Poppleton stay top of Men’s Tennis League (From York Press)

Poppleton stay top of Men’s Tennis League

11:05am Tuesday 14th August 2012 in Sport

RUTHLESS Poppleton 1 stayed top of the Tyke Petroleum Men’s Tennis League first division after routing their second team.

John Moore and Rob Jones paired up to demolish their own second team, bagging the highest score of the week with 32 games.

That stretched their lead at the top to 21 points with the vanquished Popp ranks anchored to the bottom.

Dunnington hauled themselves from the danger zone after a huge 10-2 win against a holiday-blighted York side who also suffered a retirement. Paul Birch and Matt Stephenson bagged three points from just 23 games. Wigginton once again head a volatile division two, comfortably seeing off depleted York 2 10½-1½, with Ben Storey and Ben Walker on song. Graeme Taylor and Simon Gray also finished undefeated with 2½ points and 24 games.

Copmanthorpe zeroed in on the division three title after weathering a late fightback from plucky Sherburn. A last-gasp 10-2 from Phil Bremner and Steven Duree couldn’t swing the match for Sherburn, who narrowly missed the bonus by 50-58.

Alan Partington and Graeme Butcher were again unbeaten as Copmanthorpe bagged their eighth win in as many matches.

Starbeck 2’s 9½ points from a walk-over at Cawood , takes them to within a whisker of a promotion place.

Castlegarth 2 beat high-fliers, David Lloyd 2 by a surprising seven-point margin to skip clear of the division five relegation places.

Another unbeaten performance by James and Craig Ripley with 2½ points and 25 games underpinned only the Wetherby side’s third win of the season. Full-strength Riccall enjoyed a romp at an overstretched York 3, who fielded three new faces. Only regulars Reg Favell and Ron Grace could get a point for York, while brothers Andy and Pat Woodward ran amok for Riccall with 3-30. With a match in hand over David Lloyd 2, and an easier run-in, Riccall are closing in on the title.

Poppleton 3 top division six with 101 points after winning a fierce top-of-the-table contest at home to Stamford Bridge 2. With seven rubbers ending either 7-5 or 6-6, it was the two 8-4s by Stephen Fenton and Poppleton debutant Alan Reynolds which stole the bonus for the hosts by 57-51, and the match by 8-4.

With 66 points from their last six matches, Wheldrake are division seven’s in-form team.

Having put paid to rivals Starbeck 3’s promotion hopes the week before by 10-2, Wheldrake won all but a half-point at strugglers Dunnington 3, who had two players retire injured during the match. Wheldrake are now just one point behind one-time runaway leaders, Wigginton 3 who suffered a surprise reverse at Starbeck, whose Carlos Gabaldon and Sean Winstanley took the bonus.

In division eight, Racquets closed the gap on their Harrogate rivals, after 2½-28 from captain Andy Clayton and Graham Wild paved the way for a comfortable 9½-2½ win at home to New Earswick . Only Daz Sheriston and Steve Walker scored for the visitors with an unbeaten 20 games.