Top two share the spoils

Ballyclare Leagues

THE top two teams in Division 1 went head to head last week as Restaurant 1608 A entertained Academy from Ballymena. Both teams were undefeated and each had to settle for a hard fought 5-5 draw.

Poles Pawel and Dawid Sulkowski won 4 singles defeating Brian Orr and Mark McGuiggan respectively. It was left to John Fall to win 2 against Adam McIlmoyle and Wayne Charlton and Gary McClelland also picked up one singles.

This left Ballymoney trailing 5-3 going into the doubles. Again John Fall stepped up to the mark and partnered Brian Orr to cause the upset of the night by toppling the Poles by 3 sets to 1. McGuiggan joined Team Captain Gary McClelland to clinch the last doubles and force an unexpected draw.

This leaves the title still in the balance with these 2 teams meeting twice more in the league and everything to play for.

Division 2 team 1608B made the long trip to Larne and again came away on the losing end by 9-1. The only winner was captain Paul McGuiggan against James McGuinness and Paul lost out narrowly in his other 2 singles with Alan McGuffog and Roy Camley. Ruth McGilligan and Aaron Douglas lost out in close games with Ruth combining with Paul to loose 11-9 in the fifth set of the doubles.

Belfast and District League

Following Ballymoney’s 1608’s famous win against Jordanstown, Ballymoney travelled to Queens and lost out 7-3 in their worst performance of the season.

Ulster number 2, Daryl Strong won his 3 singles as expected against Mark McGuiggan, Pawel and Dawid Sulkowski. However it was Phil Wallace who also managed to beat all 3 of the Ballymoney team that made the difference in the vital match. Both Poles went down 11-9 in the fifth set while McGuiggan lost 3 sets to 1. This defeat reverses the 7-3 win against Queens in the first half of the league and severely dents the chances of lifting the title with 4 games left to play.

The next home match is an important fixture against Belfast team, Glenburn on Wednesday 3rd February.

New Members Welcome

The Ballymoney club has gone from strength this season with a good turn out each Monday night. New members are always welcome with the club running from 6.30 to 8.00.