A really terrific team performance on Friday (25th August) boosted Meersbrook Park’s standings in Division 3 of the Sheffield Works League with a 9-1 felling of Whiteley Woods.
Whiteley Woods had been standing tall in the Division, topping the Singles Table and third in the Doubles Table as can be seen from these tables which DO NOT include the MP’s categoric win.
Meersbrook Park collect 4 more doubles points (2 wins and 2 aggregate points) and 5 singles points (3 wins and 2 aggregate) totaling 9 more points in the combined rankings. The doubles results mean the MP’s now top that division with 30 points!
Much comment was made after the match about how improved this squad is from the start of the season. Indeed, several of those representing Meersbrook Park only joined midway through this season and have only a handful of games behind them.
Alex is one of these. First onto the green, he had another topsy-turvy battle with a decent opponent, mixing some brilliant bowling with some grinding ends. He probably would not have won this game a couple of months ago but is showing the match know-how now to chisel out wins by turning ones into twos, making saves and finding marks that suit him over his opponent. He won to 18.
Paul T also probably wouldn’t have won his game in mid-summer. And he didn’t do in this match either. He might have done, had he not listened to some inaccurate assessment that he “was on,” from your humble reporter at a crucial end. Paul had battled back from a terrible start, finding it difficult to locate his lines against a strong left-hander, who, being the visiting bowler, sbegins with the jack. Paul’s relationship to the jack was a little like Sheffield Utd’s to the football today (Sunday) when playing Manchester City. He was nowhere near it. However, Paul stuck at it and, in dibs and dabs, which became occasional twos, he narrowed the gap. He just ran out of time in the end. If they had played to 31 or even to 25, I think he would have done it. (As long as he didn’t listen to me.)
Another real fighting performance came from the now well established doubles duo of Paul J and Tom. They are forming a formidable team. Or a Formula One team. They are the Lewis Hamilton’s of our group. Tom sent off a series of accelerating leads, racing to useful positions from the grid, while Paul J has a Hamilton like ability to find gaps where there don’t appear to be any, smoothly cutting through the back markers and scoring championship points on most ends. They didn’t have it all their own way, but once they found the right tyres they passed and drove away from their opponents, winning to 16. It was another match that would most likely have had a reversed outcome if played in June.
The tight matches continued after the turnover with the end-of-summer light fading and floodlights casting shadows.
Terry and Agnes are probably the clubs most accomplished all-round bowlers. Unlike most of us, they can switch from singles to doubles and back again as easily as changing shoes. In the most one-sided match of the evening, the superior level of their play deserved spotlights, not just floodlights. They won to 11; confirming a clean sweep of doubles points that has catapulted us to the tip if the doubles standings.
In the third singles, Andrew played brilliantly. He may have won back in those long, June evenings – with Andy you never know. He can be brilliant, as last week when he beat a top division opponent. Or, he is not. On this occasion he was unstoppable.
Whiteley had some pretty good singles players. They are top of the singles table. Jon’s opponent has played in (Meersbrook Park’s) Division in the Hallamshire this season – where Whiteley ran away with the title. Of all the players who played 6 or more singles games in that league – and there were probably over 70 – he was ranked 16th. With home advantage, the benefit of several close measures and experience under floodlights all in his favour, Jon too was able to win a match that he would probably not have won at the start of the season.
A comprehensive and remarkable victory for the MP’s. Remarkable because it seemed so unremarkable. Everyone played close to their A game and we beat a very good side. Resoundingly. It was not an upset – more a fair reflection of this squad’s talent.
There are still things to play for this season – the doubles title for one, but already some of us are getting excited about our chances in 2024. From tiny acorns…