Island Tyres and Exhausts return to winning ways
A league team Cannell Print came away with maximum points in their match against Argosy Allstars. Ben Peach, Oliver Wait and Thom Whiteway all secured 3-0 wins against their respective opponents while Joshua Green lost the first game to Paul Barnett but came back to win the next three. Alan Macnair plays for the Sharks in the B league, but has recently started guesting up a division for Cannell Print and is proving to be a good signing as he won his match 3-1 to ensure a maximum points victory for his team.
Team AON found themselves at the top of the table after a 4-1 win over Crazies. Chris Cave and Dafydd Lewis got AON off to a good start with 3-0 and 3-1 wins respectively. Then at third string teammate Mason McLarney started well to go 2-0 up only to see Mark Webster Smith fight back to level at 2-2. McLarney radically reduced his error count to take the fifth game in style 11-1. Crazies James Ramsey continues to improve his performances and took Jason Crease, a player ranked much higher than him to five games, but Crease came back from 2-1 down to take the fourth win of the night for AON. Crazies very own ‘Captain Fantastic’ Ashley Sandyford Sykes hasn’t lost a match this season and took the only win for his team with a 3-1 result over AON captain Robin Crease.
The Racketeers Pioneers came close to claiming an elusive first B League win of the season on Monday when they narrowly lost to Island Tyres and Exhausts. The Pioneers actually triumphed 187/181 on points thanks to convincing wins for James Leith and Fraser Dorling, but lost 3-2 on games to hand their opponents the bonus 25 points. Shaun Wyllie and Exhausts’ skipper Magnus Lamprecht secured 3-0 victories for their side at first and third string respectively. What turned out to be the deciding match took place at second string where Marc Taggart and Richard Cretney enjoyed a five-game tussle, the latter Exhausts’ man coming back from 2-1 down to triumph 2-3 and secure the spoils. Island Tyres and Exhausts won their first three matches this season but lost the next three. In winning this seventh match, they have returned to winning ways.
It was a close match between the Outcasts and Argosy Juniors with the Outcasts winning 3-2. At the top and bottom of the playing order Junior players Olly Wait and Harvey Douglas each had good 3-1 wins over Angus Hopkinson and Pat Russell. However Outcasts took the middle order matches with Liam Davies and Mark Henson gaining straightforward 3-0 wins over Ben Leith and Isaac Quayle. Chris Cave sealed the win for Outcasts with a 3-1 win over Christian Webster, but this was the tightest match of the night with the final points score ending 45-42.
The Sharks kept the pressure on league leaders Outcasts with a maximum points 5-0 win over Crowe Dragons. The tie started off with a very close match between Greg Ansara and Beth Jones, with Jones winning the first two games but Ansara digging deep to win the next three. The Sharks middle order trio of Alan Macnair Dave O’Neill and skipper Dave Freer dispatched their opponents with 3-0 victories. Sharks number one Douglas Jacobsson dropped just one game in his victory over Dave Hedley leading to an overall match result of 250-143.
In the C league Buchanan & Pitts Misfits were without their number one player when they played table toppers Island Exhaust Vets which inevitably put the team under pressure from the start with everyone having to play up. Both Gerrit Du Toit and Les Callow raced to quick wins over their far less experienced opponents but from then on it became far more competitive. Ian Sheard had to work hard to beat a determined Jay Dernie in straight sets. At the top of the order both Peter Sharples and Mark Stratford lost their opening games but once they got into their matches both these Vets players made their experience count by moving their opponents all around the court. In the end it was a surprise that Island Exhaust Vets were able to achieve a maximum points win against a determined Buchanan & Pitts Misfits.
Santander Academy Racketeers had a good 4-1 win over Chrystals Junior Academy. The matches were closest at the top of the order where, at first string, Emma Leith and Andrew Brown enjoyed four long and intense games, with Brown eventually wining 3-1. At second string Leighton Ginty and Fraser Dorling were so closely matched in all aspects of the game it made for a very entertaining match with Dorling just taking the fifth of five high scoring games. Junior Amaline Batty took the only win for her team beating Harry Douthwaite 3-0 at third string while at four and five Allan Bashforth and Charlie Beard took 3-0 wins for Racketeers.
Outcasts Dragons secured second spot in the C league despite only being able to field four players in their match against Hansard Racketeers. The Dragons top two players Darren Smethurst and Stuart Highy both won 3-0. However the Racketeers had a walkover at five and Racketeer Tom Burrows just snatched a 3-2 victory from Andy McLarney winning 15-14 in the last game. So the bonus points were determined when Dragon Chloe Corrigan managed to get the better of Daryl Richards winning 3-2. When the match finished the points score was 204-200 in the Dragons favour.
The Team photo above shows the Island Tyres & Exhausts team. Main picture left to right – Richard Cretney, Shaun Wyllie, Magnus Lamprecht (captain) and Damien Loughrey. Inserted pictures (top row) left to right – Liam Townsend, Phil Butler and Peter Sharples.