Three Nights That Determined The Destiny Of Division Two Honours

In the closest finish to a league title in years Stanley Street 'B' have claimed the Division Two title by the virtue of having won one set more than their rivals DTH Redlands Joggers. Andy Kirkland and Dennis Learad the respective captains have both guided their teams well throughout the season long campaign but the destiny of the title came down to the final match of the season for both teams.
Stanley Street 'B' were the first to play their final match of the season on the Tuesday night against Global Marble 'B' who Street had beaten 6-4 and then drawn with earlier in the season and on paper looked like tricky opponents but any thoughts that Global had of halting Street's push for the title were soon dispelled as the Street trio of Jack Kirkland, Matt Williams and Paul Linfield soon set about their task. Kirkland was the man in form as he beat all three Marble players and he was well supported by Matt Williams and Paul Linfield who both won two games each, both losing to Rob Vaughan with Vaughan's team mates Steve Elkin and Richard Robinson not managing to trouble the scorers on this occasion. Vaughan and Elkin then teamed up to take the doubles against Kirkland and Williams but it was too little too late for Global as Street 'B' ran out 7-3 winners.
The result meant that DTH Redlands Joggers had to beat Manton Tigers the following night to get level on points with Street 'B' and then make sure they won 10-0 to win the title outright on sets won or 9-1 to tie.
Lea Dickinson got The Joggers off to a great start and her good form continued throughout the night by registering yet another hat trick and she was well backed up by both Matthew Mudd and Dennis Learad who won two games each. The Tigers Paul Allison put a halt to The Joggers quest by beating both Mudd and Learad to win the only two sets on the night for the Tigers but it was the two sets that meant The Joggers couldn't quite catch Stanley Street 'B' and despite Dickinson and Mudd winning the doubles rubber to register an 8-2 win it meant that Stanley Street 'B' were celebrating winning the Division Two title by the virtue of winning just one more set than The Joggers over the course of the season!
The night after and by an ironic twist of fate both Stanley Street 'B' and DTH Redlands Joggers met in the final of the handicap cup competition for Division Two sides The Reg Wilcox Trophy. By virtue of the handicapping system Street started the match with an 11 point lead on the night which in real terms was less than one point per game and in the first match of the night Street's lead was wiped away as Division Two's best player this year Lea Dickinson beat Jack Kirkland by a total of 16 points to put the Joggers in the lead and it was a lead that they didn't relinquish for the rest of the night. Street did have some success on the night with Matthew Williams and Paul Linfield both beating Matthew Mudd and there were also narrow wins for both Williams and Kirkland over Lewis Comley but the real damage was done in the doubles games when Dickinson & Comley beat Linfield and Williams by 22 points and Dickinson & Mudd beat Linfield & Kirkland by 21 points to give the Joggers an unassailable lead. The Joggers win was cemented by Dickinson in her singles match against Linfield were she played some excellent table tennis to beat him by 20 points which all went some way to get over the disappointment of losing out on the Division Two title.
Other Division Two Result: Manton Sports 3 DTH Redlands X-Youth 7
The race for the Division One Runners Up spot continued this week as Global Marble 'A' went back into 2nd place in the table after a 7-3 win over Ryton Park Adders. A fine hat trick for Steve Lyon set them on their way and he was backed up by a double from Kalpesh Bhatt with Terry Curran being awarded one singles win when Adder's Mike Nocivelli had to retire through injury. Andy Lee registered two wins for the Adders with Matthew Lemon adding a solo win over Curran. Lyon and Curran then teamed up to take the doubles against Lemon and Lee which now means that who claims the runners up spot will all come down to MBE's final game against the Adders next week.
Other Division One Result: DTH Redlands Roosters 7 Stanley Street 'A' 3