'Travellers A remain Top of the Tree'
Week 14 of the Fun88 sponsored IOM Table Tennis Association league saw another round of doubles action in Divisions 1 & 2. Travellers A remain top in Division 1 with 99 points, Ramsey A are second on 72 points, with Tower A and Travellers C still rooted in the relegation zone. In Division 2, Arbory B remained in top spot with 106 points, with Peel and Tower B sharing second spot with 83 points, and Travellers D in the relegation zone. In Division 3 Tower House are still ahead with 61 points, with IOM Junior Development A in second with 55 points. Further details & statistics can be found via our website at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM
Division 1
Travellers A (4) Ramsey A (2)
The home side's No1 pairing of Scott Lewis & Malcolm Cummings saw off William & Wilma Dalugdugan in 3 ends, before being tested by Will & Adam Teare. The Ramsey pair did well to be 2-1 up, only to lose the final 2 games. Traveller's second pairing of Lewis & Will Shooter combined well to beat off the Dalugdugan siblings, and then saw off Wilma & Adam in 3 ends. Ramsey's 2 points came from Will & Adam against Malcolm & Will, and then from Wilma & Adam against the same pairing.
Arbory A (5) Tower A (1)
Arbory's John Magnall and Jason Quirk got to 2-0 up against Tower's Ken Mitchell & Dave Parsons, but were pegged back 14-16 in the third before managing to close it out 12-10 in the 4th end. Against Parsons and Mike Bayley it was a straight games win for the home side. Mitchell & Parsons were in another close one, this time with Arbory's second pairing of Quirk and young Amit Lannin. Poised at 2-2, the Arbory pair re-grouped and took the final game 11-7, to dash the hopes of the Tower duo. The one ray of sunshine for Tower came courtesy of Bayley & Parsons, who managed to see off John & Amit 12-10 in the 4th end, and secure a vital point.
Travellers B (5) Strathallan (1)
It was great to see John Shooter's brother Neil return to action for the first time in several years. John Shooter & Malc Lewis formed the home side's No1 pairing and they had few issues beating Wayne Taytlor & Neil Quane, and then Wayne and Ege Niyazi. No2 pairing was the Shooter siblings, who rolled back the years to combine extremely well and take both points against Wayne & Neil in 3 ends, then against Neil & Ege in 4 ends. Strathallan's only point came from Neil & Ege who were delighted to squeeze past Malc & Neil in the 4th end.
Ramsey B (6) Travellers C (0)
Ramsey's dream team of Tim Baker, Becky Taylor and Chris Holmes came up trumps again with a ruthless overhaul of the unfortunate Maurice Campbell, Dave Buck and Margaret Forsyth - all of whom were playing up in this tie. Dave & Margaret nicked a game off Tim & Becky but it was slim pickings for Travellers.
Division 2
Peel B (3) Tower B (3)
Peel B and Tower B are tied in second place in Div2, so this tie was crucial for both teams. Peel's top pairing of Stu Perry & Maggie Mulhearn did well to see off Tower's No1 pairing of Paul Callow & Simon Radcliffe in 4 ends, but were overturned in 3 by Callow & Steve Curtis. The Tower No2 pairing gelled well again to take a second point in 4 ends against Maggie & Jon Taylor-Burt. Tower's third point came from Curtis & Radcliffe in 4 ends against Stu & Jon. They were more successful against Paul & Simon in 3 very tight games. Finally, for Peel, their 3rd pairing of Maggie & Jon edged past Steve & Simon to draw the match, and maintain parity between these 2 very good teams.
Arbory B (6) Ramsey D (0)
Sonja Shaw, Dan Levine and Malcolm Lambert were in fine form in this tie and swept past Keith Herrington, Geoff Burchill and Darren Shaw in straight ends in all but 2 matches. This win stretches Arbory's lead at the top of Division 2 to a whopping 23 points.
Desmonds Douglas A (6) Ramsey C (0)
Desmonds once again had an excellent week, with Brandon Montgomery, Russ Kent and Neil Ronan combining extremely well to take each and every match. The contest between Russ & Neil, and Ramsey's Adrian Slater & Martyn Howard, turned out to be a topsy turvy affair, with the Desmonds men giving up a 2-0 lead only to find themselves level after 4! They then changed gears however to steam-roller their way past their opponents 11-3 in the final end to take a vital 6th point.
Arbory C (6) Travellers D (0)
Kevin Drewry, Mike Levine and Rob Wright were a formidable obstacle to Adrian Tinkler, Bob Borland and Grant Paterson, and so it proved in terms of the result. Only one match went beyond 4 ends - Kevin & Rob's topsy turvy tussle with Bob & Grant. The match was settled in the end 11-4, 6-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-3.
Division 3
Ramsey F (3) Ramsey E (2)
Roland Bouchat was again in good form, taking 2 wins for the home side against Tony Sewell and Teddy Clayton in 3 ends. Team mate Pat Halliwell was a little off-colour, and could not quite get past her 2 opponents, despite coming very close in several games. Pat & Roland combined well to take the doubles in 3 ends and grab the win for the F team.
IOM Junior Development A (5) Tower House (0)
Tower House were sadly unable to fulfill this fixture, thus handing their opponents 5 free points. This makes their margin at the top a little tighter but Tower House remains relatively comfortable as long as they don't forfeit any further points.
IOM Junior Development B (0) IOM Junior Development D (5)
Junior B team regular Seth Hornby-Wheler was joined by newcomer Rhys Bufton, with Rhys having a rather successful start. First he beat Megan Corris in 3 ends, then he had a closer battle with Max Doyle, managing to ease through in 4 close games 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9. Seth then added to the tally, with 2 solid wins against Max and Megan. Seth & Rhys then combined superbly, closing out the match in 3 decisive ends.
