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Sitting Cup Review (12th April) - Hants double up as Spitfires clinch Shield

Sitting Cup Review (12th April) - Hants double up as Spitfires clinch Shield

The 2026 Cup and Shield for the Ken Edwards Trophy took place at Loughborough University on Sunday (12th April). 

Six teams competed for the chance to win the Cup, where pools were drawn on the day to split the teams into two groups made up of three teams.

Sitting Cup Orange
 

Pool A consisted of Sitting Bucks, Lincoln Imps, and Diggles Panthers.  

Sitting Buckplaced top of Pool A, beating both teams 2-0.  

Lincoln Imps came second after losing to Bucks 25-17, 25-13, but beat third place, Diggles Panthers, in straight sets (25-15, 25-22). 

Pool B was made up of , South Hants, Salisbury Spitfires, and Help 4 Heroes A.  

Previous winners, South Hants, stormed through their matches, winning them both in two sets.  

Salisbury Spitfires came second after losing to last year’s winners 25-14, 25-17, but battled it out with Help for Heroes A in a three set battle (28-30, 25-25, 15-13).  

Following the pool matches, crossover finals were held to determine which teams would face each other in the playoffs.  

5th/6th playoffs were between Diggles Panthers and Lincoln Imps, with Lincoln dominating the match to win  5th place in straight sets (25-20, 26-25).  

The Shield Final was fought between Salisbury Spitfires and Help 4 Heroes A, where similarly to Lincoln Imps, Salisbury were focused and determined, winning their first Shield title 25-18, 25-22.  

Lastly, the Cup Final came down previous champions, South Hants, battling it out against Sitting Bucks for the title.  

South Hants claimed the first set 25-21, however couldn’t keep the momentum, with South Bucks grabbing the second set 25-23.  

The final set was all to play for, where South Hants showed us yet again, they were worthy of the title, grabbing the deciding set 15-12 to claim the title for the consecutive year 


Photos by Malcom Beadle