'Desmonds remain in touch in Division 2’
Week 15 of the Fun88 sponsored IOM Table Tennis Association league saw a resumption of singles play in Divisions 1 and 2, with some thrilling play to be seen. Travellers A remain top in Division 1 with 105 points, and Ramsey A are second on 80 points. In Division 2, Arbory B are in top spot with 116 points, with Peel and Tower B locked together on 93 points. In Division 3 Tower House got back into gear and re-established their pole position with IOM Junior Development A in second place. Further details & statistics can be found at www.tabletennis365.com/IOM
Division 1
Ramsey A (8) Travellers C (1)
Both sides were weakened through absence and injury, with Ramsay's Duncan Alexander being ably supported by William Dalugdugan and Francesca Lord. They were pitted against a Travellers side that had no regular players, with David Buck, Jackie Gill and Grant Paterson all playing up. It was therefore a tough gig for the away side with most matches being settled straightforwardly. David put up a great fight in his match with Will however, only losing in the 5th end. He then claimed a tremendous victory against Francesca 11-4, 11-6, 4-11, 11-13, 11-6, to gain his team’s only point
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Travellers A (6) Tower A (3)
Island Number 1 Scott Lewis swept past Dave Parsons and Mike Bayley in straight ends, whilst Ken Mitchell managed to grab a game off him before losing in the fourth. Malcolm Cummings beat Parsons in straight games, but dropped a game against Bayley and Mitchell before winning in the 4th end. Maurice Campbell lost to Parsons and Mitchell in 3 ends, and did well to take a game off Mike before losing in the 4th.
Arbory A (5) Strathallan (4)
Arbory’s Mike Tamarov had a nervy tussle with Julian Briercliffe before taking the match in splendid style 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 12-10. He then faced Andrew Patterson who was also in tremendous form, and who eventually won the match in the fifth end 11-5. Tamarov had a slightly smoother ride against Wayne Taylor, taking the match in the fourth end. John Magnall, playing for Arbory had a tough time against Julian, eventually losing 9-11 in the 4th end. He was also beaten by the in-form Patterson 11-8 in the fifth end. Magnall then got a point back by chopping and driving his way past Taylor in 3 ends. Youngster Amit Lannin, Arbory’s 3rd player, had a tremendous win against Julian Briercliffe, beating the experienced Strathallan man 13-11 in the 4th end to notch up a memorable victory. He didn't have as great success against Paterson however, losing in 3 games - but all were very close. Amit added another tremendous win against Wayne, eventually pipping him at the post 12-10 in the 5th end final end.
Travellers B (4) Ramsey B (5)
Ramsey again had a strong team comprising Tim Baker, Becky Taylor and Chris Holmes. John shooter was once again in rock solid form for Travellers, having an impressive win against Taylor 11-8, 11-7, 12-10. He then power looped his way past Baker, beating the Ramsey man in the 4th. John then impressively saw off Chris Holmes 11-8, 11-8, 11-7. Malc Lewis had a superb win against Becky, beating her eventually 11-9 in the 5th end. Lewis didn't enjoy the same success against Tim however, losing in straight ends. Malc also struggled against Holmes, losing in the 3rd end. Will Shooter had an off night for the home side, losing to Becky in 3 tight games, and also to Baker in straight ends. He then faced Holmes who was in great form once again, with the Ramsey player eventually pulling through in the 5th end.
Division 2
Tower B (10) Travellers D (0)
Travellers D were sadly unable to field a team for this tie, so Tower were able to take an easy 10 points from this tie, and put their feet up.
Arbory B (10) Ramsey C (0)
Table toppers Arbory B had Jason Quirk in action for them once again, and as expected he took 3 points for the home side. Malcolm Lambert also had a highly successful evening, firstly beating Francesca Lord in 5 ends 11-5, 8-11, 1-11, 11-4. He also managed to beat Adrian Slater in 4 extremely tight games, and finally managed to beat Lisa Lord in 3 ends. Dan Levine was the home side's 3rd player and he added 3 excellent points against Francesca, Adrian and Lisa.
Desmonds Douglas A (8) Arbory C (2)
Desmonds remain within 7 points of the 2 second placed teams in Division 2, and they kept within touching distance with this vital win. Neil Ronan firstly managed to beat Sonja Shaw in 5 ends, and Kevin Drewry and Rob Wright in 3 ends. Brandon Montgomery swept aside Sonja in 3 ends, Kevin in the 4th end, and Rob in the 3rd. Russell Kent was unable to add to the haul, losing in the 5th end to Sonja, in the 4th to Kevin, but did manage to claim a vital point against Rob in the 3rd end. The doubles was taken by Neil and Brandon in 3 games against Sonja and Rob.
Peel A (10) Ramsey D (0)
Peel's Stu Perry John Taylor-Burt and Ken Hegarty kept up the pressure with this tremendous 10 nil victory to remain in second place alongside Tower B. Jon was once again in fantastic form sweeping aside Darren Shaw, Keith Herrington, and Roland Bouchat in straight ends. Stu Perry added to the party with a 3 end win against Darren, a 4 end win against Herrington, and a 3 end win against Bouchat. Ken Hegarty was also in excellent form once again, beating Shaw in the 4th end, Herrington 11-9 in the 5th, and Bouchat in the third. Stu and Jon then went on to win the doubles 11-3, 11-1, 11-7 against Darren and Keith, to make it a clean sweep.
Division 3
Ramsey F (0) Tower House (5)
It was great to see Tower House back in action and Paul Mitchinson and Cameron Millar made short work in seeing off Tony Sewell and Pat Halliwell in straight ends in each game - including the doubles, to take a valuable 5-0 victory for the away side.
IOM Junior Development A (4) IOM Junior Development D (1)
Young Luke Begley continues to improve week on week, and he managed to beat Sydnie Weaver, and Henry Weaver in 4 ends. Liav Lannin lost to Henry in the 3rd end 13-15, 7-11, 15-17, 7-11, 6-11. He then managed to beat Sydnie in a tremendous match 11-7, 15-17, 10-12, 11-8, 11-2. Luke and Liav then combined well to take the doubles from Sydnie and Tom Taylor-Burt in the 4th and.
IOM Junior Development B (0) IOM Junior Development C (5)
Eben Moore blasted his way past Megan Corris in 3 ends, before also beating Max Doyle in the third - albeit the third end was really tight before Eben managed to pinch it 18-16. Seth Hornby-Wheeler then added 2 further points against Max beating him in 3, and against Megan in straight ends. Eben and Seth then took the doubles from Megan and Max in 3 ends to make it 5-0.