B League
Outcasts (4) v Jewel Tech Squash Academy (17)
Despite spirited performances another defeat for the Outcasts. Phil Whittam took a game off Carl Albrigt who is regaining full fitness after his hand injury. The only Outcast victory was for Helen Cave who beat Dewald Jnr [who was only asked to play an hour before]
International Divers (16) v Island Exhaust Systems (7)
The league season came to a thrilling climax last Thursday for Target Tools sponsored International Divers as they took on rivals Island Exhausts at Mount Murray in a winner takes all encounter.
Divers got off to the best of starts courtesy of John Whitehouse who dispatched Ian Sheard in three straight games. Whitehouse, who was coming back from an ankle injury, started sluggishly allowing Sheard to race to a 7-2 lead. However Whitehouse soon found his feet winning 8 points in succession and setting himself up to take the first game 15-10. From there on in he didn’t look back winning the next two games in a commanding style.
Divers skipper Adam Corcoran was next on court taking on Pete Sharples. Corcoran came out of the blocks quickly and took the first game 15-10. Corcoran continued to edge ahead of Sharples in the second game up to 14-10 when Corcoran hit four tins on the trot allowing Sharples to take the game. This was the turning point in the match from which Sharples kicked on and Corcoran struggled to contain his opponent who took the next two games 15-9 and 15-12.
Next on court was James Ramsey who took on Dave Griffiths. The Diver put on a master class against Griffiths in beating him 3-0 and was always in the ascendancy from the first serve to the last point. With Ramsey playing tight and good lengths Griffiths could not impose his normally deadly drop game on his opponent who carried on his good form from the recent Open competition.
Chris Moore was next on court for the Divers and took on Pat Russell of Exhausts. Moore won the first two games, 15-12 and 15-14 respectively. Russell managed to win the third game; however this spurred Moore on who took the fourth and final game 15-9 in what was always going to be a tight match.
The final game of the evening saw big hitters Gary Corlett and Mike Hebden take centre stage. This was a fairly even contest with both players looking to play deep in to the back corners on a regular basis which ended up with Corlett testing the strength of the glass on a few occasions!! Hebden won the first two games before Corlett started his comeback. Unfortunately it was short lived as Hebden took the fourth game and the match.
The overall score for the evening saw Target Tools International Divers beating Island Exhausts 16-7 and with that winning the B League title; not bad for a team who were tipped to be fighting it out for the wooden spoon, which their Captain has taken great delight in pointing out to me. Congratulations to International Divers for taking the title and defying my pre-season prediction.
Prize Presentation/Gathering
This will take place on Friday 17th May at Douglas Bay Yacht Club. There will a hot & cold buffet, entertainment, raffle & much more. Dress code is smart casual. Tickets, price ?15 (?7.50 for under 16’s), can be reserved by contacting Helen Callow at helenc@manx.net.
Trident Trust Island Open Championships
The Island Open Championship will take place at the NSC commencing on Monday 20th May with the finals being held on Friday 24th May. To enter send your name, contact email and contact phone number to Les Callow by email (les.c@manx.net) or text (494734).
The competition will be limited to a maximum of 48 so entries should be submitted as soon as possible.
