ANGLESEY got sweet revenge over Montana Red Dogs to win the men’s competition in the 23rd Guernsey Open volleyball tournament. Last year, Montana had beaten Anglesey in the final, but this year the Welsh outfit hung in there after losing the first set to get their hands on the trophy which they last won in 2005.
Yesterday’s finals of the men’s, women’s and mixed competitions were the climax of a weekend of volleyball at Beau Sejour.
No Guernsey side featured in the finals.
‘I’m definitely pleased to get revenge,’ said Anglesey’s captain Dave Roberts after his team’s victory.
‘Our lads played together and they stayed focused. Disciplined volleyball won us the game.’
The first set started off a tight affair as Roberts kept his side level with some telling spikes.
However, the much-fancied Liverpool side eventually stretched out a lead that saw them grab the opening set 25-17 as their captain Clayton Lucas and Adam Philips punished their opponents with a number of stinging blows.
Into the second set and as Roberts proceeded to find his range, Anglesey took a 13-5 advantage as Montana started to look all at sea.
The blues built on this cushion to win the set 25-16.
With a shortened third set now needed to decide the outcome, a few mistakes by Anglesey resulted in Montana going ahead.
A delightful spike by Lucas down the line made the score 9-7 to Montana’s advantage and you had the feeling that this was a crucial point in the match.
This was not to be as Anglesey rallied back to win the set 14-12.
‘Full credit to their lads, they played very well,’ said Lucas.
‘It’s our first loss of the tournament. We weren’t expecting them to play as well as they did.’
In the women’s final Reading Angels made it two wins on the trot as they got the better of Melon Bits.
They had got to the final after defeating local side NashCopy in the semis.
Through their tall and powerful German captain Gesina Luhle, they won the final in straight sets after taking the first one 25-13 and then the second 25-11.
‘It was lovely to win as it was last year,’ said Bonn native Luhle.
‘The whole weekend we’ve had a good spirit. A couple of our players from last year couldn’t make it because of injuries but they were with us in spirit.
‘All the way through there wasn’t one single player that stood out. We played as a team.
‘Against NashCopy in the group stages they were really good and we lost. Then in the semis when we played them again and we won.
‘That was really good for us and we came together as a team.’
The honours in the mixed final went to Ken Dodd’s Dad’s Dog’s Dead, who defeated Anglesey.
They lost the first set 25-23 before taking the next two 25-13 and 18-16. The victory adds to their success at the Jersey tournament last April.
Article posted on 29th October, 2007 - 12.00am
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