Division 2 Roundup - Week 5

Published 22/10/2023 at 17:13:58 by Martin Johnson.

Week 5 in Division 2

After last week, when there were big wins for the three top teams - helping them establish a bit of a lead - it was back to close matches in Week 5 in Division 2, with two 6-4 results and two 5-5 draws.  Nevertheless, the top three have maintained their unbeaten records, and maintained a gap over the chasers.  Positions have barely changed with such close results.

Leaders, Leighton Buzzards Spitfires are up to five points clear, after their 6-4 win over Milton Keynes Pioneers, in a match where no one player was able to win of all their sets.  Andy King, Graham Silversides and Filip Simek each won twice for the leaders, enough to secure the win, whilst Andy Frearson picked up two wins for Pioneers, with teammates Kareem Omar and John Simms adding the doubles against Any and Graham, and Omar collected the remaining win for Pioneers.

Second placed Mursley Hawks were held to a 5-5 draw by fourth placed Greenleys Valiants.  A third maximum here for Mursley's Mick O'Mahoney, including the first defeat of the season for Valiants' Lewis Copp, although Lewis had needed to go to 16-14 in the decider in his previous set against David Bartlett, to stay unbeaten at that stage, at which point he had won eleven in a row!  David did get a win on the board against Slava Volokha, who in turn won one versus Ian Spanswick, to add to the two wins on the night for Lewis.  Mursley maintained their 100% doubles record, as David and Mick teamed up to defeat Slava and James Carter, with James providing the remaining two wins for Valiants to complete the draw.

Woburn Sands Mosquitoes stay third, but were surprisingly held to a 5-5 draw by seventh placed Greenleys Sultans of Spin, a result which takes Sultans of Spin up to equal sixth.  The big surprise on the night was a win in the opening set by Ricky Jackson over James Molloy, in three tight games, to end an amazing run of 39 consecutive singles wins for James in this Division, 33 of them two seasons ago, then a further six wins this season.  Ricky went on to score a fine treble, including securing the draw in the final set at 11-9 against Rob McPheat.  Daniel Carter and Robert Anderson each claimed one win for Sultans of Spin, whilst James won his other two sets, assisted by a win each for Rob and Andy Jenkins, with Rob / Andy also teaming up to take the doubles against Daniel and Ricky.

The final match of the week saw fifth placed Newport Pagnell Lagondas take a 6-4 win over eighth placed Milton Keynes Powers.  A maximum for Michael Howard here, aided by a win apiece from Chris Horn and Glen Davison, plus the doubles win by Michael and Chris over Peter Tillotson and Paul Tompkins, who in turn won two each for Powers,  Keith Carrington was the third Powers player, and was within a whisker of a win against Glen, but lost out 14-12 in a decider.

The next two weeks could be interesting at the top, as leaders, Spitfires take on the second and third placed teams, Hawks and Mosquitoes in their next two matches, so it seems likely that some unbetaen records may go!

Player of the Week : Ricky Jackson.