Long Season Ahead For Adders And Eagles

Both Ryton Park Adders and Ryton Park Eagles look like they are already in a relegation battle despite the league season only being five weeks old with both teams currently filling the bottom two places in Division One. Both sides were in action again this week with both having away fixtures with the Eagles having what looked on paper the much trickier fixture being up against league leaders and my tip for the title DTH Redlands Roosters. The Roosters had little trouble in sweeping the Eagles aside in a comprehensive 10-0 win with only one of the nine singles games not being won in straight sets when the Eagles Alex Olliffe gave Rick Harris a scare as he led 2-1 before Harris hit back to win in the deciding 5th set. That game aside Harris, Tom McIntosh and Steve Fox all registered straight forward hat tricks before Harris and Fox beat Brian Allen and Keith Swift in the doubles to compound the Eagles misery and leave them firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.
The Eagles club colleagues the Adders were away at Stanley Street 'A' who are another team that are currently at the wrong end of the table and before their fixture with the Eagles hadn't managed to register a single point so far this season. The Adders got off to a flying start as Andy Lee beat Matt Williams and Ivan Guilliatt beat Peter Eyre to give the Adders a 2-0 lead but Street 'A' levelled the scores at 2-2 when Alex Millward defeated Harry Tomlinson and Eyre beat Lee. Tomlinson beat Williams to restore the Adders lead but the Street side won the next 4 games to give them an unassailable 6-3 lead and although Guilliatt took the last game of the night against Williams it couldn't stop Street 'A' winning their first match of the season to haul themselves off the bottom of the league.
DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys successfully continued their quest to retain their Division One title with a 7-3 win over Manton Nomads but didn't have it all their own way and at one stage the match score stood at 3-3 before the Toys eventually found top gear to pull away to secure victory. The star of the show for the Toys was Steve Johnson who claimed an impressive hat trick with Mick Brooks adding a double and Lea Dickinson chipped in with a solo win of her own. Johnson and Dickinson then teamed up to take the doubles to complete the scoring.
Manton's other Division One side The Misfits were involved in another close encounter as they managed to sneak a 6-4 away win at Worksop Welfare 'A' with an all round team effort. Malcolm Manuel and Kerry Harvey both had wins over Stuart Element and Dave Marsh with Steve Lyon also defeating Stuart Element with Manuel and Harvey coming together to take the doubles set. Ironically the player of the match was on the losing side as Welfare's Richard Element remained unbeaten on the night but it wasn't enough to stop his side slipping to their third defeat in succession.
The top match in Division Two this week was between DTH Redlands Monsters and Stanley Street 'B' who were both undefeated having won all of their opening fixtures so something had to give and give it did! The Monsters showed just how much they've improved by coming out on top with a 7-3 win with Orestas Riauba doing the most damage by beating all three Street players in Andy Kirkland, Jack Kirkland and Paul Linfield. Orestas was well supported by his brothers as both Valentinas and Martynas both won two games each, both losing to Paul Linfield. Orestas and Martynas then defeated Andy Kirkland and Paul Linfield in the doubles in 5 sets to complete their win and to pull 3 points clear at the top of the Division.
Other Division Two Results: DTH Redlands Joggers 7 Manton Sports 3, Manton Tigers 8 Worksop Welfare 'B' 2, Stanley Street Cypriots 3 DTH Redlands X-Youth 7.
DTH Redlands Rookies have finally caught up with their matches in Division Three and with two wins in six days they climbed to the top of the division. Their first was a 10-0 whitewashing of Ryton Park Falcons with hat tricks all round for Bob Atkinson, Derek Piper and Chris Clemson with Atkins and Chris Cutts taking the doubles. A few days later the same three players couldn't quite manage another whitewash but a 9-1 win over Stanley Street 'E' was near enough with Clemson and Piper again winning all their three games with the only blip coming when Tai Chen had a good win over Bob Atkinson.
Other Division Three Results: DTH Redlands Tarr Babies 5 Ryton Park Falcons 5, Ryton Park Cougars 8 DTH Redlands Tarr Babies 2