Perth and Kinross Local League January Update

Sunday evening saw the league split into two with the top half teams, minus league leaders Ace Holes playing each other and the bottom three also playing each other.

First up in the bottom three was Marcus McNeil’s Perth II against Niamh Chumley’s Kinross. The match started with scores fairly even until the Perth side scored 8 points for the loss of one which set them up nicely to win the first set 25-18. The second set was evenly contested throughout with Perth finishing the stronger to win 25-20.

Next up was Iain Cook’s Perth I facing Kinross and this turned out to be a very close match with the first set seeing both sides trading points right up to 22 points each. It was Kinross who scored the next two points to secure the first set 25-23.

The second set saw Perth dominate play to run out easy winners 25-8 to level the match. With minutes remaining the third set commenced with Kinross leading 5-4 at full time to edge overall victory.

The local derby between the two Perth sides rounded off their evening with Perth II coming from 17-22 behind to win the set 25-20. The second set again saw Perth I take the lead but again Perth II finished the stronger winning 25-20.

With league leaders Ace Holes qualifying for the final playoffs it was up to the teams in second, third, and fourth place to play each other before meeting the league leaders for the title decider round of fixtures in March.

First up was Jamie Salvin’s second-placed Dodgy Spikers against Ian McGrath’s third-placed Mental Blocks. Blockers knew that if they won against Spikers they would have a better chance at winning the league title. It was a thrilling match with neither side showing signs of having an easy win. Blockers held set point at 24-21 but Spikers rallied to level the scores at 24 points each. Spikers looked as if they would take the set but Blockers upped their game to win the next two vital points. The second set saw Blockers storm to a 7-2 lead and although Spikers fought back they were always trailing and it was Blockers who led 24-21 at the final whistle. 

Blockers then played Chris Kaplon’s Clackers and edged ahead in the early stages but Clackers rallied to come within a couple of points at the midway stage. With the score at 21-20 Clackers looked as if they might just scrape home but it was Blockers who fought back to win the set 25-20. This knocked Clackers’ confidence and although they kept up with Blockers in the early stages, a run of 8 points without reply set Blockers on the way to victory, taking full points with a score of 25-14.

Clackers then faced Dodgy Spikers and with the score at 10 points each it looked to go either way.  Spikers went on a run of 7 straight points to set them up, going on to win 25-20. The second set seemed to be turning Clackers’ way as they scored 6 consecutive points to lead 18-17 but it wasn’t to be with Spikers just edging the win by 24 points to 23 at full time.

The result of the top half games means that Mental Blocks are now sitting in second place with 60 points, one point ahead of Dodgy Spikers who have 59 points, with Clackers trailing on 33 points. With Barrie Chiverton’s Ace Holes being undefeated so far this season, the championship looks to be in the bag but you can be sure that the other three teams will be going all out to win against the league leaders when the final round of fixtures takes place.

This Sunday is the final round of Recreational League fixtures before their league splits into a top 6 and bottom 6.

This Sunday’s fixtures at Perth College UHI (refereeing team in brackets):