Shrewsbury retain the Richard Barber Cup in a thrilling finish

A terrific 2023 edition of the Richard Barber Cup ended with Shrewsbury retaining the trophy thanks to a 15-14 win in the deciding rubber of the deciding match.

Seven teams hit the starting line this year, representing Shrewsbury (two teams), St.Olave's, Ipswich, Westminster, Highgate and Eton, a strong selection of the majority of the major Fives-playing schools. The competition was played as a round robin with the teams playing each other across three pairs, with each pair consisting of one current and one former pupil (or coach) and each game played as a one set to 15 shoot out. 

Defending champions Shrewsbury A and previous winners St.Olave's quickly marked themselves out as the teams to beat and progressed through the first few rounds without dropping a point.

The key match in the battle for third place came in the penultimate round of the competition between the Shrewsbury second string and Ipswich. A 2-1 win for Shrewsbury would be enough to claim third even though they were sitting out the final round of matches; a win for Ipswich and their fate would be in their own hands going into the final round against Eton.

The Shrewsbury team had looked solid all day with Adam Morris, Marc Quinn and Al Taylor providing bags of knowhow and experience for their school partners to feed off. The three Ipswich pairs got off to great starts and it looked as if they were going to race to a 3-0 win; Shrewsbury fought back across the board, though, enough to win at second pair but wins at first and third left Ipswich needing to win two pairs against Eton in the final round to claim third place overall.

The final round also saw the two unbeaten teams taking each other on in a de facto final. With Richard Barber (Old Salopian) himself watching on among an increasingly enthralled crowd, the match was one of those that shows just why the team format can be so exciting.

At first it looked as though it was going to be straightforward as defending champions Shrewsbury took control in all three courts in the early stages. Third pair was the first to finish, with St Olave’s third pair unable to claw back the lead established by a determined Guy Williams & Theo W (PH, LVI). St Olave’s first pair were beginning to reel in the Salopian pairing of Seb Cooley & George H (PH, UVI) but it seemed likely to be in vain, with Henry Blofield & Jack H (Rb, LVI) 14-8 up in pair two against St Olave’s second pair and one point from claiming the trophy. This is where things started getting interesting, however, as Henry & Jack got stuck on 14, unable to find the gameball return and rally that would finish off their opponents, who had started gaining a little bit of momentum and belief.

Suddenly the atmosphere began to change as Olaves 2^nd pair continued their charge all the way to 14-14 before winning the final point themselves and turning the whole tie on its head in a matter of minutes. 1-1 then, and all eyes now on first pair, which at that stage was delicately poised at 13-12 with all now to play for. Fittingly, for the closing stages of the decisive first pair match between the two best teams in the competition, the standard of Fives was superb, both schoolboys more than holding their own at the set piece and in the rallies while Seb & Tony traded blows. It went to 14-14 (of course it did...) and in truth neither pair deserved to lose, but in the end it was Shrewsbury who finally fell over the line that only 20 minutes before they had been cantering towards.

1. Shrewsbury A - 17 points

2. St.Olave's - 16 points

3. Ipswich - 9 points

4. Shrewsbury B - 9 points

5. Eton - 6 points

6. Highgate - 5 points

7. Westminster- 1 points

Adam Morris

Master i/c Fives