Division Three South (2015-16)

[LawrenceCooper]

Ended 3-3, great match. Bit of a weird quirk that Warwicks 2 went from 4th in their group with 4 wins, 3 losses to 3 wins out of 3 in the promotion pool. Not a complaint about the system, just an observation.

They obviously got a better exchange rate than us

[Matthew Parry]

Loz, it sounded like an excellent match between our teams; congratulations on a well fought draw. Good luck in the promotion pool, albeit not from an ideal start. Glad that the team that finished second in the group didn't start on 0!

Congratulations to both West Is Best teams; firsts in a very strong position now for promotion, and seconds keeping in the fight. Seriously contemplating a first objectively successful season for the team in its 11th year, in sixth incarnation! Why didn't I think of mixing Wales and the South West when I started this team?!

[Joey Stewart]

We stamped our authority onto the promotion pool today too - no pretenders at the top of the table anymore!

[Matthew Parry]

In eleven years, this is the closest we have ever come to achieving...anything, Joey. We may not be pretenders but in winning terms we certainly are novices and practisers, so why don't we make sure practice translates into team results in rounds 9. 10, and 11 before counting our chickens?

[Joey Stewart]

Well hopefully there will be no more random unregistered IM's turning out in the final matches - those teams have more consistent squads.

[pauldhatchett]

Seedings in 4NCL are very difficult because of the fluctuation in the squads from year to year. For instance, demoted teams (such as mine) may lose players and are seeded too high. Then we have teams such as WIB who had a low seeding for reasons given above but have an excellent manager who is able to recruit. There was a thought that Div 3SA was stronger than Div 3SB. Comparing results in the combined format may indicate that this was correct.

Championship:
Old 3SA won two matches and there were two draws
Demotion:
Old 3SA won three matches and lost one.

Overall:
Div 3SA 29.5 points
Div 3SB 17.5 points

(ignore default)

[Matthew Parry]

Very kind, Paul, but as with everything else in this league, I delegate recruitment elsewhere. Unfortunately my chief scout has just decided to shoot off to the Middle East for a couple of years; I can only hope that he scouts us a sponsor out there...

Your point is correct though; we came up by default, and neither Jack nor Ioan was registered with us when the seedings were calculated; it's very unscientific, particularly when previous year squads may be bolstered by one time players who pop up for the final weekend only!

Congratulations on your team results this weekend!

[LawrenceCooper]

You are much more of an optimist then me, Lawrence, I would be absolutely fuming to think that the second best team in the pool should have to rely on the luck of the draw to take any points forward at all.

I dread to think how you would feel then playing a team in round 9 four points ahead of you that has scored two fewer points in the first eight matches

[Joey Stewart]

Well, we can hope that quality will sine through again - that side you put out against us was clearly of division 2 strength and deserves promotion on merit rather then dodgy pool splitting.

I would like to add, actually, that it might look like I have some problem with warwickshire select but this is most definitely not the case as I have played for them in the past and they are a good bunch of lads who have done no wrong here and are also victims of a system which has unjustly put them into a negative spotlight.

[LawrenceCooper]

Well, we can hope that quality will sine through again - that side you put out against us was clearly of division 2 strength and deserves promotion on merit rather then dodgy pool splitting.

I would like to add, actually, that it might look like I have some problem with warwickshire select but this is most definitely not the case as I have played for them in the past and they are a good bunch of lads who have done no wrong here and are also victims of a system which has unjustly put them into a negative spotlight.

Same here, they are a team local to me and I know them all well from the local leagues. Had they lost their round 7 match they would have found themselves in the relegation pool with two points so their team had a lot of pressure on them when playing against Wessex.

[Ian Thompson]

Seedings in 4NCL are very difficult because of the fluctuation in the squads from year to year. For instance, demoted teams (such as mine) may lose players and are seeded too high.

I thought the seeding was done on the declared squad for the new season, so lost players from the previous season wouldn't affect it.

Your point is correct though; we came up by default, and neither Jack nor Ioan was registered with us when the seedings were calculated;

Presumably the seedings this year are less reliable than usual because teams will have acquired ex-e2-e4 players who unexpectedly found themselves without a team.

it's very unscientific, particularly when previous year squads may be bolstered by one time players who pop up for the final weekend only!

Only, I think, if the one-off player remains registered for the team so the organisers don't know if he'll be a one-off again or a regular player.

[Roger de Coverly]

I thought the seeding was done on the declared squad for the new season, so lost players from the previous season wouldn't affect it.

I believe they were done on the basis of the previous season's finishing order, thus the two top seeds were the relegated teams from division 2.

[LawrenceCooper]

Well, we can hope that quality will sine through again - that side you put out against us was clearly of division 2 strength and deserves promotion on merit rather then dodgy pool splitting.

Even without the pool splitting though my team has lost to Shropshire (convincingly) and Anglian Avengers and had two other draws so the ability to field a strong team doesn't guarantee success. If anything, I've neglected one of my main aims of the team (by strengthening for the Shropshire & West is Best matches) which was to give opportunities to juniors and female players so hopefully I can put that right again in May.

Whatever the outcome my team has had eight very competitive matches with only one match being decided by more than a point so it's been excellent experience for the younger players and quite tense for the not so young ones

[Mike Truran]

I believe they were done on the basis of the previous season's finishing order, thus the two top seeds were the relegated teams from division 2.

Declared squad: Supposition.

Previous season's finishing order: Fact.

[pauldhatchett]

I believe they were done on the basis of the previous season's finishing order, thus the two top seeds were the relegated teams from division 2.

Declared squad: Supposition.

Previous season's finishing order: Fact.

I would add that the captains were also given the opportunity to object, I seem to recall.