In the group stages, Eastwood had to battle hard as a team. They defeated Attenborough A 20 – 12 (despite their third pair losing to Attenborough’s David Yorke and Richard Korzeniewski 2 – 6). They also beat a battling Keyworth team 18 – 13, whose top pairing of Tom Pycroft and Rich McClaughlin finished with a personal score of 22 – 14. In their final group match they despatched Saxondale 20 – 8, although their top pair were pushed hard by Phil Jelly and Alistair Hunt. After finishing top of their group they were to face The Park in the final.
The Park came to the final after convincing wins over Attenborough B and Burton Joyce in their group stages.
Both sides needed to play as a team, because the result was determined by the number of games scored by the team’s three pairs in total. Eastwood led 14 - 11 after the first round, but The Park fought back. In the second and final round they won 12 – 8 and took the title with the narrowest of margins, 23 – 22.
LTA County secretary, Ann Spalding presented the trophies.
The Park Team (as per the photo)
Back row - Carlton Blake, Abdul Hassan, Andrew Foley, Gavin Johnson
Front row - Patrick Foley, Aaron Nicholson and Juan Garrahan (as per the photo).
Eastwood Team (as per the Photograph)
Back row - Rafe Elliott, Adam Middleton, David Newenham, Mark Hodgkinson
Front row - Vaughan Hallam and Greg Draper
Attenborough B team photo .
Joseph Hikus, Matt Sharples, Rhiad Tamar, Ruman Rahman, Paul Mayfield and Doug Lyburn
Also shown, Adam Middleton in action for Eastwood
Report by Mike Abrahamson, Organiser of The Short Format League.