Having never won the Division 1 Senior Men’s Individual Pennants title until last year, Royal Perth successfully went back-to-back on an exciting final day.
In their closing-round clash against Wanneroo, Royal Perth needed to equal or better Cottesloe’s result against Mount Lawley to keep the flag for another year – a feat they managed with room to spare en route to a 4-1 win.
Although Cottesloe won their match 3.5-1.5 to finish level with Royal Perth on four wins and one loss from the five matches, Royal Perth’s superior individual matches won/lost tally secured them the top spot.
Cottesloe will be left to rue a heavy defeat to Wanneroo in round three – Wanneroo’s only win of the series – but having only been promoted from Division 2 last year, the runner-up finish still represents a fine effort.
Peter Bennett, Sean Fairfoul, Andrew Brown, John Banting and David Alexander formed the backbone of Royal Perth’s team, with Stuart Hoare, Lein Stielow and Mark Gatty all making one appearance apiece – Hoare’s being a notable 8&7 win over Wanneroo’s Tony Sutton on the final day.
Mount Lawley, Lakelands and Hartfield all won two and lost three matches to finish on four points, leaving Wanneroo with the wooden spoon and demotion to Division 2.
Royal Freo coast to Division 2 title
Things were much more cut-and-dried in Division 2, with an imperious Royal Fremantle team winning all five of their matches to top the standings and secure promotion to the top flight.
Their challenge got off to a perfect start with a 5-0 victory over Gosnells in Round 1, with their closest encounter (a 3-2 win) coming against Melville Glades in Round 5 after they had already guaranteed top spot. WAGC finished second in the table on 7 points after accruing three wins, a loss and a half in their five matches.
Royal Fremantle’s strength-in-depth was shown by them fielding nine players over the course of the series, with Andrew Langdon the only to play in all five rounds. His team-mates were Scott Baker, Alan Becker, Darren Goss, Peter Pusmucans, Andrei Ezergalis, Brett Roberts, Dave Pollock and Nick Woodley.
Royal Fremantle’s Round 5 team of Andrew Langdon, Alan Becker, Darren Goss, Scott Baker and Peter Pusmuscans
The Cut make history in 4BBB
Meanwhile, the Senior Men Men’s 4BBB Pennants North & South Division finals took place the following week at Joondalup Country Club and Kwinana.
There were eight divisional playoffs won by teams from seven different clubs, with a notable victory to The Cut in the yellow Division. In their first final in Men’s Senior Pennants, The Cut edged to a hard-fought 3-2 win over The Vines to win the flag and put their names in the history books.
There was better news for the Vines’ teams in the Blue and Orange Divisions, however, as they steamrollered Hartfield and Kwinana respectively. And as the old saying goes, two out of three ain’t bad.
Black Division: Royal Fremantle 4-1 Chequers
Blue Division: The Vines 5-0 Hartfield
Green Division: Nedlands 3-2 Royal Perth
Red Division: Melville Glades 5-0 Sea View
Yellow Division: The Cut 3-2 The Vines
White Division: Royal Perth 3-2 Mosman Park
Orange Division: The Vines 4.5-0.5 Kwinana
Purple Division: Lake Karrinyup 3-2 Mount Lawley
The Cut earned a small slice of history by winning a 4BBB pennants crown for the first time
You can view the full results and standings from the Senior Men’s Pennants series here.
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