Division 2 Roundup - Week 12

Published 03/12/2022 at 19:55:53 by Martin Johnson; edited 1 times, last on 03/12/2022 at 21:35:47 by Martin Johnson.

Spitfires hold Leaders Lagondas to Draw

Another round of close matches was the order of the day in Week 12 of the season in Division 2, with one 5-5 draw, two 6-4 wins and one 7-3 win.

Top of the table Newport Pagnell Lagondas were held to a 5-5 draw at seventh placed Leighton Buzzard Spitfires, despite one of the Spitfires players having to concede two of his sets.  Andy King was the main thorn in Lagondas' side, as he won all his three singles, although he and Graham Silversides were just beaten in a close doubles, as Chris Horn and Michael Howard took that at 11-8 in the decider.  Earlier, Chris had beaten Graham in four games, whilst Mateusz Bowarnik had despatched Glen Davison in short order, to leave the match balanced at 2-2 after the doubles.  Graham and Andy then each won in close four gamers, to put the home team 4-2 and Spitfires were looking good to maybe grab a shock win.  However, Mateusz was unable to complete his remaining two singles games, and despite Andy going on to complete his treble, Michael saved the day for Lagondas with a tight 11-9 in the fifth win over Graham, to seal the draw.  After the latest week of matches, Lagondas remain top, but their lead has been cut to just two points, and they've played a match more than chasing Greenleys Princes, with the two teams due to play next week.  Spitfires remain seventh, but have narrowed the gap to sixth to just two points.

Second placed Greenleys Princes took on fourth placed Chackmore Hasbeens, with the top three in the Division Averages on show.  Early honours went to Hasbeens, as Andy Whitehead defeated William Egbuna in five games, after initially going 2-0 down, and Bub Burman beat Tom Davey in four, to keep Tom below him in the Averages, and although Saravana Kumar beat Chris Whitehead, the trusty Hasbeens doubles pairing of Bub / Andy comfortably notched up their tenth consecutive win, against Saravana / Tom, to put Hasbeens 3-1 ahead.  Princes charged back, though, winning the next five singles, with Tom beating both Chris & Andy, William also defeating Chris, and Saravana winning his two remaining singles, including the set of the night, which went the full distance, before Saravana just prevailed 11-9 in the fifth against Bub, and thus keeping his hold on top position in the Averages, just above Bub, and extending his unbeaten run to 11 sets, the longest run of wins so far this season.  Normal service was resumed as Bub bounced back by taking the final set against William, to leave Princes 6-4 winners, after a close match.  Princes have now closed to within just two points of the leaders, and still have a match in hand, whilst Hasbeens remain fourth, but are still well in the hunt for promotion spots, as they too have a match in hand on two of the teams above them.

Mursley Hawks, in third, picked up the biggest win of the week, finishing 7-3 winners on their visit to equal fifth placed Little Horwood Wooden Tops.  Mick O'Mahony was the star of the show, completing a maximum, although he was pushed the full distance by Andy Hooper, just taking it 14-12 in the decider, having completed a comeback after Andy had gone two legs up, early on.  Fellow Hawks' players Martin Johnson and Ian Spanswick won two singles and one singles, respectively, and Mick / Martin also teamed up to win the doubles against Andy / John Sharp.  John collected two of the Wooden Tops wins, with the final point for the home team coming in another comeback, as Paul Reynolds found himself 2-0 down to the hard hitting Ian, but battled back to just take the decider at 11-9.

Further down the table, equal fifth placed Open University Shockwave entertained eighth placed Milton Keynes Blades, with the home team being Charles Tien, Charity Wong and Ganiyu Adebanjo, whilst Blades managed the rarity of a full team, made up of Mark Thomas, Kareem Omar and reserve, Malcolm Whetstone from Division 3, making his second substitution of the season.  It was Malcolm who emerged with the individual honours, winning all his singles for the second time in this Division, although he and Mark lost out in the doubles to Charles and Charity, who thus ended a run of five doubles losses in a row.  Ganiyu collected his first win, in only his second match in the Division, just ousting Kareem at 12-10 in the decider in the opening singles, whilst team mates Charity and Charles each picked up a pair of wins, to see Shockwave through to a narrow 6-4 victory that moves them up to fifth and keeps them five points clear of the relegation zone.

Next week will see the top two face off against each other, as Lagondas play Princes.  Elsewhere, Hawks play Spitfires, Hasbeens visit Blades and Shockwave take on Wooden Tops.

Player of the Week : Mick O'Mahony.