#Sapphire18 | Finals Structure Announced
While BUCS controversy has garnered most of the attention in the community this week, it’s important to remember that the disruptive Beast from the East also blew away an entire weekend of Sapphire balling and, following BAFA Women’s Football taking the difficult decision to void all the weekend’s fixtures. essentially fast-forward us right to the Finals weekend!
The following was shared via BAFA Women yesterday, laying out the format of the upcoming 5v5 and 7v7 Finals for Women’s football on the 17th March.
Unfortunately, all teams were not able to take part in the last round of the Sapphire Series for the rankings due to the inclement weather. With teams having problems with hosting and travelling and no time before the finals to reschedule, BAFA Women made a blanket statement that all teams would be awarded 0-0 ties for the missed fixtures.
This leaves us with the following situation for each section of the Series:
7 v 7
Division One
The Division One Finals will be hosted by the Manchester Titans with all teams to take part. Division One is separated into two tournaments.
The Gold Tournament comprises the top two teams from the North and South who will compete for 1st-4th.
The Silver Tournament comprises the bottom two teams from the North and South who will compete for 5th-8th.
Division 1 Rankings:
| The North | Record | The South | Record | |||
| 1st | Leeds Carnegie Chargers | 5-1-2 | 1st | Birmingham Lions | 6-0-2 | |
| 2nd | Manchester Titans | 3-3-2 | 2nd | London Warriors | 4-2-2 | |
| 3rd | Edinburgh Wolves | 2-4-2 | 3rd | Hertfordshire Tornadoes | 3-3-2 | |
| 4th | East Kilbride Pirates | 0-6-2 | 4th | Derby Braves | 1-5-2 | |
Gold Tournament
| Set 1 | Game 1 | Birmingham vs Manchester | |
| Game 2 | Leeds vs London | ||
| Set 2 | Game 3 | Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2 | 3rd and 4th |
| Game 4 | Winner of Game 1 vs Winner of Game 2 | 1st and 2nd | |
Silver Tournament
| Set 1 | Game 5 | Hertfordshire vs East Kilbride | |
| Game 6 | Edinburgh vs Derby | ||
| Set 2 | Game 7 | Loser of Game 5 vs Loser of Game 6 | 7th and 8th |
| Game 8 | Winner of Game 5 vs Winner of Game 6 | 5th and 6th | |
Division 2A
The Division 2A Finals will be hosted by the Sandwell Steelers with all teams to take part. With slightly less teams in the Division compared to Div 1, there is no separation into two tournaments for the finals. This means any team could take the Division Title irrespective of their current ranking. Although the lower seeded teams will have the disadvantage of having to play three games over the day in order to do so.
The top two seeds from the North and South bypass the first Wildcard Round and advance straight to the semi-finals.
Division 2A Rankings:
| The North | Record | The South | Record | |||
| 1st | Sandwell Steelers | 2-1-3 | 1st | Portsmouth Dreadnoughts | 4-0-2 | |
| 2nd | Chester Romans | 2-1-3 | 2nd | Wembley Stallions | 2-2-2 | |
| 3rd | Teesside Steelers | 1-3-2 | 3rd | Cardiff Valkyries | 0-4-2 | |
2A Finals Schedule
| Wildcards | Game 1 | Chester Romans vs Cardiff Valkyries | |
| Game 2 | Wembley Stallions vs Teesside Steelers | ||
| Semi-Finals | Game 3 | Portsmouth Dreadnoughts vs Winner of Game 1 | |
| Game 4 | Sandwell Steelers vs Winner of Game 2 | ||
| Placement | Game 5 | Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2 | 5th and 6th |
| Game 6 | Loser of Game 3 vs Loser of Game 4 | 3rd and 4th | |
| Finals | Game 7 | Winner of Game 3 vs Winner of Game 4 | 1st and 2nd |
5 v 5
Division 2B
The Division 2B Finals will be hosted by the Oxford Saints with all teams to take part. With four teams in the Division there is no separation of teams for the Finals. This means any team could take the Division Title irrespective of their current ranking.
Division 2B Rankings:
| Division 2B | Record | |
| 1st | Kent Exiles | 4-0-2 |
| 2nd | Oxford Saints | 3-1-2 |
| 3rd | Peterborough Royals | 1-3-2 |
| 4th | Staffordshire Saxons | 0-4-2 |
2B Finals Schedule
| Set 1 | Game 1 | Kent vs Staffordshire | |
| Game 2 | Oxford vs Peterborough | ||
| Set 2 | Game 3 | Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2 | 3rd and 4th |
| Game 4 | Winner of Game 1 vs Winner of Game 2 | 1st and 2nd | |