Malory Eagles have reached their ninth national cup final in 10 years thanks to a 3-1 victory over Newcastle Staffs.
It will be an all-London final at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, with Polonia having beaten current champions Sheffield in the other semi-final.
Malory dominated at the start, with attackers Marc Richardson and Darius Setsoafia delivered the ball to Newcastle’s court with maximum power, but dogged resistance saw the malory attack begin to falter and the underdogs took the first set 27-25.
A calm but stern Eagles coach Jefferson Williams sought to control his “over-revving” team during the changeover and dispatched his players with more measured and controlled heads for the second set.
Malory quickly established a lead having reduced attacking errors and replaced their arrogance with a muted confidence.
True to form, Malory comfortably took the set 25-14.
Sets three and four followed a similar pattern with the now stable Malory attacks backed by a dominant middle in the form of Mark Brown and Alex Bialokoz; and continued setting mastery from Richard Dobell. Showing clearly why they top the league, Malory took both sets by 25-15.
The second semi-final was a more balanced affair with Polonia taking the first set but relinquishing sets two and three to Sheffield before stealing the fourth and then grinding out victory in a tense fifth set.
Malory enter the finals having won the Cup 11 times in the last 20 years, overshadowing the single cup title won by Polonia.
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