Crunch time in Mens NTS and Womens NTS Divisions 1 and 2

Saturday is crunch day for the destiny of the Division 1 and 2 titles of the Mens National Touch Series and Womens National Touch Series for 2023.

For the men, Saturday starts straight off with knockout matches based on the finishing positions in the opening day round robins. The league placings have decided who is playing who in the quarter finals, with the top teams in pools A and B playing the bottom teams from the other pool, and second versus third making up the balance.

In Division 1, Galaxy London topped Pool A thanks to three solid wins over London Scorpions, Hot Custard and Wigan Warriors, who finished second, third and fourth respectively.

Pool B was topped by Old Wesley, but their wins over NQ Rebels (14-13) and London Eagles 1 (13-11) could not have been much tighter. The Rebels’ game against the Eagles was equally tight, the north west outfit winning 8-6, with Cambridge finishing in fourth.

This makes the quarter finals as follows:

Galaxy London v Cambridge
London Scorpions v London Eagles 1
Hot Custard v NQ Rebels
Wigan Warriors v Old Wesley

Division 2’s quarter finals have been finalised in the same format.

Pool A was topped by Nottingham, although Manchester Foxes pushed them all the way in an 11-9 thriller. Revolution’s clash with Thames Valley Vikings was even tighter, Revs winning 9-8 to finish third.

There were some tight results in Pool B on the way to finalising the league placings, with Oxford’s 8-7 win over Canterbury securing top spot, with Canterbury only pipping London Eagles 2 8-6.

These made the knockouts starting with:

Nottingham v London Eagles 2
Manchester Foxes v Chester Cheetahs
Revolution v Canterbury Invicta
Thames Valley Vikings v Oxford

In the Womens competitions both Divisions 1 and 2 have two more rounds of league matches before the placing matches decide the overall winners.

NQ Rebels top Division 1, having beaten London Eagles 1, Nottingham and Galaxy London on the opening day. However they are yet to play an unbeaten London Scorpions, who had two wins and a draw, and that match could well be crucial in deciding who finishes first and second.

London Eagles 1 may well have a say in that as well, as they are just one league point behind Scorpions in the standings, and have to play their London rivals this weekend. And don’t discount Galaxy London, either, as they are just two points behind themselves.

In Division 2 Hot Custard and Wigan Warriors set the pace on day one, each winning their three matches to put them joint top of the standings. The two teams have yet to face each other, and with Wigan also having to play third-placed Oxford there is plenty to play for!

In both Divisions 1 and 2 the first and second place teams will go through to the final to decide who wins!

As with day one, Saturday’s matches are all 40 minutes long, with the Mens Division 2 quarter finals getting things underway at 10am, and the Womens finals finshing things off at 5:20pm.

CLICK HERE for the full schedule.