Free Church trio romp to National Junior League Division One title

Lillington Free Church A's Ricardo Bolanos, Nikit Sajiv and Livvy Fletcher stormed to the Division One title in the National Junior League regional finals, held in Wellingborough on Saturday.
Lillington Free Church A's Ricardo Bolanos, Nikit Sajiv and Livvy Fletcher. Picture submittedLillington Free Church A's Ricardo Bolanos, Nikit Sajiv and Livvy Fletcher. Picture submitted
Lillington Free Church A's Ricardo Bolanos, Nikit Sajiv and Livvy Fletcher. Picture submitted

The trio started the day in joint top position alongside Great Stukely of Huntingdon but five emphatic wins saw them take the crown by an 11-point margin.

Rugby and St Neots A were defeated 6-0, Knighton Park of Leicester fell 5-1 and Milton Keynes 4-2.

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The championship was already decided before Lillington faced Great Stukely but the team signed off in style with a 5-1 hammering of their nearest rivals.

Bolanos was undefeated on the day, finishing joint top of the averages over two days, with Fletcher and Sajiv finishing fourth and fifth in the averages.

Rugby were also in this division but Sam Cafearo and Jack Evans were handicapped by being a player short and finished fifth, their best scoreline being a draw with Milton Keynes.

Lillington B, in the guise of Milan Sajiv, Jenny Singleton and Emily Beasley, did well to finish third in Division Two.

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They lost 4-2 to the winners, WDHA Juniors of Wellingborough, and to St Neots B but drew with Lillington C and accounted for Westfield A (Wellingborough) and Cliffedale Chambers A (Grantham) 4-2 and 5-1, respectively.

Lillington C did magnificently to finish just a point behind their B side in fourth, well clear of the bottom two.

Their only loss was a 6-0 defeat to WDHA but a draw against Cliffedale and two 4-2 successes over St Neots and Westfield afforded them a very creditable finish. Tom Fletcher, who enjoyed an outstanding win over Kamran Bastani of Westfield, was well supported by Eve Briscoe and Ben Hall.

Lillington D finished a close fourth in Division Three.

Their best performances were a draw against Bedford B and a 5-1 win over St Neots C but Katie Singleton, Josh Yarrow, who only dropped a point all day, Eduardo Bolanos and Alex Costa can look forward to next season’s campaign with confidence. Debutant Costa’s day included a good win over Westfield’s Daniel Mann.