courtesy of Nick Howard
 

Stalemate as Monarchs hold off Kings.
 

It was a night of musical chairs rather than table tennis as only 6 Greenleys players made up 3 teams on the night (including 1 division 1 team).

Ian Brown had been drafted in for this one for a week prior (to replace Jordan Wood), but upon hearing the news, Martin Hall dropped out on the morning of the game - Some say to protect his average, some say that his CHO was not what it used to be.

Not wishing to play with only 2 members, Monarchs drafted in Scott Dixon, who alongside Ian, already had a match that night at Greenelys.

The problem…….. It turned out that Ian and Scott also didn’t have a 3rd player, which ruffled the feathers of St. Christoper Van Hire, who were rightly miffed to have travelled to Greenleys for only 2 matches.

However, they simply wanted to play 3 matches, so Nick Howard of the Kings offered to play as the 3rd player, to round off their evening.

Back to the Premier match.

Nick and Iain Dummett started promptly, and despite some good attacking play from Iain, his inconsistency let him down across the 3 sets.

Ian Brown took on star man Tomak next, which was over rather quickly as Monarchs levelled things up.

Scott and Guy followed, and after a shaky start from Sparrow, he found enough to see off the division 1 pretender in 4.

Nick and Tomak played out the match of the night next.

These two have a fairly even head to head, and every game is close.

This one proved the closest of the lot, with Tomak taking a 2-1 lead, before Howard drew level.

Both men had match points in the 5th, before Tomak sealed the deal, in what you expected to be a very important match on the night (15-13 in the 5th).

The doubles was another close one, although not especially spectacular.

Sparrow and Howard were back to winning ways with a 3-2 win.

Scott and Ian played out their match next - One minute they were competing together in harmony, the next, locked in fierce battle fighting for bragging rights.

Sadly for Scott, it was one way traffic as the ex Kings skipper added his second premier win of the season with a 3-0 victory.

Tomak and Guy followed, but with the former in spectacular form, it was over in 4 very quick sets - Hat trick hero Tomak looked to have given the Monarchs a sniff here…..

Next up was match of the night part 2.

Battle of the Iains as Dummett took on Brown.

Dummet took the first comfortably, before sneaking the second 19-17, in what would be a crucial set!

Brown stormed back to take the next 2 and head into a deciding end.

Unfortunately for him (and the Kings), he couldn’t quite get past the attacking flair of Iain, as he went down valiantly in the 5th 11-7.

Nick and Scott played out an entertaining match afterwards - Expansive backhand fades, inside out forehands, and reverse backhand smashes………. were just some of the shots Scott was practicing in the warm up.

The match itself went the way of the form book - Howard taking a 3-1 win in an enjoyable game (Dixon did manage to get his reverse backhand smash in though!)

Over to Guy and Iain to wrap things up, and it just wasn’t happening for Sparrow.

Lack of timing when it mattered most cost him against a vastly improved Iain Dummett, who has come on leaps and bounds since our first meeting last year.

Final Score

Monarchs 5 - 5 Kings

Note: For anyone curious about Howard’s escapades against Fabrice, Biao and David…..

Howard vs Fabrice

Despite some cracking attacking strokes, Fabrice wasn’t consistent enough to take any ends, losing 3-0.

Howard vs David

The stars were in his eyes as David went into the 4th set 2-1 up. A mixture of fantastic backhand attacks and blocks had put him in this position, but unfortunately for David, he couldn’t quite keep it up through the 5th, as Howard turned it around 3-2.

Howard vs Biao

Entering his 7th match of the night against a fresh faced Biao, it already felt like hard work.

Now, people often comment on nets and edges (luck if you will), but I kid you not….. Howard must have averaged about 5 nets or edges per game - Maybe more.

Despite that, Biao took a 2-1 lead, before Howard fought back to 2-2.

The 5th end produced some of the best rallies, but it wasn’t enough for the division 1 superstar, as he finally succumbed 11-7 in the 5th.

With the talent on show, I have no idea how they are towards the bottom of Division 1!

3 really enjoyable games.