The British League Premier Division is set to come to a thrilling climax in the final round of fixtures at Ormesby this weekend.
Leaders Sycamore remain the only unbeaten team, with eight victories and two draws to date, but Urban TTC are only one point behind, making the clash between the two on Saturday morning pivotal to the destination of the title.
Urban will be hoping for a better showing than in their previous match against Sycamore, which the leaders won 7-1. London-based Urban do, however, have two of the top three players based on averages – Hungarian duo Peter Musko, who has won all 12 matches, and Daniel Schaffer, who has claimed victory in 17 of his 19 matches.
And if Urban do manage to reverse that earlier result against Sycamore, they will need to beat third-placed Ormesby on Saturday afternoon, fifth-placed Greenhouse on Sunday morning and sixth-placed Fusion on Sunday afternoon to seal the tityle.
Nottingham-based Sycamore’s other three fixtures see them take on bottom club Wymondham, who have yet to pick up a point, on Saturday afternoon, followed by Ormesby and Greenhouse on Sunday. Sycamore’s squad includes English No 6 Chris Doran, Ireland’s top player Paul McCreery and former English women’s champion Kelly Sibley.
Hosts Ormesby have mathematical hopes of taking top spot, but as they sit seven points behind Sycamore, the Middlesbrough club will need a remarkable sequence of results to go in their favour.
Ormesby have selected a five-man squad consisting of the Welsh champion Ryan Jenkins – who has won 18 of his 20 matches to date – Richard Andrews, Michael Marsden, England under-15 champion Tom Jarvis and Martin Rutter.
Ormesby’s first match is against former champions Barrow Tornadoes, whose team includes the English women’s champion, Jo Drinkhall and, after taking on Urban and Sycamore, they will play their final match against Wymondham.
The Ormesby club will be open from 9am each day and spectators are welcome.