The semi finals were played on Wednesday 12th December.
Bill Johnson was one of the few spectators who turned out on a bitterly cold night.
In the first match Peter Archbold was up against Martin Davison. With only a 1 point deficit (-9 to -8) this was a tight match throughout- in the first only a point or two between them, until 15 all. Peter took 4 in a row and at 19-15 looked comfortable. 21-17 to Peter. Martin battled in the 2nd game and won it from 11-15 down. 21-19 to Martin.
Martin had worked hard to get back to 1-1 and it showed.
He went 9-2 down in the third and couldn’t recover. 21-15 to Peter.
The other semi saw Mark Knott with an almost impossible task taking on Tony Hedley (he’s nearly 50 you know) despite a 20 point advantage. Mark knew he had to play his winners and hope enough were good. Pointless trying to rally was his ‘ethos‘.
Unfortunately there weren’t enough ‘winners’ and Tony simply ground out the result with steady accurate length and great retrieving no matter what Mark did.
The Final
Friday 14th December saw a great turn out to watch a final which few had any doubts about. They were however, to be surprised. Tony Hedley was the youngster in this match. His opponent Pete Archbold-looking like the old man of the sea sporting a distinguished beard, was not going to give up anything easily.
This was simply a war of attrition during which Tony carefully eroded away Peter’s 14 point advantage. The first 2 games were shared, 21-19 to Tony and a great come back 21-18 to Peter.
There was a cost and half way through a brutal third game Peter started to tire. 21-12 was the result, another trophy for the Hedley cabinet. A great match followed by a good night in the village and a curry to finish.
Special mention to Bill Johnson who saw every minute of the competition and to Peter Edney for all his help.
Ian Mc.