COPY SHOP CONSOLIDATE TOP SPOT IN DIVISION ONE
Copy Shop A’s 7-2 victory over ABC Arborists consolidated their position at the top of Division One of the DLP Adapted Bathrooms sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis League. The Division Two leaders, Tower B, were defeated 1-9 by Copy Shop B and so fell back to 4th, whilst in Division Three Victory Roll Saints (formerly St Ninian’s), clung on to top spot but Surestrike Ramsey C closed the gap to just one point.
DIVISION ONE
Copy Shop A (7) ABC Arborists (2)
Copy Shop’s Ronan McDonnell maintained his unbeaten record but Brian Crellin lost his to Liam Chan who also beat Sean Drewry for the Arborists only points. Jason Quirk took a set off McDonnell and John Magnall went one better against Drewry but was out-chopped 11/7, 7/11, 6/11, 13/11, 11/7.
Copy Shop, are now twelve points clear of second placed Strathallan who have a game in hand as do ABC Arborists who after this defeat have dropped to third place in the league.
Travellers A (0) Strathallan A (9)
Strathy’s Andy Horne won all his matches in straight sets whereas Andy Patterson and Julian Briercliffe dropped a set to Stu Mason and Stu Douglas respectively. Former IOMTTA chairman Dave Stevenson was playing up for Travellers who now find themselves two points adrift at the bottom.
Zurich Spinners (3) Breakaway A (6)
Breakaway started 3-0 up as newly promoted Zurich Spinners failed to field a third player. Nigel Beattie beat both Ben Christian and Aaron Faragher while Tommy Cowin added one more for the Spinners with a last gasp victory 11/6, 11/2, 9/11, 5/11 12/10 over Faragher having lost 9/11 in the final frame against Christian. Paul Corran showed his class in taking the remaining points for fifth placed Breakaway.
Foxdale A (0) Tower A (9)
Ken Mitchell and Andy McLarney were without a third player for Foxdale so gifted Tower three of their points. Mitchell took the first set off Mike Bayley but lost in four and came closest to winning against Graham McFarlane who won their match 14/12, 11/3, 15/13. McLarney also pushed McFarlane close and then lost in another four set thriller with Paul Kozlowski.
DIVISION TWO
Copy Shop B (9) Tower B (1)
Top placed Tower were toppled by Copy Shop B who moved up to third place thanks to hat-tricks by Adam Davies and Dario Mazzotta who also combined to harvest the doubles. Substitute Malcolm Lambert was playing his first game of the season and having beaten both Simon Radcliffe and Barry Jenkins his hopes were high but Steve Curtis blocked him out in straight sets for Tower’s token point.
Travellers C (0) Travellers B (10)
Travellers B maintained their unbeaten record and moved into second place after this emphatic win over their C team for whom Adrian Tinkler managed just one match due to illness. Hence, Colin Brown won all three of his games whereas Gary Shilling and Paul Nelson only had the pleasure of playing Maurice Campbell and Alan Harding.
Travellers D (7) Tower C (3)
Juan Moore Jr had a ding-dong battle with Margaret Forsyth winning 11/3, 11/13, 11/4, 11/13, 11/9 to secure his hat-trick for Travellers. Forsyth did beat Juan Moore Sr but was frustratingly pipped at the post 14/12 in her fascinating final set against Alex Buck. Mike Chapman won Tower’s other two points but Travellers wrapped up the remaining points by beating Heather Kennett and taking the doubles.
Copy Shop C (4) Peel A (6)
Malc Lewis hit a hat-trick that put Peel top of the league as Maggie Mulhern and Matt Evans won a point apiece and took the doubles to secure a narrow victory. Pedro Cardoso was Copy Shop’s top player winning two whilst George Melvin and Max Walker beat Evans and Mulhern respectively.
Peel B (1) Surestrike Ramsey A (9)
Harry Walters scored a lonely point for Peel by beating Calvin Koske but Nathan Evans and substitute Matthew Gaune could only win the odd set against Rhys Yardley and Koske respectively. Top seed Tim Baker was parsimonious with the points for Surestrike who leapt up the league to fifth place.
DIVISION THREE
Breakaway B (2) Victory Roll Saints (8)
The school teachers from top placed St Ninian’s may have had a team name change but their results remain consistent. Matty Kelly and Rob Campbell both dropped a point to Jack Christian and Kieran Lane respectively but Matt Harvey had no such troubles against two man Breakaway who remain in fourth place.
IOM Junior Development (0) Copy Shop D (10)
Zac Walker and his Copy Shop D colleagues didn’t have it entirely their own way against the league debutants from Junior Development. Scott Horne got to 10/12 against Kyle Dodd. Josh Dudley narrowly lost 10/12, 9/11, 11/13 to Billy Coulter. However, Cameron Dudley was just two points from victory in the fourth set against Dodd who survived 12/10 and then took the last set 11/8.
Peel C (0) Surestrike Ramsey C (10)
Corin Haddock, Tom Noble and Mason Prince found the going tough against second placed Surestrike C and try as they might they could secure a set against Billy Cain, Frank Feeney and Kerenza Baker who all feature near the top of the league averages.
MALCOLM LAMBERT
