In the end Walpole & Cookley won Division 1 at a canter. But they didn't have it all their own way all season. In fact it was not really until the beginning of March that they started to nose in front, but once they did there was no stopping them.

Up until then it had really been a two horse race, the early showing from the 2 Sizewell teams had faded by the end of the year and Knodishall A had been left out in front only to be caught, passed and finally left behind by Walpole, who ended up a very comfortable 19 points clear at the top, to take a well deserved second title win in 3 years, although this season was a far cry from 2002/2003 when they only won by virtue of having scored more shots.

Knodishall A were left with the runner-up spot for the second year in succession and Wenhaston A came through with a very strong finish to end up in third place after having spent most of the season, like everyone else apart from the top 2, in danger of being demoted.

Sadly for Wissett and Middleton it was very much business as usual, coming up from the Second Division only to fall back again the very next season, but for everyone else it was a different story. This season saw a change in the rules intended to spice things up and that it certainly did. For the first time it was decided that there would be three up, three down between the 2 divisions, which meant for a large part of the season there were half a dozen teams in danger of finishing up in that third relegation spot.

As it was Wenhaston pulled themselves out of danger with a month to go, Snape finished well with two excellent results and Sizewell B and Kelsale made themselves safe in their final games of the season, which left one final game between Sizewell A and Thorpeness, just one point between them and whoever lost would be demoted. In the end it was Sizewell that triumphed and Thorpeness, last year's champions, were left with the final relegation spot.

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There are no guarantees in any sport (except that if you have more money than anyone else you will win the Premiership), but if there was one certainty this season it was that Knodishall B would be promoted back into Division 1 after their shock relegation last season. And so it turned out, not only gaining promotion, but winning Division 2 by a comfortable margin (although it may not have seemed so comfortable to them at the time).

But they did not have it all their own way by any means. Riverside pushed Knodishall hard all season and at times themselves led the division, indeed if it had not been for a shock home defeat by Darsham late on in the season, they might have won the title themselves. As it was they didn't quite make it, but from the end of the year their promotion seemed in little doubt and indeed the two teams ended up well ahead of their rivals.

The third promotion spot was, however, a different story and came down to a 3-way fight between Yoxford, Darsham and Reydon, the outcome of which was not decided until the very last game.

There was little to tell between Saxmundham, Leiston St Margarets and Amber, although it should be noted that Amber started of the season with 2 big wins, had another stonking result at the end and managed only one other in the middle, nestled amongst 13 defeats, although all in all it was a huge improvement on 2003/2004.

Wenhaston B and Aldeburgh finished more or less together at the foot of the table, although both of them should be commended for their efforts in overcoming various obstacles to both start and complete the season, respectively.

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It has to be said that the draw for this year's Cup was rather one sided, with 7 Division 1 teams in the bottom half of the draw and only 3 in the top half.

So it was that Walpole & Cookley, already the Division 1 Champions and looking for the first League and Cup double since Thorpeness in 1995, had to find their way past Thorpeness, Leiston St Margarets, Knodishall A and Snape to reach the final. Even then, with what appeared to be an easier draw Kelsale still had to face both of the other Division 1 teams in their half and also had to take on Riverside and Darsham, one of which gained promotion from the Second Division and the other of which were unlucky not to do so.

As it was there were no shock results, the only real surprise was that Knodishall A, finalists for the last 6 consecutive seasons didn't make it this year.

The Final - Kelsale vs. Walpole & Cookley

The first pair of games started well for Kelsale as they took early leads in each, but Walpole fought their way back and in the end won both ending up with a 9 shot lead (10-19).

The second pair of games saw Kelsale come back into the match, winning both by a total margin of 16 shots to overturn Walpole's lead and go into the break ahead by 7 shots (32-25).

As the first 2 rounds of games had shown a small gap can easily be overturned, so it was all to play for in the final pair of games. As it was Kelsale won both games, and finished a comfortable looking 15 shots clear with a final score of 50-35, for their second Cup win in 3 years.

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Interestingly both finalists found their way into the Plate having been knocked out of the Cup by both of the finalists in that competition, however their paths to the Final differed somewhat.

Thorpeness had 3 matches on their way to the Final, but each of them were were achieved in convincing manner, Aldeburgh, Wenhaston A and Cratfield were all well beaten with plenty of shots to spare. But for Riverside it was a different story, although they had only 2 matches to play both were tight affairs, in fact Knodishall B and Leiston St Margarets were beaten by only 3 shots each.

The Final - Thorpeness vs. Riverside

On paper the teams looked evenly matched, Thorpeness having just been relegated from Division 1 at the same time that Riverside were being promoted in their place.

In the end the difference between the two teams on the night was made in the first pair of games, Thorpeness won both of them, one by a single shot, the other by 12, it was a margin that Riverside were never going to be able to close (19-6).

The second pair of games were split, although Thorpeness managed to increase their overall lead slightly and took a 15 shot advantage into the break (29-14).

The results of the final pair of games were again split evenly, each team scoring an equal number of shots, to see Thorpeness triumph and take a well deserved consolation after the disappointment of their recent relegation (40-25).

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