BREAKAWAY DO EXACTLY THAT TO REGAIN TOP SLOT
DIVISION ONE
Tower A (2) Breakaway A (8)
BREAKAWAY resumed top spot two points clear of Copy Shop A after this victory over sixth placed Tower for whom John Callow and Tim Baker got on the scoreboard with wins over Paul Corran and Mason McLarney respectively. Paul Callow took Breakaway’s hat-trick hero, Darren Smethurst, to five sets but didn’t get as close as Baker who only just lost 16/18, 13/11, 16/14, 8/11, 9/11 in his marathon match with Smethurst.
Foxdale A (6) Travellers A (4)
Fifth placed Foxdale can thank Becky Bayley for their narrow win over bottom placed Travellers as she didn’t drop a set to secure her hat-trick. Becky’s brother, Will, also looked on track after wins over Gary Shilling and Paul Nelson but, having come back from two sets down, he fell at the final hurdle, losing 8/11 to Chris Reynolds who also beat Marc Townsend. Whilst Townsend lost his other singles matches in five close sets he joined forces with Becky to deliver the doubles 11/8, 11/5, 11/9.
Copy Shop A (6) Arbory (4)
Copy Shop slipped back to second place and Arbory remained third after their close encounter in which Ronan McDonnell was the only player to be unbeaten. Ewan Watterson, playing up for Copy Shop, helped McDonnell take the doubles and won two matches after losing his opening encounter with Jason Quirk. Arbory’s other points were plundered from Jane Kneale who lost to both Mikhail Tamarov and Liam Chan.
Copy Shop B (2) Strathallan A (8)
Hadyn McLarney completed his first treble of the season for Strathy by smashing Sean Drewry and Danny Hamill in four sets and then raised his game to overcome Ewan Watterson 6/11, 11/6, 9/11, 11/9, 11/7. Andy Patterson and Julian Briercliffe lost to Watterson but both beat Drewry and Hamill at singles and in the doubles. Strathy stay 4th whilst Copy Shop lay 7th.
DIVISION TWO
Travellers C (1) Foxdale B (9)
Jackie Gill was the only scorer for sixth placed Travellers as she cleverly countered Andy McLarney’s attacks to win 10/12, 11/7, 9/11, 11/7, 11/7. Alan Harding and Maurice Campbell could not add to Gill’s efforts against the league leaders for whom Neil Quane and Ken Mitchell achieved hat-tricks and capped their evening by also taking the doubles.
Peel A (3) Tower B (7)
Paul Kozlowski employed whipping forehands to blast past Peel’s Malc Lewis, Les Wilson and Maggie Mulhern. Dave Parsons looked to do similar but in a titanic match with Lewis he was finally scuppered 11/7, 10/12, 11/9, 7/11, 12/14. Steve Curtis looked a bit rusty following his recent holiday and went down to both Lewis and Wilson but resurfaced to win against Mulhern. Peel finished on a buoyant note with Wilson and Lewis winning the doubles.
Tower C (3) Peel B (7)
Matty Evans led the young marauders from Peel to their second win of the season with a fine display of attacking table tennis which earned him his hat-trick against bottom placed Tower. Margaret Forsyth and Mike Chapman failed to trouble the scorer but Dave Callow employed his tricky spin to overcome both Vishal Patel and Ashley Reid. Tactical experience also showed itself in the doubles which Chapman and Callow won 11/5, 10/12, 11/4, 10/12, 11/4.
Travellers B (3) Salmon River Spinners (7)
Salmon leapt above Travellers to take third place as Nigel Beattie reeled in a triple, Tommy Cowin landed a double and Colin Barron netted a point from Steve Ellis-Pearson who had an off night for Travellers. Stu Douglas battered Barron whereas Dave Stephenson almost let Barron slip away before hooking him 9/11, 9/11, 11/4, 11/4, 11/9. Stephenson caught Cowin after four sets for Travellers final point as Beattie and Cowin wrapped up the match by winning the doubles.
DIVISION THREE
Fortress Management Services (3) Breakaway B (7)
Ben Christian is having a short enforced rest from sport so top placed Breakaway gifted Fortress their three points. Chris Kewley seems to have shaken off his sore back and appeared to be in cruise control as he overcame the defences of Fortress. Young Aaron Faragher had a bit more of a torrid time to register his triple triumph against Mahmoud Hassan, Karen Hassan and Pat Halliwell. Karen came closest, losing 12/10, 8/11, 8/11, 9/11.
Travellers D (2) Copy Shop C (8)
Henry Hyde bounced back from being beaten by both David Buck and Juan Moore Jnr to disappoint Alex Buck 11/7, 11/8, 12/10. Rob Sim and Malcolm Lambert won their singles and the doubles to help Copy Shop move a point closer to Breakaway.
IOM Junior Development Two (1) Copy Shop D (9)
All the singles went to Copy Shop, so George Melvin, Chris Aspden and Kevin Drewry were all hat-trick heroes for third placed Copy Shop D. Ben Harris had a near miss against Melvin but was edged out 2/11, 10/12, 11/13 whilst his team-mates Oliver Ashe and Harry Walters exceeded expectations by coming back from two sets down to win 8/11, 5/11, 11/5, 11/9, 11/8 in the doubles against Aspden and Drewry.
Peel C (9) IOM Junior Development One (1)
There was a mix-up on the card as the Peel player’s names were under the JD1 column and some scores didn’t accord with the results column. That having been said, it would appear that only match went to JD1 when Connor Esp did brilliantly to beat Oska Corkill 13/11, 11/6, 11/9. Neither Daniel Howard nor Dylan Cook could serve-up a win so Peel’s Fraser Dorling and Nathan Evans won their singles and the doubles.
MALCOLM LAMBERT
