It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend for all involved, with all of us getting a lot of table time and performing well.
Three Warwick players; Rob, Matt and Joe made the last 16 of the individuals. Dan Hunter made the last 32 and played well but lost to Rob in that round.
The first team came 2nd in what looked to be the toughest group, the key match being a 2-1 loss against York 1 in a high-quality affair. This meant they had a tough draw in the quarter final against Sheffield 1, narrowly losing out 2-1. Losing in the quarter final of the championship meant they were entered into the trophy. They reached the semi-final of that, losing to Newcastle 1 with some tired faces on the Warwick boys.
The second team managed to win their group, with a memorable match against York 4th, with all matches ending 4-3, Warwick winning 2-1 overall with a battling performance (ask Sammy about his match). They played Newcastle 1 in the quarter final, winning 2-1 and setting up a semi-final against Sheffield 1. Sheffield proved too strong for the 2s, but they should be proud to do so well!
The thirds had a tough Saturday having to play eventual championship runners-up Sheffield 1sts followed by the Championship winners, Liverpool 1. Despite the difficult start, they performed very well in their third match against York 2nds winning 2-0. This was to be the only win in the group, leaving the thirds 6th and in the Vase. Here they produced a dominant display over Leeds 4 winning both games 4-0 to set up a semi-final against Birmingham 1. They fought hard but could not best their opponents.
Finally, the fourth team. They had a tough group and managed to finish 3rd out of the 6 teams. That alone was a great achievement. Big wins over Manchester 1 and York 3 earned them a quarter final tie against York 1 (who were knocked out of the championship by Liverpool 1, the eventual winners of the comp). The fourths pushed hard but were unable to overcome a very strong team.
Overall, a great performance by all teams. This time last year Warwick had barely played 9-ball before, with all teams being knocked out of the group stages at BUCS. Since then we've reached two semi-finals at Birmingham and Leeds, and hopefully this can be bettered at Telford in 3 weeks’ time!
