News and Views: 2022–3 Season, Cup Final and Presentations

Many thanks as always to everyone who attended the Finals Night on Tuesday the 16^th of May, bringing our 42^nd season of games to a close.

Thanks also to the Pack Horse Bowling Club for accommodating us and also to the Pack Horse team for helping sort this out. With the Queens being unexpectedly closed in recent weeks, we needed a new venue at somewhere near the last minute and the room provided for us at the Pack Horse proved to be just the job. Several people on the night said they thought the evening went well.

The Cup Final was played on Finals Night and was a very entertaining contest. It was a repeat of last year’s Final and also a repeat of the result, with the Queens beating the Poachers 116 – 98. There were just half a dozen unanswered questions on the night, as you might expect, and having won four out of the six rounds, the Queens were deserving winners to get their name on the Cup for the seventh time overall.

[Thanks to Mark Watson for asking the questions and Steve Carter for scoring - Ed.]

The two Cup Final teams have undoubtedly been the best in the League this year, also occupying the top two places in the A League at the end of the season. Honours were shared in that the Poachers won the A League title for the very first time. Many congratulations to the Poachers for this magnificent effort.

The mighty Alan Hodgson from the Dolphin won the A League Individual title for the third time, stretching his incredible record to 13 wins of this title. This year gave us the closest finish you could get with Alice Walker from the Queens finishing second, just 3 points (one question) behind Alan. Ashton Davies from the Poachers finished third, just six points (two questions) behind Alice. These three Masterminds / Brains of Britain will take some dislodging from these ‘Top 3’ slots!

The Dolphin Hammers won the B League title for the second time. The Hammers had an amazing season winning 15 of their 16 League games. I’m sure Dave Turner would be very pleased to see the name ‘Hammers’ on the trophy!

The Waters Green Nags were the well-deserved second placed team in the B League. The Nags have been with us for many years (and with many different names) but they did extraordinarily well during a very difficult season. Nick Peck will be very sorely missed by the League and he would be delighted to see his team do so well.

In that respect, Paul Prior from the Nags won the B League Individual title for the second year running. Dave Barber from the Dolphin Hammers was second and Wynne Keith-Davies from the Sutton Mutton was third. Well done to all three folks, it is no mean feat to occupy those top 3 positions.  

It was also very good to see Ian Musgrave from the Waters Green Nags at the event, collecting his trophy for finishing in the Individual Top 10. Ian would have undoubtedly played more games, but he was taken ill unexpectedly earlier this season. It's great to see him well and back with us again.

Finally, many congratulations to the Park Taverners who won the Cars and Vans 4U Ltd Question Setters Trophy for the best questions of the season for the very first time!

Thanks as always to Olympus Trophies and Sam Baker who provide our trophies.

If all goes to plan, I’ll be in touch early in September and we’ll hopefully get Season 43 going at some point!

Mark Watson

© Macclesfield Quiz League 2023