Division 2 Roundup - Week 19

Published 09/03/2023 at 23:56:21 by Martin Johnson; edited 1 times, last on 10/03/2023 at 11:22:58 by Martin Johnson.

Division 2 Roundup  -  Week 19  -  Chackmore Challenge Continues

The season has just two more weeks of League matches to go, and things could hardly be tighter at the top of Division 2, with a single point now separating the top three contenders, after a week of mixed fortunes.

Chackmore Hasbeens have been down in third spot for much of the season, but a sequence of six wins and one draw in their last seven matches has seen them close the gap on the two leaders, Greenleys Princes and Newport Pagnell Lagondas, to just four points.  This week was possibly a 'must win' for them, if they are to grab one of the two promotion spots, as they took on leaders, Greenleys Princes, whilst a win for Princes would see them with virtually one hand on one of those top two spots.  Princes drew first blood, as Tom Davey ended Sam Willet's run of eleven wins in a row in the opener.  Chackmore hit back, as Andy Whitehead had a comfortable win over Gary Viner, and then it was Bub Burman who prevailed in the battle of the top two in the Averages, defeating Saravana Kumar in four legs.  Princes levelled the scores again, though, as Saravana and Tom paired up to inflict only the third doubles defeat of the season on the trusty pairing of Bub and Andy, over three really tight games, to bring the score to 2-2.  Andy then beat Tom, to put the home team back ahead, then the set of the night followed, as Sam just ousted Saravana in an epic five gamer, to move Hasbeens further ahead.  Bub extended then the advantage to 5-2 with a straight games win against Gary.  Saravana finally got a singles win, as he beat Andy in four, but with Bub and Sam each winning their final sets, it meant a 7-3 win for Hasbeens, a result which puts them level at the top with Princes.

Newport Pagnell Lagondas started the night joint top with Princes before their match with Leighton Buzzard Spitfires, who were desperately needing points in the relegation battle.  Spitfires hit the ground fast, and had soon established a 5-0 lead, with Graham Silversides winning two singles, and Filip Simek and Andy King each winning one singles plus pairing up to take the doubles against Michael Howard and Tony Ardis.  Michael stopped the flow with a win over Filip, and Tony grabbed hard fought wins over Graham and Andy, but Filip clinched the win for the visitors by beating the Lagondas reserve, Jim Brogan, to make it 6-3 to Spitfires.  Michael just took a close encounter against Andy, to limit the Lagondas loss, their first fater four straight wins, to leave the final score 6-4 to Spitfires.  Lagondas have now dropped one point behind the new joint leaders, Princes and Hasbeens, and as their two remaining matches are against those two teams, it will be 'all to play for'.  The win for Spitfires pulls them up to equal fifth, with a four point gap to seventh, and gives them a realistic chance of avoiding the second relegation spot.

Fourth placed Mursley Hawks took on fifth placed Little Horwood Wooden Tops.  Many of the sets were very close, with three going the distance and four others ending close in four legs, but trebles for David Bartlett and Mick O'Mahoney (taking him to fourteen wins in a row, the division's best run this season), plus a pair of wins for Martin Johnson, saw Hawks run out 8-2 winners, with the Wooden Tops wins coming one from Paul Reynolds, plus the doubles from Paul and John Sharp, against Martin and Mick.  Hawks stay fourth, but Wooden Tops have been overtaken by Spitfires and by Shockwave, as both picked up wins, and as such, Wooden Tops are now four points adrift of those two teams, so currently in the second relegation position, with just two League weeks to go.

Seventh placed Open University Shockwave were back to full stregth, with the return of Charity Wong, as they took on bottom placed Milton Keynes Blades.  Blades were without regular, Mark Thomas, so it was just Bill Tyler and Kareem Omar to take on Charity, Charles Tien and Yifan Liu, so Blades started 3-0 down.  Bill provided the main challenge to Shockwave, and he grabbed a good win against Charles, lost a close five gamer against Charity, but also teamed up with Kareem in the doubles, to defeat Charles and Yifan, but those were the only successes for Blades, who lost out 8-2, with Charity and Yifan winning both their singles and Charles winning one, to make the final score 8-2 to Shockwave.  The win has moved Shockwave up to equal fifth, four points ahead of the second relegation spot.  The loss for Blades means they will finish bottom of the division.

Once again, focus returns to the Challenge Cup next week, with just two Division 2 teams having made it through to the last 16 - Chackmore Hasbeens and Mursley Hawks.  Hasbeens overcame a 150 point deficit against Greenleys Dukes from Divsion 4, to make it through by 9 points, whilst Hawks had a 90 point start over Premier side Milton Keynes Topspin, and ended up winning by 87 points.  Both teams have Division 4 opposition in the last 16, with Hasbeens taking on Mursley Strikers, and facing a 200 point handicap, whilst Hawks take on Chackmore Wannabes and a 140 point handicap.

The following week, back in the League, the vital battles appear to be joint leaders Princes taking on third placed Lagondas, who are just one point behind them, whilst at the other end of the table, Wooden Tops in seventh place take on joint fifth placed Shockwave, who are four points ahead of them.

Player of the Week : Bub Burman.