Weekend IV

11th & 12th March 2006

Contributed by Ken Lewis 

The final 2005/06 round of British League matches took place at Barnet on 11th & 12th March 2006.

Going into the final weekend, Britannia needed to ensure a win in the ‘return’ fixture against bottom placed Harvey Barnet if they were to avoid finishing at the foot of the league table.

First Britannia they had to face a strong York Gardens squad in a match unlikely to produce any league points for the Ipswich team.

Ian was first up, but was unable to take the final fifth end against York Gardens number one – one nil to York Gardens.

Ken then levelled the match with a surprise 3-2 win over Ian Buchannan, but with both Aimee and Mark loosing out to York Gardens numbers 3 and 4 respectively, York Gardens held a 3-1 match lead.

It appeared York Gardens would run away with the match, however Ken then led a spirited Britannia comeback with a superb win over York Gardens number one, followed by Ian beating York Gardens number 3 by 3-1. Match now level with 2 to play.

Unfortunately this was where the come back ended and Britannia missed an opportunity to stake a claim to any unexpected league points as York Gardens took the final two games against Aimee and Mark.

Ken received the player of the match award for beating both York Garden’s numbers 1&2.

Result : York Gardens 5 Britannia 3.

Next was the all important return match against Harvey Barnet.

Britannia raced away to an early lead, Ian and Ken both winning in 3 straight, followed by Aimee and Clair both winning 3-1. Match lead for Britannia at the half way stage of 4-nil.

Ken made no mistake in ensuring full match points for Britannia by taking the next in three straight, and Ian and Aimee increased Britannia’s match lead to 7-nil.

In the last game of the match, Clair fought gallantly but was unable to overcome the experienced Barnet number 4 who saved a match whitewash, beating Clair by the narrowest of margins, 12-10,8-11,9-11,11-9,9-11.

Aimee received the player of the match award in recognition of her fine consistent attacking throughout the match.

Result : Harvey Barnet 1 Britannia 7.

The final match of the 2005/06 season pitted Britannia against the greatly experienced Jags Fusion squad which for this match included Akos Baranyai, Turkish Nation number 4 !

Suffice it to say that Akos was mostly untroubled. Although both Ken and Ian gave their all, Akos dominated the play with a considerable array of strong forehand and spinny backhand loops, recording two wins with consummate ease.

However, the same could not be repeated by the other Fusion players with Aimee and Clair battling gamely and pushing their opponents all the way to the extent that Clair received the player of the match award.

Ian saved a Britannia whitewash by narrowly defeating Fusion’s number 3, and although the final match result was Fusion 7, Britannia 1, it was a match which had been played in superb sporting spirit and had been thoroughly enjoyed by not only the players themselves but also by the onlookers present.