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Serie I
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The Records |
Serie I was yet again another good close
season in the PGW. Although the final stats don't really do justice to
the closeness of the season.
In the first half of the season the lead alternated between Marek, Mad Dog & Simon. Julian after his customary week at the bottom climbed his way up the table to be a genuine contender this season. Both Graham Y & Paul spent weeks on the top 3. The other 3 teams - Nigel, Kevin & Graham R never really got into the top half of the table. So although Marek topped the table for the most weeks before Christmas no team really dominated the league. After Christmas the league became more stable. Marek took the lead and held on all the way until mid April. Julian and Mad Dog were always just a few points behind him alternating between 2nd & 3rd place. Down the league Paul & Simon fought over 4th place without really getting any closer to the top 3. Nigel maintained his usual mid table mediocrity spot of 6th and Kev too remained stable in 7th (at least an improvement for him on Serie H!!). The wooden spoon looked like it was going to be contested by the Graham's. Graham Y having a dismal time between Dec & Mar hardly seeming to be able to score a point. This run saw him drop from top3 to bottom. Graham R was rooted in wooden spoon contention all season. Then came Easter and all change. From 4th place Simon's team suddenly found some form (and points) and scored 176pts in March and April. This took him to the top and his 2nd Title. Julian too kept his form and slipped passed defending Champion Marek in to 2nd spot on goals scored at the end. Julian's best ever season and he was in the Championship race all the way through. Marek although finishing 3rd will no doubt feel disappointment after leading for so long, but it was as good a defense of a league Championship as anybody has ever made in the PGW. Mad Dog faded away towards the end and finished a distant 4th, again I'm sure he'll be disappointed after the season appeared to promise so much, yet it proved his 'Wooden spoon' from Serie H was merely a blip. Mad Dog was nearly caught at the post by a resurgent Nigel who managed 100 points himself in the last 5 weeks of the season. Nigel finishing strongly as he did will no doubt be hoping for more than his now usual mid table oblivion in Serie J!!! Kevin too ran to some end of season form and edged past the fading Paul to grab 6th spot in the last week of the season. Kev too must be hoping next season brings a top half finish for the 1st time. But yet another dismal season for the Roberts boys, at least Paul managed to finish top of the 'Roberts' league this season. In 8th spot and improving slightly towards the end was Graham Y. A poor season by his standards but at least he avoided the dreaded 'wooden spoon'. Which leads us nicely on to Graham R. He spent all of Serie I down in the basement and in the end won his 2nd wooden spoon in 4 years by quite a distance. He must be praying for a better season next year. All in all Serie I proved quite a record breaker. Highest scoring season ever, 2nd highest individual score of all time, the top 3 were all in the top 10 all time scores. The assists record was broken for both team and player... I could go on but for a full run down go to the 'All time records... What of the other trophies in Serie I. Well the League Series was really a one horse race. Simon lead from start to finish to win his 4th league Series and complete the 2nd PGW double. It was also the highest ever score in the League Series. The only other serious contender was Mad Dog who finished 2nd 8pts behind. Last and notable only for the worst ever performance in the League Series was Kevin. He managed just 1 win and only 3 points from 16 games!!! The cups were won by Marek (the Ken Bates Trophy) by beating Mad Dog 23-19 in the final. Mad Dog then won the Coupe de Perry Groves by beating Simon 21-14 in the final. Simon then won the FA (to play for) Cup by beating Paul 38 to -3 in the final !!! The FA Cup league was retained by Marek, therefore coming the first person to win the competition twice. He scored 60 pts to Simon's 55pts in 2nd place and Graham Y's 51pts in 3rd. And so ended Serie I..... |
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