Stone Art build early lead in Division A
StoneArt are building an early lead in Division A after taking maximum points this week in their match against an understrength Cannell Print. Hamish Thornton, Lyndon Cheetham and Steve Baker all used their years of experience to overcome younger players with 3-0 results. Kevin Watterson proved again just what a good signing he was this season with a 3-1 win over old team mate Rob Colquitt. The number one match was a rerun of the pre-season tournament final but this time Jason Blue played aggressive squash to beat Thom Whiteway 3-1.
New A league team Crazies started their season with a match against Team AON. Crazies captain Ashley Sandyford-Sykes was their only winner with a convincing win over Pat Fitzpatrick 3-0. The other matches also ended 3-0 with the exception of Mason McLarney versus Dave Freer where Freer really did punch well above his weight to take two games off AON’s McLarney, a much higher ranked player. Team AON won 4-1 and 168-121 in points.
All three B league matches this week ended with scores of 3-2 showing just how tight this league will be this season. Junior Academy were home to Outcasts and all the matches were very even with final scores of 3-1 or 3-2. Mark Henson, Peter Ginty and Phil Whittam won for the Outcasts with Harvey Douglas and Oliver Wait gaining victories for the Juniors, Wait with an outstanding 3-0 win against the higher ranked Nathan Quilliam.
Island Tyres & Exhausts won the middle order matches against Racketeers Pioneers. The pick of these was at fourth string where Shaun Wyllie had a real battle with Andrew Brown just taking the fifth game 15-13.The other Exhausts winners were Magnus Lamprecht and Peter Sharples who both got 3-1 results. Good 3-0 wins by Dafydd Lewis and and Barry Irvine at the top and bottom of the Racketeers batting order meant that the score was 202-191 to the Racketeers prior to the bonus points being added to Exhausts.
In the other B league match Crowe Dragons, last seasons champions, maintained their undefeated record by beating Derivco Sharks 3-2. Working up the order the Dragons Rich Cretney had a 3-1 win but Shark Alan McNair repeated that result at number four. Sharks captain Dave Freer had a great 3-2 battle with Dragons skipper Jon Shepherd just taking the fifth 15-13. At number two Dave Hedley and Dave O’Neill had another 3-2 encounter but this time the Dragons Hedley sealed the fifth 15-12. James Martin sealed the win for Dragons by playing the important points well and taking his match 3-0.
In the C League Hansard Racketeers made it two wins out of two but were pushed hard by the ever-improving Junior Academy C. Baillie Watterson, Matt Corlett and Andy Dalrymple all picked up 3-0 wins for the Racketeers, but Leighton Ginty and Callum Larkin produced two impressive performances for the Juniors. Ginty picked up the Academy’s sole win on the night, beating David Johnson 3-0 at third string, while Larkin pushed Daryl Richards all the way in their game at number five, Richards eventually getting the better of the youngster 45-42 (3-1) as his side ran out winners 232-151.
Santander Racketeers won a closely fought match against opponents Dohle Stars. The only match of the evening that went past three games was between Racketeers Fraser Dorling and Dohle’s Brian Cowley, with Dorling taking it 3-1. The overall score before the 25 bonus points were added was 182-180 in the favour of the Racketeers. which shows just how convincing the wins were in this match. The final match score was 3-2 to the Racketeers.
Buchanan & Pitts Misfits enjoyed their first win of the season against Outcasts Dragons. There was a particularly good battle at number one between Toby Woolard, making his debut for the Misfits, and Peter Ginty, with Woolard taking the match 3-1. John Watterson, Jay Dernie and Stephen Pitts gained the Misfits other wins, Pitts after a hard five game contest with Phil Whittam. Pat Russell comprehensively beat Terry Holt for Dragons only victory.
Dandara Falcons narrowly beat last years champions Island Exhaust Vets 3-2 and 227-181. At fifth string Sarah Simpson played a great game beating John Smith 3-0 but then the Vets evened when Vusimbe Zivave lost to the experienced Richard Cretney 3-0. Falcon Julian Uzzell made an impressive league debut just getting the better of Lee Loughren for a 3-2 result. Jon Cox lost to the experienced Gerrit Du Toit 3-1 despite wining the first game and getting within two points of Gerrit in the second and third. Finally Lewi Long stepped up to the number one spot for the Falcons and did it in style beating Peter Sharples 3-0.
The picture shows the StoneArt team. They are from Left to Right Back Row – Hamish Thornton, Lyndon Cheetham and Kevin Watterson. Left to Right Front Row – Steve Baker (Captain) and Jason Blue