Annual Club Tournament
The season commenced with the first Annual Club Tournament, sponsored by BEBC (John Walsh), held on a beautiful sunny day in April, just before the league season started. The idea was for 16 clubs being able to get together in an enjoyable and competitive way. The format was different to anything else we do, and this created an added excitement as clubs were keen to progress to the final. Knyveton Gardens, had one team lose their first game, then kicked on emphatically knowing they could not lose any more. In the Final, they had enough to beat Moordown and be crowned the first ever champions.
Champions - Knyveton Gardens
Triples - Section 6
The battle for promotion in Section 6 was extraordinary. The rule book was being referred to prior to the final day to see how promotion would be determined if everything was tied. Ferndown Elks lost out on promotion by just 2 shots! Braeside Barracudas took advantage of this to finish second. Braeside Barracudas had the slight advantage over the Elks when they played in the season, so one could argue the promotion was deserved.
Runners Up - Braeside Barracudas
Moordown Meerkats went into the final day knowing maximum points would be enough for winning the league, but it was possible to miss out on promotion altogether. A convincing win against Southbourne Emus saw the Meerkats take the title by 2 points.
Champions - Moordown Meerkats
Triples - Section 5
Another final day battle happened in Section 5, but this time, Poole Park Mallards played top of the table Lyndhurst Lightning, needing a win to secure second place, but a narrow defeat meant Kynveton Kingfishers could clinch promotion. It wasn’t to be, however, as Highcliffe Panthers had a narrow victory over the Kingfishers, which meant that Poole Park Mallards hung on to secure promotion.
Runners Up - Poole Park Mallards
Lyndhurst Lightning enjoyed another successful season and took the league by storm, winning with an 18 points advantage.
Champions - Lyndhurst Lightning
Triples - Section 4
There were no final day dramas in Section 4. The main league placings for promotion and relegation were long decided before September. Swanage Dolphins enjoyed success the previous season, and continue to rise up the divisions with another 2nd place position.
Runners Up - Swanage Dolphins
Fordingbridge Flyers missed out on promotion last year, with Fordingbridge Foresters going up instead. However, the Flyers came back much stronger this season and won all 18 games to finish top of the league on 95 points.
Champions - Fordingbridge Flyers
Triples - Section 3
Wimborne Bravo needed to have a great end of the season to fend off the Lyndhurst Lasers quest for promotion. Both teams won their last four games which meant Wimborne Bravo were victorious, staying ahead of Lyndhurst Lasers by 3 points.
Runners Up - Wimborne Bravo
Fordingbridge's rise continued as the Foresters secured top spot on 84 points, which was 3 points ahead of Wimborne Bravo. A last day defeat would not have dampened their achievements, as being crowned champions of Section 3 was already secured.
Champions - Fordingbridge Foresters
Triples - Section 2
Moordown Mavericks took a late charge for promotion, winning their last 5 games, but Ferndown Caribou secured a win on the final day to gain promotion, by one point.
Runners Up - Ferndown Caribou
Southbourne Foxes only won one more game than Ferndown Caribou, but the wins the Foxes achieved were emphatic, which meant that they finished 13 points ahead, with a total of 82 points.
Champions - Southbourne Foxes
Triples - Section 1
Ferndown Axis looked strong at the start of the season, and managed to be in top spot with four games to go, but an indifferent finish to the season saw the 2021 & 2022 champions finish third. Taking advantage were last season’s Champions, Boscombe Cliff Ospreys, who despite losing their last game, won 2nd position in the game prior.
Runners Up - Boscombe Cliff Ospreys
Swanage Swans would be pleased to clinch the title once again, having lost last year to Boscombe Cliff Ospreys. 4 consecutives wins to close out the season meant they finished top by 12 points, becoming well deserved champions, for the second time.
Champions - Swanage Swans
Premier - Section 5
New Milton B put on a valiant effort to gain promotion, but to no avail, as Bournemouth B were confirmed second with a game to play, reaching 120 points.
Runners Up - Bournemouth B
New to the league, Blandford Blues took no prisoners, and dominated Section 5, remaining undefeated and finishing on 147 points.
Champions - Blandford Blues
Premier - Section 4
Section 4 was certainly the league for second teams of clubs. Wimborne Arrows did not have enough to finish higher than third, leaving Broadstone Wessex A to claim promotion on 112 points with a second place finish.
Runners Up - Broadstone Wessex A
Leading the way at the top of Section 4, Knyveton Gardens A won 14 of their 18 matches and finished 12 points ahead of Broadstone Wessex A with 124 points.
Champions - Knyveton Gardens A
Premier - Section 3
Section 3 was filled with teams that not so long ago were in the top two divisions, so many would be keen to get back to former glories, yet it was Fordingbridge A that went on a 5 game winning streak to close the season out in 2nd place.
Runners Up - Fordingbridge A
Wimborne, who were relegated the season prior, won Section 2 by one point, thanks to 6 consecutive wins, and will return to Section 2 next season.
Champions - Wimborne
Premier - Section 2
Throughout the season it always looked like Section 2 was going to be contested between 3 teams, with two of these already having a team in the top league. It was New Milton A who were the early leaders, but rapidly dropped off in July allowing Boscombe Cliff A and Knyveton Gardens the right for promotion. It was looking very likely that Boscombe Cliff A were going to win the league, but a surprise defeat at West Moors, who ended up taking the third spot, meant Boscombe Cliff A went up as runners-up.
Runners Up - Boscombe Cliff A
Knyveton Gardens had a fantastic season, having started by winning the B&D Annual Club Tournament in April, both the Knyveton teams were Champions of their respective leagues, with the first team winning promotion back into the top section. Not only did Knyveton Gardens have to rely on Boscombe Cliff A losing their last game, perhaps the toughest test of all was going to Braeside on the last day and emphatically winning 10-0 to go up as champions, which very few saw happening.
Champions - Knyveton Gardens
Premier - Section 1
Section 1 remained interesting throughout the season, not so much to see who would be champions, as Boscombe Cliff dominated the league once more, but all the other positions were up for grabs. Newly promoted Highcliffe had a superb start to the season but then went into freefall, losing their last 8 games, however, Ringwood who finished equal points with Highcliffe fell victim of ending in a relegation position with Moordown. Meanwhile at the top, Fordingbridge, who were one point off the relegation position at the half way stage, won 5 in a row to secure second position.
Runners Up - Fordingbridge
43 points ahead of Fordingbridge, having won the league at the start of August, Boscombe Cliff had a points per game average of 7.89 and a grand total of 142 points. Worthy champions.
Champions - Boscombe Cliff
