Tigers Roar As They Knock Fluffy Toys Out Of Handicap Shield

Division Two side Manton Tigers pulled off the shock of the season so far as they knocked out the runaway leaders of Division One DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys out of the Handicap Shield competition. Despite the Fluffy Toys being 6 points clear at the top of Division they were brought crashing down to earth by a terrific performance by the Tigers who despite losing every set played accumulated enough points to eventually overall the Fluffy Toys once the handicap was added to their score at the end of the match. Both Dave Bowns and Bill Bateman managed to score a dogged 70 points each with Steve Beeston adding a further 42 before 230 handicap points were added to their score to eventually win the match 412-378. All of the Fluff Toys players scored the maximum points possible with Richard Wesley being the most impressive as he only conceded a miserly 33 points.
DTH Redlands Tarr Babies also knocked out a team in a higher division than themselves but had less trouble in doing so as their opponents Ryton Park Eagles only turned up with 2 players and were therefore already 126 points behind before a ball was hit. Despite the difference in divisions between the two sides the Tarr Babies managed to win two of the games outright without the help of the Handicap with both Josh Nelson and Daniel Cutts beating Keith Swift and all three Tarr Babies players also took John Hallgarth with Kieran Tutter getting the closest before finally being beaten. The scoreline in favour of the Tarr Babies was finally 473-232 with the margin being so great due to the Eagles only fielding  two players.
The draw for the first round proper of the Handicap Shield is as follows: Manton Tigers v Stanley Street 'C', Ryton Park Falcons v Global Marble 'B', DTH Redlands Roosters v Global Marble 'A', DTH Redlands Tarr Babies v Stanley Street 'B', DTH Redlands Rookies v Stanley Street 'A', DTH Redlands Joggers v Stanley Street Cypriots, MBE v On-Line Elks, Ryton Park Cougars or Ryton Park Dragons v Stanley Street Rascals. Matches to be played week commencing 16th December.
Another of the League's cup competitions got underway this week with the pairs competition the Carnation Cup taking centre stage. In the Preliminary Round there were some fabulous matches played on the first of two consecutive evenings at Ryton Park Scholl with the following outcomes: Jeff Reay & Alex Olliffe 3 Matthew Williams & Clive Eden 2, Terry Emerson & Jak Eden 0 John Hallgarth & Lewis Comley 5 (walk over), Andy Lee & Regan Langley 3 Kyle Mcintosh & Orestas Riauba 2, Peter Eyre & Nathan Langley 2 Peter Cowburn & Valentinos Riauba 3 and Nigel Stent & Daniel Cutts 4 Rob Vaughan & Matthew Mudd 1.
The Quarter Finals of the competition were held on the following night and the results were as follows: Jeff Reay & Alex Olliffe 2 Tom Mcintosh & Adam Hamilton 3, John Hallgarth & Lewis Comley 3 Lea Dickinson & Dave Lee 2, Andy Lee & Regan Langley 1 Peter Cowburn & Valentinos Riauba 4, Mick Bell & Martynas Riauba 2 Nigel Stent & Daniel Cutts 3
The only league matches this week were two games that had to be re-arranged from a few weeks ago due to Redlands School being shut due to half term and both were in Division Three. One got decided on the table and the other was unfortunately decided off of it. DTH Redlands Tarr Babies continued their push for the title as they hammered bottom side Ryton Park Dragons 10-0 with all three Tarr Babies in Antony Coupe, Joshua Nelson and Kieran Tutter registering hat tricks with Coupe and Jack Tarr teaming up to take the doubles. All of the Dragons battled bravely all night with Justin Flear running all three Tarr Babies players the closest without managing to register a win. The other match to be decided was in fact awarded to DTH Redlands Rookies who's opponents Ryton Park Cougars failed to turn up for their re-arranged game and therefore the Rookies were given the match 10-0.