Not much movement at the top of the league

The third and fifth round of the Mortimer Toyota League were played over the last two weekends, and there has been very little movement on the log.

The third round produced a majority of very evenly matched games, with most teams collecting four points apiece.

The Bullets and Toyota Automark closed the gap on the leaders by managing to garner six points each.

However, the top of the table is looking more and more like a traffic jam in West Street after an accident, with four teams separated by a mere two points.

The fifth round produced more of the same as the week before, with four teams sharing the points, while the Rough Riders managed to secure five valuable points against the Cloverleaf Titans.

There was a major upset when current champions The Scorpions, missing a key player or two, were soundly whipped by Team Golf.

This surprising loss has seen them fall from top spot to joint second.

Their captain put on a brave face and lamented that had they had their full team, things could have been different.

On the other hand, a rather delighted captain of the Rough Riders was full of praise for his team and their fine victory that saw them back where they belong at the top of the table.

The captain of the Four Must Get Beers was chuffed that on his return to the side, after his late withdrawal last week, they gathered five very valuable points against The Cobras.

He was heard saying that the policy of selecting youth over experience had failed and it thus proved the theory that there was no substitute for age and maturity.

This leaves the league wide open, with the top five teams being the Rough Riders (25), Scorpions, Mortimer Toyota, Neal’s Tyres (all on 24) and Automark Toyota (23).

The Bullets are a further three points behind, with Team Golf on 18, Cloverleaf Titans on 16, and The Cobras and Four Must Get Beers on 15 and 11 respectively.

The play of the day is a tough decision, as two players are really worthy of this fine accolade.

The first being Wynand Wessels, who out-drove his far younger, more athletic and energetic opponent with a drive that took aerial shots, much like a drone would do, of his opponent’s ball to finish a fair distance past in the middle of the fairway.

The actual distance passed depends entirely on who one speaks to and seems to vary in ratio to the amount of liquor consumed.

It must be added that Wynand’s second shot was equally good, if not better, landing as per Wynand, a few centimetres away from the hole, enabling him to convert his birdie to win the hole and the game.

The quality of the shot and distance from the pin also varies, depending on whom one speaks to, much like his drive.

However, the winner of the play of the day must go to Ryan Seele, who nothing went right for, and not once but twice hit the smallest of trees (or twigs depending on who one speaks to). On both occasions, the ball went further backwards than forward and on one occasion nearly decapitated him when it sped past him like a Bullet.

The next round of the league is on July 1.

WHAT’S ON AT THE CLUB:
JUNE 9 – SANLAM CANCER CHALLENGE;
JUNE 10 – MICK’S RULES;
JUNE 16 – CHAMBER OF COMMERCE;
JUNE 17 – LADYSMITH WIRELESS TRIPS.