In Division A the clash between Cannell Print and Team AON would decide the Division A winner. Island players Pat Fitzpatrick and Thomas Whiteway had a good close battle with Fitzpatrick just taking the fifth game 11-9 for AON. Cannell hit back to make it 1-1 when Ashley Sandyford Sykes won 3-1 at second string. At three Jason Crease had a very convincing 3-0 win over Cannell’s Ben Peach. However Cannell had the experience of Mike Hayler at four and the athleticism of Joshua Green at five who both performed well and ensured a 3-2 and 155-145 victory for Cannell Print, taking them to the top of the table.
The other fixture was between StoneArt and EasyGym, with StoneArt gaining a surprising 5-0 win to claim the third spot in the table and consign EasyGym to the Wooden Spoon position. Hamish Thornton and Allister Crossley both won in straight games. Team sponsor Lyndon Cheetham and Douglas Jacobsson both had to work harder to get their 3-1 wins. The closest match of the fixture was the number one string battle between Paul Barnett and Jason Blue. The first three games were really close with only 2 or 3 points separating the players when the game balls were won, however Barnett ran out of steam in the fourth with Blue winning 11-1 to secure the whitewash for StoneArt.
Crowe Dragons secured the B league title with two very strong performances back to back to capitalise on the Outcasts loss last week. This final week they took on Island Exhausts who unfortunately suffered player availability issues which meant a call up for Richard Cretney on the morning of the match and Mark Harrop an hour before the match. The Dragons also had players injured or off island meaning they had to draft Lyndon Cheetham back into the team. The Dragons team was very strong and took all the matches 3-0, so the overall match score was 5-0 and 250-143. Congratulations go to Crowe Dragons – Division B Champions.
The other B league match was between the Sharks and Conister Racketeers Pioneers. This was a good final match for the Sharks that saw them finish a solid third in the league. The match score finished 5-0, but this does not reflect the great spirit and close games thoughout. Particularly entertaining was the game between Mark Webster Smith and Rob Boyles with Mark winning 3-1. A close second was that between Mark Stratford and Barry Irvine which went all the way to five games. Saturday morning squash ‘stable-mates’ Dave Freer and Dean Sowerby finished 3-0 to Freer in a closer match than the score suggests. Douglas Jacobsson and Greg Ansara took the other wins for the Sharks.
In the C League Island Exhausts Vets and Dandara Falcons had a cracking end of season fixture with the final score line in no way reflecting how tight the contest really was. Falcons Vusimbe Zivave and Kale Combes both had chances to take games off their opponents Lee Loughren and Richard Cretney but failed to get the vital points. Graham Partington had a bit too much experience for Jon Cox at third string winning 3-0. The Falcons only win came through Lewi Long who fought back from 2-0 down against Ian Sheard, using good tactical play and clever shot selection to take the match to five games clinching the final game 15-5. Peter Sharples won 3-1 at number one resulting in the overall points score 247-160 to the Vets.
Browne Craine Dragons chances of winning the Division C improved as a result of this 4-1, 242-190 points win over Hansard Racketeers. At either end of the team sheet Dragons Jon Shepherd and Helen Cave picked up 3-0 wins. Fatheha Essa asked her work colleague Shahrukh Mirza to play for her team and he definitely did not let her down, with both these players picking up 3-2 wins against Racketeers Andy Dalrymple and Daryl Richards. Hansard Racketeers win came through the grey fox Matt Corlett who won in four very competitive games.
Buchanan & Pitts Misfits dropped only five points in their 4-1, 245-189 win over Dohle Stars. Terry Holt has missed a lot of squash this season through work commitments but this was not evidenced by his 3-0 win over Brian Cowley. The hard hitting Jay Dernie also won 3-0. John Watterson and Stephen Pitts were both taken to five games by Dohle Stars Luke Tippett and Antony Bentley Roberts but the Misfits managed to secure the match winning points in the fifth games. Dohle Stars only victory came at five through Eckhard Garbers who played well to secure vital points for his team.