Milton Keynes Spinners 2-8 Greenleys Kings

Kings take control of league with dominant win over Spinners, as they end the match with 1 man standing.

The first meeting of the year for the 1st and 2nd (level on points with Monarchs) teams was full of excitement and controversy from the off.

Gareth Jones, Neil Massa and Alan Cherry hosted Nick Howard, Gary Deakin and Matt Haynes, who was back from exile for this spicy encounter.

Gareth was looking to play his matches as quickly as possible - With his first little one on the way imminently, I could very much relate to his predicament, as it was exactly 1 year ago today that my little one was due!

Nick and Alan continued their storied rivalry In match one. Howard having the lions share of victories over the past 7 or 8 matches (including Summer League), but the MK stalwart was on song tonight.

Leading 2-1, Cherry found himself 10-6 down, and looking at yet another 5 setter with Howard. But the persistent and relentless chopper clawed his way back for a fine 12-10 victory to hand Howard the loss.

Matt and Neil faced off next, and Neil stormed into a 1 set lead. Unfortunately for him, that’s where the fortune ended, and despite some gritty play, Haynes ran out a 3-1 victor.

Gary Deakin wasted little time taking out the soon to be Dad in quick 3-0 win.

The doubles was another 3-0 for Kings. Nick and Matt had little trouble in games 1 and 3, but fought their way back from a 7-1 deficit in the second, to win it 21-19!! Gareth and Alan made up the numbers for Spinners.

Nick handed Gareth his second 3-0 of the night in an entertaining match, before Matt made is a miserable night for the Spinners player with another 3-0.

I’m not sure Gareth will care too much, as there is far more exciting things on the horizon! Good luck!

So with Gareth home, Spinners were down to 2, and it was Gary vs Neil.

Sadly for Spinners, just like the Spice Girls sang many years ago, two, soon became 1 in bizarre fashion.

I’ll not go into details, but with Neil winning the 4th to take into 5, he then conceded the match to give Deakin the win.

Neil also conceded his remaining match against Howard as he left the venue immediately.

That left Alan to salvage something from the night, and he almost stole a game against Matt, but ultimately fell 3-0 to a Mr Haynes who is playing many levels above his already high level from last year!

The last match of the night was a slug fest between Deakin and Cherry.

Deakin stormed into big, big leads in each game - 6-1, 5-0, 6-1…… and they were just the games he ended up losing!

He did manage an 11-4 in the 3rd game, but it wasn’t enough to take the victory, as Alan proved his class for the 3-1 win.

So, a tough match for Spinners, and they would need some massive results in the second half of the year to get back in the title fight.

And with that, I’ll see you next Tuesday!

Final Score

Spinners 2 - 8 Kings