The 10th round of fixtures in the Fun88-sponsored Isle of Man Table Tennis Association league took place last week.

The festive spirit didn’t necessarily mean players were in a generous mood, especially at the foot of Division One where there are now four teams battling it out, with three of them on the same number of points.

Division One

Strathallan A (3) Ramsey A (6)

Andy Patterson playing for Strathallan had three extremely close games with Duncan Alexander, but the Ramsey man was able to hold his nerve in each one and won 3-0.

Adam Teare had the same result against Patterson but it was not quite as close. Finally, Patterson came up trumps against Glenn Callow. Playing for the first time this season in the league, Callow was unable to cope with the looping attacks coming his way and he lost 9-11, 5-11, 7-11.

Ege Niyazi had a very close match with Alexander and to his great credit took the island squad player all the way to a final-end decider, which the Ramsey man took 11-6.

Niyazi took the first game off Teare but lost 3-1 once Teare got into his stride. Niyazi then had perhaps the match of the night with Callow and was triumphant after what looks to have been an epic match, winning 12-10, 5-11, 14-16, 15-13, 12-10 - well done to young Ege for his resilience under pressure.

Finally for the home side, Julian Briercliffe came a cropper against Alexander and Teare, losing out in four and three games respectively, but was then able to retrieve a point by beating Callow in straight ends.

Ramsey B (2) Travellers A (7)

Tim Baker had a tremendous win against Travellers’ Malcolm Cummings, winning in straight ends.

He had no luck against island number one Scott Lewis though, losing in three before being edged out by Liam Chan in three very close games 11-13, 10-12, 11-13.

Chris Holmes also had a notable win for the home side. After finding himself 2-0 up, Chan powered his way back into the match taking the next two games. Drama unfolded in the final end with Holmes pulling himself together and taking the game and match in a scarcely believable 11-1.

But he was unable to replicate such brilliance in his other two matches and lost to Cummings and Lewis in straight ends. Ramsey newcomer Martyn Howard found the going tough and was unable to prevent another three points going to the away side.

Travellers B (4) Arbory A (5)

John Shooter showed once again why he has won 23 out of 24 this season in Division One, with three accomplished wins against quality opposition.

He swept past John Magnall in three ends, looped his way past Mike Tamarov in four ends and did likewise against young Amit Lanin. The youngster showed tremendous form though, with three of the four games being very tight.

Second up for Travellers was Malc Lewis and he battled hard but was unable to extract any points from his three ties, going down to Magnall, Lanin and Tamarov in four.

Will Shooter did well to get 2-1 up against Tamarov, before the attacking pen holder walloped him in the final two ends.

Against Magnall, Will could find no way past the experienced Arbory player’s defence but he saved the best to last with a tremendous victory over young Amit, taking the match in four ends.

Tower A (7) Travellers C (2)

Paul Callow stepped up from the B team and did his A team-mates a favour by taking two superb points.

Firstly, he beat David Buck then David’s son Alex both in three straight games.

Keeran Chan has really grown into a skilled player this season and has now won 14 out of his 21 matches to date. He was therefore a tougher proposition for Callow and so it proved as he lost the first two games before taking the third end 11-5.

Chan pulled his socks up at that stage and managed to counter Callow’s long pips and took the fourth end 11-6 and the match.

Tower’s Mike Bayley also did well to take wins from the Bucks, only dropping one game against David.

But player of the night was Dave Parsons for Tower who swept aside Alex in straight games, before taking the win against Buck Sr in four close ends.

But he saved the best for his match against Chan. After finding himself 2-0 down, Parsons tenaciously battled his way back, using his trademark away-from-the-table heavy loop to take the next three games and the match 11-9, 11-6, 11-7.

This is Tower’s best result of the season so far and it hauled them off the bottom of the table to sixth place, level pegging on points with Strathallan and Ramsey B.

Division Two

Ramsey C (1) Tower B (9)

Adrian Slater had three matches that each went all the way to a fifth end, but was only able to extract one point at the expense of Tower’s Steve Curtis whom he pipped 11-6 in the final end.

In his match with Paul Callow, the determined Tower player came back from 2-1 down to Slater to prevail 11-6 in the fifth.

