Dandara Falcons deny Vets Maximum Points
Team AON continued their winning record with a 3-2 win against StoneArt in the A league. Robin Crease and Dafydd Lewis had convincing 3-0 wins while StoneArt’s Jason Blue and Magnus Lamprecht fought hard for their 3-2 victories. The deciding match was between Jason Crease and Steve Baker at three with AON’s Crease taking the fifth and final game 11-9 to bag the bonus points for AON.
Cannell Print and their ever reliable squad fell only one point short of maximum points this week against an under strength Mid-Court-Crisis. Cannell Print secured 3-0 wins at 2 through 5 leaving Malcolm Levy to secure the only win of the evening for Mid-Court-Crisis, taking the nail biting fifth game decider 12-10 at number one against Thomas Whiteway.
In the B league Crowe Dragons dropped just one point in their fixture with Island Tyres & Exhausts. Dragons Beth Jones and Juien Uzzell both won 3-0, however Dave Hedley had to work harder for his 3-1 win. Peter Ferguson made a successful league debut for the Dragons this season gaining a 3-1 win. Stephen Pitts proved he was deserving of his player of the month title as he prevented the whitewash, snatching a match for Exhausts by the score of 45-44 against the talented Brian Crellin.
Outcasts stocked up their B League title charge with victory over the Racketeers Pioneers on Tuesday. The latter side were missing three of its regular line-up, their numbers depleted further when Joe Burrows was forced to concede his eagerly anticipated match with Outcasts’ Toby Woolard when he had to dash to a badminton league fixture. This proved decisive as the other four games were split evenly two apiece. Racketeer Daf Lewis continued his fine form this season with a good win over Nathan Quilliam at number one, while Andrew Brown stepped up from the Racketeers Academy to edge past Stuart Highy 3-2 at number four. Outcasts captain Peter Ginty pulled one back at number three, Mark Henson picking up the eventual victors’ other win at number five.
Sharks bounced back after last weeks defeat to Racketeers with a win over the Junior Academy, who put up strong resistance against a side containing individuals outranking them in all strings except the first. Harvey Douglas put in a particularly good performance taking Alan McNair, ranked nearly 20 places above him, to five games. Emma Leith also played a very good game against Greg Ansara, only falling away in the fifth and deciding game. The juniors took their only victory at first string with Ben Peach defeating David Freer 3-0. Baillie Watterson and Mark Stratford completed the victory for Sharks by defeating Ben Leith and Christian Webster in 3-0 and 3-1 respectively.
In the C league the fixture between Island Exhaust Vets and Dandara Falcons was always going to be decided in the lower order matches and a strong Vets team had a bit too much experience in these positions for the Falcons. Les Callow was made to work for his win at five though as Sarah Simpson never conceded on a single rally. Once Peter Sharples got into his stride his game was too strong for Jon Cox. Simon Jones won some really good rallies against Richard Cretney with some clever shots, but Cretney’s powerful hitting proved too much in the end. Mark Stratford was made to work hard for his win over Lewi Long, playing some deft drops. The closest match of the night was at first string where Falcons Julien Uzzell came from four match points down in the fourth game to steal the victory from Ian Sheard.
Junior Academy C gained a maximum points victory against PwC Playables, winning all matches 3-0. Andy O’Neill played at first string for Playables for the first time and did well to almost take a game off the experienced Beth Jones. The juniors continue to show improvement, gaining more points in their matches this season compared to last.
A make-shift Dohle Stars team had a disappointing night against Santander Academy Racketeers, losing all their matches 3-0. Long term injuries and other commitments are really impacting the strength of team Dohle can field. The closest match of the night was at number one where David Maddrell got some good points for Dohle despite losing in three to the improving Fraser Dorling. Other wins for Racketeers came from Andy Brown, Allan Bashforth, Charlie Beard and Nick Corlett.
Outcasts Dragons had a good 4-1 victory over Hansard Racketeeers. There was a hard fought comeback from Dragon Fatheha Essa who came from 2-0 down against Daryl Richards to take the victory 15/2 in the fifth game. Andy McLarney and Dave Johnson had a close contest with some good squash played by both players but McLarney just edging the match for Dragons. Dragon number one Brian Crellin fought hard against Baillie Watterson but went down 3-0, both these players continue to improve after making a return to league squash.
Manx Youth Games was launched last week. The Picture above is from last years event.