The Team photo is of Cannell Print. From Left to Right – Ben Peach, Mike Hayler, Thomas Whiteway (Captain), Rob Colquitt and Dave Freer.
Cannell Print got off to a good start in the post Christmas half of the season with an impressive win over last seasons A League champions AON. Both teams were at full strength which allowed Cannell Print’s top three of Thomas Whiteway, Ashley Sandyford-Sykes and Mike Hayler to all secure good 3-1 wins against their opposite numbers. Mike Hayler was particularly ruthless when he ‘bageled’ his opponent in the last game. But AON’s strength in depth was evidenced by 3-0 wins at four and five for Mason McLarney and Liam Davies.
Easygym, division A winners for the first half of the season, just managed to claim the 15 bonus points against StoneArt. With the exception of the number four string match which Steve Morley won 3-1 all the matches went to five games. For StoneArt it was Hamish Thornton and Steve Baker who won the vital points in the fifth games whereas for EasyGym it was Malcolm Levy and Dave O’Neill. Easygym won 3-2 and 177-158 points in this incredibly close and hard fought match.
In the B league Island Exhausts made a flying start to 2019 with a 4-1 238/177 victory over Conister Pioneers. Taking the wins for a very strong Exhausts side were Dave O’Neill, James Martin, Mark Grace and Peter Sharples. Martin and Grace were the only ones to concede games as they were pushed by the Racketeers Marc Taggart and Barry Irvine respectively. Snagging their side’s only win on the night was the in-form Rob Boyles who scored an impressive 3-0 win over Josh Green at number one.
Crowe Dragons had a clean sweep in their first match with a 5-0 win over Outcasts. Steve Morley played his first match for Dragons at two and took a tough 3-1 victory over Liam Davies. Pat Russell and Magnus Lamprecht had a very close match with Lamprecht taking an early 2-0 lead only for Russell to claim the next two, taking it to a fifth game, which Lamprecht claimed for Dragons 15-12. The number one match was between Ben Peach and Nathan Quilliam, neck and neck in the rankings, resulting in another thrilling five-setter which was eventually won by Peach, completing the whitewash for Dragons.
On the night the British government’s latest Brexit plans were voted down by the House of Commons, Island Exhausts Vets signalled their intent to break clear at the top of the C League with a resounding win over Hansard Racketeers. The reverse fixture at the start of the season had been a close affair, the Vets edging a 3-2 win. On this occasion though the third tier pacesetters claimed an impressive 4-1 (246/167) victory. James Leith secured there Racketeers’ sole win on the night, beating Graham Parrington at number one, while Matt Corlett threatened to nab a second match before succumbing to Mr Squash, Les Callow 14/15 in the fifth. The Vets’ lower order is where most of the damage was done, however, Gerrit Du Toit, Jimmy Fick and John Smith all winning in straight sets.
Dohle Stars and Buchanan and Pitts Misfits had a close encounter, every match going to four games, and the win going to Dohle Stars 3-2 (238/194). The closest matches were at three with Stephen Pitts beating Anthony Bentley-Roberts in a tight high-scoring encounter with the win going to Misfits, and at four, where Eckhard Garbers reversed the fortunes gaining the win for Dohle over Courtney Gilardoni in four very close games. Other wins for Dohle were from Luke Tippett and Nick Hardacre, with Andy Dixon taking the second win for Misfits at one.
Dandara Falcons made a good start to the second half of the season with a 4-1 win over Santander Academy Racketeers. Liam Quinn made an impressive debut for Falcons at one with a 3-0 win over Nic Kieswetter. Two matches went to five games and in the first of these Fiona Baker and Charlie Beard had a good battle with the younger Beard just winning in the fifth taking the only win of the night for Santander. Lewi Long and Andrew Brown enjoyed a close match at second string, this time the win going to Falcons as Long had just a bit more focus to take the fifth game. Other wins for Falcons were from Simon Jones and Vusimbe Zivave.
The junior derby between Jewel Tech and Junior Academy was hard fought by all players with the lowest score of the night being an impressive 35 points! At two and five Christian Webster and Emma Leith of Jewel Tech won 3-0. Asad Awan got off to a good start at four, winning the first game against Ben Leith 15-12. However Ben kept up his fantastic ability to retrieve even the trickiest of shots throughout some very lengthy rallies, winning the match 3-1 for Academy. Leighton Ginty and Amaline Batty had a nail biting five game match with Ginty eventually taking the win for Academy 3-2. The last and deciding match of the night was at one between Beth Jones and Richard Webster in the battle of the coaches. Webster took a comfortable win in the first game then Beth fought back taking the score to 1-1. Classic super drops from Richard and increasingly more frequent pickups of these from Beth meant that the fight went on to a fifth game which finished with a 15-12 win for Beth and a 3-2 win for Jewel Tech.