MATCH REPORT 24 FEBRUARY 2016
TOP TEAM TOWER B TOPPLED BY TRAVELLERS B
Travellers B inflicted a rare defeat over table topping Tower B and thus moved up to second spot in the Second Division of the DLP Adapted Bathrooms sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis League at Bemahague on Wednesday. The win puts them nine points behind the league leaders and two points ahead of Peel A who have a game in hand over both Travellers and Tower.
Fifth-placed Travellers D moved up two places despite only beating the bottom side Surestrike Ramsey C 6-4. Similarly, seventh-placed Peel B moved up two places as a result of their 7-3 win over relegation zoned St Ninian’s. Fourth-placed Copy Shop B, who lost 10-0 last week, had a rest night and consequently continued their slide. They dropped three places as sixth-placed Surestrike Ramsey B moved above them after posting their sixth win in their last eight outings.
Copy Shop C are twenty-one points clear of the relegation zone but if, as proposed, the league converts back to four divisions next season it may mean that both St Ninian’s and Surestrike Ramsey C also avoid the drop to the bottom division.
DIVISION TWO
Tower B (3) Travellers B (7)
The Divisional Championship runner-up Juan Moore managed a hat-trick for third-placed Travellers B after staging a late comeback to beat Graham McFarlane on a tie-break 12/10 and similarly to scrape past Steve Curtis 8/11, 10/12, 11/3, 11/9, 11/9.
Travellers had taken a 6-0 lead helped by two each for Tommy Cowin and his team-mate Colin Barron who defeated both Curtis and McFarlane for the first time ever. Simon Radcliffe stopped the rot for Tower by beating Barron and then Curtis caught Cowin.
McFarlane’s contribution came in the doubles which he and Curtis converted for Tower’s third point.
Travellers C (3) Peel A (7)
Third-placed Peel A had two hat-trick heroes, IOMTTA chairman Maggie Mulhern
and MYG co-ordinator Malc Lewis, who also delivered the doubles to procure all Peel’s points.
Jackie Gill, Adrian Tinkler and Maurice Campbell from eighth- placed Travellers had to be content with a point apiece against Peel’s substitute Tiernan Garvey.
Peel B (7) St Ninian’s (3)
Sasha Thomas gave the teachers a lesson in attacking play to post his third hat-trick of the season for seventh-placed Peel B. Harry Walters was also hoping for a hat-trick but lost 8/11, 10/12, 8/11 to Matt Harvey who also beat Callan Reed who had been drafted in from the Junior Development squad.
Matty Kelly secured St Ninian’s final point by beating young Reed but the St Ninian’s new boy, Jamie Clague, was not so fortunate in the singles or the doubles with Harvey.
Copy Shop C (4) Surestrike Ramsey B (6)
Fraser Dorling took Tim Baker to a first set tie-breaker but Baker convincingly concluded his 14th hat-trick of the season for sixth-placed Surestrike Ramsey B. Jack Craik, Baker’s successful doubles partner, added another two points with wins over Dorling
and Joe Walters.
Pedro Cardoso crushed Craik’s hat-trick hopes in four sets and he and his ninth-placed Copy Shop team-mates earned their other points at the expense of
Kerenza Baker who was particularly unlucky to lose 11/13, 11/7, 8/11, 11/8, 11/13 to Walters.
Surestrike Ramsey C (4) Travellers D (6)
Mike Dunning needed three tie-breakers to win his hat-trick decider with Surestrike’s Chris Holmes who had beaten both Alex Buck and Jack Mathieson-Nelson.
The latter two both beat Billy Cain and then Mathieson-Nelson wangled the win for Travellers with a last ditch 5/11, 8/11, 11/8, 11/9, 12/10 win over Frank Feeney. Buck was also involved in a second marathon match with Feeney, one leg reaching 22/20 in favour of Feeney who went on to win bottom-placed Surestrike’s third point. Even the doubles had to be decided on a final frame tie-breaker.
Naturally, Feeney was flagging but he and Holmes edged out Dunning and Mathieson-Nelson 13/11 in overtime.
MALCOLM LAMBERT
