Rovers Miss Chance To Close Gap On Leaders

DTH Redlands Rovers slipped to a narrow defeat this week and missed out on the chance to close the gap on the Division Three league leaders DTH Redlands Rookies. The Rookies had a blank week and it gave the chasing pack the chance to apply some pressure by closing on the leaders, just to let them know they haven’t won the title yet. The Rovers side knew that a win away at Sparken Hill Blue  Jays would have put them just 2 points behind the Rookies but they couldn’t quite get over the line. The Blue Jays Kathy McIntyre and Dave Rix recorded two wins each with McIntyre beating Keith Bloomfield and Adam Pinches whilst Rix managed to overcome Bloomfield and Roman Rosser. John McIntyre added a single win over Bloomfield and when Dave Lee and Kathy McIntyre defeated Rosser and Bloomfield in the doubles it was enough for the Blue Jays to register a 6-4 win.
Whilst the Rovers were slipping, Sparken Hill Hawks were enjoying an 8-2 win over DTH Redlands Mean Machine, a result that saw the Hawks leapfrog the Rovers into 2nd place and put them 2 points behind the leaders having played a game more. Both Paul Wendon and Lewis Linacre returned comfortable looking hat tricks with Tom Wendon adding a win over Grace Dickenson. The Wendon’s then teamed up to beat Joseph Wootton and Dickenson to add the doubles to their team’s tally.
The remaining game due to be played in Division Three between DTH Redlands Tarr Babies and Worksop Welfare Real Deal was postponed.
In Division One DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys beat Clowne ‘A’ 8-2 to close the gap to the league leaders DTH Redlands Monsters to just one point but the Toys have played a game more. Both the Fluffy Toys Sarah Short and Peter Cowburn played well to register hat tricks whist Jeff Reay added a single win with Cowburn and Short also winning the doubles.
Stanley Street ‘A’ moved up into a very respectable 4th place with an 8-2 win over Worksop Welfare Snipers ‘A’. Hat tricks for both Peter Eyre and Terry Emmerson paved the way for their win whilst Andy Kirkland playing up from Division Two added a good win over Russ Webster. Eyre and Emmerson then teamed up to take the doubles.
Bottom side Clowne ‘B’ are still searching for their first point of the season as they lost 7-3 to DTH Redlands Roosters despite the Roosters only having 2 players. Rick Harris and Steve Fox won all their three games and the doubles to complete the 7-3 victory but as they only had 2 players rule 7f was applied and they ended up with a 5-5 draw.
The league leaders in Division Two also had no game this week, Worksop Welfare Snipers ‘B’ had played their scheduled fixture a number of weeks ago due to impending holidays so again it gave the chasing pack a chance to close the large points gap to the leaders. Manton Sports defeated Sparken Hill Falcons away with Keith Smith taking the Player Of The Match beating all three Falcons along the way. Richard Robinson added two wins whilst veteran of the Worksop League John Lowde added a single win. Lowde then teamed up with Smith to complete the 7-3 victory.
Stanley Street ‘B’ have found some form and now sit in 3rd place just two points behind Manton Sports after a convincing 9-1 win over Worksop Welfare Harriers. Ralph Rodda made a rare appearance for Stanley Street and duly enjoyed wins over both Graham Stent who was making a welcome return after an operation and Neil Fisher but lost out to Dennis Learad. Dave Hodgkin and Mark Sansom managed to defeat all three Harriers and then teamed up to take the doubles to complete the win.Perhaps the surprise of the week came in the match between Carlton X-Youth and Sparken Hill Eagles with the Eagles surprisingly whitewashing the X-Youth side 10-0 although the match was closer than the score line suggests. There were hat-tricks all round for Brian Allen, Keith Swift and Thomas Moore with Allen and Moore adding the doubles