Division 2 Roundup - Week 20

Published 26/03/2023 at 12:49:22 by Martin Johnson; edited 3 times, last on 01/04/2023 at 23:36:29 by Martin Johnson.

Division 2 Roundup  -  Week 20  -  Princes and Hasbeens Vie for the Title

This was the penultimate week of League matches in Division 2, with Mursley Hawks and Milton Keynes Blades having used the Cup week to catch up their postponed match - Hawks wrapping up an 8-2 win, to cement their fourth position.

In the headline match, joint leaders, Greenleys Princes, took on third placed Newport Pagnell Lagondas, who were just one point behind them.  Glen Davison put Lagondas into the lead in the opening set, winning three close legs against Tom Davey, but Princes hit back with Saravana Kumar beating Chris Horn, then Gary Viner beating Tony Ardis, both in four games. It was soon all square again at 2-2, though, as Glen and Chris got the better of Tom and Saravana in the doubles, again in a relatively comfortable four games. However, the balance then tipped, as Princes reeled off four wins in a row, with Saravana winning his remaining two singles, Tom beating Tony, and Gary defeating Chris in a topsy-turvy five gamer. With Princes 6-2 up, Glen grabbed a second singles win against Gary, but Tom sealed the 7-3 win for Princes by comfortably winning the final set against Chris. The result means Princes now have a five point gap ahead of Lagondas, and although they play fourth placed Hawks in their final match, it is probably enough to ensure one of the two promotion spots, whilst Lagondas, with a tough final match against top of the table Hasbeens, have left themselves a lot to do to catch one or both of the top two.  However, with Hasbeens opening up a three point lead at the top, Princes will need a good week, next week, if they are to snatch the title.

The other joint leaders, Chackmore Hasbeens, had the easier match on paper, taking on bottom team, Milton Keynes Blades, and so it proved, with Hasbeens recording an emphatic 10-0 victory, to take them three points clear at the top of the table.  Their task was made a little easier as Blades had only two players, for the ninth time this season, fielding their regular pairing of Bill Tyler and Mark Thomas, with the Hasbeens trio being Bub Burman, Andy Whitehead and Sam Willet.  The result rarely looked in doubt, as Hasbeens were not pushed beyond a fourth leg in any set, although Bill Tyler went close to a decider against both Andy and Sam, whilst Mark took one leg against both Andy & Bub.  The doubles was a 16th win out of 19 for Bub and Andy, in straight games against Bill and Mark, whilst Bub extended his singles winning run to eight.  The win moves Hasbeens top, after a run of eight wins and a draw in their last nine matches, and now with a three point margin at the top.  It might be enough to be able to seal the title, next week, but they still have to play third placed Lagondas, although Princes in second, also have a tough match, against fourth placed Hawks.

In the battle at the other end of the table, seventh placed Little Horwood Wooden Tops took on joint fifth placed Open University Shockwave, and made a bright start as Andy Hooper beat Yifan Liu and Paul Reynolds defeated Charity Wong. Shockwave drew level, however, with Charles Tien beating John Cripps, and then Charles and Charity combining to hand Andy and Paul their first doubles defeat of the season. Paul put Wooden Tops back ahead against Yifan, but although John subsequently managed a first win of the season in a tight five games against Yifan, it was Charles and Charity who won the remainder of the sets, to give Shockwave a 6-4 win, their third win in a row. The result has moved Shockwave up to fifth place, six points ahead of seventh, and seemingly safe. For Wooden Tops, though, it was a seventh loss in a row, and with the two teams above them playing each other next week, leaves them needing a big win in their final match against Blades, to avoid joining Blades in going down.

The final match of the week saw Leighton Buzzard Spitfires, in joint fifth from last week, take on fourth placed Mursley Hawks, with Spitfires hoping to grab some points to ease their relegation worries, whilst Hawks still had an extremely slim chance of moving up a position with a big finish.  Martin Johnson quickly went into a 2-0 lead against Graham Silversides, but the Spitfires man hit back well, and hung on at 11-9 in the decider for a fine comeback win.  However, Hawks took control, winning the next four, as Mick O'Mahony defeated Andy King in four close games, Ian Spanswick did likewise against Lee Draper, and Martin produced his own comeback from 2-1 down to Andy, to seal a final leg win, whilst Mick and Ian produced a fine doubles performance to win in straight games against Graham and Andy.  Graham dropped the first leg against Ian, but comfortably took the next three, to narrow the gap to 4-2, but with Mick winning a close four gamer against Lee, and then Ian snatching a nail-biting 13-11 in the fifth win over the luckless Andy, it became 6-2 to Hawks.  Lee Draper found himself slightly unlucky to be 2-0 down to Martin, after two deuce losses, but inflicted a second defeat from 2-0 up on Martin, coming back well with good serving and third ball attacks. Mick finished off the match with another four legs win over Graham, to give Hawks a 7-3 win on the night, and extended his winning run in singles to an impressive 20 consecutive victories.

In the final week of League fixtures, next week, the top four play each other, as Hasbeens (1st) take on Lagondas (3rd), whilst Hawks (4th) take on Princes (2nd), with both matches on Monday night.  Hasbeens would be assured of the title with a win 8-2 or better, but otherwise, Princes would have to beat the Hasbeens score by three points or more, to overtake them.  The bottom four sees Shockwave (5th) face Spitfires (6th) and Wooden Tops (7th) play Blades (8th), with Shockwave needing at least four points to guarantee being out of the bottom two, whilst a 7-3 or better win for Spitfires would ensure their safety.  For Wooden Tops, they could actually ensure safety with a 10-0 win, but, if they fall short of that, a big win might be enough, and they'll likely be rooting for Shockwave to win, to give them a chance to overtake Spitfires.  It's still all to play for!

Last week saw the last 16 round in the Challenge Cup, and the two remaining division 2 teams both won though, with Hasbeens beating division 4’s Mursley Strikers, whilst Hawks beat another division 4 team, Chackmore Wannabes. The quarter final draw pits Hasbeens against division 7’s Mursley Merlins, whilst Hawks take on Great Brickhill Team GB from division 5.

Player of the Week : Charles Tien.