9 Jan13 Match Report

JUST ONE POINT SEPARATES BREAKAWAY AND COPY SHOP

DIVISION ONE

 

Foxdale A (4) Tower A (6)

An emphatic Tim Baker hat-trick proved decisive for sixth placed Tower against Foxdale who are now only three points above them in the league. John Callow lost his opening encounter 13/15 against Will Bayley but picked up two points for Tower by beating both Becky Bayley and Marc Townsend. Paul Callow got Tower’s winning point by whipping William but he lost out to both Becky and Townsend who also combined to harvest the doubles for Foxdale’s final point.

 

Breakaway A (6) Copy Shop B (4)

Top placed Breakaway are now just one point clear of Copy Shop A after this narrow victory over the relegation zoned Copy Shop B team. Paul Corran let out a room stopping shriek of frustration part way through what turned out to be a hat-trick decider with Copy Shop’s Ewan Watterson. Watterson was undaunted and went on to win their wildly oscillating encounter and completed his triple by beating Mason McLarney and Darren Smethurst who had both beaten Sean Drewry. Copy Shop’s final point came in a closely contested battle between Smethurst and Danny Hamill which Hamill won 8/11, 11/3, 13/11, 13/15, 13/11. Time ran out in the deciding doubles which Breakaway claimed after winning the first two sets.

 

Strathallan A (3) Copy Shop A (7)

Brian Crellin was unavailable for Copy Shop so Danny Hamill had a busy evening playing for both their teams. He acquitted himself well by beating Hadyn McLarney and Andy Horne. However, he ran out of steam against Julian Briercliffe who won their pulsating encounter 11/4, 10/12, 9/11, 11/9, 11/7.

Jane Kneale also fell to Briercliffe, but Ronan McDonnell maintained his unbeaten record despite being taken to five sets by McLarney. Fourth placed Strathy were awarded the doubles being two sets up when the NSC called time.

 

Travellers A (1) Arbory (9)

The score does not reflect bottom placed Travellers’ efforts. Gary Shilling had two extra time defeats 10/12 and 12/14 against Arbory’s hat-trick heroes Mikhail Tamarov and Jason Quirk respectively. Similarly, Paul Nelson lost 13/15 to Tamarov and 9/11 in five furious sets with Quirk. The Travellers even scored more points than third placed Arbory in the doubles, but still lost! However, Chris Reynolds stopped the rot by top spinning past the defensive John Magnall to deny him his hat-trick. 

 

DIVISION TWO

 

Foxdale B (9) Travellers B (1)

Third placed Travellers turned up one player short which is not wise against table topping Foxdale. Stu Douglas had three close encounters but only converted one into a point for Travellers, winning 9/11, 11/7, 11/6, 14/16, 11/9 against Ken Mitchell. Mike Bayley and Neil Quane beat Douglas 12/10 and 11/8 respectively at the end of five gruelling legs. Unfortunately, Travellers’ Stu Mason never got beyond three sets in either the singles or his doubles with Douglas.

 

Tower C (2) Peel A (8)

Malc Lewis and Les Wilson were the triple trophy winners for fifth placed Peel. Maggie Mulhern beat both Margaret Forsyth and Mike Chapman having earlier lost 11/6, 11/5, 11/6 to Dave Callow. Bottom placed Tower took the final point of the evening in a tactical doubles match with great angles and just a few nets and edges which Chapman and Callow will tell you they aimed for.

 

Tower B (10) Travellers C (0)  

Second placed Tower moved within two points of Foxdale with this landslide victory over relegation zoned Travellers. Both Alan Harding and Jackie Gill did well to take a set off the hard hitting ‘leftie’ Paul Kozlowski, but none of the Travellers could steal a set off the stalwart Graham McFarlane. Maurice Campbell nearly purloined a point for the Travellers but narrowly lost 11/3, 3/11, 12/10, 4/11, 12/14 to Steve Curtis who also scraped through 12/10 against Gill.

     

Peel B (0) Salmon River Spinners (10)

Peel’s youngsters Matty Evans, Vishal Patel and Ashley Reid found that they were swimming against the current when taking on the lads from Laxey. Tommy Cowin was stretched to four sets twice and was involved in the match’s only five setter beating Patel 3/11, 6/11, 11/3, 7/11, 11/8. Colin Barron only dropped one set and Nigel Beattie didn’t give anything away for the Spinners who have now moved up to third in the league.

 

DIVISION THREE

 

Breakaway B (4) Copy Shop C (6)

Copy Shop landed the double over top placed Breakaway and now stand just three points behind them. Breakaway’s hat-trick hero Chris Kewley avenged his only defeat this season by smashing past the previously unbeaten Malcolm Lambert 7/11, 11/7, 5/11, 11/6, 11/9. Lambert and Rob Sim eventually won a close fought battle in the doubles 11/9 in the fifth set and both beat Aaron Faragher and Breakaway’s new signing young Kerenza Baker from Ramsey’s Junior Development squad. Faragher was to consistent for Pedro Cardoso who had earlier secured what proved to be the vital deciding point by overcoming Baker.

  

Fortress Management Services (5) IOM Junior Development Two (5)  

JD2 were gifted three points as Fortress were a player short but they borrowed Henry Hyde from Copy Shop in order to make up the numbers. JD’s other two points were earned by Calvin Koske who played brilliantly to beat both Karen Hassan and Pat Halliwell. Neither James Colgan nor Liam Cooper could trouble the scorer, but Koske and Cooper put up a real fight in the pivotal doubles which Fortress won 4/11, 7/11, 11/6, 11/6, 11/5.   

 

Copy Shop D (7) IOM Junior Development One (3)

Third placed Copy Shop were pushed hard by the quickly improving JD1 side with Wael Kassim demonstrating his undoubted ability by beating George Melvin 11/5, 11/7, 4/11, 16/18, 11/9 and then Chris Aspden in four super sets. Carl Blather scored JD’s final point by out-hitting Melvin, but Marcus Koske couldn’t convert perspiration into points. None of the youngsters could counter Kevin Drewry’s guile and experience in either the singles or the doubles which he played with Aspden.

 

Peel C (5) Travellers D (5)

Fourth placed Peel needed to win the doubles to deliver the draw against sixth placed Travellers for whom Juan Moore Jnr smashed a hat-trick. Juan Moore Snr defeated Nathan Evans but lost to the up and coming golfer Fraser Dorling and then to Oska Corkhill in a marathon match 7/11, 6/11, 13/11, 11/8, 15/17. Alex Buck lost to both Dorling and Evans but secured the draw for Travellers by beating Corkhill in straight sets.

 

MALCOLM LAMBERT

Author: via Isle Of Man Table Tennis Association
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