Brandon Bravehearts’ Jack Jacomb won his hat-trick this week in Division 3 against Sacriston Comets as his team won 6-4. Teammates Jordan Dove and Ryan Morton chipped in with 3 wins between them to clinch the victory. The Comets’ line-up of Peter Whitfield, Dan Hutchinson and Ian Mcpherson weren’t far off the pace however as Hutchinson won 2 and Mcpherson won 1, plus the two combining to win the doubles.

Matfen Tribunes’ match wasn’t quite so close, unfortunately for them, as they lost 9-1 to visitors Prudhoe United Services B. Andrew Firth took man of the match for the away team, Maurice Cheek also winning his 3, Shirley Gelder losing out to Nigel Tree. Tree will be happy with this win as his game has been progressing consistently each season and Gelder will be seen as a considerable scalp for the Winter Division 2 player. John Henderson and Mark Perrin were unfortunately unable to take any wins. 

Matfen’s other team, the Senators, fared significantly better as they travelled to Boldon and rampaged home to a 10-0 whitewash. Boldon’s line-up of Michael Stafford, Adam Allsopp and Ryan Campbell all struggled, winning just 3 ends in the singles matches against David Swan, Alex Holliday and Stephen Oxley.

The final match in the division this week saw another one-sided fixture as Cramlington Trojans faced club rivals Cramlington Corinthians. The Trojans’ Lynsey Storey, Karen Henry and Blair Carmichael won 9-1 overall with only Storey losing a match as she struggled with Phil Smith’s strong serves and heavy spin. Neither Pauline Long nor Adrian Barnes were able to pick up any wins, sealing the away team’s fate.

Matfen Senators’ consistency of line-up, having played the same three players in the vast majority of their matches, has helped them to retain the top spot in the division, as they find themselves with 98 points and only a single loss. Prudhoe United Services B lie in second place and have not actually lost a game, but closer scores mean they find themselves with fewer points, 5 points behind the Senators on 93. There is a big gap between Prudhoe and the third-placed team, Cramlington Trojans, who have played a game more and are still 15 points adrift. At the other end of the table, East Boldon look like they won’t be able to survive the drop as they are a full 30 points away from safety. Above them, Cramlington Corinthians are halfway to safety as they find themselves 15 points above East Boldon, and 15 points below sixth-placed Sacriston Comets.