Falcons End Season Perched On Top Of Table

In a thrilling end to the season in Division Three Sparken Hill Falcons left it to the very last league game to finally seal the Division Three title with a win over DTH Redlands Red Devils. There was a bit of a bonus for the Falcons before the match started as the Red Devils could only field two players, so they were 3-0 before a ball had been hit. From then on in it was a real team effort for the Falcons with Neil Penny beating both Dave Lyus and Phil Daly with Luke Barraclough and Mick Potter also adding wins over Daly but losing out to Lyus. The doubles also went the way of the Falcons as Mick Potter teamed up with his son Jordan to beat Lyus and Daly in 4 sets to complete an 8-2 win and to cap a fine season for the Falcons.
The only other Division Three match to be played this week also featured a side that couldn’t field a full-strength team. DTH Redlands Demolition Men could only manage to play two players so as before, DTH Redlands Tarr Babies started the match 3-0 in front and in with a real chance of victory but it was not to be but they did manage a creditable draw as Adam Pinches had terrific wins over both of the Demolition Men in Perry Bradford and Derek Piper to secure a share of the spoils.
The other result in Division Three saw the match between Sparken Hill Hawks and Worksop Owls awarded to the Owls as the Hawks cancelled the match at 5.30pm on the day.
The curtain also came down on Divisions One and Two this week with the final placings in each division being decided. In Division One DTH Redlands Monsters secured the runners up spot after a 6-4 win away at Stanley Street ‘A’ which included a hat trick for Martynas Riauba, a double for his brother Valentinas but the third Riauba Orestas he unusually went away empty handed but he did have a hand in securing the doubles with Valentinas.
With the Monsters winning, DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys missed out on second place after they could only draw with title winners DTH Redlands Roosters in a close match. The Roosters Ernest Mpundu won his usual three with Tom McIntosh adding two wins to secure the point losing out to Peter Cowburn.
Despite an Andy Lee hat trick Sparken Hill Buzzards still managed to take all three points in the match with Sparken Hill Starlings. Chris Cattell and Steve Lyon both beat Brian Allen and Kurt Hutson with Terry Emmerson adding single a win over Allen. Emmerson and Lyon then took the doubles against Le and Hutson to complete a hard fought 6-4 win.
DTH Redlands X-Youth will be glad to see the back of this season as they lost their sixteenth league game out of sixteen to bring a close to their Division One campaign. But it must be said that they’ve fought hard all season and have had some good individual wins along the way. Although they lost 8-2 against Worksop Miners Welfare Keiran Tutter and Mark Bloomer did manage to beat Mick Bell but it was never going to be enough to avoid defeat.
Division Two champions Sparken Hill Vultures finished off their season with a comprehensive 10-0 win away at Worksop Welfare Harriers ‘A’ with hat tricks all round for Rob Vaughan, James Wormwell and Kyle McIntosh.
Runners Up Worksop Welfare Snipers also won 10-0 against Sparken Hill Blue Jays and again there were hat tricks all round. Pete Hodgson, Russ Webster and Ben Swain all remained unbeaten with Hodgson and Webster also adding the doubles.
DTH Redlands Rookies and Sparken Hill Eagles enjoyed a great game and both went home with a share of the spoils in a 5-5 draw. Dennis Learad was Man Of The Match as he remained unbeaten enjoying wins over Alex Olliffe, Brian Allen and Keith Swift. Dilip Malkan and Lewis Linacre also beat Swift to earn their side a draw.
Manton Sports finished off their season with a good 8-2 win over Stanley Street ‘B’ to cement third place in the table. Ian Henderson and Alan Wilson both returned a hat trick of wins over Andy Kirkland, Ralph Rodda and Chris Tilstone with John Lowde adding two wins against Kirkland and Tilstone. Despite the loss Stanley Street ‘B’ can take some comfort knowing that they could have finished higher than forth place if their best player Mark Sansom would have played more often against the top sides in the division.