Kent Target and Rockwood Harriers Claim Historic League Wins
Kent Target became the first club to ever win three back to back league titles as they claimed the Janet Jones Memorial Trophy for the third year in a row, while the Pony Club branch Rockwood Harriers won the Polocrosse Extreme Trophy in the first year that the UKPA made it free for Pony Club branches to register as clubs and enter teams under their branch names in UKPA tournaments.
Kent won the league in 2012, equal first with Celyn, and then won it it by themselves in 2013. They have now added 2014 to that total as well as they claim the Janet Jones trophy with a total of 357 points. The Janet Jones Trophy is awarded for the club with the most league points in total, Kent won most of their points in the A and C grades but picked up points in every grade except the E grade. As the biggest club in the country with 56 players (Celyn are the second largest with 37 players) they would have perhaps been disappointed if they hadn’t regained their title.
However, the Polocrosse Extreme Trophy is awarded for the club with the most league points per playing member and Rockwood Harriers won that with 10.5 points per playing member, a particularly impressive achievement as they earnt all their points in the Primary Juniors grade with just 8 playing members. Rockwood Harriers are a Pony Club branch based in Yorkshire. Coached by the UK player Emily Gilfillan they started playing in UKPA tournaments in 2014 after the UKPA offered Pony Club branches the chance to play in UKPA tournaments under their own branch names without having to pay to register as UKPA clubs.
Rugby had a good season, finishing second in each league. They achieved a total of 295 points at a rate of 8.92 points for each of their 33 playing members. Welsh Dragons finished a close third in each league as they had an impressive season with 282 points at a rate of 8.06 points per playing member. The Welsh Dragons picked up the lions share of their points in the B grade and C grade, while Rugby also did well in the C grade but their best points totals came in the D grade and the Primary Juniors.
In the main league Celyn finished fourth with 245 points with Cotswold in fifth with 225 points. Celyn have their juniors to thank for 130 of their points, whille Cotswold’s A and B graders picked up 172 of their points.
In the League according to size the Northern Lions achieved fourth place with 7.96 points per playing member, with some good results in the D grade, the E grade and the Junior grades. These results saw them also get 6th place in the main league. Again Cotswold managed to grab fifth place in the league according to size with 7.75 points per playing member. Celyn and Kent will probably both be slightly disappointed with their points scored per player as they achieved 6.63 and 6.38 points per player respectively, finishing in 7th and 8th places behind Arden in 6th place with 6.87 points per player.
Looking at the individual grades the A grade has really been a battle between Kent and Cotswold all season, Kent achieving 120 points with Cotswold just behind on 100 points. The Welsh Dragons might be slightly disappointed in their A grade points score but they cleaned up the B grade as appearances from players such as Simon Shearing and Debbie Harris at points in the season strengthened their team. The Welsh won 128 points in the B grade but Cotswold also had a strong season with 72 points and Arden were close behind them with 62 points.
In the C grade it was again Kent who top scored with 115 points but the Welsh were very close behind with 106 points and then Rugby were in third place with 70 points. In the D grade it was Rugby who dominated with 111 points as the experience of players such as Phil Henshaw and Nick Johnson told. However, the Northern Lions took grade wins off them throughout the season and finished in second spot with 59 points, while the new club Chiltern were in third place for the D grade with 47 points.
The E grade was incredibly close between Chiltern (with 35 points), Northern Lions (with 34 points) and Limemere Sparks (with 31 points).
The Junior grades this year were split into Open and Intermediate Juniors and it was Celyn who ultimately did best in both. In the Open Juniors they scored 69 points throughout the season with Arden always close behind them as they scored 53 points. Kent Target and Northern Lions both picked up 32 points in the Open Juniors. In the intermediate juniors Celyn scored 62 points and after them Welsh Dragons were the second highest points scorers with 28 points throughout the season.
The Primary Juniors was incredibly close as Rugby just edged out the Rockwood Harriers with 85 points to 84. Northern Lions picked up 52 points and Ledbury won 19 points.
To view the full league results, click here.
Comments - No Responses to “Kent Target and Rockwood Harriers Claim Historic League Wins”
Sure is empty down here...