Fives bring The Williams Cup back to Shrewsbury for the first time in a decade

The Williams Cup is a team fives tournament forming part of the National Championships.

A team consists of three pairs; each pair’s results carry equal importance. In the fixtures, the schools’ 1^st pairs play each other, as do the 2^nd pairs, as do the 3^rd pairs. It is, therefore, a test not only of the quality of the top pair (as the competitions at the end of term are) but of the school’s quality in depth. Shrewsbury last held the trophy in 2012; this year, from our results in fixtures to date, we knew we had a fair chance of recovering it.

We took 8 players: having good subs allowed us to rest key players before important rounds. Our opening match of the day was against St Olaves 1^st Team. A tough match against skilled opponents with a unique style of play meant that our players had to be focused to get the job done. Pair 3 made quick work of their match, winning 12-4,12-5. Pair 1 & 2 were closer affairs, with both ties finishing 1-1, meaning that Shrewsbury won the match 4 sets to 2.

In our second match we came up against St Olaves 2, again a potential banana skin, but we managed to win 6-0 with a rotated team due to high quality cutting, returning and volleying from every Salopian player. We carried this form into the third tie of the day against Highgate School and again managed to win 6-0. At this point in the day, Shrewsbury were second, 1 point behind Eton.

The penultimate match of the day saw Shrewsbury come up against Ipswich School, who transferred from the Vargas Salver tournament and played well throughout the day. Unfortunately for Ipswich, the Salopians were hitting top form and they struggled to stay in rallies due to some excellent finishes from Shrewsbury’s 1^st and 3^rd pairs in particular. Eton overcame Highgate 6-0, meaning it would become a straight shootout between the two for the cup.

For Shrewsbury to win the Williams Team Cup, they would have to win the tie 4-2 or better, if it was a 3-3 draw, Eton would retain the trophy. With time to spare before the final round, Mr Cooley led the team talk and set about answering the question, how will we beat Eton? After discussing tactics and analysing Eton’s strengths and weaknesses, his final remarks were “We will win at Pair 1, we will win at Pair 2 and we will win at Pair 3, Floreat Salopia!”

The Shrewsbury team, clearly pumped up after Mr Cooley’s Braveheart-esque rally cry, played the best Fives I have seen from them in their school careers. We managed to make a strong start and were up in all three games by a couple of points, the question now was how are we going to convert this advantageous position into set wins? The answer was clear, we would not give them a chance. Shrewsbury 1 won the first set 12-9, Shrewsbury 2 won 12-8 and Shrewsbury 3 12-10. 1 more set needed, all 3 games became a lot tighter and harder to watch. 3^rd Pair had started first, so I focused my attention to their game. It quickly became apparent that they could only win points when I wasn’t there, so I quickly abandoned my post and went back to watch the first two pairs. At match point of the 3^rd pair, I took the risk and watched as Eton cut the ball out of play, a subdued end to the match but more importantly meant that the cup would be returning to Shrewsbury. Despite the trophy already being in the bag, the 1^st and 2^nd pairs still set about winning their second sets. Shrewsbury 2^nd pair lost out to Eton 2^nd Pair 8-12 in the second, but Rory M-O (PH, UVI) and Digby T-W (I, UVI) completed the job with utmost professionalism, winning 12-6 in the second set, ensuring Shrewsbury won the match 5-1, and as a result, bringing the trophy back to Shrewsbury for the first time in a decade. 

Adam Morris

Master i/c Fives