THRILLING FINALS NIGHT ENDS 2009 ERNST & YOUNG TOUCH SUMMER LEAGUE

MORE than 300 players, 33 teams, 12 weeks of games, hundreds of touchdowns and three drop-off finals led to a thrilling last night of the 2009 Ernst & Young Touch Summer League.

Now in its fifth season, the Antipodean sport has now well and truly established itself as one of the island’s most popular sports and organisers believe that the standard of the games continues to improve.

‘Each year, we wonder how much more people can improve and then each year, we’re completely surprised. Every game on finals night was extremely competitive and many of the more experienced players commented on just how much the newer teams had improved. The fact that so many games went to a drop-off or had just a few touchdowns between them shows just how evenly matched the teams are becoming,’ said Guernsey Touch chair Katrina Bray.

In the Mixed A final Breda Barbarians took on Source Sorcerers and having met twice before this season and each taken a win, it was set to be a great game and it didn’t disappoint. After 25 minutes of intense touch, the game ended with both teams having touched down twice to take it into a drop-off. With just three players left on the pitch, Breda went on to score and take the trophy.

The Mixed A plate between Specsavers Sharks and Mercator was just as close but it ended in a 5 – 4 win for Specsavers Sharks who had benefitted from great performances from father and son Dave and Tom Strawbridge, Matt Seeds, Ben Le Huray and Rodney Gregg. Another drop-off was needed to determine fifth and sixth place after the game between Partners Group and Brotown ended five all on aggregate but it was Brotown who scored to take fifth.

In the Mixed B final PwC, who had started the season with lots of new players, met Argyll Investments who had only come together a week before the season started. Argyll relied heavily on the skills on a handful of their players who make up Guernsey’s 1st XI. Argyll’s Jason Batiste, Blair Campbell and Ollie Horton each contributed two to the winning 8 – 4 score to give Argyll the trophy. In the Mixed B plate, Panthers, the most sociable team in the league met Martel-Dunn Recruits and a hat-trick of touchdowns from Steven Teasdale helped Martel-Dunn win the game 6 – 3. In the fifth and sixth place play-off between Carey’s Crusaders and Lloyds TSB, Guernsey Mixed A players Gilly Kennedy-Smith and Iain Atchison each scored two of Carey’s six and Lloyds relied heavily on the speed of Joe Mooney and Alex Burt who scored three out of Lloyds’ four. The game ended in a 9 – 7 win on aggregate to Carey’s Crusaders.

With a team in all but one league, it was only right that Specsavers ended the season with a trophy and their Specsavers Sharks team took home the Mixed C trophy after a 3 – 0 win over Ogier. Paul Wilkes scored all five of Cool As Day’s touchdowns in the Mixed C plate which saw the legal company take third place after Touch & Go could only score once. The combined team of staff from KPMG and league sponsors Ernst & Young and playing under the name Scotland only joined the league at the half way point but they made their mark by taking fifth place after beating Panthers Bee 11 – 5 on aggregate.

Players from the Mixed A final had already met in the mens final when Source Temps Tigers took on Breda Barbarians. The eagerly anticipated game had drawn the crowds to field one for a clash between key members of Guernsey’s 1st XI in Breda Barbarians and key members of the Guernsey touch squad. The game ended in two all after 25 minutes of play and went to a drop-off. Breda captain Cameron Patten had been looking for a gap for most of the game and eventually found it to run nearly half the field to the touchdown zone and win the game and the title for Breda Barbarians.

In the mens plate the great partnership between Aaron Le Masurier, Alec Bailey, Tom Ceillam and Nick Merrien was enough to give RG Falla’s Green Armee a 5 – 3 win over Specsavers Stags who finished fourth. Resolution IT took fifth place after beating Cornerstone Exiles 8 – 3 on aggregate. Another drop-off decided the seventh and eighth positions with the game between PwC Mens and Martel-Dunn Recruits ending in a five all draw but the Recruits scored the golden touchdown to take seventh. Chameleon enjoyed some late season success to take ninth place after a 7 – 4 aggregate win over Deloitte who settled for bottom place having struggled with injuries over the last few weeks.

It was another repeat of 2008 in the ladies league with GPG Women’s Touch taking on the previously named Touchy Feely team Guernsey Post’s Fe-mails. With island players on both sides, it was almost impossible to predict a winner and the game ended in a two all draw to take it to a drop-off. The teams went down to three players and as fatigue began to set in, Carly Parrott found the gap she needed to give GPG Women’s Touch their third Summer League title. In the ladies plate between Martel-Dunn Recruits and Specsavers Sirens, it was again a close game until the last few minutes when Martel-Dunn used their weeks and weeks of training to take third place 4 – 2. Guernsey Ladies finished fifth in their first season of touch.

Blair Campbell was the top male scorer over the season having impressively scored more than 30 touchdowns and Debbie Wilson was the top female scorer. Mike Kupenga received six Most Valued Player votes for the mixed division, Steve de Jersey won the mens and Laura Sharrott won the ladies.

Registration for the Ernst & Young Autumn League opens next week