Platypuses (collective noun – paddle!) are said to be mysterious, cute but hard to spot. They are, however, also extremely venomous as Nuffield 2 discovered to their cost in their recent Division Four Play Off Final against the Spiceball Platypuses to determine the overall 2024/25 Winter Champions.
Staged at the Banbury Spiceball Leisure Centre, host skipper Andy Bissell opened proceedings against the opposition captain, Juan Medina Abellan, and got off to his customary fast start taking the opener 15 -7. Juan hit back strongly in the second but a string of errors saw that game slip away and although close in the third, Andy took the honours in this 4th String tie, 3-0.
In the Battle of the 3’s, both players built into the match, finding their range towards the end of a first game which went the way of the home side’s Marius Pantea over Hugh Pendry, 15-10. Dogged as ever, Hugh fought back to take the second 15-11 and despite squandering a 10 – 4 advantage eventually took the third 15-13. Marius replied positively in the fourth (15-9) to force a decider which he won on the tie break, 16-14.
In a complete contrast of styles, Lee Naylor managed to extend the rallies against his rather reluctant opponent Aubrey Bell. In this Second String encounter, these tactics initially paid off as Lee opened a 2 games to love lead but Aubrey is an absolute master at working out people’s games and has orchestrated many a comeback over the years. Forcing his own command of the tee and with an ever improving control of length and width, Aubrey completed a 3-2 victory and offered Nuffield 2 a glimpse of glory.
This was unfortunately for them snuffed out as Christian Jackson defeated Charles Gent 3-0 in their 5th String match up and the Platypuses bagged the silverware.
An overall 4-1 score line was completed as the top seeded match also went the way of our ‘furry’ friends with William Stewart finally prevailing over Randal Lindsell in a quick moving, clean striking, high quality affair, 14-16, 18-16, 15-6, 15-5.
Full scores of all the Play Off Finals can be found on Sporty HQ – https://osra.sportyhq.com/league/view/1015
To view, simply scroll down to ‘Past Events’.
Enjoy the pictures courtesy of Mike Beck and big thanks to him for rocking up and taking them as well as providing analysis of the match and presenting the awards.
Spiceball Platypuses
L-R standing: Christian Jackson, Lee Naylor, William Stewart, Andy Bissell (Captain).
Kneeling: Marius Pantea
Runners-up: Nuffield 2
L-R: Hugh Pendry, Aubrey Bell, Charles Gent, Juan Medina Abellan (Captain)
Lying down – Randal Lindsell
Spiceball Platypuses and Nuffield 2 post match