Team AON advance in A league
Argosy Allstars were left still seeking their first win of the season as team AON beat them 4-1 in their A league match. AON’s top two,Pat Fitzpatrick and Jason Crease, wasted no time in achieving 3-0 results while at third string Mason McLarney had a real battle with Rob Boyles eventually winning 3-2 for AON. At number 5 Chris Cave dropped the first game to Allstar Dave Hedley but fought back well to take the next three. The Allstars only winner on the night was Steve Morley who seems to be developing a game plan of taking the match to 5 games.
Cannell Print failed to break StoneArt’s unbeaten run as StoneArt came out on top as 4-1 winners of the match. StoneArt’s Hamish Thornton and Angus Hopkinson both won without dropping a game as did Cannell’s Oliver Wait. The match between Rob Colquitt and Lyndon Cheetham was a close encounter but Cheetham managed to get the important points to come out a 3-1 winner. StoneArt’s Jason Blue is relocating to Manchester at the end of the month so was in determined mood in his final match for his team, ending his tenure at the top of the StoneArt playing order with a 3-1 win.
A strong Sharks side outplayed the Island Tyres and Exhausts proving they are serious title contenders for this years B league title. Greg Ansara came back from losing the first game to win 3-1 for Sharks at five, while his team-mates Dave Freer and Alan Macnair both won 3-0. The other two matches were very close, both going to five games, however Sharks eventually came away with maximum points as Magnus Lamprecht and Douglas Jacobsson beat David O’Neill and Shaun Wylie respectively in two close fought battles.
Argosy Juniors had a great result over Racketeers Pioneers. Isaac Quayle, Emma Leith, Christian Webster and Oliver Wait dispatched they opponents in straight games playing great attacking squash and having too much athleticism for the Racketeers players. The Racketeers sole win was through Marc Taggart who got revenge on Ben Leith who had beaten him last time they met. Argosy Juniors won 4-1 in matches and 235-186 in points.
Outcasts maintained their winning record with a 4-1 win over Crowe Dragons. Outcasts middle order players Chis Cave, Liam Davies and Mark Henson all won with Davies the only one to drop a game. The Dragons success came through Julien Uzzell who had three very close games with Pat Russell but managed to win the vital points, their points score was 45-40 which shows how evenly matched these two players are. The closest duel of this match was between Angus Hopkinson and Dragon James Martin. The ranking points of these players suggested the match would be close and it certainly was but on this occasion Hopkinson got the win in five very tight games.
In the C league Island Exhaust Vets managed to maintain their unbeaten run against a determined Outcasts team coming away with maximum points. Ian Sheard dropped the only game of the night against a very determined Andy McLarney who played plenty of good drop shots and ran Ian close in each of the other games. Gerrit du Toit, Les Callow, and Peter Sharples all won 3-0 as did Mark Stratford when his opponent unfortunately had to retire injured at the end of the second game
The Falcons lost 3-2 to Chrystal’s Junior Academy in a close match. The Falcons top player Julien Uzzell won in three straight games against Beth Jones and Sarah Simpson at number five continued her winning streak beating Callum Larkin 3-0. However the juniors middle order players all produced good results with Amaline Batty, Leighton Ginty and Emma Leith all getting wins for the juniors.
Santander Racketeers Academy hosted their sister team Hansard Racketeers in a very close battle at the NSC courts. Hansard Racketeers collected more points (215) than their opposition (208) though the Santander Racketeers won 4 of the 5 matches and collected the bonus 25 points in order to take the overall victory. Santander’s much improved Andrew Brown won 3-1 but his teammates Fraser Dorling, Harry Douthwaite and Martin Greenwood all worked harder for their 3-2 wins. Hansards only winner was captain Steven Wright who had a convincing 3-0 win.
The Team photo above features Team AON. Back row – left to right – Jason Crease, Chris Cave, Pat Fitzpatrick and Robin Crease (Captain). Front row – left to right – Mason McLarney, Liam Davis and Dafydd Lewis