‘A’ side avoid slip-up and hold off Trinity
PRINCES St A (104pts) still sit in pole position at the top of the first division, even after being held by a strong looking Holy Trinity A side.
Never being an easy place to visit, then throw in the mix Paul Hutchings, it was a potential banana skin ready and waiting.
Two excellent wins from the home number one, first over Colin Turner and then Matty Wilson, brought the home side level at 3-3, having trailed 0-3.
Michael Stewart’s second win of the evening for the leaders was then cancelled out by Susie Hughes to make it 4-4, before the doubles and the match was deservingly shared. Could second placed Crosby C capitalise and close that gap?
We popped into Crosby High School where, they too, faced a tricky contest against their B team who were again without number one Rhys Davies. Crosby C were also with captain Nick Wilson, bringing in Stefan Schober Thomson to deputise.
Tom Miller and Ciaran Lynch gave the C team a superb start with a four game victory over Francois Rafferty and Peter Ashley, which was then improved upon by Felix Anderson who edged an enthralling see-saw contest against Mark Davies, 11-5 in the fifth.
Further wins from Stefan over Andrew Legge, and then Tom over Francois, stretched the lead to 4-0, before Peter gave the B team a little respite clinching an exciting encounter against Ciaran (9-11) in the fifth game.
Stefan and Felix immediately put that hiccup behind them with a three straight success in their doubles to make it 5-1.
More relentless play from Tom, saw him fight back from having lost the first to Mark to take the next three in fine style 11-3,11-5,11-4, to clinch his sides win at 6-1, and with their minds firmly set on reducing that gap to the top, the points just kept on coming.
Efficient as you like, three straight victories without conceding a game made it 9-1 for Crosby C, meaning they now trail the leaders by 13pts with seven matches to play. Interestingly, the teams meet again soon in the Quarter Finals of the Anon Cup – I think there may be a couple of personnel changes for that one.
Argyle B (80pts) remained in third spot after a 7-3 home win against Southport A – it was another impressive full quota of wins from Julian Quirk being the difference between the sides.
Argyle D eased away from the bottom two, a 7-3 victory in their derby against their seemingly doomed C team putting them on 53pts, which for the time being is 9pts clear of Southport A who are second bottom on 44pts.
Sandwiched between them on 47pts are Princes St B, who suffered a 3-7 home loss to Argyle A. Both Colin Fyles and Nick Foss stepping up from the second division for the hosts grabbed all three points.
Waterloo A (100pts) just about held on to pole position in the Second Division after a convincing maximum away win at Argyle E, who came very close in three contests to register points.
But even without starlet Nathan Jago, the visitors always looked to be in complete control.
Princes St C (97pts) with a match in hand on their rivals still look to be favourites, as they too secured a maximum win away at Waterloo B.
Holy Trinity B (94pts) remain ‘tight on their heels’ in third place, this after bringing Princes St D’s run of three wins to an abrupt end, with a resounding 1-9 away victory. Those results now make it a ‘two from three’ scenario for those promotion places, as there are 29pts between third place and fourth placed Princes St E, who were without a match this week.
Whilst Crosby C were making light work in their ‘derby’, in the other match played at the same night at Crosby High, Crosby E were doing a similar job on their F team, who after a predictable maximum loss here, are now truly rooted at the bottom on 26pts.
Whereas Crosby E eased their relegation fears, moving up to seventh with a match in hand.
As the points mounted up against Andrew Hawkins young F team, there were positives to be learnt. Jack Savage for one is a terrific prospect, as is Louie Cooper, who on the night coped admirably well in facing his older brother Elliot, captain of the E team.
In fact Elliot coped very well with the experience too, seeming he had all and sundry against him. Andrew’s son Mark also made an impressive return to action, which must add up to things improving for the youngsters.
Southport B versus their C team provided a very close affair in a match of two halves, where the B team had swept into a 4-1 lead, only for the C team to fight back to force a creditable draw which leaves the B team 10pts from safety at the bottom.
Third division leaders Rainford (95pts) were made to work hard when they travelled to Southport E.
They came away with a 3-7 victory which consolidated top spot for them.
Having a 15pt lead and an unbeaten record they must now be regarded as a very good bet to carry off the title. Argyle F moved into second place after a 2-8 away win at Carlton as the Para’s (79pts) match against North Meols was called off.
Princes St F (78pts) stay in fourth position after edging past a spirited Southort D side, 6-4. Finally, Crosby G inflicted a maximum defeat on their H team.
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