X-Youth Pull Away From Trouble

Division Two’s Carlton X-Youths recent good form continued this week registering a vital win over bottom side Worksop Welfare Harriers ‘B’. The win eases them away from the bottom two teams and puts them 4 points above the relegation zone having played the same number of games as all of the teams around them. Their win against Harriers ‘B’ came courtesy of a Simon Hooley hat trick as he enjoyed wins over Neil Fisher, Dave Lyus and Dennis Learad. Hooley was well supported by is team mates Mark Cooper and Simon Rafferty who both enjoyed wins over Fisher and Lyus but both lost out to Learad. Hooley capped a fine performance by joining forces with Rafferty to defeat Fisher and Lyus in the doubles.
Worksop Welfare Harriers ‘A’ were also in action this week as they hosted second placed Sparken Hill Eagles who are still trying to chase down the league leaders Clowne ‘C’. The Eagles Brian Allen was the man in form as he remained unbeaten in all three of his singles matches beating Tony Draycott, Dilip Malkan and Dean Marsh which helped his side to a 7-3 victory. Allen’s team mates also made vital contributions as John Hallgarth beat both Marsh and Draycott and Chris Tilstone defeated Marsh and Malkan, the latter being a very good scalp to take. Marsh and Draycott teamed up in the doubles to beat Tilstone and Hallgarth in a 5 set thriller.
League leaders Clowne’ C’ made it eleven league wins out of eleven with an 8-2 away win at Manton Sports. Clowne’s Ben Crapper, Rob Vaughan and Perry Bradford went into the match knowing that a win would keep them 5 points ahead of second placed Sparken Hill Eagles with a game in hand and they were soon into a 4-0 lead as Vaughan beat both John Lowde and Richard Robinson, Bradford defeated Keith Smith and when Crapper also beat Robinson they knew they were only a couple of more wins away from victory and taking all three points. The Sports side weren’t going to take it lying down and they hit back when Lowde defeated Perry 11-9 in the deciding game to pull a set back but it was only a temporary measure as Crapper then beat Smith and when he and Vaughan then defeated Lowde and Smith in the doubles they had an unassailable 6-1 lead. Robinson tool the next game against Bradford to pull another set back for Sports but that was the end of their scoring as Vaughan then defeated Smith and Crapper concluded proceedings when he beat Lowde in straight sets to cement the victory.
The two teams in Division Three who are fighting it out for the title in that division both had victories this week which kept them in first and second place respectively. Top of the table Sparken Hill Falcons enjoyed a convincing 9-1 win over bottom side Sparken Hill Pigeons whilst second placed Sparken Hill Hawks had a trickier time of it, just scaping a 6-4 win over Sparken Hill Robins for who Luke Hyde returned an impressive hat trick of singles wins. The two results still means that there are only 3 points between the top two teams and they have to meet in a few week’ time which will almost certainly be the title deciding match.
Elsewhere in Division Three Sparken Hill Nightingales had a great 8-2 win over Worksop Welfare Real Deal with hat tricks for both Charlie Shepherd and Harrison Holland with Isabella Saul adding a single win. Sparken Hill Blue Jays enjoyed a 7-3 victory over Worksop Welfare Harriers ‘C’ helped by an Ivan Stallworthy hat trick and two wins each for both Dave Lee and Dave Rix.
Due to a postponement there were only two games in Division One, one of which saw the runaway leaders maintain their 12 point lead at the top with an 8-2 win over Sparken Hill Starlings, a lead that is surely now going to see them be crowned Division One Champions. Hat tricks for both Chris Cattell and Richard Element set their win up with Mick Bell chipping in with a solo win.
Sparken Hill Woodpeckers moved up into second place in the table with a comfortable win away at Stanley Street. The Riauba brothers, Martynas and Orestas dis most of the damage as they won all of their singles games with Steve Fox adding two wins.