The Eastern Counties Colne Angels club team won the final of the 2007/2008 knockout club competition, with Chiltern’s Engine club team as the runners up. Being the accumulation of six months of hard fought matches against other English club teams. The Last 8 concluding event was held at the Whittlesey Indoor Bouledrome, near Peterborough, on Sunday 16th March. All braving the heavy rain to get there early on Sunday morning.
The Angel team, consisted of five ladies and four men, Sofiane Lachani, Kim Lachani, Vanessa Webb, Chris Allen, Simon Bird, Julie Constable, Daphne Barrow, Dave Mark and Vivien Middleton-Sams - all gave an outstanding performance.
The final day’s competition consisted of two triples games, one of which was a mixed team, then three doubles, again a mixed team and then a repeat of the triples round.
The overall favourites were the strong Plough and Chequers team from Kent, having won the competition for the last 6 years.
In the first round the eight teams played and the Angels comfortably won against their opponents from Kent, the Hartley team, 5 games to nil. Leading to the semi-finals against the Manchester based Mistral club team who were quickly dispensed 4 to 0, with the remaining games deemed unnecessary as Mistral had no chance of progression.
This meant the Angels made the final against their old adversary of the Engine, who had earlier in the Semi finals knocked the holders, Plough and Chequers, out of the competition and were feeling in a strong and determined mood.
Fortunately the Angel team had other ideas! Winning the two triples matches 13-3 (Dave Mark, Sofiane Lachani and Simon Bird v the Engine’s Phil Winston, Miles Gooda, and Danny Sims) and 13-12 (Kim Lachani, Chris Allen and Vanessa Webb).
This left the Engine with an uphill struggle not helped by Vanessa Webb and Chris Allen’s convincing win in the doubles taking the games score to 3-0.
The Angel’s Viv Middleton Sams and Dave Mark then succumbed to the Engine’s Sims and Winston 13-8. Unfortunately this meant Middleton-Sams lost her 100% record in the competition.
This left the last game of the round on a knife edge, with Angel’s Sofiane Lachani and Simon Bird facing Engine’s Miles Gooda and Jeremy Huntley and what a match this was! ‘Old school’ against ‘new’ Lachani and Bird looked buried at 11 – 7 down; but these two know about pressure and ground down the opposition with super pointing from Bird and scintillating shooting from Lachani to take the game and the title 13-11.
The Eastern Counties Colne Angel team were excellent throughout, only losing 1 game on the day and therefore making them worthy winners.
Congratulations to them and their supreme team effort, with all 9 players contributing and ensuring the title fell to the Eastern Counties.
Roll on the initial European draw and who the “Champions of England” will face in Europe in the next round.