Buchanan & Pitts Misfits Triumph Over Outcast Dragons
In the A league StoneArt continue their losing streak as since Christmas they have been on the wrong side of lots of 3-2 results, this week seeing yet another. Though they went down 3-2 in games they won 142/135 in points thanks mainly to Crazies having to concede the fifth string match. Three of the results were 3-0 with Crazies players Ashley Sandyford-Sykes and James Ramsey taking two matches and Hamish Thornton taking a clear win for StoneArt. The one match that went to four games was Allister Crossley against Steve Baker where Crossley played very well to win the match in four close games.
Team AON had a complete match walkover as Mid-Court Crisis were unable to field a team this week. This gift of 180 points will really help AON towards retaining their title.
Derivco Sharks stoked up their B League title ambitions with a 4-1, 235/175 victory over Racketeers Pioneers last week. Sharks, fielding one of their strongest line ups of the season, got off to a good start when Alan McNair overcame Andy Brown 3-1 at fifth string. Skipper Dave Freer soon doubled his side’s lead with a 3-0 win over Fraser Dorling at four. Sharks on-loan Racketeer Baillie Watterson showed his usual team-mates what they were missing with a 3-1 triumph over James Leith before Dave O’Neill beat Marc Taggart at two. Racketeers’ Dafydd Lewis prevented the whitewash with a 3-0 success over James Ramsey at number one.
Outcasts kept their title hopes well and truly alive with their 3-2, 237/158 victory over Island Tyres and Exhausts. Exhausts victories were in the in top two positions courtesy of Steve Baker and Shaun Wyllie. Baker was particularly lucky as he was 2-1 down in games when his opponent Toby Woolard experienced a very severe attack of cramp and had to concede the match. Wyllie has had a break from squash due to a hamstring injury, but his 3-0 victory shows he has benefitted from the break and is continuing to climb up the rankings. The Outcasts really do have a strong squad and they secured convincing 3-0 wins at 3, 4 and 5 through Peter Ginty, Mark Henson and Pat Russell.
Junior Academy made it three wins in a row with a 3-2, 218/182 win over Crowe Dragons. Junior Academy player Ben Leith beat his academy coach and mentor Beth Jones 3-1 and Christian Webster beat Dragons boss Darren Smethurst 3-0. The Dragons enjoyed 3-0 successes through the rapidly improving Richard Cretney and Doctor Dave Hedley. This left the number one players Ben Peach and James Martin to decide the overall winner. Peach took this match 15-7, 15-11 and 15-14 to seal the win for Juniors.
Island Exhausts Vets took another big step toward the C League title with a 232/192 win over Hansard Racketeers. The latter did the best to reinvigorate the race for the third-tier’s silverware by fielding one of their strongest line ups of the campaign. However, Joe Burrows’s victory over Ian Sheard was the only win the former champions took on the night despite some gritty performances across the board. Baillie Watterson nearly snagged a second win for the Racketeers at number one before being pipped in five by the league leaders’ ever-improving Richard Cretney. Mark Stratford, Gerrit Du Toit and Lee Loughren secured the other victories for Sheard’s charges winning their respective encounters in four competitive games.
The match between Buchanan & Pitts Misfits and Outcasts Dragons turned out to be a cracker with the potential winning team see-sawing as each individual game was completed! Of the 21 games played there were 5 which resulted in 15-14 score-lines. The penultimate game was one of those with Mark Henson taking control against Darren Smethurst who was hurling himself around the court to make numerous incredible return shots until finally succumbing to Mark’s power shots. In winning this match 3-2 and 217-206 the Misfits made it 3 wins out of 5 games.
It was a disappointing night for some Falcons players who arrived to find no opponents to play. Dohle Stars have had terrible problems with injury and availability this season and this match was no exception as they only managed to field two players on the night. Angus Hopkinson played very well for Dohle Stars to beat Tom Blythe 3-1 and Jon Cox against Harry Douthwaite was a five game thriller in which Cox just managed to get the win for Falcons 15-13 in the fifth game. Unfortunately Vusimbe Zivave, Greg Ansara and Sarah Simpson all had walk overs but used the court time for some friendly games.
Santander Racketeers Academy secured what felt like a rare victory 5-0 in the C League against PWC Playables, with the Racketeers lesser spotted Nic Kieswetter returning to action and Joe Butler taking his first League victory. Playables captain Chloe Corrigan played well at three to take Alan Bashforth to four closely contested games.
The Team above is Buchanan & Pitts Misfits. Left to Right – Stephen Pitts, Andy Dixon (Captain), John Watterson, Mark Henson and Terry Holt