St Leonards D save their best til last to clinch Div 3B.
05 April, 2014 Andy Rowe
The Division 3B title was a 2 horse race between Sidmouth B and St Leonards D. Sidmouth won all 8 of their matches, the final win being a 7-2 victory over 2 pair Exeter D. The Sidmouth team of Steve Smith, Paul Carter, Paul Merchant, Graham Baker, Rod Bolam and David Bromage were on course for a 9-0 win which would have secured the Division. However a Sidmouth injury led to a 17-21, 21-16, 16-21 reverse to Ian Halliday and Mike Dickson, and they had to concede a further rubber.
That left the door ajar for St Leonards D. After an 8-1 win over Clyst Vale, the Saints team of Christie Clarke, Kaibo Guo, Chris Neil, Barrie Sharman, Mark Stanley and James Tribe beat Exeter D 9-0 to clinch the Division by a single point.
In Division 2 Ringswell A had a 9-0 walkover over University and an 8-1 win over Exeter C to end with 10 wins out of 10 and in so doing secured the top spot in the Division and an immediate bounce back to Division 1.
At the bottom of the table St Leonards B picked up their first and only win in beating a young Queens B 6-3. The Saints Sylvain Pasquier and Rami Yedidi were unbeaten, with Anthony Towl and Ian Jameson bagging a brace of wins.
Reserves Adrian Midmer and Rami Yedidi stepped up with 3 wins to guide St Leonards A to second place with a 7-2 win over Queens B.
In Division 3A, the Honiton team of Roger Tucker, Ethan Leach, Matt Durrant, James Goody, Simon Walker and Shane Bowering ended their losing streak with a 5-4 win over neighbours Otter Vale. Honiton stormed into a 4-2 lead, but in the end had to win the final rubber to seal the win.
An unbeaten performance from Martin Matthews and Ali Rehemi steered St Leonards C to a 6-3 win over Honiton. Allister Brimble and Andy Mann chipped in with 2 wins.
The battle for survival in Division1 went down to the wire. Sidmouth A completed their season with a narrow 5-4 win over relegation threatened Exeter B. John Carter and Luke Oxley fought well for 3 wins, with their Sidmouth teammates Chris Bird and Simon Heuson bagging 2 wins.
Exeter B went into their final match against Cranford A knowing that only 1 point was needed to avoid bottom place. They made life difficult for themselves by fielding an illegible player, resulting in the 3-6 reverse being amended to a 1-8 reverse. However Exeters Tom Phillips and Dave Harland secured the vital point 19-21, 21-11, 21-13 against Vernon Smeed and Joe Davies to ensure their survival in the top tier.
Champions Exeter A completed their season unbeaten with a healthy 7-2 win over Queens A. Sam Lees and Sam Owens led the charge with 3 wins and were well supported by Geoff Littler/Gareth Pearse (2) and Tom Phillips/Rob Flack (2). Queens points came courtesy of Ben Watkins and Mac Powell.