he finds himself on the hall of fame below!
Previous 4 time winnners Nigel Cox- 1978, 1980, 1984, 1990, Tony Letchworth- 1981, 1983, 1989, 1990, Tony Wolstenholme- 1988, 1995, 1996, 2005
Biggest gap between wins…. Jamie Orchard, 1985 and 2011
Oldest winner…. Bev Boag 2017… 70 something!
Youngest winners- Pete Kullavanijaya and Alex Younger 15 year olds paired together
First Lady Winner- Wendy Carling 2019
Giles Munn and Wendy Carling celebrating their 2019 victory. You have a year to clean the cup Giles!!
Grand Master Champions!
It should probably come as no surprise that when it comes to having strong fives players in their ‘latter years’ Wessex is going to be strong…. and so it seems! We are proud to have the first ever ‘Grand Master’ national champions! Well done Bev and well done Bernard! Below is some words written by Bernard….
‘The Grand Masters: The establishment of the Masters by David Bawtree in 2003 inevitably nurtured the ambition that there might be another tournament lurking in the RFA gerontocracy. The date of inception was clearly a critical trade-off between sufficient numbers on the one hand and creeping mortality on the other! Deeming the moment to be right, Bernard Atkinson launched the new tournament, and so two pairs of players in late middle age were able to prove that there is probably life after death, with a contest of three games to 11. In the end all four players were still standing and a red line had been crossed and a serious point proved. The new trophy will be engraved with the names of Bernard Atkinson & Bev Boag, while Chris Horrocks and his partner David Neal can bask in the pride of having not only participated in the making of history, but giving the winners some nervous moments on the way.
Match vs Winchester College
Thanks to Bill, Rupert, Toby, and Lucas for playing against the Winchester College 1st IV on Saturday. In beautiful Spring conditions the match was a close affair with Wessex loosing the doubles by just 10 points. In a desperate attempt to close the gap the non playing Wessex Manager suggested that singles was a good idea- our team who had given everything on court during the doubles were all ‘delighted’ to run around against opponents 1/2 (or even 1/3!) their age and despite their best efforts sadly we lost the singles as well. Thanks to Jamie and the College boys for such an enjoyable fixture.
Highlights of our club members at the Barnes Bridge 2019
Barnes Bridge Report 2019
16 pairs entered this year’s Barnes Bridge and despite the post storm British Rail excuses of ‘trees on the line’ and ‘scaffolding on the line’, all 32 players made it safely to Winchester College for what could be the last Barnes Bridge before the new courts are opened. The first round sprung no surprises other than local Wessex stalwarts Martin Patterson and Miles Catton leading in both their games against number 2 seeds Dan Tristao and Dave Butler… but not for long! Again the second round/ quarter final went according to the seedings apart from a fine 3 game victory by Hamish Buchanan and James Bristow over Giles Munn and James Birch. The expected hard hitting onslaught of Ollie Arnold and Theo Parker could not put the number 2 seeds off their line and with Will Ellison and Ed Kay having a relatively easy semi final against an understandably tiring Hamish and James the number 1 and 2 seeds had made it through to the final without too many concerns.
Various plates were meanwhile underway to ensure that no one went home feeling short of exercise. In the main plate for first round losers Ben Chua and James Smith won an excellent final against James Marshall and Louise Mathias. A plate for the second round losers saw Giles and James coming out up against John Minta and Ed Hawke in another 3 gamer.
Other highlights of the plates included Duncan Neale (always one for a bit extra fives) playing a best of 3 in the plate without realizing it was a best of one and then he went on to display some extraordinary delaying tactics to catch his breath when playing against the organiser- you really need to learn to tie those laces properly the first time Duncan!
And so to the final, and what a final it was. I cannot think there have ever been too many better games of fives played.
The first started cagily with both pairs not wanting to give anything away. All players were serving well, not necessarily into the buttress but into the nicks around it, so chances to win points were scarce. Eventually, with the game stuck at 6 all, Will and Ed broke the deadlock to lead 13-7. As often happens in Winchester Fives however it was Dave and Dan’s turn to go on a run of points. It looked at one point like they may turn the tables and take the game but they never managed to quite get level and Will and Ed held on to take the game 15-13.
