Day 2 of Cousins Shield/Mitchell Cup 

The finals are set and it is anyone guess as to who will win the 2015 Cousins Shield and Mitchell Cup.

Round 2 of the Cousins Shield draw finished with some mammoth games. Third seeds North Shore had to fight hard against sixth seeds Devoy. With Paul Tuffin and Josh Oakley going to five in the first game North Shore was happy to scratch up the first win. Sion Wiggin then fought hard against Jamie Oakley but couldn't convert going down in five. Martin Knight then managed to take out Ben Grindrod in a long four setter. Chris Binnie sealed the win for North Shore but the Oakley family made it 2-1 with Alex Oakley beating Josh McHugh. Second seeds Thorndon also had to fight their way through but managed to get the win 4-1, with a massive five setter from Lance Beddoes and Harinder Singh which went down to the final points with Singh converting for Thorndon. Neil Rossin took the only win for Henderson over Willie Bicknell, getting the win in a tight four. Belmont Park then came out against the Hamilton 2 team and with their team fielding a lower average age than the Hamilton team Belmont Park managed to take the win 4-1. 

In Round 2 of the Mitchell Cup second seeds North Shore had to fight their way through for the win over Silverdale, with North Shore getting the first 2 games sisters Shelley Kitchen and Trina Moore came out to level the score. It was down to Tyler Duberly new to the Mitchell Cup scene to get the win for North Shore. Tyler didn't show any hesitation winning in 3. Royal Oak continued to show their domination winning all of their matches to take the win 5-0. Local Bay of Plenty teams Devoy and Mount Maunganui both fought hard in their matches with it looking like either team could take the win, but the Mount showed Devoy they wanted the win and got through in a close 3-2.

Round 3 of the Cousins Shield saw Mangakahia continue with their winning streak and they managed to take out the Hamilton 1 team in what was a close 3-2. Squashways showed their strength in this competition and took out the Herne Bay team 5-0 and secured the first spot in the final. Thorndon and North Shore were next up to try and take out the second spot in the final, with the scores tied 1-1 it looked as if the result could go anyway, but Thorndon managed to get the win 4-1 securing their spot in the final. Sixth and fifth seeds Devoy and Henderson threw blow for blow with it all coming down to the wire, but Alex Revington managed to hold his nerve and took the win in a mammoth five setter getting Devoy the win 3-2. Remuera and Cromwell also came out and went match for match with this starting to be the trend of the afternoon. It came down to the fifth match with the scores 2-2 Remuera managed to sneak home the win over the team from Cromwell. It all came down to the wire in the final match of the night in the Cousins Shield with Hamilton 2 and Royal Oak. With btoh teams exchanging win for win it all came down the number fives. Hamilton 2 managed to get the win in a tight fifth game and secured their spot to play the Hamilton 1 team on the final day.

Round 3 of the Mitchell Cup was always going to be a battle as the teams tried to win their pools to make the finals. Remuera and Mount Maunganui came out with both teams trying to pull out anything for the win. Remuera however showed their strength in the team and after some close battles Remuera got the win 4-1 and secured the first final spot. Whangarei and Silverdale both put their best teams forward looking for that win they had not managed to secure so far. With Whangarei getting the first 2 matches Silverdales Shelley Kitchen and Trina Moore stepped on to court and managed to level the playing field for the teams again. It all came down to the fifth and Whangarei's Iyra Stewart managed to pull the win out for the team sending them into the 5/6 playoff. The battle for the final Mitchell Cup spot went down to the wire with 2014 winners North Shore looking to defend their title. North Shore went ahead 2-0 against Royal Oak, but Amanda Landers-Murphy showed her experience over her younger counterpart Abbie Palmer and got Royal Oak on the board and kept the Royal Oak team in contention. Next up Jo Shanks took the momentum from Landers-Murphy and scratched another win on the board. The number fives were both going to have to pull it out for their teams. Nicola Blake took the early lead but Michelle Heron was not going to go down without a fight. Michelle fought back to level the score 2-2. Blake took the lead in the fifth and it looked like it was going to be all over but Michelle was determined for the win, with many a breath being held it looked as if anything was going to happen. Blake took the pressure and used it to get the fifth 11-9 and sent Royal Oak into the final.

The Finals will be in the Cousins Shield Squashways vs. Thondon at 2:30pm and in the Mitchell Cup Remuera vs. Royal Oak at 11:30am.

Final games start Sunday 8:30am and full results can be found on our Facebook page here