Southport ‘D’ victorious

March 26, 2009 — Alan

The juniors of Southport ‘D’ celebrated their win over Formby Holy Trinity ‘C’ in Tuesday’s Gunson Plate final, pictured here with coach and manager, Paul Lunan.

Gunson Plate winners - Southport D enjoying the limelight

The match was keenly contested, but played in a very friendly atmosphere, and both teams had plenty to smile about afterwards. First Division team Formby HT ‘C’ gave away a 180-point advantage to their Division 3 opponents, and such a margin proved too great for the more experienced team against the agility and confidence of the youngsters.

Gunson Plate finalists - Southport D and Formby HT C

At the half way stage, Formby had clawed back only 70 points and still needed to recover a further 110 from the remaining 4 games to draw level. Southport ‘D’ had not looked like dropping this many points at any stage, and indeed dropped only another 40 points to give a winning margin of 70.

The match was played throughout in a great spirit, and it was a treat to see so many of the parents there to support their lads.

Ray Hibbs kindly gave up his evening to officiate and to umpire all the games. Both teams were indebted to him and to St Teresa’s for once again allowing the use of their club for the venue.

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‘D’ team juniors to take on old hands

March 24, 2009 — Alan

The lads of third division Southport ‘D’ team (average age 14) will play first division Formby Holy Trinity ‘C’ (average age somewhat more than 14 ;-) ) in the final of the Gunson Plate handicap on Tuesday 24th March at St Teresa’s.

In the semi-finals, the juniors beat a strong Formby HT ‘E’ by just 4 points, after allowing for Formby’s 60 point advantage, whilst Formby HT ‘C’ easily overcame a 140-point handicap to beat Southport ‘C’ by 31 points.

We have now learned that the juniors will start with a 180-point advantage so perhaps the balance has swung in their favour, but it’s still going to be a close match with youthful exuberance pitted against guile and experience.

Don’t miss it – tonight at St Teresa’s CMS Club.

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Near end-of-season experience

March 23, 2009 — Alan

Two of our teams continued their run of form in the final months of the season. The ‘C’ team ended a dismal season with their joint-second best performance (ignoring an earlier walkover), losing 6-4 at Deyes High to finish bottom of Division 2 with a measly 41 points. In marked contrast the ‘D’ team, consisting of Paul Lunan (captain, coach and manager), Danny Houghton, Jonathan Cummins, Danny Woods, Ollie Valentine and Jamie Wordsworth, finished off a superb league season with two 9-1 and three 10-0 victories to end with a points tally of 162 out of a maximum of 180. Looking back over the last 5 years, I cannot find any other team winning promotion with a 90% average. Well done, the lads!

After losing key players for much of the season, the ‘A’ team has recovered somewhat to finish around mid-table in Division 2, and the ‘B’ team looks as though it may also hang onto Division 2 status for next year.

In Division 3, the ‘E’ team has done really well, and currently lies in 2nd place, though it is likely to be overtaken by Formby HT ‘E’ if they play their outstanding matches. The very young ‘F’ team has certainly not been disgraced, and would probably have finished third from bottom if Argyle ‘C’ had not had 1st Division standard Ben Aitken playing for much of the season. Most of the lads are not yet 13½ years old, and will surely make great strides next season.

The final league tables should be available within the next few weeks, so look out for the next instalment.

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