Ormskirk Quiz League

Ormskirk beat Liverpool 2A by 50-49 in their first match of the new season, Bill Gerrard leading with 21 points. In their second match they drew 51-51 with Wirral - not surprising as these teams are the joint holders. All Ormskirk players scored between 12 and 14, with Debbie Davidson (Whippet) on debut leading the way.

Division 1 :- Both teams promoted to Division 1 marked their return with a win. Turks Head Sinners, thanks to 16 from Bill Gerrard overcame Robin Hood, for whom Sue Perks scored 15; while Rugby Hounds, with Eric Lupton scoring 16, beat Turks Head Saints. Unison began their defence of the title with a win over Newburgh Lions; Darren Martin and Alan Gibbs both scored 16 for the winners and Jim Maloney contributed 17 to Newburgh’s score. Despite 15 points from Dave Boyd, Helenians lost to Colly Wobblers. An impressive 20 points from Paul Prior wasn’t enough to prevent Ormskirk Tennis Club losing to Greyhound for whom John Wilson scored 17.

Division 2 :-. 14 points from John Hesketh assured Aughton Institute’s win over Gang of Four. Ormskirk Theatre Company, thanks to 15 from Alan Thompson, won comfortably over Ormskirk Farmers.  An excellent 21 points from Rob Green greatly helped Benchwarmers to a win over Bispham Farmers Arms; Jim Dawber scored 17 for the losers.  Newly relegated Whippet kicked off with a win over a three man Legion Lions; Gordon Richards (18) and Peter Duffy (15) led the scoring for Whippet.

Helenians v Colly Wobblers will be played at the Derby Arms in Rainford on Monday.

Colly Wobblers v Turks Head Saints will be played at the Running Horses in Orrell on Tuesday October 1.

The opening event of the 50th season was held at Aughton Institute on Wednesday. We welcomed officers of MQL together with representatives of the other leagues. We celebrated the success of the Ormskirk President’s Trophy team, both historically and in recent seasons, by watching three matches between the present team, past players and a team of TV/radio winners including ‘Egghead’ Barry Simmons.

We also looked at how the league was founded in 1970 and introduced five of the six current players who first competed in 1973 or earlier. We concluded with memories of two men without whose efforts we would not have enjoyed all these years of playing quiz, Peter Richardson and Norman Green.

Photos of the teams and the long serving players are here.

David Hodgson (Rugby Hounds) with his partner from Wirral qualified (after a three-way tie) for the semi finals where they were the final team to be eliminated, so finished fourth overall. Alan Gibbs (Unison), also with a Wirral partner, won the table quiz on the events of 1959, the year in which MQL was founded. Full details are here.