Ospreys Claim Vital Win In Fight For Survival

The last time Sparken Hill Ospreys won a league game was way back in September in the first week of the season against DTH Redlands X-Youth. The win took them to the top of the Division One table but after seven straight defeats it’s been a slow slide down the table which has seen them stuck in the relegation places ever since. Their latest victory again came against DTH Redlands X-Youth in the reverse fixture and again it was by the same 8-2 score line. For the Ospreys both Kerry Harvey and Simon Chatterton were in fine form with both players winning all their three singles games against the X-Youth trio of Keiran Tutter, Jeff Reay and Mark Bloomer. The X-Youth did have some success in the singles matches with Tutter and Bloomer both beating Bill Ainsworth, but Reay couldn’t do the same losing in 5 sets to the Ospreys player. Harvey and Chatterton beat Tutter and Bloomer to complete the scoring and to give the Ospreys much needed 3 points.
At the opposite end of the division DTH Redlands Monsters continued to silence the doubters with another fabulous win in their quest to be crowned Division One champions. Their latest win came against 2^nd placed Worksop Miners Welfare and puts them 3 points ahead of their nearest rivals having played the same number of games. Despite yet another Richard Element hat-trick the Monsters just had too much for the Welfare side of Element, Mick Bell and Mark Stanfield. Both Orestas and Valentinas Riauba beat Bell and Stanfield with Martynas Riauba adding a single win over Bell which gave the Monsters 5 out of the 9 singles games and when Orestas and Valentinas won the doubles against Element and Bell it all added up to a 6-4 win.
Into Division Three now and Sparken Hill Falcons claimed a vital 3 points against one of their rivals for the Division Three title when they defeated Worksop Welfare Harriers ‘B’ 7-3 in a hard-fought match. For the Falcons Neil Penny was the main man as he claimed an impressive hat-trick although he didn’t have it all his own way. After beating Graham Stent in straight sets he then took 4 sets to beat Neil Fisher before being involved in a real dog fight with Dean Marsh who at one stage was 2-1 up before Penny fought back to win 11-6 in the deciding set. Penny may have been player of the match, but it certainly wasn’t a one man show as both Mick and Jordan Potter made vital contributions to their sides victory with Mick defeating Stent and Fisher and Jordan adding a win over Stent. The doubles match proved to be a turning point in the match, with the score locked at 3-3 going into the doubles it was the Falcons duo of Mick and Jordan Potter who triumphed to give their side a 4-3 lead, a lead that they didn’t give up going on to win the match 7-3. The win now puts the Falcons 5 points ahead of their rivals.
The results in Division Two this week all went to form as leaders Sparken Hill Vultures beat club colleagues The Blue Jays 9-1, Stanley Street ‘B’ beat (albeit narrowly) Manton Tigers 6-4, Manton Sports gave DTH Redlands Rookies a bit of a thumping winning 9-1 and the mid table clash between Sparken Hill Eagles and Worksop Welfare Harriers ‘A’ ended in a 5-5 draw.
A reminder that the deadline for the Annual Championships is this Saturday the 16^th of December and that no late entries will be accepted.