Division 2 Roundup - Weeks 11-12
Van Hire Motoring Along
The League season has now passed the halfway mark, in terms of League weeks, with 12 of the 21 League weeks now completed.
Greenleys Princes continue to reign at the top of the table, having picked up two more wins in the past couple of weeks, 6-4 against fifth-placed Mursley Hawks, then 7-3 versus third-placed Woburn Sands Mosquitoes. Formerly second-placed Little Horwood Wooden Tops crashed to a 9-1 defeat at the hands of the in-form Leighton Buzzard Van Hire in their only match of this period, whilst formerly third-placed Mosquitoes lost out in their only match in this period, 7-3 to Princes, as mentioned above. Van Hire also collected a win 8-2 against struggling Milton Keynes Cavaliers, to make it seven matches unbeaten, and five wins in a row, as they have surged up to second place, albeit still some 15 points behind the leaders, although they do have a match in hand. This leaves Mosquitoes and Wooden Tops down in equal third place. Hawks remain in fifth, as although they lost out 6-4 to Princes, they reversed that scoreline to beat sixth-placed Open University Shockwave 6-4, to extend the gap below themselves to six points. In turn, sixth-placed Shockwave scored a 6-4 win over seventh-placed Cavaliers, who are still seeking their first win of the season, and now trail Shockwave by seven points.
As things stand, Princes are well placed at the top of the table, although Van Hire are starting to edge closer, whilst only five points separate third to fifth in a close mid-table. The final two teams are Shockwave, and then Cavaliers, each with a bit of a gap to the team above them.
Next week Princes have their blank week, so it's a chance for the chasers to try to close the gap at the top. The fixtures see second-placed Van Hire defend their 100% home record against fifth-placed Hawks, equal third-placed Wooden Tops entertain seventh-placed Cavaliers, whilst the other equal third-placed team, Mosquitoes visit sixth-placed Shockwave.
Team of the Period : Leighton Buzzard Van Hire (again)
Player of the Period : Edward Lock (playing up for Van Hire from Division 3, and winning six singles out of six!)