VOLLEYBALL: ELLESMERE Port Eels hosted the largest indoor competition held in the North West on Saturday at the EPIC and the County Officers Club in Upton.
The Cheshire Fours tournament consisted of two groups of nine.
The top four from each group qualified for the quarter finals of the main competition and the fifth to eighth teams progressed to a plate competition.
In the EPIC group, Eels' numberone team made an excellent start, with wins over Bangor University 1st and 2nd teams and Knutsford to lie in second place.
However, Eels then lost two sets to Ashton of Preston before playing poorly against Crewe & Alsager.
This left Eels in joint fourth with Crewe and with their next match against Boathouse of West York-shire, who hadn't dropped a set in their fist five matches.
While failure to qualify for the quarter finals looked a possibility, Eels' team of John Roach, Paul Blackburn, Murat Kiyak and Richie Mackie rose to the challenge to win both sets and take all three points.
Eels then cruised to straightforward victories against Kingsway of Wirral and Southport Pumas to secure third place in the group.
The quarter finals went to form as Ashton came from a set down to beat Castell Alun and Hugh Baird and Chester comfortably disposed of Knutsford and Boathouse 1.
Eels took a 12-2 lead against Preston and held on to take the set 15-9 but the signs were there that they were running out of steam and this proved to be the case as they lost the next two sets 15-6, 15-7 to bow out of the competition.
Both semi-finals went to a deciding set, with the Preston derby going the way of Ashton while Hugh Baird lost to Chester.
The final saw a Chester side containing Barrie Hughes, Si Donaghue and Paul Lindley, who will all play for Eels next season, cruise to victory 20-14, 20-7.
This Sunday sees the ladies' version of the Cheshire Fours at the Cheshire County Officers Club. The competition runs from 11am-7pm.
