YORKSHIRE FIRSTS BOUNCE BACK
County Championships Seniors Division 1a
Yorkshire Senior first team bounced straight back into next season’s Premier division after only one season away as they tied up this season’s Senior division 1a title when the division was completed over one weekend at Draycott and Long Eaton TTC.
The Yorkshire squad of Simon Noutch, Richard Lightowler, Roman Doryn, Sarah Noutch and Nicole Finn had a record of seven straight wins and took the title by five clear points from second place Leicestershire.
The title was effectively won on the first day as Yorkshire won their first four matches but were stretched on two occasions early on as their opening match encounter was against their own second team who gave the top dogs a fright as there were never more than two sets between the sides and it needed a final five game victory by Doryn over Chris Parker 5-11 11-6 11-7 9-11 11-5 before Yorkshire First edged home 6-4.
The final round of the first day saw Yorkshire face their nearest rival Leicestershire and it was a real all-round team effort with all six players contributing to another 6-4 victory as Doryn caught the eye, playing from No.3 he was unbeaten and all the remaining Yorkshire players each chipped in with one set each to confirm their narrow victory.
It was the sterling performances from the Yorkshire men that was the major factor in their title winning success with both Noutch and Lightowler recording 12 wins from 14 performances and Doryn going one better. The contribution of the ladies should not be underestimated also as Finn won half of her 12 starts and Noutch finished only one set behind.
Leicestershire and Suffolk both completed the weekend level on 9 nine points and although Suffolk beat Leicestershire when the sides met they will rue the three draws against Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire seconds as it was Leicestershire who claimed the runners-up spot by virtue of a superior sets average.
Final Table
Yorkshire 1 7 7 0 0 52 18 14
Leicestershire 1 7 4 1 2 44 26 9
Suffolk 7 3 3 1 41 29 9
Bedfordshire 7 2 4 1 38 32 8
Lincolnshire 7 2 3 2 37 33 7
Yorkshire 2 7 1 3 3 32 38 5
South Yorkshire 7 1 2 4 25 45 4
Lancashire 7 0 0 7 11 59 0