St Andrews sides settle for mid-table finishes

Hard bat tournament winner Chris Wroniecki (on the right) with tournament organiser Howard Lee (on the left).

The latter stormed into a 6-0 commanding position before the doubles, which New Kids managed to win by the smallest of margins late on in the final set.

Howard Lee earned the only point in singles against Fiona Kinloch, whose team confirmed their excellent season with an 8-2 win.

With these final points awarded in the second division, New kids had the chance to leapfrog Truants for fifth place, but they would have needed six points from the last fixture and only got two.

Overall, the three St Andrews teams dominate the middle of the table, with Swots earning a commendable fourth place, followed by Truants, while New Kids finish on the seventh rung.

Swots had already established they were the stronger team, reaching the final of the Secondary Shield cup, narrowly losing in the final.

In individual averages, Nick Shepherd finished fifth with 76 per cent of victories.

The first division was dominated by four teams who created a chasm with the rest of the league.

Prefects, on the wrong side of the gap still secured fifth place, partly thanks to the laudable performance by Michael Hahn, winning 39/45 matches (87 per cent), finishing joint fifth in the individual averages.

In third division, Prospects had to settle for fifth place overall, led by Chris Wroniecki with 77 per cent of victories.

The club rounded up the season with a local hard bat tournament, which saw Chris take on the mighty Michael in a thrilling finale.

Before revealing the winner, it is worth clarifying that the hard bat is a great leveller as everybody plays identical bats, without rubbers.

The modern game is heavily affected by the spin and speed of various rubbers, none of which could be used at the tournament.

The final last year had already opposed Michael to Chris, the former emerging victorious.

However, this year Chris was more determined than ever to reverse the result.

It started off well for him as he took the first set 15-11.

And the second set was won on sudden death at 14-14 by Chris, earning the right to have his name engraved below Michael’s on the trophy.

The club would also like to honour Michael, who will be leaving the area and therefore the club, as he will be completing his PhD in the coming months.

A club spokesman said: “We wish him well in his future endeavours.”