Owers Trophy
Stoke Newington School, London, 24th September 2023
STOP PRESS
Derby Moor continued their recent domination of the Owers Trophy yesterday, scoring their third win on the trot in the tournament for former pupils.
Seven teams took to the courts at Stoke Newington, with two teams from Derby Moor joined by squads from Eastbourne, Malvern, Whitgift, Winchester and (making their first appearance in this tournament) Fettes.
As defending champions, Derby Moor 1 had a bye into the semi-finals, but the closest quarter-final was between Winchester and Whitgift, with the Wykehamists coming through 33-28. Elsewhere a youthful Fettes team scored a comfortable win over a rather more ‘experienced’ Eastbourne squad, and Derby Moor 2 beat Malvern 45-35.
However, hopes of an all-Derby final were dashed when Winchester overpowered DM2 to reach the final. Here, in a repeat of the last two finals, they faced DM1, who had overcome Fettes in a hard-hitting encounter 46-32.
The final was a predictably close affair, with the first two games shared by the two teams, meaning that all was to play for in the final game, although Derby held a slender three-point lead. The crucial period of play had come in the second game: it was eventually won by Winchester 15-11, but Derby were 2-12 down at one point, and narrowing the deficit was vital in the overall result of the match.
As a result, with Derby taking the third game 15-12, they secured the title by 41 points to 35, while the Plate went to Whitgift, who defeated Malvern in the final game of the round-robin.
RESULTS
Quarter-finals: Fettes bt Eastbourne 45-17; Derby Moor 2 bt Malvern 45-35; Winchester bt Whitgift 33-28
Semi-finals: Derby Moor 1 bt Fettes 46-32; Winchester bt Derby Moor 2 45-27
Final: Derby Moor 1 bt Winchester 41-25
Plate: Whitgift
Players:
Derby Moor 1: Anthony Goodwin, Lewis Keates, Bally Singh
Derby Moor 2: Richard Christie, Simon Beattie, Callum Yates
Malvern: Andy Passey, Shinan Zhang, Andrew Tudor
Eastbourne: Marcus Bate, Ed Brooke, Paul Lovatt-Smith
Winchester: Ben Hale, Marcus Cloke Browne, Shiloh Wu
Whitgift: Chris Jones, Cameron Low, John Higgins
Fettes: Toby Chan, Wyman Chan, Penn Chai
The ideal venue for the Owers Trophy
Spectating as ever!
The assembled competitors
Old Winchester: Shiloh, Marcus and Ben
Old Derby Moor 2: Callum , Simon and Richard
Old Eastbourne: Marcus, Paul and Ed
Plate-winning Old Whitgift: John, Chris and Cameron
Old Malvern: Andy, Shinan and Andrew
Old Fettes: Toby, Penn and Wyman
The General Secretary does the honours
3rd time champions from Derby Moor Fives: Anthony, Bally and Lewis