Sparken Hill Dominate Mike Tunningley Shield

The Mike Tunningley Shield reached the quarter final stage this week with three teams from Sparken Hill successfully making it through to the semi finals. Division Three leaders Sparken Hill Blue Jays were up against Division Two side DTH Redlands Rookies and despite the divisional difference they won four out of the nine singles matches! Connor Bettley and Ivan Stallworthy both defeated Bob Atkinson and Derek Piper with Dave Rix also contributing vital points to the Blue Jays total and actually took a game off of Dilip Malkan which neither of his team mates managed to do. The Blue Jays managed to score 292 points on the table to their opponents 336 and when the sealed envelope was opened at the end of the match it revealed that they Blue Jays had been awarded 99 handicap points to add to their total which meant they ran out the winners by 391 points to 336.
The second Sparken Hill side to safely negotiate the quarter finals were The Hawks who managed to squeeze past DTH Redlands Tarr Babies. In a closely fought contest all three of the Hawks earned valuable points against the Tarr Babies with Justin Flear being the player in form beating all three Tarr Babies on aggregate. Flear was well supported by Brian Hall and Lee Banton with Hall enjoying a good win over Roman Rosser. All three of the Tarr Babies played well and there were good wins for both Keith Bloomfield and Adam Pinches over Lee Banton. After the nine singles matches were complete the Tarr Babies had managed to gain a small lead of 24 points but when a handicap of 72 points had been added to the Hawks total it was the Hawks that went through to the semi finals by 38 points to 332.
Worksop Welfare Cypriots 'A' were a little unfortunate in their quarter final against last year's winners Sparken Hill Falcons as they were playing with an injured player. Kay Wilson still turned out for the Cypriots side despite not being fully fit and after managing to beat Mick Potter on aggregate 35-31 and losing to Neil Penny 42-36 on aggregate she had to forfeit her final game against Jordan Potter so lost it 42-0. Despite the setback her team mates kept on fighting and they always had a chance of victory as they had Division Three's best player in Farhad Saiepour in their side. Saiepour defeated Mick Potter 21-17 21-4, Jordan Potter 21-2 21-10 and Penny 21-7 21-10 and with Andrew Hughes also chipping in with vital points they managed to amass 296 points to the Falcons 272 but it never looked like being enough and so it proved to be when the handicap envelope was opened and the Falcons were awarded 108 handicap points and meant the Falcons won by a scoreline of 380-296.
Although no league matches were scheduled to be played this week it gave sides the chance to catch up on their previously postponed league games. Two such sides were DTH Redlands Roosters and Manton Misfits who played their Division One match held over from the week before. The Roosters took no time at all in handing out a 10-0 drubbing to the struggling Misfits, a drubbing that saw the Roosters jump back to the top of the division. For the Roosters Tom McIntosh, Steve Fox and Clive Mitchell all registered hat tricks against the Misfits trio of Steve Lyon, Matt Fowkes and on Firth who was playing up from Division Two. The Misfits misery was complete when McIntosh and Fox beat Fowkes and Firth in straight sets in the doubles.
In Division Three and the night before they were knocked out of the Mike Tunningley Shield, Worksop Welfare Cypriots 'A' played a rearranged league match against DTH Redlands Red Devils who in their first ever season in the league had shown signs of improvement but they were no match for a Cypriots 'A' side pushing for the Division Three title. For the Cypriots Andrew Hughes, Farhad Saiepour and Kay Wilson all beat Harry Clarke, Jacob Hodkinson and Phil Daly in straight sets with Hughes and Saiepour adding the doubles to complete a 10-0 whitewash. The win sends the Cypriots back to the top of the table but they have played a game more than the team in second place.