Ashcombe Winners ...
Posted by John Biddiscombe on 28 June 2011
Played under brilliant sunshine the sold out tournament featured teams from all over the south of England.
Having won the first two pool games Guildford were certain of a semi final place and a victory in the final match would set up an easier match against the runners up in the other pool.
But local rivals Farnborough had other ideas, with several familiar faces across the net. It's fair to say that after an impressive opening few rallys Guildford didn't cover themselves in glory suffering a comprehensive defeat.
A chance to regroup, refuel and probably most importantly rehydrate, Guildford roared back after the lunch break with an impressive victory over IBM Portsmouth setting up a rematch in the final against Farnborough.
Having had a tactical rethink, Guildford realised they needed to speed up their attacks to get past a tall, well formed block. This time the service reception and defence were vastly improved which provided a launch pad for fast middle attacks.
Having built a comfortable cushion Guildford changed ends to play at the favoured end and resisted their normal temptation to relax and give away a string of points to actually increase the lead and secure the trophy.
