Taipans take two titles, Tigers snap SE streak

The South East Taipans took home two titles from the 2022 Opens Nationals, but the Midland Tigers snapped a three-year streak for the South East by taking home the Mixed Open title.

The Taipans did make it a clean sweep in terms of appearances in the finals, with their Mixed Open team coming up short against the Tigers, who finished the weekend with a perfect record of eight wins from their eight matches. In the final the Midlands set out their stall in the first half, extending a 5-2 lead going into the break. The Taipans did have the better of the second half, but the advantage was too much to overcome, the Tigers running out 7-5 victors.

The other two finals were both South East derbies and they lived up to their billing.

The Mens Open produced a classic shootout, where the teams matched each other try for try throughout the 40 minutes. An 8-6 lead for the Sharks was overturned in the second half, as despite a Will Serocold effort 40 seconds from time the Taipans battled back to score on the hooter through Louis Treays to make it 11-11 as the hooter sounded. Treays then turned provider in the first attack of extra time, firing a long pass for James Baron to score what would prove to be the game-clincher.

The Womens Open may not have had the scoring, but it did not lack the drama, as the Taipans and Sharks went head-to-head for local bragging rights. The Sharks had had the toughest of weekends, losing several players to injury, but they had showed their resilience and character in battling back from two-score deficits against the Midland Tigers in the group stages and the North West in the semi-final.

Meanwhile the Taipans had swept all before them during the weekend, but they found the Sharks a tough nut to crack. Emily Irons opened the scoring 10 minutes in to set up a half which the team in blue would lead 3-1. The second half was equally tense, but while the Taipans had plenty of pressure it took 13 minutes for the dam to break, Naomi Fearnett bringing the margin back to one. Emily Bayliss tied things up four minutes from time, and two minutes from time the Sharks’ hopes were dashed as the Taipans scored the winner before holding out with a pair of desperate touches to retain their title.

The Nationals return to Nottingham’s Riverside Sports Complex on the weekend of September 10th-11th for the Seniors and Masters event, with the Juniors heading to the venue the weekend after.