Morley C Mordecai Memorial Handicap Cup - 2006/7

This competition has now run for 39 years and is named in memory of a Bristol player  who, as a junior with Page Club, had won the Bristol Closed and played for England.  At the time of his death from a freak car accident he was 21.   

This was the second year of the much expanded format for the competition with 92 teams originally entered.  The ultimate number of teams that participated was 74, one more than last year and 60 more than the year before. 

In the 1st batch of matches, played in October, there were several very close finishes.  Nailsea Club were on the wrong end of 3 of them.  Civets (Div 2) lost by 2 points to eventual semi finalists Westbury ‘C’ (Div 6), whilst Cougars (Div 5) and Ocelots (Div 1) were beaten by just 1 point by (Portishead (Div 4) and Yatton (Div 5) respectively.

Holders Yate Ridge ‘C’ were unable to defend their title due to a double injury blow.      

In the busy phase around December and January, the result that stood out was an impressive 48 point victory by the Division 2 high flyers Almonds ‘C’ over the Division 3 leaders Civil Service ‘F’ who had reached the final last year.  

The semi finals were very different affairs.  Almonds ‘C’ (Div 2) reached the final with another clear cut victory of 43 points over Westbury ‘C’ (Div 6).  The other match saw Fromeside ‘B’ (Div 4) take control over Civil Service ‘E’ (Div 6) by virtue of having reduced a 60 point deficit on the handicap to just 8 with 3 games to go.  At this point, the match took successive turns.  However, in the final leg Sangha Pratihar took her team into the final by just 6 points with a 21-17, 21-16 win over Richard Cordy.              

The final was eventually played at Cleeve on May 3^rd with 21 people in attendance.  Almonds ‘C’ had a 150 point margin to make up on Civil service ‘E’.  After 3 legs 55 points had been knocked off that deficit and a close finish was anticipated, but in the middle games Almonds ‘C’ took a crucial grip of the match.  A 24 point win by Dominic Costello over Ken Simmonds was followed by a larger than expected 15 point win by Ian Maggs over Sangha Pratihar who had proven so effective throughout the competition.  Then Joe Ratajczak took his team to within 21 points, with a massive 35 point win over Terry Toghill.  The eventual winning margin was 33 points with the match played in a wonderful spirit throughout that was a delight to watch. 

Many thanks to our President, Aubrey Simons, for making the presentation.  Also, to the umpires, John Kingscott, Mike Withyman and Ron Dobbs.  Special thanks go to Pat Simmonds for providing a wonderful buffet at late notice. 

In winning the tournament off a handicap of just 15, Almonds ‘C’ showed huge resilience to claw back some big deficits.  Perhaps special mention should go to KCC ‘D’ (Div 7) who came so close to knocking the winners out in Round 1 when they lost by 11 points. 

The cup returns to Almonds Club after Yate Ridge borrowed it for one year.

Results - November Matches	Results - December Matches
Results - January/February  Matches	Results - March (Q/F)
Results - April S/F