Eagles And Nomads Look Odds On For Promotion

Ryton Park Eagles and Manton Nomads look like firm favourites to grab the two promotion places to Division One this season after both teams had convincing 9-1 away wins this week to open up an 8 point gap to the chasing pack.
The Eagles had a comfortable night of it at DTH Redlands Rookies with hat tricks for both John Hallgarth and Keith Swift whilst Alex Olliffe chipped in with two wins losing out to Derek Piper who will be pleased with his win over Olliffe who currently sits in 5th place in the leading averages in Division Two. Olliffe and Hallgarth then teamed up to take the doubles against Brown and Cowburn to  crown their night.
Manton Nomads who are currently head Division Two by 6 points were away at Stanley Street 'B' who were without their best player and team captain Nigel Stent which proved to make the Nomads task a little easier. Both Steve Elkin and Rob Vaughan registered hat tricks although Elkin was taken very close by Ralph Rodda who just lost out in a 5 set thriller. Richard Robinson added two wins for the Nomads before losing out to the ever improving Glyn Payne whilst Street 'B's other player Adam Hamilton went home empty handed on this occasion. The Nomads win was sealed with the doubles as Elkin and Vaughan beat Hamilton and Rodda 3-1.
The other Manton team in Division Two Manton Sports also enjoyed a 9-1 win this week as they further cemented their mid table position against Ryton Park Cougars. Both Alan Wilson and Keith Smith remained unbeaten for Sports but unfortunately John Lowde could not repeat their feat as retuned two wins losing out Dave Rix. Rix's team mates Ivan Stallworthy and Dave Lee battled hard all night but just couldn't turn their endeavour into wins and even lost out in the doubles to Lowde and Smith to cap a miserable night for the Cougars.
Division One side Ryton Park Adders seem to be doing just enough to stay clear of the bottom two  relegation trap door and they did their chances of avoiding the drop with a very hard fought win over Stanley Street 'A'. Despite an impressive hat trick from Alex Millward Street 'A' couldn't do enough to snatch a point off of their relegation rivals but with 5 matches going to the deciding set it could have been a very different story. For the Adders there were two wins each for Andy Lee, Brian Allen and Gary Sides over Dave Hodgkin and Peter Eyre respectively with Lee and Allen taking the doubles over Millward and Hodgkin to record a very welcome 7-3 victory.
The Division Three league table has a familiar look about it with DTH Redlands Tarr Babies sat on top of it but with three teams close on their tails it remains to be seen as to how long they will stay there. The Tarr Babies had a terrific battle with On-Line Elks this week managing to just scrape a 6-4 win with five of the matches going the full distance, three of which involved the Tarr Babies Josh Nelson and despite the tension he managed to record an impressive hat trick of wins over Jonno Blood, Glenn Gillgrass and Jerry Collins. Nelson's team mates both managed to beat Collins and when the Elk's Gillgrass and Blood both beat Greg Suchalski and Adam Pinches it left the match delicately poised at 5-4 to the Tarr Babies before the doubles match when in came the Tarr Babies captain Jack Tarr to partner Josh Nelson in a fabulous doubles encounter against Gillgrass and Blood. the doubles swayed one way then the other before Nelson and Tarr won the deciding set 11-6 to take the match and with it all three points.
Other Division Three Results: Stanley Street 'E' 6 Ryton Park Falcons 4, Stanley Street Cypriots 4 Stanley Street 'D' 6
The Quarter Final draw for the Mike Tunningley Shield has now been made with the following matches to be played week commencing the 9th of February. DTH Redlands Joggers v DTH Redlands Roosters, DTH Redlands Tarr Babies v Stanley Street Cypriots, Ryton Park Falcons v Ryton Park Adders and On-Line Elks v Stanley Street 'A'.