Milton Keynes Topspin 5-5 Greenleys Eagles

Monday 12 November 2018

Game Result Score Match score
1 David Wackrill lost to Iain Lindsay (2-3) 11-7, 5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11 0-1
2 Mervyn Kelly beat Dave Plumb (3-0) 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 1-1
3 Russell Penn lost to Barry Bishop (1-3) 6-11, 11-5, 4-11, 5-11 1-2
4 Mervyn Kelly and David Wackrill lost to Barry Bishop and Iain Lindsay (1-3) 11-6, 6-11, 10-12, 6-11 1-3
5 Mervyn Kelly lost to Iain Lindsay (0-3) 9-11, 7-11, 6-11 1-4
6 David Wackrill beat Barry Bishop (3-0) 11-9, 11-5, 13-11 2-4
7 Russell Penn beat Dave Plumb (3-0) 14-12, 11-4, 14-12 3-4
8 Mervyn Kelly lost to Barry Bishop (0-3) 5-11, 6-11, 7-11 3-5
9 Russell Penn beat Iain Lindsay (3-1) 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6 4-5
10 David Wackrill beat Dave Plumb (3-1) 11-2, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5 5-5
Team Legs won Legs average (%) Points won Points average (%)
Milton Keynes Topspin 19 52.78 335 51.94
Greenleys Eagles 17 47.22 310 48.06
Team Player Games played Games won Legs played Legs won Legs average (%) Points played Points won Points average (%)
Milton Keynes Topspin David Wackrill 3 2 12 8 66.67 221 122 55.20
Milton Keynes Topspin Mervyn Kelly 3 1 9 3 33.33 152 73 48.03
Milton Keynes Topspin Russell Penn 3 2 11 7 63.64 199 107 53.77
Greenleys Eagles Iain Lindsay 3 2 12 7 58.33 216 108 50.00
Greenleys Eagles Dave Plumb 3 0 10 1 10.00 181 66 36.46
Greenleys Eagles Barry Bishop 3 2 10 6 60.00 175 96 54.86
Match date Monday, 12 November 2018 at 19:30
Competition League
Division Division One
Venue Milton Keynes Table Tennis Centre
Season 2018-2019
Legs played 36
Points played 645
Published 29/03/2024 00:05 by David Wackrill; edited 1 times, last on 29/03/2024 00:05 by David Wackrill.
RUSSELL TO THE RESCUE AS HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

My Topspin team kept our unbeaten record for the season after a gutsy display tonight. As an ecstatic Mervyn Kelly succinctly put it “We snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat”, coming back from 3-5 down when all seemed lost.
 
The crucial 9th set was played out between Russell Penn and Iain Lindsay. Earlier in the match Iain had looked invincible when beating me in 5 games first up and then Mervyn in straight games whereas Russell was in a bad shape, losing tamely to Barry Bishop and struggling against Dave Plumb, when forced to rescue game points in separate legs. Then I recalled Russell’s startling ability to pull the proverbial ‘rabbit out of the hat’ as history shows that he can turn his form round in a flash. I remembered that he turned over Dan Sawkiewicz and Michael Wilkins on different ocassions but in identical circumstances to the challenge he faced from Iain. And right from the start of the set he was all over Iain, hitting classy winners from all parts of the table to win comfortably with just a small blip at the end of the 3rd game when he allowed Iain to sneak home. Fantastic. No one in this division plays like Russell when he's in full flow.
 
I went on to seal the draw with a win over Dave in the final set. However once again this match showed how important the doubles can be as our loss here (Mervyn/me v Iain/Barry in an excellent set) cost us the team’s 100% winning record. So it was 2 wins each for Russell and me for Topspin and 2 wins each for Iain and Barry for Eagles. Good match and well played all.