15 May 2022
Northern completed a League and Northumbria Cup double for both their Men's and Ladies' 1st teams, and their Ladies' 2nds completed their own Division 2 and League Cup double, rounding off a great season for the club when they travelled to the Northumberland Club for the Cup Finals and End-of-Season Presentation Night on 14th May.
Northern Ladies 1 were run very close by Newcastle University Ladies in the Ladies' Northumbria Cup final. 5th string Shae Paterson gave Northern a great start with a 3-0 win over Sam Sorovic but Newcastle University hit back with hard-fought 3-1 wins by 3rd string Emma Turnbull over Katie Barker and 2nd string Jade Pitcairn over Karen Heron. Northern though came back with 4th string Annabelle Satow recovering from 11-14 down in the 4th game to beat Beth Irwin-Jones on the tie-break point, leaving 1st string Sam Ward (who had earlier played - and won - for the Men's team) to clinch the trophy for Northern with a 3-0 win over Eve Driver, Northern winning 3-2 overall to complete the Ladies' League and Northumbria Cup double.
Cupholders Tynemouth 1 fielded a weakened team and were well beaten 4-1 in the Men's Northumbria Cup final, with Northern 1's strength in depth proving pivotal. 3rd string David Jackson snuffed out a fightback from Hannah Cliff to win 3-1 and give Northern the springboard for victory, and 1st string Cai Younger's recovery to beat Jamie Todd 3-1 added to earlier 3-0 wins by Mark Dinsley and Sam Ward, with 2nd string Richard Parsons the only winner for Tynemouth with a tight 3-0 victory over Alex Robertson.
Northumbria University Ladies with only four players never really troubled Northern Ladies 2 in the Ladies' League Cup final and Northern ran out 4-1 winners, with mother and daughter duo Lesley and Caitlin Vitty, backed up by Michelle Robertson, securing the match for Northern despite Emma Rowell's sole win for the University at 1st string.
However Northern 5 were not so fortunate in the League Cup B final, losing 5-0 to a rampant Newcastle University 3 team from the division below them who had already knocked out favourites Boldon 2 in the semi-final by a similar scoreline. Duncan Maclachlan and Robert Mitchell led the way for the University, with 1st string Yash Bhargava clinching the match before further victories for Daniel Sarkissian and David Riches completed their clean sweep.
The League Cup B final was a much closer affair, with a weakened Chester-le-Street 1 up against unbeaten Division 1 champions and cup favourites Northumberland 2. Despite this, at one stage CLS were 2-1 up thanks to tremendous wins by 3rd string Nick Hill and 1st string Tom Mitchell-Williams, with Northumberland's only win at that stage coming from 5th string James Taylor, but then Northumberland's 4th string Harry Little levelled the tie and 2nd string David Breakey saw off the challenge of Tom Beresford to clinch the match 3-2 for Northumberland 2 and complete their own league and cup double.
Congratulations to all the teams involved, who played in the right spirit and gave the spectators some thrilling entertainment throughout the day.
These are the results (full details in Latest Tournaments on LeagueMaster):
Men's Northumbria Cup Final (top 4 Men's Premier teams)
Northern 1 beat Tynemouth 1 4-1
Ladies' Northumbria Cup Final (top 4 Ladies' Div 1 teams)
Northern Ladies 1 beat Newcastle University Ladies 3-2
Men's League Cup A Final (for Div 1-3 teams)
Northumberland 2 beat Chester-le-Street 1 3-2
Men's League Cup B FInal (for Div 4-5 teams)
Newcastle University 3 beat Northern 5 5-0
Ladies' League Cup Final (for Ladies teams outside the top 4)
Northern Ladies 2 beat Northumbria University Ladies 4-1
