It was thrills and spills on Sunday evening at Bell’s Sports Centre as ten of the twelve Recreational League teams met for the season’s opener – the league cup competition. With Tay Pearls and Aberfeldy unavailable the ten teams were split into two sections of five, each team playing the other with the top two teams qualifying for the semi-final knock out round.
Section one saw many close games with the opener between Gregor Walker’s Hits & Giggles and Susan Scott’s PLUS Mental Health setting the scene with PLUS taking the first set but being behind in the second as time ran out. Johnny Robertson’s Motley Crew also had a split decision against Hits & Giggles, losing the first set but leading in the second. PLUS Mental Health took the first set against Mark Cathro’s newly formed Kinross High School team but the younsters fought back to lead 14-9 in the second set. With PLUS Mental Health qualifying as section winners the battle for second place was settled when Hits & Giggles played Kinross High School. The High School lads just edged the first set 15-13 and the second set seemed to be going their way leading 7-2 but a spirited fightback by H & G saw them take a narrow 10-9 lead as the final whistle sounded with Kinross High just edging out their opponents to qualify for the semi-finals as section runners up.
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Section two was much more clear cut with Jayne Cafferty’s Hitting Bricks winning all their games to qualify as section winners. Second spot was not so clear with Mongrels, Kinross BB Wildcats and Perth High Aces all in the running. It was Lewis Crockart’s Perth High Aces who eased past Jack Watson’s Wildcats to prevent all three sides requiring a set points’ count-back to reach the semi-finals.
The first semi-final between PLUS Mental Health and Perth High Aces saw the PLUS team dominate play with the experience of Brian Hutton marshalling his troops to win 15-8; 15-10. The second semi-final saw a nail-biting first set being finely poised at 14 points each between Hitting Bricks and Kinross High School. It was the High School lads who scored the vital two points to secure a first set lead. The second set was also close, the score rising to 6 points each before the Kinross side edged ahead 11-7 to reach the final.
The final between PLUS Mental Health and Kinross High School certainly saw the best volleyball of the evening, again both sides scoring runs of points until the score read ten points each. Kinross High put on a final push to win the first set 15-11. The second set was again close, drawn at six points each with the ball in play as the final whistle sounded. It was Kinross who scored the vital point to win 7-6 and lift the League Cup Silver Cup for the first time.
This Sunday sees the Premier League Cup teams meeting for their season opener. The eight teams are drawn in two sections of four with the top two qualifying for the cross-over semi-finals.
Section one Section two
Dodgy Spikers Hitting Bricks
Mental Blocks Eagles
Dunfermline Kintronics
Scotrange Team Fife
Fixtures (refereeing side in brackets)
18:00 Dodgy Spikers v Mental Blocks (Dunfermline)
Hitting Bricks v Eagles (Kintronics)
18:30 Dodgy Spikers v Dunfermline (Mental Blocks)
Hitting Bricks v Kintronics (Eagles)
19:00 Mental Blocks v Dunfermline (Scotrange)
Eagles v Kintronics (Team Fife)
19:30 Dodgy Spikers v Scotrange (Mental Blocks)
Hitting Bricks v Team Fife (Eagles)
20:00 Dunfermline v Scotrange (Dodgy Spikers)
Kintronics v Team Fife (Hitting Bricks)
20:30 Mental Blocks v Scotrange (Dunfermline)
Eagles v Team Fife (Kintronics)
21:00 Sec1 win v Sec 2 R/Up (3rd team)
Sec 2 win v Sec 1 r/Up (3rd team)
21:30 Final (court one losing semi-finalist)