2004/2005 Division
1 Review |
In the end Walpole & Cookley
won Division 1 at a canter. But they didn't have it all their
own way all season. In fact it was not really until the beginning
of March that they started to nose in front, but once they did
there was no stopping them.
Up until then it had really
been a two horse race, the early showing from the 2 Sizewell
teams had faded by the end of the year and Knodishall A had been
left out in front only to be caught, passed and finally left
behind by Walpole, who ended up a very comfortable 19 points
clear at the top, to take a well deserved second title win in
3 years, although this season was a far cry from 2002/2003 when
they only won by virtue of having scored more shots.
Knodishall A were left with
the runner-up spot for the second year in succession and Wenhaston
A came through with a very strong finish to end up in third place
after having spent most of the season, like everyone else apart
from the top 2, in danger of being demoted.
Sadly for Wissett and Middleton
it was very much business as usual, coming up from the Second
Division only to fall back again the very next season, but for
everyone else it was a different story. This season saw a change
in the rules intended to spice things up and that it certainly
did. For the first time it was decided that there would be three
up, three down between the 2 divisions, which meant for a large
part of the season there were half a dozen teams in danger of
finishing up in that third relegation spot.
As it was Wenhaston pulled
themselves out of danger with a month to go, Snape finished well
with two excellent results and Sizewell B and Kelsale made themselves
safe in their final games of the season, which left one final
game between Sizewell A and Thorpeness, just one point between
them and whoever lost would be demoted. In the end it was Sizewell
that triumphed and Thorpeness, last year's champions, were left
with the final relegation spot.
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2004/2005 Division
2 Review |
There are no guarantees in
any sport (except that if you have more money than anyone else
you will win the Premiership), but if there was one certainty
this season it was that Knodishall B would be promoted back into
Division 1 after their shock relegation last season. And so it
turned out, not only gaining promotion, but winning Division
2 by a comfortable margin (although it may not have seemed so
comfortable to them at the time).
But they did not have it all
their own way by any means. Riverside pushed Knodishall hard
all season and at times themselves led the division, indeed if
it had not been for a shock home defeat by Darsham late on in
the season, they might have won the title themselves. As it was
they didn't quite make it, but from the end of the year their
promotion seemed in little doubt and indeed the two teams ended
up well ahead of their rivals.
The third promotion spot was,
however, a different story and came down to a 3-way fight between
Yoxford, Darsham and Reydon, the outcome of which was not decided
until the very last game.
There was little to tell between
Saxmundham, Leiston St Margarets and Amber, although it should
be noted that Amber started of the season with 2 big wins, had
another stonking result at the end and managed only one other
in the middle, nestled amongst 13 defeats, although all in all
it was a huge improvement on 2003/2004.
Wenhaston B and Aldeburgh finished
more or less together at the foot of the table, although both
of them should be commended for their efforts in overcoming various
obstacles to both start and complete the season, respectively.
Comments
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2004/2005 Knockout
Cup Review |
It has to be said that the
draw for this year's Cup was rather one sided, with 7 Division
1 teams in the bottom half of the draw and only 3 in the top
half.
So it was that Walpole &
Cookley, already the Division 1 Champions and looking for the
first League and Cup double since Thorpeness in 1995, had to
find their way past Thorpeness, Leiston St Margarets, Knodishall
A and Snape to reach the final. Even then, with what appeared
to be an easier draw Kelsale still had to face both of the other
Division 1 teams in their half and also had to take on Riverside
and Darsham, one of which gained promotion from the Second Division
and the other of which were unlucky not to do so.
As it was there were no shock
results, the only real surprise was that Knodishall A, finalists
for the last 6 consecutive seasons didn't make it this year.
The Final - Kelsale vs. Walpole & Cookley
The first pair of games started
well for Kelsale as they took early leads in each, but Walpole
fought their way back and in the end won both ending up with
a 9 shot lead (10-19).
The second pair of games saw
Kelsale come back into the match, winning both by a total margin
of 16 shots to overturn Walpole's lead and go into the break
ahead by 7 shots (32-25).
As the first 2 rounds of games
had shown a small gap can easily be overturned, so it was all
to play for in the final pair of games. As it was Kelsale won
both games, and finished a comfortable looking 15 shots clear
with a final score of 50-35, for their second Cup win in 3 years.
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2004/2005 Heritage
Plate Review |
Interestingly
both finalists found their way into the Plate having been knocked
out of the Cup by both of the finalists in that competition,
however their paths to the Final differed somewhat.
Thorpeness
had 3 matches on their way to the Final, but each of them were
were achieved in convincing manner, Aldeburgh, Wenhaston A and
Cratfield were all well beaten with plenty of shots to spare.
But for Riverside it was a different story, although they had
only 2 matches to play both were tight affairs, in fact Knodishall
B and Leiston St Margarets were beaten by only 3 shots each.
The Final - Thorpeness vs. Riverside
On paper the
teams looked evenly matched, Thorpeness having just been relegated
from Division 1 at the same time that Riverside were being promoted
in their place.
In the end
the difference between the two teams on the night was made in
the first pair of games, Thorpeness won both of them, one by
a single shot, the other by 12, it was a margin that Riverside
were never going to be able to close (19-6).
The second
pair of games were split, although Thorpeness managed to increase
their overall lead slightly and took a 15 shot advantage into
the break (29-14).
The results
of the final pair of games were again split evenly, each team
scoring an equal number of shots, to see Thorpeness triumph and
take a well deserved consolation after the disappointment of
their recent relegation (40-25).
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|
previous posts
2004/2005
Division 1 Review
2004/2005 Division
2 Review
2004/2005 Knockout
Cup Review
2004/2005
Heritage Plate Review
2006/2007
Season
2005/2006 Season |