Shrewsbury Win The Williams Cup In A Thriller

05/03/26: Shrewsbury won the Williams Cup in association with Advanta Wealth for the first time since 2022 and only the second time since 2012 at Charterhouse on Sunday.

Charterhouse - with its newly refurbished courts - was the first-time venue for this year's Williams Cup, the senior three pair schools competition. The home team were also taking part for the first time ever, having a go at some of the big beasts of the school Fives circuit after winning the second tier Vargas Salver a few weeks ago.

They were up against defending champions St.Olave's, looking for a fourth win in a row, perennial challengers Shrewsbury and Eton and an upwardly mobile Ipswich team containing last year's U16 champions. The format was a round robin, with each team playing two games at each pair against their opponents and a point awarded for each game won, with a maximum 24 points therefore available across the competition.

Ipswich, Eton and Charterhouse were competitive throughout, but it was clear from fairly early on that the top spot was going to be fought out between the two teams with the combination of top order firepower and strength in depth - St.Olave's and Shrewsbury. They clashed in the final round, with St.Olave's having taken 17 points from a possible 18 and Shrewsbury 16, meaning that Shrewsbury needed to win four of the six games played to get their hands on the cup.

St.Olave's made the first move after a tight set of first games, winning 12-10 at second pair and 12-11 at third, while Shrewsbury took the first pair game 12-9. This left Shrewsbury on the brink and needing to win all three remaining games. The next move came from the Shrewsbury second pair, who came out a pair transfomed in the second game to win 12-0; there was another 12-11 scoreline at third pair but this time in favour of the Salopians, which meant that it all came down to the final game between the two first pairs. Shrewsbury came out on top once again to complete a remarkable comeback and win the trophy by just one point in one of the most exciting finishes you could ever wish to see.

Our thanks go to Charterhouse for hosting the tournament, to Mark Williams for running things on the day and to Advanta Wealth for their sponsorship.

Final scores

Shrewsbury 20

St Olave’s 19

Ipswich 10

Eton 7

Charterhouse 4