2:00pm Friday 10th February 2012
PTERODACTYL Old Boys lost to Manor Park Pumas by 34.5 points in the Paperstation Malvern League’s main handicap competition.
Graham Collier filled the void left by Wayne Chopping for Old Boys but could not quite recover the handicap despite good wins against Dave Hallam and John Hunt.
Ian Bell also enjoyed a 3-1 victory over Jon Dyke but ultimately Hallam’s four-set victory over Bell and Hunt’s achievement in sharing the four sets proved enough for Pumas to be victorious.
Dave White only lost two sets in the match to Hallam and Dyke but had to share the four sets with Collier against Hunt and Hallam in the doubles.
A 100 per cent winning record for Trevor Simmons and an 11-1 record for Mike Keeley was not quite enough to deliver success for Manor Park Cavaliers against CSSC Nomads.
Keeley’s solitary set loss was against Dave Hayes, who also shared four sets with Matt Hodges.
This success, coupled with narrow losses for Tony Hughes and Adrian Fray, was enough to deliver victory for the Division Two side by 27.5 points The absence of the experienced Ted Cates proved too much for Crackpots ‘B’ to overcome the youngsters from Malvern Tornados.
Tom James won 11 of the 12 sets he played for Tornados and was ably supported by Andy Banks and Chris Burrows.
In the secondary competition, Manor Park Devils defeated Poolbrook Rangers after Nick Haggar suffered an early knee injury against Paul Lythgoe and was unable to complete the match.
Lythgoe and Liz Hallam enjoyed a creditable four-set victory over Richard Cullis and Robert Weston.
Cullis only lost one set against Lythgoe of the 12 sets he played on the night.
Division One leaders Broadheath Belters proved too strong for lower-ranked opponents Dukes Way Dynamos.
But Charlie Burford took a creditable 11-9 set against Sasha Grokhotov, as did John Phillips 11-7.
Philips also took an 11-9 set against Brett Brining.
However, Malvern league champion Michael Siket’s form proved to be overpowering on the night, dropping only 42 points in the 16 sets he played, including the doubles with Grokhotov against Philips and Burford.
Meanwhile, Belters remain on course for the Division One title following another emphatic win, this time against Ledbury Lions 9-1.
Siket and Grokhotov both won their three singles, while Brining won twice. Siket and Brining took the doubles.
For Lions, the whitewash was saved by Chris Sabourin who beat Brining in four games, while Jim Ahern also took a game off him.
Steve Meredith was unlucky not to win a game as he went down 17-15 to Grokhotov and 18-16 against Brining.
Pterodactyl stayed in touch with the leaders following a hardfought 8-2 win over Crackpots ‘E’ where three sets went to five games.
White won his three singles, while Chopping and Collier both won twice. White and Chopping also took the doubles.
For Crackpots, Colin Dolding won twice, beating Collier 11-9 in the fifth and ending Chopping’s unbeaten run for the season in the final set of the evening 11-5, 4-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9.
Richard Maddrell also played well for Crackpots, losing narrowly to White 14-12, 4-11, 16-14, 7-11, 7-11.
Ledbury Collection remain third after a 6-4 win over Manor Park Cavaliers in a match where three sets went the full distance.
For Collection, Harry Jutle, Ady Marshall and Ann Barnes all triumphed twice.
Cavaliers’ Simmons won twice and the doubles with Hodges and Keeley recorded a singles win.
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