Recap of the 2010/2011 STL
This seasons STL (Southern Tchoukball League) has now come to a close after eight months of battles between the top Southern teams. Although there were eight tops teams all competing in the Division 1, there was one question on everyone’s mind... Will Solent Rhinos be able to hold onto their title for another year?
The 2010/2011 STL started off on 17/10/2010 with an open tournament for all teams to enter. This gave new players a chance to look at how the tournaments are run and meet other teams from the Southern area. It was a success with many smiling faces (old and new) and a great opener to the season.
One week later (24/10/2010) was when the season officially kicked off and we saw some great Tchoukball from all teams involved, including the 2009/2010 STL Champions, Solent Rhinos.
The match scores were as follows:
|
Southampton University |
48 : 44 |
Portsmouth Ladies |
|
Solent Rhinos |
50 : 30 |
Solent Bulldogs |
|
Portsmouth Men |
53 : 50 |
Southampton University |
Paul Green, Tchoukball Youth Development Manager commented “This was a fantastic start to the season with some great Tchoukball all round. It’s going to be an exciting season.”
On 13/11/2010, the second instalment of the STL took place with more teams desperately trying to get off to a good start and become this seasons Champions.
The match scores were as follows:
|
Portsmouth University |
62 : 43 |
Bournemouth University |
|
FAST |
63 : 40 |
Solent Bulldogs |
|
Portsmouth University |
64 : 36 |
Portsmouth Ladies |
|
FAST |
55 : 31 |
Bournemouth University |
Paul Flemington, Vice Captain of FAST commented “After seeing Portsmouth University play today they could be favourites to win the league, but I have faith in FAST. It will be a good match when we come up against them.”
With the third set of league matches on 28/11/2010, FAST and Portsmouth University were fighting for the top spot, but... could either of them get it?
The match scores were as follows:
|
Portsmouth University |
50 : 30 |
Solent Bulldogs |
|
Solent Rhinos |
55 : 50 |
Portsmouth Men |
|
FAST |
65 : 39 |
Portsmouth Ladies |
Andy Haigh, Bournemouth University Coach commented “The favourite match to watch had to be Portsmouth University vs. Solent Bulldogs as it was a well contested match.”
The New Year started with the fourth round on 16/01/2011. After a long break allowing all teams to relax, they returned for the second half of the season.
The match scores were as follows:
|
Solent Rhinos |
59 : 32 |
Bournemouth University |
|
Portsmouth Men |
50 : 30 |
Solent Bulldogs |
|
Portsmouth Ladies |
52 : 46 |
Bournemouth University |
Lou Whatmore, Portsmouth Ladies Captain commented “All credit to Bournemouth University, they played very well but we took advantage of any opportunities and pulled out the victory.”
Still being anyone’s league, 13/02/2011 was the date of the fifth set of fixtures. This was the biggest STL day to date with more matches than any other.
The match scores were as follows:
|
Solent Rhinos |
50 : 47 |
Southampton University |
|
Portsmouth Men |
61 : 51 |
Portsmouth University |
|
Portsmouth Men |
62 : 48 |
Bournemouth University |
|
Southampton University |
53 : 43 |
Portsmouth University |
|
Portsmouth Ladies |
50 : 30 |
Solent Bulldogs |
Paul Christopher, Southampton University President commented “Our game against Solent Rhinos was epic, the atmosphere was great and it could have gone either way. We’ll beat them next season.”
The two teams still undefeated this season were FAST and Solent Rhinos, and on 27/03/2011 they had the rematch from the 2009/2010 STL final.
The match scores were as follows:
|
FAST |
68 : 47 |
Solent Rhinos |
|
Southampton University |
50 : 30 |
Solent Bulldogs |
|
FAST |
58 : 40 |
Southampton University |
Jamie Attrill, Solent Rhinos Manager commented “Favourite match? Too hard to say, most of the games were of a high standard. Perhaps the FAST game and the Cup Semi Final on the same day”
On 17/04/2011, the sixth set of matches went underway. The quality of the games was greatly improving as the league went on and the atmosphere was incredible.
The match scores were as follows:
|
Solent Rhinos |
69 : 38 |
Portsmouth Ladies |
|
FAST |
56 : 51 |
Portsmouth Men |
Liam Green, Portsmouth Tchoukball Club Coach commented “We played at our best in these games and that shows by how close we were to FAST at the end”.
The final matches were played on 22/05/2011 with FAST still at the top of the league it was down to the ever improving Portsmouth University to smash FAST’s undefeated streak.
The match scores were as follows:
|
FAST |
68 : 50 |
Portsmouth University |
|
Portsmouth Men |
52 : 51 |
Portsmouth Ladies |
|
Southampton University |
75 : 25 |
Bournemouth University |
|
Solent Rhinos |
60 : 56 |
Portsmouth University |
|
Bournemouth University |
50 : 30 |
Solent Bulldogs |
Ben Wallace, Portsmouth University President commented “I think that both Portsmouth University teams did superbly this year. It’s our most successful year as a club.”
The final league table for the 2010/2011 STL is as follows:
|
Rank |
Team |
Played |
Win |
Draw |
Lose |
Points |
|
1 |
FAST |
7 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
21 |
|
2 |
Solent Rhinos |
7 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
19 |
|
3 |
Portsmouth Men |
7 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
17 |
|
4 |
Southampton University |
7 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
15 |
|
5 |
Portsmouth University |
7 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
13 |
|
6 |
Portsmouth Ladies |
7 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
11 |
|
7 |
Bournemouth University |
7 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
9 |
|
8 |
Solent Bulldogs |
7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
Pictured above is the Southern Tchoukball League (STL) winners; FAST Tchoukball Club.
From left to right, back: Stu Blakemore, Adam Vallely, Pat Dennis, Paul Flemington and Jim Ekberg.
Front: Rob Ellis and Will Waters
Rob Ellis, FAST Captain commented “It has been a great season and I am proud of my team. The 2009/2010 STL was our first season together as a team, so to progress that much in one year and win the STL shows how much we’ve worked.”
