Division 2 Roundup - Week 21 (Final week)

Published 02/04/2023 at 18:59:48 by Martin Johnson.

Division 2 Roundup  -  Week 21  -  Title Decided in the Last Week

This was the last week of League matches in Division 2, with the Divisional title up for grabs between leaders, Chackmore Hasbeens, and second placed Greenleys Princes, with Hasbeens taking a three point advantage into the final matches.  Newport Lagondas still had a mathematical chance of the title, but would need two incredibly unlikely results!

Princes, in second spot, visited fourth placed Mursley Hawks, knowing they’d have to improve on whatever Hasbeens achieved in their match with Lagondas, by three points or more, to take the title, whilst they knew that a draw or better guaranteed a promotion spot.  They started well, going 2-0 up as Tom Davey beat Martin Johnson in three games, and then Gary Viner twice battled back from a game down, to beat Ian Spanswick, in five.  With Saravana Kumar on next against David Bartlett, they would have hoped to go up 3-0, but David had other ideas, and after four really close legs, shared 2-2, David got a flying start in the decider, and never looked back, to take his best win of the season.  Princes were soon back in control, though, as Tom and Saravana won the doubles against David and Ian, whilst Tom won in straight games again, versus Ian, putting Princes 4-1 up, and within a point of ensuring that promotion spot.  Saravana found a second Hawk playing well against him, as again he went to a decider, versus Martin, and again it was the Hawk who grabbed the fifth leg, to narrow the match score to 4-2.  That fifth point seemed elusive, as David picked up a second win, defeating Gary in five, but, Saravana’s final trip to the table finally yielded a win, three straight against Ian, to ensure at least a draw, and also ensure Saravana would finish second in the Player Averages for the season.  Tom completed a fine maximum, winning three straight for a third time, against David, whilst Martin pulled another back for Hawks in the final set against Gary, to make the final score 6-4 to Princes.

The leaders, Hasbeens, were at third placed Lagondas, knowing that two points ensured promotion, but hoping to take the title with a good result.  However, it was Lagondas who started the better, as Tony Ardis beat Andy Whitehead, and although Bub Burman levelled the scores by beating Sue Lewis in three tight games, Chris Horn put Lagondas back ahead with a four game win over Sam Willet.  Tony and Sue made it six doubles wins out of six, this season, in beating Bub and Andy – only their fourth defeat in twenty outings, to put Lagondas 3-1 up.  Hasbeens powered back, though, as Andy beat Sue in four, then Sam just beat Tony (13-11 in the fifth), then Bub comfortably beat Chris, and Sam battled past Sue in four tight games, to put Hasbeens 5-3 ahead.  Chris narrowed the margin with a straight games win over Andy, but Bub took yet another treble, although he was pushed to five games by Tony, to complete a 6-4 win for Hasbeens.  Although they could not be sure of it at the time, this was enough to take the title by three points, since they won by exactly the same score as Princes.  Bub finished the season top of the Player Averages, whilst Andy was the only player in the division to be ever present.

The battle at the other end of the table was just as close as that at the top.  Going into the final week, Open University Shockwave stood fifth, three points ahead of Leighton Buzzard Spitfires, with the two teams playing each other, whilst seventh placed Little Horwood Wooden Tops were another three points back, and playing bottom team, Milton Keynes Blades.

Shockwave entertained Spitfires, with Shockwave knowing at least four points would ensure safety, whilst for Spitfires, a 7-3 win or better would be enough for them to definitely be safe.  Whatever the result, there was also some chance that one or both would still finish above Wooden Tops, but, a big win for Wooden Tops against Blades was also a distinct possibility.  Things started well for the visiting Spitfires, as they flew into a 4-0 lead, although it was the full five games in every case, with all sets finishing at either 11-7 or 11-9 in the fifth!  Graham Silversides edged past Charity Wong, Barry Hammond pipped Charles Tien, Andy King squeezed past Yifan Liu and then Barry and Graham sneaked past Charles and Charity.  In set 5, finally the fortune turned Shockwave’s way, as Charles won 11-9 in the decider against Graham, meaning all of the first five sets had gone to the wire!  However, Spitfires continued to forge ahead, taking the next two sets in straight games, as Andy beat Charity and Barry beat Yifan, to put Spitfires 6-1 up, and on the brink of safety.  Charles hit back with a straight games win over Andy, but Spitfires grabbed the seventh win they needed, as Graham took it in four games against Yifan.  At the end, Shockwave improved their chances, as Charity beat Barry, to make the final score 7-3 to Spitfires, meaning that Wooden Tops would have to win 10-0 to edge past both teams, and drop Shockwave into the second relegation spot.

The last match result of the League season was for Blades versus Wooden Tops, with Wooden Tops knowing they needed a big win to stand any chance of moving up from seventh spot.  Their chances appeared improved, as for the tenth time, Blades were a player short, with just their regular pair of Bill Tyler and Mark Thomas, whilst the Wooden Tops trio was John Sharp, Paul Reynolds and Bill Higgins.  Effectively 3-0 up, already, Wooden Tops quickly made it 6-0, as John beat Bill T, Bill H beat Mark and then Paul and John won the doubles.  At this point it started to go wrong for Wooden Tops, as Mark pulled back from 2-1 down to edge past John at 14-12 in the decider, whilst Bill T came from 2-0 down to win in five against Paul.  Paul did pick up another win against Mark, but Bill T again produced a comeback win, from 2-1 down to Bill H, to win it in five!  Wooden Tops will rue the three losses in deciding games, meaning they only won 7-3, which was not enough to save them, and they’ll join Blades as the two teams to drop down to Division 3, next season.
 
This coming week sees the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup, with two remaining division 2 teams, Hasbeens, who will play Mursley Merlins from division 7, and Hawks, who will take on Great Brickhill Team GB from division 6, with semi-finals the week after for those that make it through, then the Cup final in two weeks’ time, in the same week as the Division 2 “Top 8” event on 17th April.

Player of the Week : Tom Davey.
Player of the Season : Bub Burman.