Chase for second spot as Tarleton well ahead
SOUTHSANDS V managed to upset the form book with a vital winning draw over their own fourth team, in a bid to keep their promotion hopes alive in the sixth division of the ‘Master Lock & Safe’ Southport and District Badminton League.
With leaders Tarleton IV comfortably ahead of everyone else, the battle for the second promotion spot looks to be the most exciting part of this division.
Two teams within that chasing pack are Southsands’ fourth and fifth teams.
The first encounter of the evening was won by the fifth team, as first mixed doubles pair Rob Mawdesley and Brenda Dawson came through the fourth team’s pairing of Tom Rigby and Carole Moorcroft 21-17, 21-12.
That lead was quickly erased as the fourth team’s Graeme Neale and Ruth Carson battled hard to defeat David Pretty and Katie Sykes 21-16, 21-19 to level the match.
The third mixed doubles match of the evening was a tight and highly entertaining clash.
After losing the first set, the fifth team’s Gary Pretty and Gill Pinch ousted Andy Sweeney and Chris Stanton 18-21, 21-15, 21-18.
In the last of the mixed doubles matches, it saw the fourth team tie the match at 2-2.
This is after the fourth team’s John Marsh and Dorette Clarke recovered to defeat David Campion and Sue Davies 21-7, 16-21, 21-13.
In the men’s and women’s doubles matches, very little could separate either side.
In the first men’s doubles match, Rigby and Neale came through a gruelling encounter with G. Pretty and Campion in three sets 20-22, 21-17, 21-16. That result gave the fourth team their first lead of the match.
Mawdesley and D. Pretty comfortably saw off Sweeney and Marsh 21-15, 21-18 to keep the fifth team alive going into the women’s doubles clashes.
The first of two women’s doubles matches saw an upset, as the fifth team’s Sykes and Dawson edged out winners over Moorcroft and Carson 24-22, 21-19 to put the fifth team one win away from claiming all three points.
Sadly for them, Pinch and Davies could not reach that achievement as the fourth team’s Stanton and Clarke brushed them aside 21-10, 21-14.
The match ended level at 4-4. But with the fifth team claiming more sets, they get the winning draw and the extra point in the league standings. Southsands V will go into their next match against Tarleton IV with renewed optimism.
As for Southsands IV, they will be duelling with strugglers St. Cuthberts IV.
There was another titanic clash in this division, but at the opposite end.
It saw West End Park IV achieve their second winning draw of the season against St. Cuthberts IV, in a battle of the bottom two sides.
With a win separating the bottom four, every point became more and more crucial as the league was heading for its Christmas break.
The opening match of the night saw the visitors take the lead, as St. Cuthberts’ first mixed doubles pair of Geoff Birchall and Ann Clayton battled past John Taylor and Pippa Courtley to win 21-13, 18-21, 21-15.
That loss seemed to spark West End Park, as they quickly won the next two matches in quick fashion.
West End Park’s second mixed doubles pair of Alan Williamson and Carolyne Potter saw off Edward Kinney and Aimee Pattison 21-18, 21-13.
It was a more impressive outing for third mixed doubles pair Brandon Hall and Emily Clarke in their 21-15, 21-7 victory against Rob Kinney and Helen Blaney.
St. Cuthberts answered back in the last of the mixed doubles contest as Nick Fearn and Wendy Groves came through against James McGuigan and Katy Shenton 21-19, 21-11 to tie the match at 2-2 at the halfway point.
West End Park came out strong in the first men’s doubles match-up, as Taylor and Hall took down Birchall and R. Kinney 21-10, 21-15.
A similar story happened in the first of the women’s doubles match, as West End Park’s Courtley and Potter defeated Pattison and Blaney 21-18, 21-15.
With the hosts one step away from collecting all the points, St. Cuthberts had to respond.
They managed to do that in a dramatic way. In the second men’s doubles match, E. Kinney and Fearn had to work hard in their three-set victory over Williamson and McGuigan 21-19, 15-21, 21-10.
St. Cuthberts completed the comeback, as Clayton and Groves put in a near-perfect performance to quickly see off Shenton and Clarke 21-11, 21-8.
Sadly for them it was only enough for one point, as West End Park’s superior number of sets gave the winning draw. That result now gives both sides hope of survival from dropping into the league’s bottom division.
The league is now on a Christmas break.
Action will return in the new year, where the promotion and relegation places will soon become clearer.
If you want to keep up to date with the latest news, results and league tables, then be sure to check out the league’s official website, www.southportbadminton.com.
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“I’ve also heard that they are not so conducive to spin but again, that depends on who I’ve talked to really.
“All in all, I think the conditions will provide an opportunity to put my batting and bowling to the test and I am really looking forward to that.”
It is hoped that Wright will arrive in time to play in one or two warm-up games before the Premier League season gets under way on April 22 when Southport and Birkdale host Rainhill. However the Tasmanian will certainly join a long list of overseas players, some of whom later became Test cricketers, who had their first experience of overseas conditions on Merseyside.
“I don’t know a whole lot about the Liverpool Competition,” said Wright, “but I have heard from a few cricketers who have played in England, that it is one of the stronger leagues in the country”.