Falcons Retain Top Spot

Sparken Hill Falcons remain top of Division Three this week after a convincing 9-1 win over DTH Redlands Red Devils with both Mick Potter and Luke Barraclough being on top of their games with both players winning all their singles games against their opponents. Jordan Potter also contributed to his sides victory beating both Harry Clarke and Cliff Briggs before coming unstuck against Dave Lyus. The Potters then teamed up to beat Lyus and Briggs in the doubles.
The Falcons win kept them at the head of the Division by virtue of DTH Redlands Tarr Babies dropping their first points of the season as they lost to another team in with a shout of the league title in DTH Redlands Demolition Men. Bob Atkinson was the player in form for the Demolition Men as his patient play paid dividends in the end as he recorded an untroubled hat trick of wins, but it certainly wasn’t a one man show as his team mates both got in on the act winning two games each. Derek Piper defeated Adam Pinches and Keith Bloomfield before losing his 100% record to the ever-improving Roman Rosser. Perry Bradford managed to defeat Rosser along with Bloomfield but then lost out to Pinches with Pinches winning one of the games 19-17! Pinches and Rosser beat Atkinson and Bradford in the doubles but it was too little too late to stop the Tarr Babies slipping to their first league defeat of the season, a defeat that opens up the title race in Division Three with three sides now having a realistic chance of being crowned champions.
Elsewhere in the division two out of the bottom three sides met each other with Sparken Hill Hawks notching up their second league win of the season to go above their opponents Worksop Owls on set difference. Paul Wendon had a good night for the Hawks as he beat all three of the Owls players in straight sets. Jasper Turner, Harry Beer and Finlay Coburn had no answer to Wendon but that did fair a little better against Tom Wendon and Lee Banton with Turner beating Tom Wendon and Coburn managing to beat Banton. The Owls also added the doubles to their tally of games won when Turner and Beer beat Banton and Tom Wendon as they slipped to a 7-3 defeat.
The twists and turns in Division One continue to come thick and fast this week with DTH Redlands Roosters, who had clawed their way back into the Division One title race slipping up against their club colleagues DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys. The Roosters had a late withdrawal as Ernest Mpundu couldn’t play so Dave Gascoyne had to step in at the last minute which meant they weren’t fielding their strongest team. Tom McIntosh managed to win all his three games for the Roosters to give his side a chance of victory with Steve Fox adding a win over Farrell Anthony but that was all the Roosters could muster up with Steve Walker and Steve Johnson winning two each before Anthony added a win over Gascoyne. The doubles are always a pivotal game in the match and, so it proved to be as McIntosh and Fox surprisingly lost out to Anthony and Johnson in a tight game before the Toys duo finally won in 4 sets. The doubles adding to the 5 singles games that the Toys won gave them a narrow 6-4 victory which once again opens up the fight for the title.
Worksop Welfare leapfrogged all of their rivals to claim top spot for now as they enjoyed a very straight forward 10-0 win over two-man DTH Redlands X-Youth. Richard Element, Mark Stanfield and Mick Bell all beat Clive Eden and Jeff Reay although the X-Youth duo did battle hard with Eden taking Bell to 5 sets and Element to 4 sets with Reay also taking Stanfield to 4 but that was as close they could get to their opponents and when they also lost the doubles game it sealed the white wash for the Welfare side.
Sparken Hill Buzzards cemented their mid-table position this week with victory over Sparken Hill Starlings who yet again had to play a player up from Division Two due to selection issues. Chris Cattell had a good night for the Buzzards winning all his three games with wins over Andy Lee, Ivan Guilliatt and Brian Allen and he was well supported by Kartik Lakhani and Terry Emmerson who both enjoyed two wins each with Lakhani losing to Lee and Emmerson surprisingly losing to Allen. Lee and Guilliatt then had a right old ding dong with Cattell and Emmerson in the doubles going 1-0 and 2-1 down before coming back to win it 3-2 and make the match score 7-3 in the Buzzards favour.
Division Two Results: Stanley Street ‘B’ 6 Manton Sports 4, Sparken Hill Vultures 6 Worksop Welfare Harriers ‘A’ 4, Sparken Hill Eagles 8 DTH Redlands Rookies 2, Worksop Welfare Snipers 10 Sparken Hill Blue Jays 0