Chasing Pack Keep Pressure Up On Vultures

After the Christmas break the league soon got back into action with the next round of league games coming thick and fast after the New Year. Four teams are in with a realistic chance of winning the Division Two title and with Sparken Hill Vultures who currently lead the division having a blank week it gave the chasing pack a chance to close the gap on them. Stanley Street ‘B’ drew level on points with the Vultures without actually hitting a ball as their opponents DTH Redlands Rookies mysteriously failed to appear for the match so it was subsequently awarded to the Stanley Street side. On the table both Worksop Welfare Snipers and Manton Sports recorded wins to both move to within 2 points of the leaders, although Manton Sports have played a game more. The Snipers had a solid win away at Manton Tigers with Pete Hodgson being the star man for the Snipers as he remained unbeaten registering wins over Bill Bateman, Ron Firth and Steve Beeston. Erlands Skels added two wins beating Bateman and Beeston before losing in straight sets to Firth. Ben Swain chipped in with a sole win over Beeston with Hodgson and Skels completing the scoring for the Snipers by defeating Bateman and Beeston in the doubles to cap a fine 7-3 victory.
Manton Sports had a tricky looking match away at Worksop Welfare Harriers ‘A’ but with both James Weston and Richard Robinson both being right on the money they made a tough looking match look a lot easier than it actually was. Weston and Robinson beat all three Harriers in Farhad Saiepour, Mitchell Radford and Kay Wilson to take control of the match with Keith Smith managing a single win over Wilson to further enhance the Sports total of games won. Weston and Smith then made short work of Radford and Wilson in the doubles winning in straight sets to seal a fine 8-2 win.
At the other end of the table Sparken Hill Blue Jays continued their inevitable slide back into Division Three with their tenth straight league defeat of the season as they took a bit of a battering against Sparken Hill Eagles getting whitewashed 10-0. The Blue Jays to their credit kept plugging away all night but they could do nothing to prevent defeat with only 2 games all night not being won in straight sets. There were hat tricks all round for the Eagles trio of Alex Olliffe, Mark Fisher and Brian Allen over the Blue Jays side of Dave Rix, Dave Lee and Ivan Stallworthy with Allen and Fisher beating Lee and Stallworthy in the doubles to complete the scoring. The defeat means that the Blue Jays are still 10 points away from safety and could in fact be relegated before the month is out.
For the first time in years the winners of all three divisions could well go down to the wire as all divisions are close, none more so than Division One with three teams now fighting out for the right to be crowned Division One Champions. DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys who over recent weeks have got their title challenge back on track and confirmed it this week with an 8-2 win over a two-man Worksop Welfare side who realistically are now too far behind, coupled with the fact that their top player Richard Element is out with a broken ankle means their challenge is now over.
DTH Redlands Roosters and DTH Redlands Roosters both won this week with the Monsters winning 9-1 away at Sparken Hill Ospreys and The Roosters beating Stanley Street ‘A’ 10-0. The Monsters are now a point ahead of The Fluffy Toys having played the same number of games with the Roosters being 4 points behind, but they do have a game in hand.
Division Three is also very close and a 7-3 win for Sparken Hill Falcons over their club colleagues the Hawks kept maintained their 3-point lead over their nearest rivals DTH Redlands Tarr Babies who also won this week thumping Worksop Owls 10-0. DTH Redlands Demolition Men who currently sit in 3^rd place had a blank week this week but play the Falcons in a fortnights and the outcome will go a long way to deciding where the Division Three title ends up.
Special mention this week goes to The Real Deal who registered their first point of the season in a hard fought 5-5 draw with DTH Redlands Red Devils. Glen Gillgrass was the star of the show beating all three of the Red Devils players to register an impressive hat trick. Neither Dave Lyus, Cliff Briggs or Harry Clarke could stop Gillgrass despite all three of them going to 4 sets with him. Jerry Collins added a win over Clarke before Gillgrass and Tom Ogley teamed up to take the doubles against Lyus and Clarke to earn their side a share of the spoils.