DIVISION 2 ROUND-UP : WEEK 12
Published 08/12/2019 at 16:34:22 by Martin Johnson.
Division 2 Round-Up – Week 12 (Week 11 in D2)Tornadoes have closed the gap to Hit ‘n’ Hope at the top of Division 2 to a single point, whilst the top two are now seven points clear of the third placed Classics. At the other end of the table, Blades have fallen further behind, but Cavaliers have closed to within a point of Shambles in the battle to move out of the relegation zone. In mid table, Hawks biggest win of the season sees them regain equal fourth spot with Lagondas.
Milton Keynes Hit ‘n’ Hope extended their unbeaten run to nine matches by edging past third placed Milton Keynes Classics, in a close fought 6-4 win. Classics had moved into an early 3-1 lead, before being pegged back, but moved 4-3 up with the final round of singles sets to go, and an upset looked possible, but Hit ‘n’ Hope finish strongly to take the win. In the opening round of singles sets, Ivor Howard, just back from being away for a couple of weeks, had his run of 15 wins on the trot ended by Masoud Nassor, to add to Dylan Cox beating Marco Hahn over 5 games, the fourth consecutive set that Marco had ‘gone the distance’. Masoud / Dylan also combined to take the doubles in four games against Paul Tompkins / Marco, and Masoud also won against Marco in set 7, to put Classics ahead at that point, but it was Paul who took the individual plaudits as he won all his three singles, to add to two for Ivor and one for Marco. Nick Markham completed the Classics lineup.
Milton Keynes Tornadoes closed to within a point of the leaders, winning 7-3 against Woburn Sands Mosquitoes. Yet again, Nicolas Wong won all his singles, taking his winning run up to 10, and he was backed up by a pair of wins each by Matthew Curley and Samuel Davies, although Nicolas / Samuel lost out in the doubles to Paul Hamer / Glenn Barcham. Samuel almost managed three wins, but lost out in a nail biting five gamer with Glenn, losing out 10-12 in the decider. Paul had earlier got the better of Matthew in four games, for his one win, as both he and Glenn won one singles each, whilst Mosquitoes’ third player, David Shapter, playing up from division 4, could not quite manage a win, although he took Samuel to 11-8 in the decider.
Mursley Hawks picked up their biggest win of the season, 9-1 against Milton Keynes Blades, to move them back to equal fourth spot with Lagondas. Martin Johnson and David Bartlett (playing up from Division 3) won all their singles, with Frank Beck only losing out to Mark Thomas over five games, plus Frank / Martin taking the doubles against Brian Evans / Tony Coomber. Mark had also gone close against Martin, finally losing in in a very tight five gamer, despite blasting the opening leg 11-1. Many of the games were close, it was Hawks who had the luck, and won nearly all of them, with David in especially fine form with his fast blocking and counter-hitting.
Newport Pagnell Lagondas remain in fourth spot, now jointly with Hawks, following their good 8-2 win against Milton Keynes Shambles. Simon Read and Glen Davison each won their three singles for Lagondas, with Chris Horn just losing out at 11-13 in the decider to Paddy Patel, and the other one to ‘get away’ was the doubles, as Paddy / Simon Green defeated Glen / Simon Read in four games. For Shambles, there were no further gains after the doubles, at which point the teams were level at 2-2, as Lagondas eased through all the remaining sets, despite several close games, as none of Paddy, Simon Green or Steve Jordan were able to extend Lagondas past a fourth game. The result leaves Shambles a precarious single point ahead of Cavaliers, as they battle to avoid the relegation zone.
St. Christopher Spitfires moved up to seventh spot with a 7-3 win over Milton Keynes Cavaliers. Andy King lead the way with a maximum, including the doubles with Graham Silversides, in an epic five gamer against John Bradley / Chris Welch, finally squeaking through 15-13 in the decider. Graham also picked up two singles and Jock Campbell one win, to complete the Spitfires’ scoring. For Cavaliers, Chris won one singles, whilst high flying division 3 reserve, Derek Rodrigues, won twice, in the first absence of the season for Chris Paddon. John Bradley went closest to another set for Cavaliers, just losing out 11-9 in the fifth against Jock, and although the team lost, the three points moves Cavaliers within a single point of 8th placed Shambles.
Players of the Week : Paul Tompkins and David Bartlett.