It is with great sadness that I have to report the untimely death of Ben Dudley the secretary and driving force of the St Catherine’s Academy. Ben joined the league in 2006, entering one team from the then Withins school, Now under the name of St Catherine’s, there are five teams playing in the league mainly as a result of the junior coaching programme instigated by Ben. The league recognised his coaching achievements by awarding him the Rupert De Riggs Plate in 2008. Ben will be missed by the players that knew him, and our sympathy goes out to his wife and family.
Warburton Cup
Two Premier Division teams are into the final after beating Division One opposition. The Burning Desire trio of Lindsey Reynolds, Ben Armstrong and Kevin Chapman gave Little Lever C 35 points start but, it was the penultimate set before they moved ahead to record a 30 points winning margin Little Lever’A Ron Durose, Graham Jeffries and Steve McNicholas also gave top division one side Heaton A 35 points start. They moved ahead in the fourth set and always maintained their advantage to win by 63 points.
Brian Gittins Cup
Premier Division Hilton A reached the final by beating Nomads A from division one who received 70 points start by the narrow margin of 38 points. Hilton were represented by Dave Pickard, Andy Michnowiec and Ron Pennington, and Nomads fielded Dennis Collier, Derek Watmough and Clive Taylor. Burning Desire were awarded their match with St Catherine’s A who fielded an ineligible player.
Ron Hindle Memorial Trophy
The two top teams in Division Four are both through to the final. Top team Farnworth TTC B’s Daniel Harris, Sam Evans and Nathan Patel gave Boyzone 21 points start and finished with a victory of 119 points. The team in second spot in the division Lads & Girls Club A, represented by Josh Sandford, Craig Duncan and Ray Isherwood gave Brass 35 points start. They moved ahead in the third set and increased their advantage over the next seven sets to win by 71 points.
George Yates Shield
The results from the two semi-finals will be published next week.
Division One
Top team Heaton A scored a 5-4 win in a close match at Ramsbottom D, previously the Rammy team recorded a 7-2 win at Heaton C who languish near the bottom of the table. Also near the bottom are Hilton B, Heaton B and Wingates. In matches that could prove to be decisive, Hilton beat Heaton 5-4 thanks to three wins by Dave Andrews, and John and Alan Bradbury were unbeaten for Wingates in their 6-3 victory over the Hilton.
Division Two
The top three teams all won with a 7-2 score-line. Top team Nomads B, winning at little Lever D with Gareth Palmer their unbeaten player. Marek Maraszkiewicz and Lukasz Serdiuk trebled for Grubba Fans who won at Ladybridge B. Mark Speakman scored three for Coburg who are third in the table in their win at Heaton D. BEN A’s 7-2 win over Hilton D featured 3 wins by Mike Heaton and Rod Hall. The three wins by Mathew Fields helped Hilton E to 6-3 win over Heaton E, and Meadow Hill A won a close match with Farnworth TTC A 5-4.
Division Three
Top team St Catherine’s D beat their E team 6-3. The E team followed with a 9-0 win over Ladybridge C, and BEN B won 6-3 at Farnworth SC.
Division Four
Hilton J who third in the table beat Heaton G 7-2, while Hilton I in fourth spot won 6-3 at Hilton K. The K team followed with a 6-3 loss to Brass but, their improving Jordon Brookes was unbeaten