Shrewsbury Win To Put A New Name On The Richard Barber Cup

17/01/22: For the first time in ten years since the competition started, the Richard Barber Cup in association with Advanta Wealth has a new name on the trophy after a thrilling win for Shrewsbury at Eton yesterday.

Seven teams took part in a round robin format, which built up gradually towards a winner takes all final round between defending champions St.Olave's and Shrewsbury A. All three games were close - St.Olave's took pair 1 15-11 and Shrewsbury took pair three 15-8 leaving the destination of the trophy to be decided by the second pair result. St.Olave's had their noses in front for most of the game, leading 10-7, 12-10 and 14-12, but Shrewsbury pulled back level on each occasion and won the sudden death point to win the pair 15-14 and take the trophy at the end of a fantastic day's Fives.

It was a good day for Shrewsbury overall as they managed to put our three teams - a terrific effort - and their B and C teams both performed extremely well, with the second string finishing in thir place. The standard throughout the competition was very high, with Highgate also performing well and the teams from St.Bart's and Mill Hill - despite not always scoring the points that their efforts deserved - never less than competitive and demonstrating real skill and potential.

Along with the Graham Turnbull trophy just before Christmas, the Richard Barber Cup provides a fantastic opportunity for school and adult players to play together and for links to be forged between school and club Fives. Having missed a year in 2020/21 due to the pandemic it was great to have this back in the calendar and we look forward to seeing both of these competitions continue to go from strength to strength in the next few years.

Thanks go to Eton for hosting the competition, Advanta Wealth for their sponsorship and to all of the schools and clubs who worked so hard to put teams together.

1. Shrewsbury A - 17 points

2. St.Olave's - 16 points

3. Shrewsbury B - 12 points

4. Highgate - 8 points

5. Shrewsbury C - 5 points

6. St.Bart's - 3 points

7. Mill Hill - 2 points

Final Round

Shrewsbury A beat St.Olave's 2-1

E.Taylor & R.MacDonald-O'Brien lost to S.Cooley & F.Baron 11-15

R.Worth & D.Taylor-West beat T.Barker & G.Nsenga 15-14

S.Welti & J.Ainslie beat P.Sathiyamoorthy & E.Smith 15-8