This
report was sent to the County Times on 14th April, 2008
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The League's
final fixtures took place last Sunday and it went right to the wire in the top
two divisons, whilst the Third Division was settled the previous week. The
Elite have been Premier League Championship contenders for some time, but they
needed a point to be certain of winning the title on aggregate although they
were confident of the win as they were entertaining 8th placed Herbert Arms A;
that confidence was misplaced as star player, Wayne Smith was quickly sent
tumbling by Colin Williams and very soon, the Elite were trailing 5-3 to their
Kerry visitors. Wayne Smith won the 9th and Jason Bright won the last with a
7-ball clearance to ensure the Elite could not be caught by their nearest
challengers, The Lion. Congratulations to Mike Williams and his Elite squad.
As it was, the
Elite did not need to worry as the Lion were being soundly beaten by
relegation side, Football Robins. Whilst the Lion were at the Football Club to
try to win the League, the Robins desperately needed a win to be sure of
Premier League safety. They did it in true style with Colin Gardner's troops
in fine form, finishing 12th. The Buck were already safe from relegation and
just as well because they fell 7-3 to 4th placed Llanbadarn, but the Lion A
now know they are the relegated side, crashing 6-4 to 9th placed Waggon. With
the Lion actually losing they slip to third place, with runners up spot going
to The Grapes who finished their fixtures a week earlier.
In Division Two,
although the top two sides still have a fixture each to play this week, the
Herbert Chirbury are confirmed as League Champions and will earn promotion to
the Premiership next season. They won 6-4 at home to 6th placed Bettws and if
they lost their last game, their superior aggregate advantage would see them
home. They have been engaged in a rivetting battle with the Squashed Grapes
all season, with Dolau Inn being the third championship contender most of the
season. Although the Grapes twice beat the Herbert it was not enough to keep
pace with the Chirbury lads. Congratulations to Gary Gindrat and his team. The
Dolau Inn finish third and Cambrian A, fourth.
Division Three
had already been claimed by the Bell Hotel who complete their season later
this week. Excellent play from Stuart Humphreys and his players. The
Bucanneers finished second after coming up on the rails for the last four
weeks with the Courthouse's huge 8-2 defeat of neighbours, Sarn Inn, enough to
help them into third position, although they can still be beaten by
Queens Head B who will be playing the Bell Hotel this week.
The League's
Semi-Finals will be played on 27th April at various venues around Newtown, and
the Finals will take place all day on Sunday 4th May at Newtown Football Club,
culminating in the Singles Final at 7.00pm followed by the presentations of
awards which will amount to £10,000 in all.