Camels take the Cup at Manchester Main
The annual Manchester Main tournament hosted twenty two teams across three tiers at Wythenshawe Sports ground last weekend. Four teams travelled from Scotland, two from the Midlands and one from London, who at 9am on the Saturday were treated to a full scale Mancunian downpour, the likes of which are unheard of below junction 15 of the M6, and gained the tournament the nickname “Manchester Rain”. Unperturbed by this, our teams played on.
The end of day one saw Spittin’ Camels easily holding the top spot in Gold. In rec, Silver and Bronze were combined and then split in two groups for the round robin stage. Ex-Nottingham University friends Famille Casling lead Group A six points ahead of the opposition. Glaswegian team Fockers lead Group B.
Sunday afternoon saw Camels, Mavericks, Meerkats and Midlands team Misfits head to the semi finals for the Gold Cup. Camels were on top form, beating Meerkats 10-4 in their semi-final and then smashing Mavericks 16-6 in their cup final.
In Rec, the top 4 teams from both groups went to the Silver semi-finals and the remaining bottom 8 played for the Bronze Cup. Famille Casling beat Tigers by a single run in their semi-final and London team Game of Throws (sporting groovy purple kit) beat Fockers to reach the Silver Cup final. The Londoners were no match for Famille Casling, with the Midlanders winning a comfortable 14-4 to claim the Cup and finishing the weekend unbeaten. Camels II took the Silver Plate.
Edinburgh’s Dalriada Demons battled Speeders in the Bronze Cup final, with Speeders winning 11 runs to 5. In a close Bronze Plate final, Drizzle beat Bolts 15-14. Full results will be available on the MSL website for the next few weeks.
A good weekend was had by all with Game of Throws remarking that it was “the friendliest tournament we’ve ever been to.” Manchester Softball League would like to thank everyone who attended, wherever you travelled from and thanks to everyone who umpired, of all abilities. We look forward to seeing you all next year.
