Stone Art Squash get first win of 2021 in the A league
Stone Art Squash got their first win of their winter campaign with a 3-2 win over Crazy Phil Shaw Vehicles. This was a low scoring encounter as none of the matches went past three games. Crazy’s captain Ashley Sandyford-Sykes and his number two James Ramsey both won. Stone Art players Toby Woolard and Angus Hopkinson evened the match score at 2-2. Unfortunately Crazies didn’t field a 5th player so Shaun Wyllie got a walkover for his team and in doing so sealed the victory for Stone Art Squash.
Argosy Allstars had a good 3-2 win over Cannell Print in the other A league match. Allstars number one Dave Norman was ruthless in his 3-0 defeat of Thom Whiteway allowing his opponent only 15 points in the whole match, while his teammate Malcolm Levy had a 3-1 win at number two. Ben Peach and Oliver Wait both won 3-1 to even up the match score for Cannell Print. The deciding and closest match of the night was at number five between Rob Colquitt and Steve Morley where Morley came from two games down to win the next three in style and take the overall match win for Allstars.
Crowe Dragons got their first win of 2021 with a 4-1 win ver Island Tyres & Exhausts in the B league. Dave Hedley and Julien Uzzell earned 3-0 victories over brother and sister combination Liam and Clare Townsend with Clare making her debut appearance for the team. Dragons captain Darren Smethurst won 3-1 as did his teammate Mark Grace who beat team newcomer Lance Wyllie. The match of the night was between the number ones where Shaun Wyllie can back from 2-0 down to beat James Martin 3-2.
Racketeers Pioneers unbeaten start to 2021 continued in the B League last week with a narrow victory 3/2 222-208 victory over reigning champions Outcasts. Both sides were missing players to injury, but it was the in-form Racketeers who adapted the best thanks to some stirring performances from their middle order. Marc Taggart claimed a good win over Mark Henson at number two, while James Leith and Andy Brown edged ding-dong, five-game battles with Outcasts’ skipper Peter Ginty and Pat Russell respectively at three and four. Outcasts actually accrued more points than their opponents before the bonus 25 were added thanks to good wins from number one Chris Cave and Stuart Highy at five.
Sharks claimed a good win over the Junior Academy who put up a spirited defense. There were victories at 1 through 4 for Sharks with both Dave O’Neill’s match versus Christian Webster and Alan Macnair’s against Ben Leith going the distance to 5 games. David Freer and Douglas Jacobsson had more straightforward wins over Harvey Douglas and Isaac Quayle respectively. The juniors did win at fifth string with Leighton Ginty overcoming guest Vusimbe Zivave in three games.
Island Exhausts’ Vets relentless form at the head of the C League standings continued last week as they brushed aside the Hansard Racketeers 249/161. Mark Stratford, Peter Sharples, Gerrit Du Toit and Les Callow only dropped two games between them as they claimed the spoils in the first four strings.
Racketeers’ Daryl Richards prevented the whitewash though, with a spirited 3-2 win over Exhausts’ debutante Clare Townsend at fifth string. Santander Racketeers Academy defeated the mighty Buchanan and Pitts Misfits winning four of the five matches (and earning the bonus points) with the final result 205 to164 points. Santander Racketeers Academy were missing a fifth player due to last minute injury, giving Buchanan and Pitts Misfits a walkover at five. Charlie Beard and Elliot Henson had the highlight match of the evening where, after five close games, Beard came out on top 3-2 for Academy
The Falcons secured their first win of 2021 when they met Outcasts Dragons. The Falcons have recruited well this season with new players Phil Butler, Vicki Watterson and Lance Wyllie all playing in this fixture. Butler and Wyllie both achieved wins while Watterson only just lost in five games to Phil Whittam. Dragons captain Darren Smethurst had a comfortable 3-0 win at number one. The longest serving Falcons player on the night was Jon Cox who first represented them in 2011 over 9 years ago. His 3-0 win took the Falcons over the line with a 3-2 match victory.
