Five matches took place before Christmas. Netflicks gained another nine points, with wins over Apple Crumble and The Chuckle Brothers. Iain Macleod (AC) proved to be their Achilles heel when he defeated Shona Morton 3/2. The Chuckle Brothers came close to taking a couple of points when Paul Dowson took Gordon Duff to a fifth set and Barry Kirkpatrick lost a tight match with Shona.
KB Spinners also defeated The Chuckle Brothers. This match was interesting as it brought Brian and Barry Kirkpatrick into conflict. Dad Brian lost the first set 12-14 but brought his son into line in the next three sets. However, there are signs that the younger pair is finding its feet amongst the former Division 1 sides: not only did they win the doubles, 11-8 in the fifth from 1-2 down, but all the singles required a fourth set.
Apple Crumble’s last match of the old year gained them five points against that feisty duo, The Owd Coots. There were several very close sets, but the defeated side won only one, when Steve Cussell pushed Craig Wilson to a fourth set.
Gaulty Towers was firmly in control against the Watsonians in their last game of 2022. However, they met their match in their first fixture of 2023. The Top Bananas fielded Dylan and Reuben De Silva and coasted to a reasonably comfortable victory. Graham Gault took a set from Reuben, but that was the sum total of his team’s success.
The Watsonians were in more familiar territory in early January against their former Division 2 opponents, The Owd Coots. In a closely contested match the latter went ahead 2-0 when Steve Cussell beat Gary Watson 3/1 and Ray Pirrie defeated Mike 3/1. However, Gary and Mike struck back to win the doubles, 3/1, after which Mike earned a 3/0 victory over Steve. In the last tie Gary put up a good fight against Ray, but finally went down 1/3, giving The Owd Coots a 3/1 win.
The Top Bananas’ match with the Watsonians the next night netted them another five points; Mike Watson did well to take a set from Maria De Silva in the last tie.
Linda Powell, D & G Standard report 10-01-23