The Isle of Man Team for Weekend 2 of the British Clubs League consisted of the familiar trio of Scott Lewis, Duncan Alexander and Rebecca Taylor, and William Dalugdugan. 

IOM had a very tough opening fixture against top of the table Aberdeen TTC. Despite some close individual matches and impressive rallies, the IOM lost the match 8-1. Duncan claimed the Island’s sole victory with a tremendous 3-1 victory over Aberdeen’s number 2 player. Next up was equally strong opposition in the form of second placed Albert TTC. The IOM team showed some real grit and determination and Scott got IOM off to a flying start with a 3-0 victory. Unfortunately Duncan, Rebecca and William could not capitalise on this despite strong positions within  their matches, and each lost out. Going into the halfway point of the fixture, the IOM team was trailing 3-1. Scott and Duncan teamed up in the doubles and claimed an important 3-1 victory putting the IOM back in with a chance at 2-3 down.

In the second round of singles, Scott was up first and yet again showed his exceptional attacking skills, taking the match 3-2, which drew the IOM team level at 3-3! Next up was Duncan, who displayed superb form to find himself 2-1 up in games, and 10-5 up in the 4th end. However, the Albert player somehow managed to claw his way back and took the game, and then the 5th for the match - a devastating blow to Duncan and to the team. Rebecca and William were both unlucky in their matches with the Albert players proving a tad too strong. This left the overall match score 6-3 to Albert. 

Sunday started with Halton 3 which the IOM team knew was a vital match for them if they were to climb the league table. Scott yet again got the IOM team off to a bright start with a 3-1 win over their number 2 player. Unfortunately, despite some impressive attacking play, both Rebecca and Duncan lost out 3-1 to the Halton players. Duncan and Scott did really well to clinch the doubles in the 5th end 12-10, to put the IOM team back in contention. In the second round of singles, Scott yet again began with a fabulous 3-1 victory over the Halton number 1 to put the match score at 3-3. Next up was Duncan, who had a tremendous victory against the young Halton player to give IOM a 4-3 lead. Next up was William who despite pushing the Halton player hard, lost out 0-3. Rebecca also struggled with the spin and speed of the Halton number 2 and lost out 3-1, meaning the IOM narrowly lost the match overall 4-5. 

The final match of the weekend was against Halton 2, with the IOM team having to rouse themselves after the disappointment of the Halton 3 loss. Unfortunately, IOM struggled and were unable to pick up any matches, losing out 0-9. After a tough weekend, the IOM remained in an unchanged 6th position in the table.  
Weekend 3 will be held on the 7th December. The IOM team will be looking to build on some very impressive individual performances in Weekend 2, but at the same time will be seeking to learn from those results that didn't go their way, and take the team to greater heights going forward. 

Picture: Scott Lewis had some particularly impressive wins for the Isle of Man team in the British League recently (photo by Malcolm Lambert)

Ken Mitchell