A large crowd gathered in anticipation of this years Charles Stampe Trophy Final contested between clubmates Chatham Ark Royal and Chatham Endurance at Blue Bell Hill Village Hall on Monday, 22nd April 2024.
Chatham Endurance were attempting to retain the trophy they won last year and got off to a flying start as Daniel Gubala (with a generous 14 handicap) took on Stuart Fritter on 3. Although Fritter won 21-16, 21-15 he actually needed to restrict Daniel to 10 per leg and Ark Royal ended the first match 11 points adrift. With Charlie Cook giving Johann Le two points per leg in match two, he proceeded to lose both legs 19-21, 16-21. This gave Endurance a commanding 22 points lead after just two games. Up stepped Maxwell Antrim as he took on Martin Birley and shared the spoils 17-21, 21-15. Endurance were now 36 points clear after just 3 matches.
They never really looked back and there were legs taken of the Premier side in every match. Particularly in match four when Daniel Gubala defeated Charlie Cook 21-10, 21-14 and effectively ended the match as a contest. You had to feel for Ark Royal on the night as handicaps for Endurances team of Gubala (14), Le (10) and Antrim (11) were far too much for Ark Royal.
Endurance are a very talented young side and thoroughly deserved to win this match 451-349. However, the margin of the victory is far too excessive and the handicap for the Endurance trio must be reviewed for next season.
The player of the match award goes to Daniel Gubala who gained 50 points on the night with great support from Johann Le 30 points and Maxwell Antrim 24 points.
As usual our sincere thanks are extended to Gareth Fox for all his hard work organising this event and to John Clark who umpired every game in the final. Plus of course, the Stampe sisters for kindly presenting the trophies.
You can view the full result card here: Scorecard
Edited highlights of the matches are here: Available shortly
Full Videos of the matches are here: Available shortly.
Gary Hentschel
