https://youtu.be/zoi-4idmavs

This year’s Charles Stampe Trophy final was a very well attended affair contested by two premier division teams in Sturdee 1 and Cliffs Woods 1.

With 30 people in attendance the evening started with Paul Cronin playing Neil Le Milliere and it was Cronin who gained an early lead for  Cliffe Woods (CW) with a 21-6, 21-15 victory. He was giving away the largest handicap of the evening (10) which meant CW were 11 pts ahead. This was halved when Wayne Matthews had a magnificent 16-21, 21-11 reverse against Chris Drury in game two.

After 5 games the difference was still only 12 pts in favour of CW. However, the turning point came in game 6 when Alan Longhurst defeated Wayne Matthews 21-18, 21-10 to give CW a 22 point lead on the night. That was increased further following a wonderful attacking performance from Chris Drury in game 7 as he beat Tim Vaughan 20-21, 21-14 the difference now became 30 pts.

A solid performance from Alan Longhurst in game 8 secured the victory and Paul Cronin wrapped up the night with a 17-21, 21-5 win over Wayne Matthews.

All the Cliffe Woods team ended the evening on positive scores and thoroughly deserved their 45 pts margin as the match finished 361-316 in favour of Cliffe Woods 1.

Our sincere thanks are extended to the Stampe daughters for presenting the trophies and to Malcolm Kay and Roger Chipperfield for umpiring the match.