Another unbeaten record bit the dust this week in the Isle of Man Table Tennis League as Division Three leaders Peel C went down 6-4 to the team in third position, Travellers D. Meanwhile, joint leaders in Division One, Copy Shop A, moved further ahead as the other joint leaders Arbory weren't playing.
Results:
DIVISION ONE
Copy Shop A 10, Strathallan 0
This was a comprehensive win for the current title holders with only Ewan Watterson's match with Andy Patterson needing a decider; Watterson having to come from two sets down to complete the clean sweep. Watterson and team mates Ronan McDonnell and Sean Drewry also disappointed Hadyn McLarney and Julian Briercliffe and now go five points clear at the top although they have played one more game than Arbory who were the joint leaders.
Breakaway A 8, Tower A 2
An interesting statistic here is that Tower have now played all the three leading teams and the result has been the same each time - 8-2. On this occasion Paul Kozlowski and Tim Baker put the points on the board for Tower although reserve Steve Curtis only lost 12/10 in the fifth to Darren Smethurst. Paul Corran and Malcolm Cummings were undefeated for Breakaway.
Foxdale B 1, Foxdale A 9
Little mercy was shown in this local derby and Foxdale A move ahead of Strathallan into fourth position as a result of this win. Marc Townsend and Will Bayley won all their games for the A team with David Lovelady losing only one. This was to Ken Mitchell who thus recorded an excellent win in a five game thriller to avenge Mike Bayley’s earlier 9/11 final frame failure against Lovelady. Andy McLarney is finding the transition to the top division a challenge but encouragingly, he did win a couple of sets.
DIVISION TWO
Travellers B 10, Surestrike Ramsey A 0
Leaders Travellers will be well satisfied with their night's work which sees them edge a bit further ahead at the top. Ramsey's Rhys Yardley was the unluckiest player of the night, losing in five to both Stu Douglas and Stu Mason. Surprisingly, the youngsters, Wael Kassim and Carl Blatcher, only managed to win one set between them.
Zurich Spinners 9, Tower C 1
Spinners are now joint second with Breakaway B after this win which saw Dave Callow claiming Tower's only point of the night with a victory over Colin Barron. Tommy Cowin was untroubled against either Margaret Forsyth or Heather Kennett and nor was captain Nigel Beattie - despite helping out with nappy changing duties after his wife Rachel gave birth to Holly who weighed in at 7 lbs 5 ozs. Very considerately little Holly chose a non-table tennis or football night to make her appearance.
Travellers C 2, Breakaway B 8
This was a battling performance from Travellers and it could have been even better as Travellers’ Alan Harding lost two of his matches in five sets. Jackie Gill and Adrian Tinkler picked-up a point apiece but Breakaway kept up their challenge at the top thanks to three wins from Chris Kewley and two each from Aaron Faragher and Ben Christian.
Peel A 7, Peel B 3
This local derby provided the longest match of the night in any division with four going the distance. Malc Lewis was unbeaten for the A team, although he was taken to five by Ashley Reid. A mention must also go to young Harry Walters who was playing up from the third division for Peel A and won two of his matches. Matty Evans added one more by beating Fraser Dorling. Ashley Reid had two wins for the B team with Vishal Patel bringing their total to three.
DIVISION THREE
Peel C 4, Travellers D 6
The first defeat of the season for leaders Peel C for whom Harry Walters - playing in two matches - and Nathan Evans each won two. However, Juan Moore Jnr and David Buck won two apiece for Travellers and Alex Buck won one with a 13/11 win over Sasha Thomas. Peel needed to win the doubles to preserve their unbeaten record but Travellers took it in straight sets.
Junior Development 0, Copy Shop D 10
Copy Shop are now only three points behind Peel after Kevin Drewry, Max Walker and Zac Walker rattled up all ten. The nearest Junior Development came to getting a point was when Kyle Dodd lost to Walker in four tight games.
Surestrike Ramsey B 9, Copy Shop E 1
Pat Halliwell's four game win over Kerenza Baker was Copy Shop's only success of the night although five sets were required to settle two others. Baker beat both Kitty Thomas and Sophie Sheard while her team-mates, Calvin Koske and Marcus Koske, were undefeated. This victory moves them up to third in the table.
Surestrike Ramsey C 7, Breakaway C 3
This was a well contested encounter with Joe Walters (2) and Jack Christian (1) putting the points on the board for Breakaway, but Ramsey did just enough to win thanks to three points from Billy Cain, two from Oliver Brew and one from Liam Cooper over the unlucky Kieran Lane. This was also a late finisher with three matches going to five sets.
COLIN BROWN
