Backspin A suffer first defeat with twists and turns aplenty

There was an abundance of twists and turns in the Sunderland & District League as the fortunes of teams vying at both ends of the top two divisions continue to fluctuate.

Although Backspin A remain in pole position to claim the Division One crown, they stumbled to a first defeat of the season after facing defiant opposition.

First came the visit of a Brandon Bullets team fighting for points to stay out of the relegation places.

The trio of Anthony Ainley, Dan Dodds, and Jamie Dent did achieve the expected win for the hosts, but Brandon’s Richard Johnson frustrated them all, recovering from 2-0 down to defeat Dodds 11-5, and squeaking past Ainley, 11-8.

The three points kept Bullets above the drop-zone, and Backspin moved on to their next test at West CA.

It was the revitalised West squad who finally made Backspin taste defeat, their star performer being Adam Webster, who appeared untroubled throughout.

Ainley recovered from conceding the first two ends to overcome Tom Fowle, 11-7, but Bailey Pye’s two five-end sets proved pivotal, defeating Dodds 11-5 and linking up with Webster to take the doubles.

The eventual 6-4 defeat means that Backspin have lost their comfort buffer, Thompsons’ 7-3 success at East Boldon Amigos cutting the deficit to eight points at the top.

Division Two fixtures saw the second and third-placed teams clash.

In a highly-competitive tussle between Backspin B and Old England Nomads, six of the sets went to a deciding end and neither team could deliver a decisive blow.

Alan Livingstone pipped Paul Wiggins 11-9, but later lost out to Kenneth Clark, 11-6.

Clark’s other two matches also went to the final end, losing out to David McAllister 11-5, but edged out Alex Nicholl 11-7.

The doubles contest was critical and Nomads’ Colin Robson and Wiggins defeated McAllister and Nicholl 11-5 in yet another five-ender.

The overall 5-5 draw leaves Backspin well-placed to clinch promotion in the coming weeks. Nomads were also involved in a match affecting the relegation battle.

Visitors West CA B drafted in Mike Lyons to help their cause and, despite being outpointed 11-8 by Robson, he contributed a couple of sets.

Robson was also pushed all the way by Firdaus Nazeri as West rued the loss of all three last-gasp sets. However, any sense of misfortune at this narrow 6-4 defeat quickly evaporated in the ensuing fixture as Unionist Club B fielded a woefully understrength line-up which West fully capitalised on, 9-1.

That result was a sickener for fellow strugglers St Gabriel’s C, who had gamely battled to a 5-5 draw with Silksworth IM. Top marksman for Gabriel’s was David Revell (2), with Silksworth’s scorers being Bob Sanderson (3) and Howard Brown (2).

In Division Three, Lanchester Eagles A were held to a draw at St Gabriel’s E, as a dominating show from Joe Miller saw the home player complete a maximum.

However, Eagles remain comfortably on target to claim the second promotion slot.