Division 2 Roundup - Week 18

Published 23/02/2024 at 21:51:15 by Martin Johnson.

Spitfires Close the Gap

With the League season starting to approach the finish line, with three further League weeks to go after this one, the battles at the top and bottom of Division 2 are hotting up, with three teams effectively still involved in each battle.

Pride of place, this week, goes to second-placed Leighton Buzzard Spitfires, who produced the week's biggest win, 9-1 at Home against sixth-placed Greenleys Valiants, to make it three wins in a row.  Peter Carr actually got Valiants off to a winning start, edging out Graham Silversides over four close games, but despite a couple of close sets, Spitfires powered through to take the remaining nine sets, with Graham winning his other two, to add to Andy King's treble and Barry Hammond's maximum (including the doubles with Graham against James Carter and Slava Volokha).  Spitfires have thereby closed the gap to the leaders to just six points, with three matches still to go, and are also now eight points clear of third place, so are looking increasingly good for one of the two promotion spots.  Slava twice pushed his opponents (Barry & Andy) to a fifth game, but could not turn either into a win, whilst James lost out at deuce in a fourth game and a third game, which could have extended those sets.  Despite the big loss, Valiants remain in equal sixth spot, but just two points cover the bottom three teams.

Leaders, Mursley Hawks, may have had their lead cut slightly, but remain six points ahead of Spitfires after they racked up their 12th win on the spin (!), this time 7-3 at Home against seventh-placed Greenleys Sultans of Spin.  Ian Spanswick got the ball rolling for Hawks, winning the opening set against reserve Orrin Edwards, who played his three sets at the beginning of the night, albeit without a win, before then heading on to Little Horwood to play his own team's match in Division 3 !  Ricky Jackson levelled the scores with a four-game win over David Bartlett, but Hawks were soon back in front, as Mick O'Mahony got another maximum underway with a win over Robert Anderson and then the doubles with David against Ricky and Robert, to preserve Hawks' 100% doubles record.  Robert produced a fine comeback from two games down to Ian, to take it in five, whilst Ricky also eased past Ian for the third Sultans of Spin point.  The three points in defeat has pulled Sultans of Spin up to equal sixth, and a couple of points clear of the bottom team.

Third-placed Woburn Sands Mosquitoes were taking on fourth-placed Newport Pagnell Lagondas, and ended up drawing 5-5, a result which leaves their chances of grabbing one of the two promotion spots somewhat reduced, as the gap to second place has grown back to eight points.  Early on it looked like Mosquitoes might be heading for a good win, as they moved 3-1 up after the doubles, as Rob McPheat won against Glen Davison and Andy Jenkins beat an out of sorts Chris Horn, and they also took the doubles as Rob and Andy defeated Glen and Mike Howard, whilst Mike had scored the early win for Lagondas with an 11-9 in the fifth win over Glenn Barcham, from 2-1 down.  However, Glen started the fightback by beating Andy, and Mike sneaked past Rob at 13-11 in the fifth, from 2-0 down, to even up the scores at 3-3.  Glen took a second singles win as he edged past Glenn in a rollercoaster set, taking the deciding game 11-9, and Mike completed a third five-game win, over Andy, but meanwhile Glenn and Rob had both beaten Chris, which completed the draw.  For Mike it was deja vu, in reverse (?), as two League matches ago, he had lost all three of his singles in deciding legs, whilst this time he reversed the pattern by winning all three in fifth games!

The final match of the week was a Milton Keynes Club derby, as fifth-placed Powers took on eighth-placed Pioneers.  The result went the way of the League positions, with Powers recording an 8-2 win, although Pioneers effectively started 3-0 down, as they were a player short.  The Pioneers pair of Andy Frearson and Terry Lau each managed a four game win over Peter Tillotson, but both lost out to both Keith Carrington and Andy Pearson, with Andy F going the closest to an extra singles win, as he lost in a fourth leg deuce to Andy P.  Andy F and Terry also went very close in the doubles against Andy P and Keith, but lost out at 12-10 in the deciding leg.  Powers remain in fifth spot, and whilst Pioneers remain in eighth, they are just two points behind the two joint-sixth placed teams.

Next week is a 'week off' for five of the Division 2 teams, as the first knockout round of the Handicap Challenge Cup takes place, with just three D2 teams having progressed.  Hawks take on D1's MK Pumas, with a 30 point start, Pioneers have to give D5's Greenleys Knights 150 points, whilst Powers have to overcome a 240 point deficit to D7's LB Globetrotters.

The following week is back to League action, and the top three teams take on the bottom three teams, whilst fourth plays fifth, so positions seem unlikely to change much before the final two weeks of the League.

Player of the Week : Mike Howard.