Division 2 Roundup - Week 15
Published 23/01/2023 at 12:31:17 by Martin Johnson.
Week 15 – Top Two Take Control?The third and final sequence of fixtures has got underway, with an ongoing 4-way battle at the top of Division 2, then a 3-way battle to avoid the second runners-up spot, with Milton Keynes Blades looking like they have too much to do, to avoid the drop.
Indeed, Milton Keynes Blades’ slim hopes of avoiding bottom spot and/or a relegation spot in the Division suffered another blow, as their visit to joint leaders, Newport Pagnell Lagondas, ended up in a 10-0 defeat! Despite the scoreline, this was actually quite a closely contested match, with 23 games finishing 11-9 or deuce, and with five of the ten sets going to a decider, including three won at 11-9 or deuce in the final leg, and all of the remaining five sets also ending at 11-9 or deuce in the last game played, but, unfortunately for Blades, they were on the wrong end of all ten sets. Bill Tyler went the closest, losing out 13-11 in the fifth to Chris Horn, whilst Mark Thomas twice went close in the fifth, losing out 12-10 to Glen Davison and 11-9 to Chris. Sue Lewis was the other Lagonda, and the only one not needing a deciding leg, only dropping one leg to Bill, whilst the third Blade, Kareem Omar, went close in all nine legs he played (six of his nine were 11-9 or deuce), but no wins. Glen and Chris combined in the doubles to beat Bill and Kareem; inevitably it went to Lagondas in five! The win keeps Lagondas joint top, but further clear of the teams in third/fourth, whilst Blades are now almost 30 points from safety, with just six matches remaining.
Fellow joint leaders, Greenleys Princes, also collected a big 10-0 win, against an Open University Shockwave team who were without their usual top two players. The Princes trio of William Egbuna, Saravana Kumar and Gary Viner took full advantage, with few troubles along the way, although Ganiyu Adebanjo pushed both Saravana and Gary close in four games, then in the last set of the night, Marcus Fung took William to the first deciding leg, but William took that, to complete the second whitewash of the week. Yifan Liu was the third Shockwave player, and whilst he had no success in his three singles, he teamed up with Ganiyu in the doubles, and they took the opening leg against William and Saravana, but Princes then took charge to win it 3-1. The win for Princes keeps them joint top with Lagondas, but the loss for Shockwave edges them back towards the relegation zone. Saravana’s three wins edged him back to the top of the individual Averages for the season.
The only clash amongst the top four teams saw Chackmore Hasbeens entertain Mursley Hawks. Hasbeens had held the advantage in the first two matches, with 6-4 and 7-3 wins, the only two defeats of the season (so far) for Hawks. Hasbeens had also caught up their outstanding match in the previous week, collecting an 8-2 win over Milton Keynes Blades, courtesy of maximums from both Bub Burman and Andy Whitehead, plus one win from Chris Whitehead, which had moved them two points ahead of Hawks, and into third spot. Against Hawks, Sam Willet joined Bub abd Andy, and played his three matches straight off, as he needed to leave early. He left with Hasbeens 2-1 ahead when he departed, only losing a close one to Martin Johnson. Bub & Andy teamed up in the doubles, as usual, against Martin & David Bartlett, with Hawks making a quick start, Hasbeens coming back to move ahead 2-1, but Hawks dug deep to snatch a last gasp win at 12-10 in the decider; for only Bub & Andy’s second doubles defeat in fourteen outings. Bub soon put Hasbeens back ahead, though, winning in three straight against an out of touch Ian Spanswick, though another close one pulled it level again at 3-3, as a see-saw battle between Andy and Martin went Martin’s way in the decider. Bub again put Hasbeens ahead, beating David over four games, and it became 5-3 to Hasbeens as Andy proved too good for Ian. Set nine saw the two unbeaten players, Bub and Martin, face each other, and the first two games were close, with each player taking one close leg. Game three was the turnaround, as Martin’s hitting was going really well, and although game four was closer, he found the winners he needed whenever it got close, to inflict a rare defeat on Bub, to end his run of twelve consecutive singles wins. Hasbeens were still 5-4 up, though, and when Andy moved 2-0 up against David, it looked like they’d complete the treble over Hawks, but, David battled away, and with a few misses from Andy, David squeaked home 12-10, 12-10 in legs four and five, to snatch the set, and for the night to finish all square at 5-5. Unfortunately, for both teams, the two leaders each won 10-0, so the gap to the top two teams has opened up a little, but, with six more League weeks to go, there is still plenty of time for that to change.
The final match of the week featured seventh placed Leighton Buzzard Spitfires at home to sixth placed Little Horwood Wooden Tops, with Spitfires hoping to get out of the relegation zone, but Wooden Tops aiming to keep themselves clear of it! John Sharp put the visitors ahead with a narrow win over Graham Silversides in a seesawing five gamer, but Spitfires hit back as Andy King dispatched Bill Higgins, new player Lee Draper (nominally playing up from Division 7 !!) beat Paul Reynolds, and Andy/Graham beat Bill/John in the doubles. John kept Wooden Tops in it, by just edging past Andy, again snatching a close fifth game (12-10) in a seesawing set against Andy, but again Spitfires pulled clear as both Graham and Lee won in the next two sets, to put the home team 5-2 up. John managed to complete his treble, inflicting a first defeat on Lee, but with Andy & Graham both winning their final sets, to join Lee on two wins each, it finished as a 7-3 win to Spitfires. Despite losing, Wooden Tops have just edged up to fifth, whilst Spitfires stay seventh, but have moved to within just three points of Shockwave in sixth, and given themselves a much better chance of avoiding relegation. Meanwhile, Shockwave, having looked relatively safe, have dropped near to the danger zone again.
Next week is another Cup week, so good luck all who are playing, and meanwhile, wishing all a Happy Chinese New Year (Year of the Rabbit). :)
Player of the Week : Martin Johnson (as nominated by Michael Howard !).