Defending champions Copy Shop A are now closing in on the First Division title in the Isle of Man Table Tennis League and Travellers B are doing the same in Division Two. However, there is a three horse race in Division Three which looks like going down to the last match of the season. Shock of the night came in Division Two where second placed Zurich Spinners suffered an amazing 10-0 reverse against Copy Shop B.
DIVISION ONE
Copy Shop A 10, Tower A 0
Not any where as easy as the score suggests with three going the distance but Ronan McDonnell, Brian Crellin and Sean Drewry were undefeated in their apparently triumphant march towards defending their league title. Unfortunately, Paul Kozlowski, Dave Parsons and Tim Baker could not convert perspiration to points but do remain clear of the drop zone.
Breakaway A, 6 Arbory 4
Second against third here with Breakaway opening up a six points lead over their rivals in the battle for the runners-up spot. However, Arbory have a game in hand and Breakaway's Malcolm Cummings will be missing for the end of season matches, so the odds seem to favour Arbory. Mark Johnson was the best player on the night winning all three singles for Breakaway, Paul Corran and Malcolm Cummings adding one more each. Jason Quirk won two for Arbory with Mike Tamarov and John Magnall also getting in the winning column. Breakaway edged a tight doubles for overall victory.
Foxdale B 0, Strathallan 10
Two matches required a decider but Hadyn McLarney, Andrew Horne and Julian Briercliffe continued Strathallan's recent run of good form much to the frustration of Ken Mitchell, Andy McLarney and Mike Bayley for Foxdale who are bottom of the league and still seeking a second victory this season.
Travellers A 0, Foxdale A 10
Travellers were unlucky not to get something from this encounter as four matches required a fifth game but Travellers lost them all - two by 12/10 in the deciders. David Lovelady and Will Bayley were unbeaten for Foxdale, as was reserve Ken Mitchell. Paul Nelson, Brent Hanson and Gary Shilling now look likely to be demoted as the bottom two teams both go down.
DIVISION TWO
Travellers B 8, Tower B 2
One win each from Graham McFarlane and Steve Curtis ensured Tower didn't go home empty handed but top of the table Travellers won the remainder with Stu Douglas and Stu Mason each putting two points on the board and Colin Brown was undefeated. The closest match of the night saw Graham McFarlane just pipping Stu Douglas 13/11 in the fifth. Tower lost their third place as a result of this defeat.
Zurich Spinners 0, Copy Shop B 10
Shock of the night, if not the entire season, as second placed Spinners crashed to defeat. However, some of it can be explained away by the absence of their captain Nigel Beattie who suffered a football injury earlier in the evening. Consequently, Spinners had to play one short but Colin Barron and Tommy Cowin could make little impression on Keeran Chan, Malcolm Lambert and substitute Adam Davies. Spinners are now 17 points behind leaders Travellers B but are still fairly secure in the second spot although much may still depend on how long Beattie is going to be out of action.
Breakaway B 8, Peel B 2
Breakaway jump from fifth to third after this victory which was gained thanks to three wins each plus the doubles from Chris Kewley and Aaron Faragher. Peel were playing one short but Fraser Dorling and Vishal Patel each recorded a win over Breakaway’s substitute Kieran Lane.
Copy Shop C 6, Surestrike Ramsey A 4
Ramsey's divisional finalist Rhys Yardley won two for the Northerners, losing only to Adam Davies who he had beaten last week in their divisional quarter final. Wael Kassim and Karl Blatcher coming up with one win each by beating Rob Sim and George Melvin respectively. However, Davies finished up unbeaten for Copy Shop, Rob Sim and George Melvin adding one more point each at the expense of Carl Blatcher. Copy Shop won the doubles in four games to clinch victory.
Travellers C 6, Tower C 4
This was an important match at the bottom of the table as one of these two teams will join Peel B in Division Three next season. Alan Harding was in form for Travellers winning all three singles while Maurice Campbell with two and Adrian Tinkler, one, brought their total to six. Dave Callow pulled two back for Tower with Mike Chapman adding another but Margaret Forsyth failed to find the winning formula. Tower won the doubles in four games but it wasn't enough to prevent a Travellers victory and they now lead Tower by seven points as the teams bid to avoid demotion.
DIVISION THREE
Travellers D 6, Copy Shop D 4
Ironically, despite losing to third placed Travellers, Copy Shop move to the top of this division as leaders Peel C weren't playing. The situation is that Copy Shop have 140 points, Peel C 139 and Travellers D 137 although Copy Shop have played one more game than their rivals. In this particular match Juan Moore won all his singles, and the doubles, for Travellers with David Buck winning two more. The divisional champion, Kevin Drewry, put two on the board for Copy Shop with Zac Walker and Max Walker also contributing with wins over Jack Nelson. A doubles win would have given Copy Shop a draw but Travellers took it in straight games.
Junior Development 3, Copy Shop E 7
Tom Noble, Billy Coulter and Corin Haddock each won one for Junior Development but the Copy Shop girls just got home thanks to three wins each from Freya Melvin and Pat Halliwell. Melvin and Libby Quaggin then won the doubles to bring their total to seven.
Surestrike Ramsey B 9, Breakaway C 1
Joe Walters had a five game victory over Kerenza Baker to record Breakaway's sole win but Baker and the twins Marcus and Calvin Koske polished off the remainder against Jack Christian, Kieran Lane and Walters.
DIVISIONALS
The final of the Division Two individual competition will be between Malcolm Lewis of Peel A and Rhys Yardley of Surestrike Ramsey A. In this week's semi-finals Lewis defeated Kieran Chan while Yardley just got the better of Malcolm Lambert in a five game thriller.
COLIN BROWN