It was a similar story for him when Simon Radcliffe nabbed the final end. It’s these sort of matches that could make the difference at the end of the season of course.

Lisa Lord was playing up for Ramsey C but was unable to cope with the strong Tower trio and fell in straight ends in each match. Martyn Howard also fell victim to Messrs Callow, Radcliffe and Curtis, and it was yet another emphatic victory for Tower.

The doubles was taken by Callow and Radcliffe in straight ends and this win consolidates Tower’s second place position, three points ahead of Peel.

Arbory C (4) Peel A (6)

Sonja Shaw powered her way past Peel’s Maggie Mulhern and Ken Hegarty in four ends, after losing the first game in each.

Jon Taylor-Burt was too strong for Shaw though, and he managed to overcome her in straight ends. It was a similar story for Kevin Drewry as he battled to a three-end victory over Mulhern with some close games.

Ken Hegarty had an epic first game against Drewry, finally prevailing 20-18, and then took the next 11-7. But Drewry found a second wind and took the next three games 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 and the match.

Finally for Arbory, Jonathan Pooley stepped up but was unable to prevent a further three points going to the away side.

Desmond’s Douglas A (2)

Arbory B (8)

Table-toppers Arbory B were too strong for Desmond’s but they did provide some strong competition.

Brandon Montgomery was unable to cope with the combination bat speed and guile of Jason Quirk, who took the win in straight ends.

Dan Levine continued his good form with a battling five-set win over Montgomery after coming back from 2-0 down. The latter had another close encounter, this time with Dan’s dad Mike Levine who managed to outwit the Desmond’s player, taking the final end 11-7.

Neil Ronan had greater success against Mike, taking the win in a more straightforward manner over four ends. He then took an impressive three-end win over Dan before being halted by Quirk in straight ends.

Russ Kent was Desmonds’ third player and he came a cropper in all three matches, losing in three to Quirk, in four ends to Mike and then had a five-game epic with Dan, with the youngster just edging it 14-12 in the final end.

Doubles glory went the way of Arbory’s Dan and Quirk who prevailed in three ends against Kent and Montgomery.

This win extends Arbory’s lead at the top of Division Two to 11 points and make them firm favourites for promotion to the top-flight next year.

Ramsey D (6) Travellers D (4)

Geoff Burchill had an off night for Ramsey, losing to Grant Paterson and Maurice Campbell in three ends and to Bob Borland in five close ends 11-13, 8-11, 16-14, 11-6, 6-11.

Keith Herrington on the other hand had a very good night with wins in four ends over Paterson and Campbell, and in three over Borland to level the score.

Finally for Ramsey, Darren Shaw had two very good wins in three over Borland and in five against Campbell who he pipped at the post 11-9 in the final end. The doubles went to Shaw and Herrington in three against Campbell and Paterson.

Division Three

IoM Junior Development D (5) Ramsey E (0)

Henry and Sydnie Weaver continue to get better week by week, which is surely testament to their coaching.

They disposed of Aled Walton and Tony Sewell, with only one game being dropped when Aled nabbed one off Sydnie before being stopped in the fourth end. Doubles went to the Weavers with a 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 victory over Walton and Sewell.

IoM Junior Development C (5) Ramsey F (0)

Match of the tie, and possibly of the evening, was between young Thomas Taylor-Burt and Pat Helliwell, with scores of 11-2, 5-11, 8-11, 11-6, 13-11 - a magnificent win for the youngster.

Thomas added another point by defeating Teddy Clayton in straight games. Seth Hornby-Wheeler then notched up a further two points in his wins over Helliwell and Clayton.

The doubles was contested between Helliwell and Henry da Silva against Thomas and Seth, with the youngsters taking the win. It was good to see da Silva making a return to action with his doubles appearance.

IoM Junior Development B (0) IoM Junior Development A (5)

Another very impressive win for the B team with Liav Lanin and Luke Begley combining well in the doubles against Megan Corris and Max Doyle, taking the win in straight ends.

Liav dropped games against both Megan and Max but did well to shake it off on both occasions, recover and take both points. Luke was impressive once again in his three-end wins over Megan and Max.

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