A 9-6 victory today (1 December) over Polytechnic briefly enabled Sheffield to leapfrog into third place. But that was as good as it got. There was brief hope for Sheffield as Cheltenham, needing a win to clinch their Super 5s slot, trailed 6-5 to Sutton & Cheam in the third period. But there was no containing Cheltenham after that – goals by George Davies (3), Alistair Bruce (2), Louie McKie, Jake Polster and Matt Witcomb (Photo: Trevor Hyde) swept them to a 13-7 win.
Sheffield’s only hope then was that Welsh Wanderers would come unstuck against Penguin in the final game of the day. That was never likely as Dan Laxton (7) and Ceri Griffiths (6) led the Welsh to a storming 20-9 victory. The final Griffiths goal was extra special – the result of an “assist” from his 61-year-old Dad Jon, a Wanderers stalwart of many years’ standing who enjoyed a one-off appearance late on.
It all meant that Wanderers finished third behind Manchester and Polytechnic, with Penguin, Cheltenham and Sheffield below them, all on 12 points. Sheffield took sixth place, having lost to Cheltenham and Penguin early in the season.
Sheffield go to Championship 1 in the second phase of the season along with Sutton & Cheam and Watford and the top five teams in Division 2 – Worthing, Sedgefield, Portobello, Invicta and Caledonia.