Chasing Pack All Win To Keep Pressure On Monsters

All three teams in Division Two that are trying to hang on to the coat tails of leaders DTH Redlands Monsters all won this week to keep the pressure on the champions elect.
Worksop Miners Welfare 'B' who are currently in second place and 6 points behind the leaders had a fairly comfortable 8-2 win over Manton Tigers with both Erlands Skels and Pete Hodgson winning all their three games with Hodgson maintaining his 100% record in the process. Welfare's Jim Westwood added two further wins over Dave Bowns and Phil Hall but couldn't get past Chris Mokes who beat him in straight sets with Mokes also teaming up with Bowns to take the doubles set.
Another side having a good season in Division Two are third placed DTH Redlands X-Youth who could well up end having a say in the promotion places and this week enjoyed a comprehensive 10-0 victory over bottom side Stanley Street Cypriots. All three X-Youth players returned hat tricks with Jeff Reay's and Clive Eden's comfortably coming in straight sets whilst Mark Bloomer's was a little trickier beating both Mitchell Radford and Neil Fisher in the deciding set before dispatching Graham Stent 3-0. Reay and Eden then beat Stent and Fisher in the doubles to complete the whitewash to keep X-Youth in 3rd place in the table.
DTH Redlands Joggers moved up to fourth place in the division with a win over Manton Sports but had to come from 3-2 down to do so. Kyle McIntosh had got the Joggers off to a great start beating Richard Robinson but the Sports hit back with Keith Smith beating Lewis Comley and James Weston defeating Matthew Mudd. McIntosh then beat Smith to square the match at 2-2 before Robinson beat Mudd to put Sports ahead again. At this stage Manton Sports can be forgiven for thinking that they were well on their way to only their second league win of the season but the Joggers hit back with Comley beating both Weston and Robinson and Mudd also beating Robinson and when McIntosh beat Keith Smith to complete his hat trick the comeback was complete. Sandwiched in between their singles wins McIntosh and Mudd also won a terrific doubles encounter against Smith and Weston coming from 2-0 down to win it to cement a 7-3 victory.
Whilst the chasing pack were doing their level best to catch them DTH Redlands Monsters were playing away at Stanley Street 'B' which on paper looked like a potentially tricky fixture but the Monsters made it look easier than it was with a crushing 10-0 win over the Street outfit. All three Riauba brothers in Orestas, Martynas and Valentinas beat all three of their opponents in Andy Kirkland, Paul Linfield and Glyn Williams with Orestas and Martynas beating Kirkland and Williams in the doubles to complete the whitewash and it's difficult to see anyone else but the Monsters claiming the Division Two title.
The battle for promotion to Division Two continued this week when the only two teams that can now realistically join odds on title favourites DTH Redlands Rookies in the top two places met in what turned out to be a fabulous match. Ryton Park Cougars who came down from Division Two last season were probably expected to go straight back up but haven't quite managed to put together the promotion challenge that they had hoped for. The Cougars were at home to second placed On-Line Elks who have been enjoying a terrific season themselves and a close match between the two was anticipated. As was the closeness between the teams no player on either side managed to remain unbeaten in a match that ebbed one way and then the other. Both Ivan Stallworthy and Dave Rix won two games each for the Cougars with Stallworthy losing to Jonno Blood and Rix losing to Neil Houghton but Blood and Houghton matched their opponents also winning two games each. The Cougars Connor Bettley defeated Glen Gillgrass to ensure that he wasn't the only player to go home without a singles win with Houghton teaming up with Blood to claim the doubles set against Stallworthy and Harvey Renshaw which all meant that the spoils were shared in an entertaining 5-5 draw. The draw still keeps the Elks in second place, one point in front of the Cougars but with a game in hand over their rivals.
Division One Results: Ryton Park Eagles 1 DTH Redlands Roosters 9, Ryton Park Adders 3 Stanley Street 'A' 7, Manton Misfits 1 Worksop Miners Welfare 'A' 9