Southport C 5 Princes St F 5

Princes clinch promotion - Mini Match Report.

The Princes arrived at the Amelan Arena needing only a point to secure 2nd place and promotion to Division 2 - what could possibly go wrong ?

Well , frostbite is the simple answer. You see dear reader whilst the Amelan Arena offers wonderful playing conditions with an excellent floor , great space and is well lit the heating leaves a bit to be desired. Actually that is an understatement it is bloody freezing there.

A further complication for the Princes was that club champion Irene Mullan pulled a muscle knitting in the build up to the match and had to be replaced last minute by the ever keen Harry Hobson . Harry was joined by Dave Williams , Sam "Jedi" Davies and Frank "the tall guy" Pearce.

The Southport C chaps are a very friendly bunch and ever mindful of the conditions greeted the Princes , not with a traditional handshake , but in true Eskimo fashion by rubbing noses.

With only that crucial point needed to secure 2nd spot and with it being a "2 table match" the race was on to see who would have the honour of winning the winning point!

Jedi took on Stuart Gibson , whilst on the other table Dave was getting to grips with the home team no.1 Andy Bush. Dave won in 4 but Jedi , somewhat unwisely sporting shorts for the first time this season , triumphed 3 straight to earn the honour of winning promotion for the Princes.

After the euphoria of this start it was back to the Arctic with a bump as Harry lost to Alan Town and Frank lost to the returning Stuart - both in 4.

Dave then played superbly to beat Paul Harrison whilst unlucky Harry lost to Andy. 3-2 to the Princes at half time.

The F team eschewed the offer of a warming cup of tea as they were anxious to escape the sub zero temperatures and the possibilities of polar bears turning up to spoil their celebrations with watching non playing captain Dave Mullan.

Frank then had the game of the evening coming back from a game down to finally beat Alan 16-14 & 12-10 in the 3rd and fourth games. Some incredible retreiving from the Tall guy here much to Alan's bewilderment , but of course he forgort that Frank's arms are about 5 foot long giving him an awesome wingspan !

On the other table Jedi recorded a superb 3 straight win against Paul to take away the POM prize for the match.

The Princes were terrible in the final doubles losing both to give a draw on the night - your homework for the summer boys is to work on doubles play!

It has been a great season for the F team , reaching 123 points which is almost as many as Les Dodd gets in a snooker break.

They have been wonderfully captained by league legend Dave Mullan who has limited himself to only 5 matches. Fellow superstar Gordon Wood has only played 8 games but was POM in half of them.

Debutant's Sam Davies , Peter Crichton and Harry Hobson have provided energy , enthusism and some great performances.

More experienced players , Dave Williams , Irene Mullan , Brian Holden, Frank Proffit and Frank Pearce have all made solid and much needed contributions.

This has been a wonderful team effort as evidenced by the fact 7 different players have won a "Player of the match " award and they have received 13 in total.

Well done everyone! Now where are my gloves ?