Round EIGHT : Lions roar into second
Fri 8th March
Contrasting wins as St George’s go top and the Lions roar into second
Friday’s Round Eight matches produced contrasting results in each division, two finishing 5-0, two going to a decider, and some significant shifts in the tables.
In the Northern Division Pontefract travelled to the Northumberland Club with a depleted squad – and face the traditional noisy home crowd – but still managed to come away with a 3-2 win thanks to James Willstrop’s win over Cameron Pilley in the deciding match.
That win keeps Pontefract in contention for the playoffs, but they drop to third in the table after Birmingham Lions leapfrogged them with a 5-0 home win over Bristol. Both trail leaders Warwick / Kenilworth and in all likelihood only one of them will make the semi-finals.
In the Southern Division defending champions St George’s Hill took a strong team to Bexley and came away with a 5-0 win, their seventh victory of the season.
Divisional leaders Tradition @ RAC travelled to Coolhust for a match which, on paper, looked to favour the home side. After the first two matches were shared, Daryl Selby put RAC into the lead with a nailbiting 13-11 in the third win over Simon Rosner, but Coolhurst struck back with wins from Nathan Lake and Adrian Waller to claim the win.
St George’s go top of the table by six points, with RAC in second but the Welsh Wizards are just four points behind. Despite tonight’s win Coolhurst, 17 points behind the Wizards, will need some extraordinary results to qualify.
NEWCASTLE (5) 2-3 PONTEFRACT (9)
Cameron Pilley 0-2 James Willstrop 9-11, 5-11
Alan Clyne 0-2 Patrick Rooney 8-11, 0-8 rtd
Rob Downer 2-0 Chris Gillespie 11-7, 11-8
Owain Taylor 2-0 Matt Godson 11-2, 11-1
Eve Driver 1-2 Katie Smith 11-9, 6-11, 5-11
BIRMINGHAM (13) 5-0 BRISTOL (1)
Joel Makin 2-1 Tom Ford 8-11, 11-8, 11-1
Ryan Cuskelly 2-0 David Baillargeon 11-7, 11-7
Jan vd Herrewegen 2-0 Sean Conroy 11-1, 11-3
Stuart Macgregor 2-0 Roshan Bharos 11-5, 11-8
Millie Tomlinson 2-0 Emilia Korhoren 11-5, 11-2
COOLHURST (10) 3-2 TRADS@RAC (5)
imon Rosner 1-2 Daryl Selby 12-10, 5-11, 11-13
Greg Lobban 2-1 George Parker 11-7, 4-11, 11-9
Adrian Waller 2-0 Ben Coleman 11-6, 11-6
Nathan Lake 2-0 Peter Marshall 11-6, 11-7
Margaux M.Pitarch 0-2 Alison Waters 7-11, 1-11
BEXLEY (2) 0-5 ST GEORGE’S (13)
Mazen Hesham 1-2 Mohamed ElShorbagy 4-11, 11-8, 8-11
Josh Masters 1-2 Tom Richards 11-9, 9-11, 5-11
Rui Soares 0-2 Borja Golan 4-11, 8-11
Diego Gobbi 0-2 Carlos Cornes 8-11, 8-11
Kace Bartley 0-2 Jasmine Hutton 9-11, 8-11
Tue 5th March
Warkens all but seal semi-final spot and Wizards go top as Round Eight begins
With three rounds to play as the semi-finals approach, Warwick / Kenilworth and the Welsh Wizards both claimed away wins as Round Eight got under way on Tuesday.
Northern Division leaders WarKens took the opening three matches away at the University of Nottingham, running out 4-1 winners to establish a 24-point lead that puts them just a few points away from a first appearance in the semi-finals. Either Pontefract or Birmingham Lions will join them in the playoffs.
In the Southern Division the Welsh Wizards went two-nil up away to Chichester, but the home team struck back to level the match. Wizards’ Peter Creed came from a game down to beat Tim Vail in the decider, taking the Welsh outfit to the top of the Southern Division table – until Friday, when round eight concludes with two matches in each division – by a single point.
NOTTINGHAM 1-4 WARKENS (4-11)
Nick Matthew 0-2 Iker Pajares 6-11, 4-11
Richie Fallows 2-0 Mahesh Mangaonkar 11-6, 11-9
Adam Auckland 0-2 Daniel Mekbib 9-11, 6-11
Lewis Walters 1-2 Nick Wall 11-9, 3-11, 14-16
Coline Aumard 1-2 Sarah-Jane Perry 8-11, 11-4, 4-11
CHICHESTER 2-3 WELSH WIZARDS (6-10)
Mathieu Castagnet 2-1 Edmon Lopez 11-7, 10-12, 11-5
Tim Vail 1-2 Peter Creed 7-11, 11-6, 6-11
Miles Jenkins 1-2 Emyr Evans 11-8, 8-11, 10-12
Kyle Finch 2-0 Elliott Morris Devred 12-10, 11-8
Alison Thomson 0-2 Tesni Evans 8-11, 7-11
