Prestbury up despite City failed fixture
NORTH West Counties League success was at a premium for clubs in and around our town last Thursday, when only four of the 11 men’s teams with scheduled fixtures could record victories.
And of those four, one was achieved without the need to set foot on court, as Prestbury 1’s intended visitors, bottom-of-thetable City of Manchester 2, called off their Second Division East trip to Bollin Grove after failing to raise a side.
The ‘Firsts’ were awarded a walkoverwin, with maximum points, to move up one place into fifth.
The remaining three triumphs were divided equally between the trio of local clubs - with Prestbury 1’s divisional companions and First Team counterparts from Bollington achieving one of them, at struggling Bowdon 3.
Christian Ogden, Brigg Simpson, Lyndon Stonier and Stuart Arnold secured a 4-1 win that put a 22-point cushion between the ninth-placed ‘Bolly Firsts’ and the drop-zone.
There was less joy at third-division level, where the Second Teams of Bollington and Prestbury both lost.
The ‘Bolly Seconds’ slipped down a position to ninth in Division Three Central South, after being edged out at home by the odd match in five - in spite of wins for Mark Collins and Neil Garner.
As a result, their visitors, Bowdon 4, also leapfrogged them in the table for good measure.
And in Division Three South-East, Prestbury’s ‘Seconds’ travelled to Warrington knowing that a victory over Woolston 1 could lift them into top spot - but ended up falling a place to fourth following only their second reverse of the campaign, and seeing their hosts occupy the summit-position instead.
Rich Curry picked up a consolation win in the course of his side’s 4-1 defeat.
The one collective success of the evening for Prestbury was courtesy of the Third Team at Bollin Grove, where victories by acting captain Andrew Worsley, as well as Rob Thorneycroft and Rupert Richards, earned a 3-2 triumph over in-form Alderley Park 3 that extended second-placed Prestbury 3’s unbeaten run in Division Four Central South to half a dozen matches.
The ‘Thirds’ were also the only side of four from the area competing with Alderley Park teams to emerge on the right end of a result against the AstraZeneca-based club.
Prestbury’s ‘Fourths’, lying 11th in the same division, travelled across to AZ’s Mulberry’s Sports Centre, but lost 4-1 to AP 2 - with junior player Harry Mattocks (17) achieving their only win of the evening.
The Cheshire Ladies’ League’s pre-Christmas schedule affecting the Second Division concluded with welcome triumphs for both fifth-placed Prestbury 1 and Bollington, in eighth.
Prestbury’s ‘Firsts’, following a hat-trick of defeats, signed off for 2018 with an emphatic 5-0 win at bottom side Alderley Edge 2, as Jane Mackay, Fran Taylor, Linda Maher, Sarah Lonsdale and Helen Thaw ensured the collective rout.
And the ‘Bolly Ladies’ put themselves 15 points clear of the relegation positions after hosting, and prevailing 3-2 against, The Northern 2, thanks to victories by Annika Hall, Debbie Kent and Jen Robinson.
In Division Three (b), Prestbury 2’s match, at home to Warrington, was a penultimate fixture ahead of the festive-season break. The ‘Seconds’ stay fifth, following a narrow 3-2 defeat that saw Jen Powell and junior Olivia Knight (15) enjoy straightgames victories for the hosts.