Milton Keynes Produces Dramatic Finale to Hard Fought Season
The seventh and final round of the 2011 League Season produced a drama-filled final reckoning, where the league standings hung in the balance right until the end of the day.
Pershore Phoenix travelled with a strong squad to Milton Keynes looking to improve further on an impressive day in Worcester a fortnight previously. It also had special significance for many members, as Phoenix stalwart Clive Kenwrick was making his final league appearance for the club, Owen James was able to make his league debut and Geoff Munson made his return after a years’ sabbatical.
Once again drawing the short straw, Pershore lined up at 10 am with Kingston Pretenders and Exe-calibre for the first race of the day. After a close race, Pershore came home third, though the entire field was covered by a mere 1.5 seconds. In the second heat, Phoenix then lined up against a strong Tao team and ‘Saracens’, the second team for title rivals Crusaders. Almost predictably finishing between the 2, Pershore would line up against mid-table Excalibre Blades and Worcester Dragonflies in an effort to secure 4th in class for the 200 meters. By now, the weather had intervened with full force. The earlier spots of rain had turned into a deluge that would not abate for 2 hours. It was after an agonising wait in these conditions at the start in which Phoenix did a time of 52.45 seconds, a second ahead of the Dragonflies, who were in turn 0.8 in front of The Blades. The win was taken by Crusaders, along with the title. They were followed in by Henley and Kingston Pretenders.
The final business of the regular season took the form of the 500 meter races, and one of the closest title fights that the league has seen in a while. Crusaders lead going into the event, but the rule of dropping a score at the end of the season meant Kingston Pretenders were de facto league leaders. Pershore were pitched against Amathus and title rivals Crusaders in the first 500, which ended in a costly mistake for one participant. During the race the Safety boat created a wake, which all 3 boats dramatically ploughed their way through, creating an outstanding opportunity for any attending photographer. Amathus took the win to proceed to the cup, with Crusaders second, 0.7 seconds ahead of Pershore.
But what followed became a pivotal point in the meeting. With all three teams offered a re-run, Pershore and Amathus, happy with their lot, turned it down. Crusaders however, rolled the dice in an attempt to join Kingston Pretenders in the cup competition, and took the re-run. The gamble didn’t pay off, and their new time was slower, and following the plate semi finals (their 3rd 500 in quick succession), resigned them to the plate minor final to rue a failed gamble.
More importantly, it left Pershore with a slim outside chance of securing third in the league. This required Pershore to maximise their major plate final points, with Crusaders falling in their final. Unfortunately Crusaders came home second, ensuring they held onto 3rd in the final reckoning. However, Phoenix did not know this. During the plate major final, it was nip and tuck with Secklow down the length of the course. In the end, Secklow took the Major Plate competition by 0.4 seconds. Phoenix held up their bargain by maximising their points from the race, and bagging second in class. But at the end, it was Crusaders who came out on top of the season long battle by 2 points.
Though in summary, Pershore took their 4th 500 metre trophy in 6 races and ended the season with a fourth and second in class.
And a cow!
