Greenleys Kings 4-6 Milton Keynes Spinners

Team effort halts the march of Kings

The high flying Kings played host to the struggling Spinners on a frosty evening in MK.

This time it was Alan Cherry, Gary Jones, and Tim Cheek, who had time to recover from his new found fame at the Ally Pally, to entertain us mere mortals in the MK local league.

The hosts for the evening consisted of Nick Howard, Gary Deakin and Jordan Wood. It’s the last time we’ll ever see Miss Wood on our scorecards, as she’ll soon be Mrs Moss - Good luck Jordan!

Deakin and Cherry started proceedings, with the former taking a strong first set against the defensive spinner. Unfortunately for Kings, that’s where the success ended, as Cherry regrouped and took the next 3 with little fuss.

Howard then faced off against the mercurial Jones - Some days a world beater, the next….. not so much.

Tonight he was in fine form, rattling off endless winners from both wings. Despite that, Howard managed to take the first 2 sets, before Jones pegged him back in the 3rd. Howard just about held on in the 4th to level the evening at 1-1.

Jordan took on Tim next, who I’m sure would have been using a sandpaper bat if it didn’t break the rules. It mattered not, as he was in inspired form after watching his hero, Andrew Baggaley win at the weekend, Tim took little time is dismissing Jordan three straight.

Now, you’d think that with a score of 16-14 in the 5th, the doubles was a titanic encounter between the two teams. However, it was quite possibly the worst display of table tennis from either team in many years - The only positive was that it eventually ended - Cherry and Jones being slightly less bad than Howard and Deakin.

Captain vs captain stayed on for match 5, with Cherry and Howard level on the year at one a piece.

In a very rare lapse of concentration, Cherry squandered a 9-4 lead in the first to allow Howard to sneak it 12-10. The second set was almost a carbon copy, with Cherry easily racing into a 10-6 lead, before Howard pegged him back with some aggressive strokes, taking the score to 10-9. A fine rally ensured at set point, with Cherry turning into the wall he is so accustomed to being, and finally getting over the finish line to level the match.

Game 3 was one way traffic, as Howard’s relentless attacking technique was too much for the Spinners stalwart, and he took the set 11-3. Both players were pumped heading into the 4th, but it was Howard who continued with a fine attacking performance, not allowing Cherry to get into long rallies and finishing the ball hard and fast. Howard built up too much of a lead for Cherry to overcome, finally taking the match 11-7 in the 4th.

A rather topsy turvy match followed, with neither Cheek or Deakin seemingly want to get over the finish line.

Cheek took a 2-1 lead after 3 extremely close ends, before Deakin decided to get out of holiday mode by taking the 4th 11-0.

It was Cheek's to lose in the 5th after taking a commanding lead, but unfortunately for him, he did just that - Deakin finally getting over the line to win 11-9 in the 5th.

Jordan and Gary played out a quicker game next (thankfully, as it was already getting pretty late!) - The power of Jones was too much for the bride to be, as he secured a solid 3-1 win.

Another cagey affair followed for Cheek, this time against Howard. The Kings skipper stole an 11-9 opening set, before Cheek took a close second 14-12. Howard flipped the script by taking the 3rd 14-12 as well, in a game you felt was crucial to the outcome of the match.

Sure enough, the 4th was more straight forward, and Howard capped off his hat trick with an 11-8 score.

Cherry met Wood in a timber themed match. Jordan storming her way into a 6-1 lead, before the relentless defence of Cherry took over to claw back to a 14-12 win. Similar story in the second, with Wood playing arguably her best table tennis of the season to put Alan under all sorts of pressure. But it wasn’t enough for the Kings, as Alan hung on in to take the second 11-7, with the third following quickly.

Epic number 3 of the night was last up, Deakin getting full value for his money by going the distance with Jones.

A great match to watch, with Jones attacking at a level I haven’t seen before.

In the end, Jones was too much for a tired looking Deakin, as he finally spun his way to a 11-9 victory in the 5th - Great match.

With 5 games to play, the Kings are 12 points off the lead, and also 12 points off finishing one from bottom! It’s getting crowded mid table……

Final Score

Kings 4 - 6 Spinners

Fun Fact: Deakin was involved in 361 points on the night!