| Team | Played | Total Points | Av.Points | Av. G.Diff. |
| Sheffield Stingray | 9 | 18 | 2.0 | 7.5 |
| Leeds | 7 | 10 | 1.4 | 4.7 |
| Huddersfield Sharks | 7 | 8 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Rochdale Mantas | 7 | 4 | 0.6 | 2.8 |
| Batley Argonauts | 8 | 4 | 0.5 | -3.5 |
| Ashton Alligators | 8 | 2 | 0.25 | -5.75 |
So there was almost a whole season of form to go on and the Orkneys are famous for being able to turn out Championship contenders year after year at this level. So everyone was expecting a head-to-head between Sheffield and the Orkneys for the first place. In the event most matches were much closer than expected and there were several surprises.
In the first match Orkney (on the right) narrowly beat Rochdale 3,2.
This was not a full strength Orkney team! The next surprise was in game 3 when Leeds played Ashton.
Leeds had scored 14 gulls both times they had beaten Ashton in the league. Now they scraped
a victory with 5 gulls to Ashton's 3.Orkney's big problem was the visibility. It was obvious that they were trying to play an open passing game using the width of the pool and their well organised positional sense. This would NOT work with the rubbish pool quality, vis. was down to about 3 metres! The Orkneys' positions and passing were lost in the fog.
Batley were next to play Orkney
in game 5. The form so far put this at a close match with Orkneys favourite to win.
They were disappointed! Batley (on the left here) beat them 3,2. This victory set Batley on
road to a remarkable renaissance. They did not loose another match and eventually claimed the
Jack Dixon Memorial Trophy for the most imporved team.
Ashton (on the right) were next to face Batley. They went down 3,1. After
a 10,0 defeat in the league, this was a good result for Ashton too. Ashton Alligators are one of two
teams new to the Yorkshire league this year. They have relied heavily on the time put in by coaches
from Rochdale to get started. Ironically Rochdale have been the first to fall victims to the
Alligators development. After poaching a few players from Sale who have not had a team in
competition for a couple of years now, Ashton have improved dramatically. They repeated their
league victory over Rochdale with a convincing 5,0 at this tournament.
They then went on to beat Orkney by the same score.The other team new to the league are Leeds. They were dissapointed to loose to Batley after beating them convincingly twice in the league. And Huddersfield were disappointed and annoyed after 'hitting the tin' several times (so they say) and getting no goals awarded. A believable tale given the atrocious visibility. Players and referees had difficulty seeing what was happening.
Huddersfield Leeds
Rochdale (on the right)
took the wooden spoon with four consecutive defeats without scoring after
two relatively narrow opening games against Orkney and Huddersfield.
At the other end of the table Sheffield Stingrays (pictured below) convincingly won
all their matches. Their closest match was against Leeds where the newcomers scored
first and turned round at half time that one gull up. Sheffield, now playing down the slope,
kept their cool and fought back effectively to win 4,1; the same score they notched up against Batley
in game 2.
A very enjoyable tournament
for all concerned. Players, referees (see right)and even spectators (see below).
Thanks to Jo, Batley and
everyone who officiated and contributed to an interesting and exciting tournament.To view and download pictures click here:
Final team position below: