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MARLINS YOUNGSTERS TRIUMPH
 

2007 Season	PLD	W	D	L	F	A	PTS	GD
Invicta Marlins	14	10	2	2	195	156	22	39
Caledonia	14	10	1	3	209	143	21	66
Warley	14	10	1	3	167	141	21	26
South Derbyshire	14	8	1	5	186	126	17	60
Newton Abbot	14	6	1	7	242	254	13	-12
Otter 1869	14	4	3	7	143	146	11	-3
Reading	14	3	1	10	147	201	7	-54
Bedford	14	0	0	14	127	249	0	-122

It was fitting that the Division Three title should be settled on the final day of the season with a clash between the two main contenders – Caledonia and Invicta Marlins.

Marlins' players celebrate promotion at the K2 pool in Crawley. Picture: Mike Coles

In the event, the game was surprisingly one-sided. The Scots made much of the running in the early stages, thumping shots against the framework of the goal and bringing the best out of keeper Elliott Murphy, who later saved a penalty.

But after the first period had ended 1-1, Invicta’s young side really went to town. They scored six goals without reply in the second – through Mark Cheetham (2), Rob Simpson, Stuart Collins, Nick Jackson and Danny Hanlow – to open up a gap that was always going to be too difficult for Caledonia to overcome.

Eventually, Invicta cruised home 15-5, with Collins (4) and Jackson (3) as their leading marksmen.

Earlier, Marlins drew 9-9 with South Derbyshire and then beat Warley, who came to Crawley as league leaders, but then lost to both Caledonia (12-10) and Invicta (16-13).

Caledonia also defeated South Derbyshire in one of the weekend’s many close games – 13-12. So the Invicta-Caledonia clash began with the Scots needing just a draw to win promotion – and Invicta requiring a win.

Skipper Collins admitted his side needed a little bit of good fortune to get themselves into that position. They trailed 9-8 with 1 minute 25 seconds remaining when Davide Bernardi scored for South Derby. The equaliser – a bounce shot from Jackson – came just one second from the final hooter!

“We saved our best performance of the season for Caledonia,” said Collins. “We had talked about the game the previous evening and genuinely believed we had the ability to win if we could maintain recent levels of performance. When we lost 15-12 to Caledonia earlier in the season, a couple of our key players were absent.

Invicta’s fitness levels stood them in good stead against Warley. The match was tied at 11-11 at the start of the final period but then Simpson, Andy Peterson and Matt Spurr scored within a two-minute period to put their side in control and set up the 16-13 win. The match featured a highly promising display by 15-year-old Invicta player Scott Martin.

Caledonia finished level on points with Warley but took second place by virtue of their superior goal difference.

At the other end of the table, Otter 1869 pushed Reading into the play-off position of seventh with a 13-9 win. The London side also picked up a point in a dramatic finale to the match with Newton Abbot.

Two seconds from the end, Otter skipper Yannick Gaudio coolly lobbed what seemed certain to be the winner, making the score 16-15. From the restart, however, Andy Margetts collected the ball and fired an unstoppable shot into the corner from two metres inside his own half.

Newton Abbot then beat Reading 25-23 in a match which tested the hard-working tablers to the limit. In all, the match sheet (and second match sheet!) logged 71 incidents! As if that wasn’t enough, Newton Abbot then beat relegated Bedford 31-19 – a game unusual for the fact that two players Steve Margetts, of Newton Abbot, and Justin Irvine, of Bedford, both contributed ten goals.