Elks In The Hunt For Promotion

The On-Line Elks have over the last few weeks eased their way into the fight for the promotion places in Division Three with some consistent performances which have seen them move up the table into second place. Their latest victory came against Ryton Park Falcons with both Jonno Blood and Neil Houghton registering solid hat tricks with Glen Gillgrass chipping in with a solo effort. For the Falcons both Jak Eden and Jordan Potter defeated Gillgrass to register the Falcons only wins on the night with Lee Banton going home empty handed on this occasion. Blood & Houghton then teamed up to beat Eden and Jordan to take the doubles set to round off an 8-2 victory.
In their next match the Elks were up against runaway leaders of the division DTH Redlands Rookies and this time they were themselves on the end of an 8-2 defeat. The match will probably be best remembered for The Rookies Derek Piper losing his 100% league record, suffering his first loss in 27 singles matches losing to the Elks Jonno Blood in 4 sets. However, Piper and his team mates rallied with Bob Atkinson winning all his three games and Chris Clemson and Piper both adding a further two wins each having both lost to Blood. Clemson and Atkinson then teamed up to beat Blood and Houghton in the doubles to seal an 8-2 win.
Stanley Street 'E' had a good win of their own this week managing to just beat DTH Redlands Tarr Babies by the narrowest of margins and it was a real team effort from the Street outfit with all three players contributing to their sides victory. Tai Chen and Jasper Turner both enjoyed two wins each with Harry Beer adding a solo win over Roman Rosser with Turner and Chen taking the all decisive doubles set to ensure a 6-4 victory.
Into Division Two now and Stanley Street Cypriots managed to grab a share of the spoils in their match with Manton Tigers who on their night can give any side in the division a run for their money. All three Cypriots Graham Stent, George Makrakis and Mitchell Radford all comfortably beat the Tiger's Phil Hall with Makrakis then going on to beat Dave Bownes and Mitchell Radford having a good win over Bill Bateman with the Tigers having to put together their strongest doubles pairing in Bownes and Bateman together to ensure they won the doubles and to secure a 5-5 draw.
Relegation haunted Manton Sports also managed to battle out a 5-5 draw this week with Stanley Street 'B' to gain a valuable point in their fight to avoid the drop into Division Three. Stanley Street 'B' who after looking like they would be knocking on the door for promotion earlier in the season have dropped off somewhat but were probably expected to come away with all three points. For Sports James Weston defeated both Paul Linfield and Andy Kirkland and when both Alan Wilson and Keith Smith also beat Andy Kirkland they were in with a sniff of a point but with Jack Kirkland winning all his three singles games it took a fabulous effort to win the doubles set by Smith and Weston against Jack Kirkland and Linfield to snatch a 5-5 draw.
Other Division Two Result: Worksop Miners Welfare 'B' 7 DTH Redlands Joggers 3
Division One Results: Ryton Park Eagles 0 DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys 10, Ryton Park Adders 5 Manton Nomads 5, Manton Misfits 3 DTH Redlands Roosters 7, Stanley Street 'A' 3 Worksop Miners Welfare 'A' 7