17 March, 2019 Daniel Clark
The Division 1 title is set to come down to two clashes in four days between Ringswell A and Queens in April. Both teams remain unbeaten but it is Queens who have retaken the lead after victories over Ringswell B and St Leonards A.
The team of Ben Jordan/Sarah Preece, Nathan Scase/Mandy Bishop and Jamie Dawe/Grace Lee teamed up to beat Ringswell B 8-1, with Barry Harriss/Freya Harris scoring the consolation point, before they made three changes to the team beat that St Leonards A 6-3. Lloyd Skinner/Preece went unbeaten, with Jordan/Bishop and Ian Kirby/Jackie Kirby also getting on the scoresheet.
Queens lead by 11 points, but Ringswell A have a game in hand, which if they were win that 9-0, would mean the clashes on April 1 and April 4 become a direct head-to-head shootout for the title.
Sidmouth A have taken another step closer to winning Division 2A after recording another 8-1 victory, their fourth of the season. The team of John Carter/Grace Williams, Owen Waters/Julie Frost and Paul Owens/Rachel Irish had a resounding 8-1 win over Exeter B, with Gareth Pearse/Theresa Ford winning their sole point with a 14-21, 21-13,21-19 win over Owens/Irish.
The only team to win more than a point against Sidmouth A this season, Otter Vale A, sit second after a close 5-4 win over Chulmleigh, who despite defeat, moved ahead of Exeter B and off-the-bottom of the table. Ben Hamill/Michelle Wylde were unbeaten for Chulmleigh, but points from Daniel Clark/Jo Smith and Brian Deem/Heather Rake levelled the tie at 4-4, before Nic Williamson/Teresa Simic secured the win with a comfortable 21-10, 21-8 win in the deciding ninth rubber.
Otter Vale B have set a target atop Division 2B having completed their season. A 7-2 win over a two-pair Sidmouth B means the team finish with five wins and three losses on 59 points. They cannot finish any lower than second, but Ringswell C will need just 13 points from their final three fixtures to take the title.
Sidmouth B though did beat a still winless Honiton team 5-4 to leave them propping up the table. Honiton held hopes of securing their first win when they led 3-2 and 4-3, but Sidmouth, led by Matt Sach/Hilary Herd who went unbeaten, rallied, before James Lush/Helen Underwood won 21-16, 21-10 in the ninth rubber to give them the win.