Division 2 roundup - week 9
Week 9 saw 5 matches played, including one match postponed from last week when the Greenleys venue was unavailable. These results saw some bunching in divisional positions, showing that any of the 8 teams can create a change in positions, whether for themselves or their opponents.
Little Horwood Wooden Tops enjoyed a good 7-3 win over bottom team OU Shockwave. James McCaffertyâs 3rd maximum continued his unbeaten run since joining the home team, supported by a pair of wins for Paul Reynolds and one for Bill Higgins, plus a 5 game doubles win alongside Paul to beat Charles Tien and Yi Cao. For Shockwave, Yifan Liu secured 2 good wins, against Paul and Bill, while Yiâs losing streak since the beginning of October extended to 15 sets. Charles beat Bill and gave James a scare before losing 12-14 to him in the final leg. This and other results leaves Shockwave 5 points adrift of 7th place.
Greenleys Princes also had a good 7- 3 win, over league leaders Newport Pagnell Lagondas, avenging a defeat in week 2. Both Saravana Kumar and John Stamp secured treble wins against Mike Howard, Glen Davison and Yongwan Tian, although Saravana needed a final game to beat Glen and John managed deuce wins in the 4th games against Mike and Yongwan. Saravana and John also teamed up for a 3-0 doubles win against Glen and Yongwan. The unlucky Prince was on-loan Andrea Crotti, who lost to all 3 of the Lagondas, while also playing for his own division 4 team on the neighbouring table. Despite the win, Princes stay in 7th place in the division, while Lagondas stay second.
The best win of the week was at Woburn Sands, where a strong 8-2 win for MK Powers over third-placed Woburn Sands Mosquitoes helped them to âpowerâ into a 6-point lead at the top of the division. Andy Pearsonâs strong form this season (now 19 wins from 21) produced a maximum over Glenn Barcham, Andy Jenkins and Rob McPheat, all without dropping a game. Peter Tillotson, losing only to Rob, and Kareem Omar, losing to Andy, each won 2 and Kareem joined Andy P in the doubles to beat Glenn and Andy J. The result gives Powers a cushion over Lagondas, ahead of their top of the table clash next week.
On Thursday, Greenleys Valiants played their match against Little Horwood Wooden Tops, postponed from last week. Ricky Jackson led the way with his 3rd consecutive treble, ably supported by brothers Daniel and James Carter who each won 2. For Wooden Tops, John Sharp beat Daniel and James while Bill Higgins and Paul Reynolds finished without a win. However, Paul and John secured the doubles, beating Ricky and James. 10 points for Wooden Tops from their matches this week moves them into 4th, just one point behind WS Mosquitoes.
In the final scheduled match of the week Valiants played their 2nd match in 24 hours, visiting Leighton Buzzard Van Hire. For the home team, Cristi Hulpan beat Ricky Jackson, the first person to do so in a month, and Slava Volokha but lost to Ian Grainger, playing up from division 3 leaders Greenleys Crusaders. Donnie MacDonald also beat Slava, but lost to both Ricky and Ian. Bernie Raffe added to the Van hire tally with wins against Slava and Ian, while Cristi and Donnie took the doubles against Ricky and Slava. The result leaves both teams on 43 points, with Valiants just ahead in 5th place by virtue of having won a match more.
Week 10 should see some more bunching up in the division, as MK Powers visit NP Lagondas; 3rd and 4th play when WS Mosquitoes entertain LH Wooden Tops; the Greenleys derby match between Valiants and Princes is on Thursday and on the same night OU Shockwave play LB Van Hire.