The second game was a role reversal of the first. Dave and Dan broke the deadlock again at 6 a piece to go up, only for Will and Ed to claw their way back successfully enough to earn their first match point, but Dave and Dan narrowly won 16-14.
With the match all square going into the third it was very hard to call a winner. Both pairs again knew the importance of a strong start and as was the norm there were a close first few points until Dave and Dan went 10-6 up. Were Ed and Will going to rue not winning that match point in the previous game? At 11-11 it was impossible to call a winner until some killer buttress shots gave Will and Ed the lead and eventual victory 15-12.
Main Competition- Barnes Bridge
First Round:- W. Ellison + E. Kay bt S. Frase + D. Percival 15-0, 15-2. M. Crompton + R James-Duff bt D. Neale + N. Geere 15-4, 15-3 H. Buchanan + J. Bristow bt L. Amery + G. Daykin 15-1, 15-2 J. Birch + G. Munn bt J. Marshall + L. Mathias 15-3, 15-2 O. Arnold + T. Parker bt B. Hale + S. Zang 15-3, 15-7. J. Minta + E. Hawke bt B. Chua + J. Smith 15-2, 15-10 A. Passey + L. Cook bt C. Davey + J. Sumner 15-7, 15-8 D. Tristao + D. Butler bt M. Catton + M. Patterson 15-1, 15-3
Quarter Finals:- W. Ellison + E. Kay bt M. Crompton + R. James-Duff 15-0, 15-2 H. Buchanan + J. Bristow bt J. Birch + G. Munn 5-15, 16-14, 15-13 O. Arvold + T. Parker bt J. Minta + E. Hawke 15-8, 15-2 D. Tristao + D. Butler bt A. Passey + L. Cook 15-0, 15-0
Semi Finals:- W. Ellison + E. Kay bt H. Buchanan + J. Bristow 15-4, 15-2 D. Tristao + D. Butler bt O. Arvold + T. Parker 15-9, 15-7
Final:- W. Ellison + E. Kay bt D. Tristao + D. Butler 15-13, 14-16, 15-12
Plate for 1st round losers
Quarter Finals:- S. Fraser + D. Percival bt D. Neale + N. Geere 15-7, 15-8 J. Marshall + L Mathias bt L. Amery + G. Daykin 15-3 B. Chua + J. Smith bt B. Hale + S. Zang 15-3. C Davey + J. Sumner bt M. Catton + M. Patterson 15-4
Semi Finals:- J. Marshall + L. Mathias bt S. Fraser + D. Percival 15-3 B. Chua + J. Smith bt C. Davey + J. Sumner 15-3
Finals:- B. Chua + J. Smith bt J. Marshall + L. Mathias 15-11
Plate for second round losers from Barnes Bridge
Semi Finals:- J. Birch + G. Munn bt M. Crompton + R. James-Duff 15,4 E. Hawke + J. Minta bt A. Passey + L. Cook 15-8
Final:- G. Munn + J. Birch bt J. Minta + E. Hawke 5-11, 11-7, 11-5
Plate for first round plate losers
Semi Final:- L. Amery + H. Akerman bt D. Neale + N. Geere 15-12 B. Hale + S. Zang bt M. Catton + M. Patterson15-6
Final:- B. Hale + S. Zang bt L. Amery + N. Geere 15-4
Plate for 1st round losers from plate for second round Barnes Bridge losers (!)
Final:- M. Crompton + R. James-Duff bt A. Passey + L. Cook 15-13
Ben Chua and James Smith- Winners of the main plate
Rory James-Duff and Mike Crompton- so near and yet so far against number 1 seeds Will Ellison and Ed Kay
Ed and Will with the Barnes Bridge. Will has now won it 9 times- the only person with more victories is Dave Hebden (14).
Dave Butler- National U25 Champion
Congratulations to Dave Butler for winning the National U25 championship this weekend beating Andrew Boyd (ex Edinburgh Academy) in a tough final. The first game took an hour and then despite being 7-1 up in the second he found himself 12-9 down. Dave rallied as Andrew tired and finally ended up winning 15-7, 15-12.
