'Peel crowned Division 2 champions whilst runners up spot goes down to the wire’                

Week 20 of the Fun 88 sponsored IOMTTA League was played last week at the NSC, and with only 1 week to go, most matters are settled. In Division 1, Travellers A retained their title with Ramsey A in second place, whilst both Tower B and Tower A were relegated. In Division 2, Peel A won the title and will be promoted. The battle for second place however, will go  down to the wire with Travellers C only one point ahead of Desmond's. Ramsey C were relegated to Division 3, whilst Travellers D will be promoted to Division 2.

Highlights of the action is summarised below, with full match results and statistics to be found via our website at  www.tabletennis365.com/IOM

Division 1

Strathallan (7) Tower A (2)

This defeat was the final nail in the coffin for Tower A who will finish in 7th place and face relegation to Division 2. Neil Quane was Player of the Night with 3 magnificent wins. His attacking play was too much for the hapless trio of Ken Mitchell, Dave Parsons and Mike Bayley. Mike put up a strong challenge however, taking the 3rd and 4th before Neil woke up and stormed to victory. Wayne Taylor was also in good form and it was only Parsons who was able to get the better of the Strathallan player - just edging it 11-8 in the 5th. Julian Briercliffe also managed 2 points, but also fell victim to Parsons in 3 close ends. 

Travellers B (2) Arbory B (7)

John Magnall had another excellent week, taking 3 wins with little fuss, against Will Shooter, Malc Lewis and David Buck. Amit Lanin added another 2 points with wins against Lewis and Buck, but fell to a superb performance from Shooter who took the win in 4 ends. Finally, Dan Levine had a tremendous night, picking up 2 points with victories over Buck and Lewis.

Ramsey A (9) Tower B (0)

Ramsey had an early night, handing out a trouncing to an already relegated Tower B side. Steve Curtis and Simon Radcliffe were able to take a game apiece, but alongside Dario Mazzotta were no match for Adam Teare, Chris Holmes and Becky Taylor. 

Arbory A (1) Travellers A (8)

Arbory A will perhaps feel  aggrieved not to have taken more than a single point in this tie. It was however a victory march for the champions Travellers A, with Scott Lewis once again in towering form alongside John Shooter (who was playing up from the B team), and Malcolm Cummings. Arbory’s single point came courtesy of Mike Tamarov, who just squeezed past Cummings 12-10 in the 5th. He had a tremendous battle with Shooter, and after some exciting counter attacking play, narrowly lost 12-14 - again in the 5th. An equally close match was going on at the same time 2 tables away, with Malcolm having a fantastic last gasp win over Jason Quirk 15-13 in the fifth end. 

Division 2

Arbory C (8) Ramsey C (1)

Dave Bufton and Kevin Drewry were joint Player of the Night, with 3 very good wins in this tie over Keith Herrington, Geoff Burchill and Martyn Howard. Rob Wright added 2 wins, but fell to a tenacious performance from Howard who triumphed 11-9, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8. Herrington and Burchill had no answer to the brilliance of the Arbory players, and unfortunately this defeat condemned Ramsey C to relegation. They will be back up very soon I’m sure.

Travellers C (5) Arbory D (4)

This was set to be an intriguing tie in Division 2 - who would play, and could Travellers get back on track? Yes they could, taking a very important 5 points from this tricky tie. Malcolm Lambert was Player of the Night for Arbory though, notching up 3 superb wins by defeating Luke Begley, Dave Buck and promising newcomer Charlie Jack. Buck produced 2 excellent wins over Bob Borland and Liav Lanin, as did Charlie. Closest match of the night was between Buck and Lambert, which was finally settled 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5 in favour of the relieved Arbory player.

Peel A (8) Ramsey B (1)

With the Division 2 title under their belts, the Peel trio of Jon Taylor Burt, Stu Perry and Ken Hegarty could perhaps relax a tad. If they did, it paid dividends, producing 8 points. Sadly, Ramsey’s Wael Kassim had to forfeit his matches, but that still left 2 formidable opponents in the form of Geoff Ball and Adrian Slater for Peel to deal with. Only Slater was able to find a way past the Peel players, with a splendid 3 set victory over Hegarty. Perry had a very close call with Geoff Ball however, just edging it 12-10 in the 5th. He then had an even closer one with Slater - this time taking the win 17-15 in the final end! Taylor Burt on the other hand, took his wins in commanding style, each in the 4th.

Desmonds Douglas A (2) JRTE Marketing A (7)

Desmonds would have wanted more out of this tie, but came up against the mighty Darren Smethurst and Brian Crellin, who managed to carve out 3 points apiece for JRTE. Darren  was untroubled in his matches, whilst Crellin had to work a little harder, easing past Neil Ronan 11-7 in their 5th end. Paul Mitchinson nabbed what could be a vital point for the home side however, with a superb 4 end win over Ronan in what appeared to be a very close 4 set match. So, it will all come down to the final week - can Desmonds grab their chance for glory, and take second place and promotion, or will Travellers C pip them? We shall see.  

Division 3

Travellers F (4) Ramsey F (1)

There were some close matches in this tie, with 2 going to 5 and 3 to a 4th end. Sydnie Weaver continues to impress for Travellers F, holding her nerve in an extremely close match with Saul Tumblety, just taking it 6-11, 11-6, 9-11, 18-16, 11-9. What an amazing performance! Poor Saul suffered the same fate at the hands of the home side’s Rhys Bufton who also pipped him in the 5th end, 11-9. The one ray of light for the away team was Teddy Clayton’s performance whilst defeating Rhys 11-6 in the 4th end.

Travellers E (4) Travellers D (1)

This was a tremendous victory for the youngsters Eban Moore and Henry Weaver over the Division 3 champs. Mike Chapman again stood in for Maurice Campbell in the D team. He and teammate Margaret Forsyth found the improving youngsters too hot to handle, even when up against their superior experience. Mike did have a good win however, over Eban who lost 9-11 in the 5th, in what was a very close match.

Ramsey D (1) Travellers G (4)

Tom Taylor Burt, playing for Travellers G, was Player of the Night in this tie, taking victories over Pat Helliwell and Tony Sewell, and then in the doubles with Max Doyle. Max then added a superb 3 end win over Tony to take a valuable 4-1 win for these promising youngsters.

The final practice session at the NSC Secondary Hall takes place 28th March 7pm-9pm. Please come and support it. League players and newcomers are welcome - £5 per adult or £3 per junior. Follow local table tennis via our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TableTennisIOM or at  www.tabletennis365.com/IOM

Picture: ‘Neil Quane unleashes another stunning forehand in a winning performance for Strathallan in Division 1 last week’ (photo courtesy of Malcolm Lambert).