Defending Champions Safely Through First Round Of Carnation Cup

Both last year's winners Andy Lee and George Makrakis, safely navigated their way through to the next round of the Carnation Cup albeit with different partners this time around. This year Andy Lee was paired with Chris Clemson with Lee taking the lead by winning both his singles matches against Malcolm Manuel and Jonno Blood with Clemson losing both his singles matches which made the doubles the pivotal game of the match which Lee and Clemson won to cement a 3-2 win.
George Makrakis was paired with Paul Linfield and they were up against Jack Kirkland and Mark  Bloomer in what became the longest and closest match of the first round ties. Kirkland and Makrakis kicked things off with Makrakis starting 7-0 as per the handicap system but despite being 7-0 down Kirkland managed to win the first game 21-18 and then managed to nick an even closer second game 25-23 to take a 1-0 lead. His partner Bloomer then took full advantage of a 7-0 start on Linfield and although he lost the first game 21-15 he hit back impressively to take the next two games 21-12, 21-15 to put himself and Kirkland into what looked like a winning position but back came Linfield and  Makrakis to take the doubles by 2 games to 1 to leave them 2-1 behind with two singles left to play. In his final singles match Makrakis managed to defeat Bloomer in two tight straight sets to leave the match finely balanced at 2-2 and into the last game of the match to decide the winners. In a game that contained some fabulous attacking from Kirkland and stubborn defence from Linfield it was Kirkland who drew first blood winning the first set 21-17 but Linfield hit back to take the second set to take it into the decider in which Linfield showed all his tenacity and defensive guile to eventually win it 21-15 to ensure he and Makrakis progresses into the next round.
The highest ranked player in the competition Richard Element was paired with Mick Potter but despite Elements number one ranking he and Potter couldn't quite manage to defeat Tony Swain and Erlands Skels despite Element beating them both in the singles matches. Swain and Skels both managed to beat Potter and then teamed up to take the doubles set go through by the narrowest of margins by 3 sets to 2.
Another of the six first round matches to be won 3-2 was the match between Mark Fisher & Jim Westwood and Rick Harris & Justin Flear with Fisher and Westwood coming out on top. Flear took the first singes against Fisher but then Westwood beat Harris to level the match and then helped his partner Fisher to win the doubles and when Westwood then defeated Flear it game them an unassailable 3-1 lead with Harris having a consolation win over Fisher in the last game of the match.
Jeff Reay and Adam Hamilton had also enjoyed a good win to make it through to the next round and once again the scoreline was as close as it can possibly be as they outwitted Helmuth Osborne and Adam Pinches by 3 games to 2. Osborne managed to win both his singles against Reay and Hamilton but could do no more as Pinches lost his two singles games and then Reay and Hamilton were that bit too good in the doubles for them.
Another really close match was Matthew Williams & Mitchell Radford's 3-2 win over James Wormwell and Andy Kirkland who despite being ahead 1-0 and then 2-1 couldn't manage to get over the line. Kirkland had beaten Williams in the first singles and then he and Wormwell had won the doubles before Radford squared the match at 2-2 with a win over Kirkland which left Williams the job of securing the victory which he did by defeating Wormwell in straight sets.
There were two matches that were closer than their 4-1 scoreline suggested, the first of which saw  Peter Eyre and Chris Cutts beating Rob Vaughan and Neil Fisher with the only success for Vaughan and Fisher coming when Vaughan defeated Cutts in the singles.
In the second of the 4-1 matches Pete Hodgson & Ben Swain had the better of things in a tight match against Ivan Guilliatt & Derek Piper. Hodgson took a close first singles match 2-1 against Piper before Guilliatt hit back to level the match with a win over Swain. Swain and Hodgson then won the doubles and when Swain beat Piper in the next singles game the match was all over with Hodgson putting the icing on the cake with a win over Guilliatt.
Mike Tunningley Shield Results: Manton Tigers 251 DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys 126, Ryton Park Falcons 398 Stanley Street 'A' 378, Manton Misfits 378 Worksop Miners Welfare 'B' 354.
Division Two Result: Stanley Street 'B' 7 Manton Sports 3
Division Three Results: Stanley Street 'E' 0 On-Line Elks 10, Ryton Park Falcons 2 Ryton Park Cougars 8