Division One
Thumpers 0 Truants 10
Star 3 Aces 7
Telecoms 4 Pirates 6
Rifle Club 3 Defenders 7
Division Two
New Kids 6 R’coasters 4
Rockets 1 Prefects 9
Tigers 2 Tass 8
Division Three/Four
Astronauts 1 Baldragon 9
Viscounts 0 Attackers 10
Allrounders 2 Squires 8
Lairds 9 Bishops 1
Telsports 0 Barons 10
“Sportsmanship the victor”
Rifle Club’s challenge for the Division One title may well have come to an abrupt end, but Abe McMurchie nevertheless secured three points solitarily against Defenders. Sportsmanship prevailed in this match, with all three Dundee College players more than happy to give Abe a work-out. Carol Maclean almost got Thumpers a point against high-flying Truants, but Derek Bissett dragged himself over the line by 12-10 in the deciding set. Had Andy Ferguson managed to hang on to his early advantage in his first match for Star against Aces, it could have got a lot more uncomfortable for the Forthill trio. Jim Dyson turned that game around, the first of four Aces wins on the bounce. Wins by Iain Martin and Andy came too late to threaten a comeback. Nine deuce sets, four shared five-setters and a 10.50 pm finish tells the tale of a cracker between Telecoms and resurgent Pirates. The latter seem to hit a rich vein of form, starting like a house on fire at Tele House: Ian Johnston’s five-set triumph over “The Doc” put the visitors 4-0 up, and spelt a miserable evening for the Telecoms star player. Iain Meldrum and Ian Farquhar then reduced the gap, before Andy Pettican heaped more misery on the hosts and Ian Johnston completed a famous hat-trick. A five-set win in the closing doubles was scant consolation for The Doc/Ian Farquhar.
“First defeat, but Peter’s 100% record still intact”
With the top three teams out of action in Division Two, this provided an opportunity for teams to make up some ground before the league reaches the final few decisive weeks. New Kids put a dent in the ambitions held by Rollercoasters, but only by the narrowest of margins. Peter Bladen and Tim Woollins gave the St Andrews side a great start, before the visitors levelled courtesy of Tony Cook and a determined Dave Lane. Next, Peter completed his third win of the night, but Paul Jackson held his nerve in a nail-biter against Ian Smith – the third five-setter of the game that had not gone Ian’s way. But Tim Woollins showed some nerves of steel himself to gave New Kids the advantage late on, and a tight doubles win meant victory for the hosts. Rockets may have succumbed to Prefects, but it was Colin Burchill who grabbed the headline and a famous ‘scalp’, defeating Peter Bladen in four sets. Since Peter is registered with New Kids, however, his 100% record still stands. At the bottom, two five-set wins by Charlie Ross was as good as it got for Tigers in a heavy loss to Tass. Ian Hutcheson was the player of the match, dropping only one set.
“Top teams mean business”
Telsports enjoyed a few good results in Division Three/Four recently, eying a place in the top eight before the forthcoming league split. The wheels, however, came off in spectacular fashion when Barons came to visit. Stuart Farquharson and Tom Simpson lost three close games early on, and that really was that: Fabio Sani and Derek Johnston had done much of the damage, coupled with a superb three win by sub Andy Hughes. Barons are now heading the table, but Kingsway’s result away to Dukes has yet to filter through. Attackers keep on closing the gap, and are third after coming away from Viscounts with full points. Filip Jovanovic got the only set for the youngsters who hopefully do not lose too much heart after a heavy defeat against the league’s in-form trio. Allrounders harbour hopes to sneak into the top eight, and they were scrapping for everything against Squires despite only fielding two players. Cheryl Walls did some damage limitations for the hosts by prevailing in two five-setters in the opening and closing singles, but in between those games it was all Squires, not least due to a strong Steve Wilson. Lairds currently occupy eighth spot after overcoming under-strength Bishops. Garry Duncan levelled for Bishops at 1-1, but three wins each by Brian Halliday and Kenneth Kerr soon put the result beyond doubt. Baldragon also entered the fray again when the two Terrys combined to see off Astronauts. Stephen Lowrie got the only win for the young Forthill three.
