MATCH REPORT 5 DECEMBER 2012
MUCH MUTTERING BUT BREAKAWAY STAY TOP
DIVISION ONE
Breakaway A (9) Travellers A (1)
PAUL Corran didn’t drop a set for top placed Breakaway whereas Mason McLarney - his doubles partner - had to earn his hat-trick the hard way. Chris Reynolds and Gary Shilling both extended McLarney to five close sets and the match with Paul Nelson involved four sets that all ended in a tie-breaker. It was Reynolds who stopped the whitewash in a see-saw battle with Darren Smethurst which concluded 12/10, 8/11, 5/11, 11/5, 11/9.
Copy Shop B (1) Copy Shop A (9)
There was much muttering on the sidelines as second placed Copy Shop A borrowed Sean Drewry from their B team and he played out of his skin to beat Ewan Watterson 4/11, 11/6, 8/11, 11/8, 11/6 and then outgun Mario Mazzotta. Danny Hamill brought Drewry back to earth in an oscillating five setter but the B team had no answer for either Jane Kneale or the still unbeaten Ronan McDonnell and they also combined to harvest the doubles.
Foxdale A (5) Strathallan A (5)
Hadyn McLarney and Julian Briercliffe scored two apiece for Strathy but were thwarted in their triple tries by Ruth Bailey and Will Bayley respectively. Bayley and Marc Townsend won the doubles for Foxdale and both beat Andy Horne who ensured the draw for Strathy 8/11, 11/4, 11/4, 14/16, 11/8 in a humdinger of a final match with Bailey.
Tower A (2) Arbory (8)
Liam Chan was in devastating form for third placed Arbory who may have been hoping for a whitewash but Tim Baker upped his game to scupper John Magnall 12/10, 10/12, 11/9, 11/7 and then Jason Quirk 11/9, 12/14, 11/8, 11/9. Paul and John Callow had no luck in either the singles or the doubles for sixth placed Tower.
DIVISION TWO
Tower B (8) Peel B (2)
There were two outstanding results in this fixture between promotion contenders Tower and relegation zoned Peel. Firstly, Vishal Patel played brilliantly to defeat Dave Callow in five sets and then, perhaps more impressively, Ashley Reid upset the form book to oust Graham McFarlane 11/8, 11/9, 9/11, 11/9. All the other matches went to Tower although Matty Evans only lost 11/13 in four sets to hat-trick hero Paul Kozlowski who joined with McFarlane to secure the doubles.
Travellers C (0) Travellers B (10)
No quarter was given as Travellers B trounced their C team colleagues. Alan Harding, Maurice Campbell and Juan Moore Snr managed to get beyond three sets in just four matches. Although Harding took Stu Douglas to a fifth set, Douglas, Steve Ellis-Pearson and Stu Mason appeared to be in cruise control most of the time.
Peel A (3) Salmon River Spinners (7)
Peel B’s Matty Evans was darting from table to table and his efforts for the A team were rewarded with a fine win over Colin Barron 11/9, 11/9, 10/12, 9/11, 11/7. Malc Lewis also beat Barron and earlier Tommy Cowin. However, Nigel Beattie remained unbeaten on the night and Cowin did the double over Evans and Maggie Mulhern who also lost to Barron. Third placed Spinners also won the doubles.
Tower C (1) Foxdale B (9)
Dave Callow, who was also deputising for Tower B, lost three tie-breakers in his narrow four sets defeat to Andy McLarney. However, Mike Chapman snatched a late consolation point for Tower by beating McLarney 4/11, 12/10, 11/9, 7/11, 11/9. Callow, Chapman and Margaret Forsyth were unable to win even a set against Mike Bayley and Neil Quane who went on to take the doubles for top placed Foxdale.
DIVISION THREE
IOM Junior Development One (0) Travellers D (10)
Juan Moore Jnr, Alex Buck and his father David were awarded a walk-over as JD1 failed to field a team. Copy Shop C’s Pedro Cardoso joined their table to provide some practice and they all played a round robin.
Fortress Management Services (7) Peel C (3)
Peel’s Fraser Dorling and Nathan Evans both narrowly beat Pat Halliwell 12/10 at the end of five hard fought frames. However, Halliwell was just too canny for Oska Corkill. Mahmoud and Karen Hassan completed their hat-tricks for Fortress, but Peel did well to come back from two sets down to take the doubles 9/11, 9/11, 12/10, 13/11, 11/5.
Copy Shop D (3) Breakaway B (7)
Top placed Breakaway were one player short and so gifted Copy Shop their three points. However, Aaron Faragher and Ben Christian proved to be just too strong for Chris Aspden, George Melvin and Oli Cain, although Cain did take Christian to five sets as did Aspden against Faragher.
IOM Junior Development Two (0) Copy Shop C (10)
Copy Shop C moved to within two points of Breakaway with this landslide win over the young JD side. Danny Howard, Dylan Cooke and Ben Harris enjoyed the experience and hopefully picked up some useful tips from the coaching they received from Rob Sim and Malcolm Lambert. Henry Hyde showed the youngsters what progress nearly a full season in the league can help achieve. Pedro Cardoso joined Hyde to win the doubles in double quick time.
MALCOLM LAMBERT
