Rookies Experience Tells As They Win The Handicap Shield

DTH Redlands Rookies lifted the league's flag ship cup competition The Handicap Shield with a narrow win over Ryton Park Falcons in what turned out to be a very entertaining and tense final but played with great sportsmanship between both teams. The Rookies Alan Keeling did the most damage for his team returning the maximum points possible whilst conceding the fewest points of any player on the night. Keeling was well supported by Captain Derek Piper and Bob Atkinson who both made significant contributions to give the Rookies a total of 352 points on the night. All three Falcons players can be proud of their efforts, not just in the final but in previous rounds as actually reaching the final is no mean feat. The Falcon's Nathan Langley managed to beat both Atkinson and Piper with his brother Regan and Jordan Potter also adding vital points to the Falcons total of 210 before the moment came to open the sealed envelope containing the handicap points. The Falcons had been awarded 138 points which when added to their points scored on the night gave a final result of Rookies 352 Falcons 348 - a win for the Rookies by just 4 points!
Another Final played on the same night was The Carnation Cup which is a handicapped pairs event with Tom McIntosh and Adam Hamilton up against Nigel Stent and Daniel Cutts. The first match saw McIntosh beat Cutts 2-0 despite having to give Cutts 7 points start in each game and when his partner Hamilton who also had 7 points start managed to overcome Stent 2-1 it put them into a 2-0 lead and firmly in the driving seat. Back came Stent and Cutts as Cutts managed to beat Hamilton 2-1 to leave Stent needing to beat McIntosh to keep them in match but McIntosh was in no mood to allow their lead to slip away and played some terrific table tennis to comfortably beat Stent to give them an unassailable 3-1 lead and despite Stent and Cutts taking the doubles it wasn't enough to stop Hamilton and McIntosh being crowned Carnation Cup champions.
Back to league matters now and two teams that are also looking to be crowned Champions are Division Two sides DTH Redlands Joggers and Stanley Street 'B' who before this week's games sat equal first at the top of the division. The Joggers were playing away at Global Marble 'B' and were expecting a tough night and a tough night they got! Desperate for a win to keep their title challenge on course the Joggers perhaps fielded their strongest side which proved a wise move as Marble pushed them all the way in an extremely close match. For the Joggers Lea Dickinson registered her now familiar hat trick beating all three Marble players in Rob Vaughan, Steve Elkin and Richard Robinson and when her team mates Lewis Comley and Dennis Learad also beat Robinson it gave the Joggers 5 sets and at least a point despite both Vaughan and Elkin both defeating Learad and Comley. This left the Joggers title aspirations delicately in the balance with the match score at 5-4 in the Joggers favour before the last game of the night which was the doubles. Comley and Dickinson teamed up against Elkin and Vaughan in what turned out to be a nervy encounter for the Joggers pair but they held their nerve to eventually win the doubles rubber 3-2 and take the match 6-4 to put them 3 points clear at the top.
The Joggers joy didn't last long as their rivals Stanley Street 'B' were also recording a win of their own against Ryton Park Eagles with Jack Kirkland being the stand out player on the night for Street 'B' returning a fine hat trick against Alex Olliffe, John Hallgarth and Keith Swift. He was well backed up by his team mates Paul Linfield and Kyle McIntosh who both won two games each, both losing out to Hallgarth before McIntosh and Kirkland teamed up to win a fine doubles encounter in 5 sets against Hallgarth and Swift to secure an 8-2 victory which lifted them above the Joggers to top the table by virtue of having a better sets average than the Joggers and with one game each left it's going to be an incredible end to the season for Division Two.
Other Division Two Result: Manton Tigers 6 Manton Sports 4
Division One Results: Ryton Park Adders 2 DTH Redlands Roosters 8, MBE 7 Global Marble 3, Stanley Street 'A' 1 DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys 9
Division Three Result: Stanley Street 'C' 5 On-Line Elks 5