EasyGym met Team AON in a top of the A League table clash with only three points separating these teams. Malcolm Levy showed his class with a good 3-0 win over Robin Crease at one and Paul Barnett took the other win for EasyGym at two, beating Jason crease 3-1. However Team AON’s strength in depth meant they took the rest of the matches 3-1 courtesy of Mason McLarney, Dafydd Lewis and Chris Cave. The match score finished 158-155 to Team AON which means that these two teams are now joint top of the table with points totals of 768 each.
Cannell Print put out possibly the strongest side that they have fielded all season against StoneArt, with their top two players placed at 2 and 4 on the rankings. Rob Colquitt and Ashley Sandyford-Sykes both had convincing 3-0 wins for Cannell Print at fifth and second string respectively. However number one Thomas Whiteway and the ever-improving Joshua Green at five had to work a little bit harder for their 3-1 wins. The only match to go to StoneArt was the number three string match where Steve Baker just got the better of Mike Hayler in a five game encounter. Cannell took the match 179-127, only dropping 1 point, and are now level with StoneArt with both sides having 733 points totals in the league.
The B league is beginning to look like a three horse-race, with Crowe Dragons in the lead by a short head and Outcasts and Island Exhausts close behind. Island Exhausts closed the gap when they defeated Crowe Dragons in a close match. Dragons’ Ben Peach reached a record high 14 in the IOM rankings with a comprehensive defeat of Dave O’Neill 3-0. Exhausts James Martin had a real battle with Oliver Wait eventually winning 3-2 but only by a single point. Exhausts Mark Grace had a similarly close game with Jon Shepherd with Jon just edging it. At four and five the experience of Exhausts players Peter Sharples and Ian Sheard showed as they both got straight forward 3-0 wins over Beth Jones and Darren Smethurst.
Sharks beat the Conister Racketeers to win the battle of the B League’s bottom two by 245-185 points. Rob Boyles and Daf Lewis won two titanic tussles with Mark Webster-Smith and Douglas Jacobsson at one and two to register the Racketeers’ two victories on the night. It was the Sharks’ tail that secured their side the overall win, however, with skipper Dave Freer, Mark Stratford and Alan McNair all netting victories.
In the C League Buchanan & Pitts Misfits had a good 4-1 win over Jewel Tech Juniors. The fourth and fifth string matches were very close with Allan Walkingshaw resisting a fight back from Rania Gomaa to secure a 3-2 win at five, and Emma Leith beating Stephen Pitts by a similar margin at four to secure the only win of the night for Jewel Tech. However the the Misfits top order wrapped up the overall win without dropping a game, through convincing victories for Andy Dixon, Terry Holt and John Watterson.
Dandara Falcons did well to field a team against Browne Craine Dragons, although they lost 3-2. The two top order matches were won for Falcons by Greg Ansara who dominated his match, and Stuart Highy, who started more slowly, dropping the first game to Darren Smethurst, but then going on to win 3-1. Richard Lewy, new to the island, made his debut for Falcons at three and grew in confidence as the match progressed, eventually losing 3-1 to Alex Cave. Fatheha Essa and Helen Cave took the other wins for Dragons at four and five.
Santander International Racketeers Academy, rocking out with their new kit, hosted the Junior Academy on Friday night. The Junior Academy took the victory winning 4 of the 5 matches. John Workman took the sole win for the Santander International Racketeers Academy on this, his debut. At number one Andrew Brown had a cracking match with Richard Webster only just losing 45-43 in points. The other junior victors were Harvey Douglas, Leighton Ginty and Ben Leith.
Dohle Stars and Island Exhaust Vets had a relatively brief encounter with all five matches over in three games. Pat Russell guested for Dohle at one and beat Peter Sharples in three close games. Nick Hardacre had a good win over Jimmy Fick at five, making him one of the favourites for player of the month. However the Vets took the rest of the matches courtesy of stalwarts Ian Sheard, Les Callow and Lee Loughren to further cement their place at the top of the table.