Surprise Exit For McIntosh And Banton In Carnation Cup

Tom McIntosh and Luke Banton fell at the first hurdle in this year's Carnation Cup pairs competition.  McIntosh who won last year's final was the highest ranked player to enter the competition and therefore ranked number one player was paired with the lowest ranked player in Luke Banton and as a pair they were expected to go far in this year's tournament. McIntosh unsurprisingly won both of his singles matches against the opposition pairing of Paul Linfield and Josh Nelson and when both Linfield and Nelson both  defeated Luke Banton it came down to the doubles set to decide the outcome of the match which was delicately poised at 2-2. Linfield and Nelson took the first game 21-16 and then went on to complete a terrific 3-2 victory by winning the next game 21-14 and go through to the next round.
If one Mcintosh going out of the Carnation Cup on one night wasn't enough, Tom's older brother Kyle then joined him in being dumped out of the competition as he and Martynas Riauba were on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline against Steve Elkin and Andy Kirkland. Kirkland was in good form as he beat both McIntosh and Riauba and then won the doubles rubber with Elkin to take an unassailable lead with the only joy for the McIntosh and Riauba pairing coming when Riauba defeated Elkin in straight sets but it wasn't enough to stop Elkin and Kirkland progressing.
Andy Lee and George Makrakis were up against two veteran players in Ian Henderson and Jack Tarr and were probably hoping that the wealth of experience that their opponents had wouldn't prove too big an obstacle to get past. Lee started well by defeating Tarr in straight sets before Henderson returned the compliment against Makrakis to level the match at 1-1. Lee and Makrakis then took the doubles and when Makrakis beat Tarr in the next singles game they had secured the win to take them through to the next round with Lee putting the icing on the cake in their 4-1 victory by beating Henderson 2-0.
Probably the closest match of the entire first round was the match between Jack Kirkland & Adam Hamilton and Orestas Riauba & Jeff Reay. With Kirkland ranked as his pairings 'A' player he had to give Reay a 7 point start which Reay used to good effect by taking the first game 21-15 before Kirkland took the game into a decider by winning the next 21-18. Reay managed to maintain his 7 point start all the way through the 3rd game and eventually won it 21-14 to send his pairing into a 1-0 lead. Adam Hamilton soon got himself and Kirkland back on level terms by beating Orestas Riauba in the next singles but then they soon found themselves behind again as they lost the doubles to Riauba & Reay after a very close doubles rubber. Adam Hamilton then levelled the match yet again after he beat Reay 2-1 lo leave the outcome of the match down to the last game of the night between Kirkland and Riauba which remarkably was decided by only a difference of 3 points between the two players as Riauba just managed to win 21-19, 21-20 to take them through.
Another very close game was also enjoyed in the match between Matthew Lemon & Connor Bettley and Lea Dickinson & Lee Banton which on paper always looked like being tight. Lemon and Bettley both managed to beat Lee Banton but with Lea Dickinson in great form at the moment she managed to comfortably beat both Lemon and Bettley to make the match all square at 2-2 and as so often is the case in this competition it all came down to the doubles to decide the outcome. Despite Dickinson being in good form herself and Lee Banton just couldn't quite do enough to win add the doubles to Dickinson's two singles wins as they went down to Lemon and Bettley 21-18, 21-19 and subsequently bowed out of the competition.
One match that wasn't close in the slightest was the match between Ivan Guilliatt & Luke Barraclough and Gary Sides & Justin Flear and before a ball was hit Guilliatt & Barraclough knew they had won as Flear's partner on the night didn't turn up and therefore they were 3-0 up before the start. Despite only having one player Flear went down fighting but couldn't win either of his two singles games and ended up losing 5-0.
Mike Tunningley Shield Results - Stanley Street 'A' 324 Manton Nomads 310, Ryton Park Cougars 346 Stanley Street Rascals 320
Division Three Result - DTH Redlands Tarr Babies 9 Stanley Street 'E' 1