Underdog Eagles fly under radar for epic win

Legal Eagles ultimately won 20 sets to Peppin Planners’ 19 sets.

In round one the Eagles won 7-6, in round two the Eagles won 7-6 but in the third round Peppin won 7-6, so the final result was an Eagles triumph on 20 sets to Peppin’s 19.

For the Eagles, three set winners were Pip Metcalfe, Annie Romanin, Riley Hamilton, Will Bull, Haydn McKay, and Mick Farley.

There were five three-set winners for Peppin Planners, which were Mel Edwards, Isabella Galbraith, Shelby Taggert, Andrew Smith and Colin McCrabb.

There were six tie break sets with Peppin winning four while the Eagles won two.

One more tie break win and Peppin could have taken home the medals.

Praveen Kotholla, playing for the Eagles, won only one set on the night, playing against John Sibree.

But these two played three tie break sets, with Sibree winning two.

At the end of the night, Sibree had won two sets and 17 games, while Kotholla won one set and 16 games.

There were some great family tussles between the two teams.

Henry Pisasale played for the Eagles, while father Benjy was on the Peppin side.

Henry was the one who finished with the medal around his neck.

Pip Metcalfe won three sets and wore the medal home, while father Nick won only one set.

Eagles number one man Riley Hamilton won three sets and wore his medal home while partner and Peppin captain Miranda Rose won two sets and no medal.

It was similar on the way home to Lindifferon Lane for Bern and Graeme Murphy.

Bern won two sets and a medal, while Graeme won one set. Following this result, things could have been a bit frosty.

Meanwhile, new chums to town, Nick and Estee Gatacre both played for Peppin and both won multiple sets.

Another was Peter McDonald and son Archie from Caldwell, who both played for the Eagles and both wore medals home.

Then there is Alicia and Henry Osborne.

Alicia played for the Eagles and won one set and took a medal home, while Henry won two sets playing for Peppin but received no medal. Perhaps Alicia shared it?

It has been a most successful season for the Wednesday Twilight comp, with 100 players - 50 of them playing in the final.

The best male player for the comp was Jamie Howard, who achieved something we have not seen before.

He won every set he played over the season for an average of 18 games per week out of a possible 18.

Second best was Thomas Grant with 17.3 games, then Ben Littmann with 16.3 games.

Best female was Elyse Hood with an average of 17.2 games per week.

Second was Pip Metcalfe with 17 games per week, while Hayley Denny was third with a consistent 16.5 games per week.

The best junior player was Jack McGrillen with an impressive 16 games per week, playing on line five for the Eagles.