Cannell Print secure win to keep their title hopes alive
The A League saw a real “Generation game” as StoneArt with four of its five players in the over 45 category played against Cannell Print, a young team boasting four under 30 players.The youngsters had two 3-0 victories through Ben Peach and Josh Green and further 3-2 victory for Rob Colquitt. Lyndon Cheetham beat Oliver Wait in five games to take one of Stoneart’s wins while their other win came after Thom Whiteway the Cannell skipper slipped and damaged his hamstring so sadly had to concede his match. The overall score was 149-126 in points to Cannell Print.
Crazies are beginning to produce some good form just towards the end of the season. At the time of writing the score in their match with Team AON is finely balanced at 2-2 with the deciding match yet to be played. AON’s Pat Fitzpatrick still has to play Crazy captain Ashley Sandyford-Sykes as their match was postponed due to the poor quality of the courts. AON secured two 3-0 victories through Robin and Jason Crease while Crazies players James Ramsey and Adam Corcoran both fought hard to get 3-2 victories.
In the B league the Racketeers Pioneers bounced back from two successive defeats to beat Island Exhausts 4-1, 237/153. Barry Irvine, James Leith and Marc Taggart claimed fairly straightforward victories for the victors, before Joe Burrows continued his recent sparkling form with a hard-fought win over Shaun Wyllie at number two. Exhausts’ skipper Steve Baker prevented the whitewash with a 3-1 victory over Daf Lewis in the delayed clash between the sides’ respective number ones.
Derivco Sharks kept alive their title hopes in a very close fought match with Crowe Dragons, last seasons champions. Three of the matches went to five games with the Sharks James Ramsey, Alan McNair and Mark Stratford winning their final games to take the wins. Greg Ansara was the other Sharks winner with a 3-1 result. Dragons Dave Hedley got the better of his MCC teammate Dave O’Neill to ensure the match wasn’t a complete rout.
A strong Outcasts team beat the Junior Academy team 4-1 to keep their position at the top of the table. Toby Woolard, Liam Davies, Angus Hopkinson and Peter Ginty all secured 3-0 wins over their much younger opponents. Christian Webster put up the stiffest resistance gaining 38 points in his three games against Davies. The only Juniors win came through Ben Peach who beat Nathan Quilliam 3-1 in a very close match. The overall result was 245-153 in points to the Outcasts.
In the C league Junior Academy C took on Hansard Racketeers with some of Racketeers’ players showing the effects of a long season. At one Leighton Ginty for Academy maintained his good form with a convincing 3-0 win over Matt Corlett, while at two Max Birchall’s greater mobility told on Mark Harrop to win the game 3-1 for Academy. The solitary success of the match for Racketeers was an extremely close 3-2 win for Gary Stephenson over Amaline Batty with Stephenson taking the match on the last point of the fifth game to win 15-14. At four Asad Awan registered a comfortable 3-0 win over Daryl Richards while at five Calum Larkin continues to show great progress winning his game 3-0 against Andy Dalrymple to finish the night 4-1 for Academy.
Buchanan & Pitts Misfits beat PwC Playables 5-0 without dropping a game. The Playables are new to league squash and are definitely getting better whereas the Misfits have been playing league squash for about five years now and their experience was evident on the night. Chloe Corrigan, the Playables captain, got the most points with 34 of the Playables 110 total points. A special mention must also go to Elliot Henson who had a successful league debut for the Misfits.
Sadly Dohle Stars have really struggled with injuries and availability this season so had to concede three matches to Outcasts Dragons. Of the matches played Angus Hopkinson had a convincing 3-0 win over Dragons skipper Darren Smethurst while in the second string match Harry Douthwaite had a very close match with Brian Crellin losing 3-1 but each game was very close. The good number of points from this match keeps the Dragons title hopes alive.
Santander Academy Racketeers lost 3-2 to the Falcons but the match was close as seen in the 213/189 points result before the bonus points were added. Highlights from the night were Racketeers Charlie Beard continuing his impressive form with a 3-1 victory over Jon Cox at third string, and both the top seed matches going to five games each. Fraser Dorling won 45-44 for Racketeers against Julien Uzzell at first string while Greg Ansara claimed the win for Falcons by the same margin at second string against Andrew Brown.
Cannell Print Team are pictured above. From Left to Right – Rob Colquitt, Josh Green, Oliver Wait, Ben Peach and Thomas Whiteway (Captain)