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ISLEOFMANEXAMINER

www.iomtoday.co.im Tuesday, September 14, 2021

FINALWHISTLE

Island teamgrace famous Eastbourne tennis courts

Geoff Hurst edges win in penultimate late match at Peel

TENNIS

Thursday’s late-finish an- glingmatch at Sunset Lakes inPeel was almost called off becauseof a lackof available anglers. But five eventually as- sembled so a decision was made to run it. Asnamesweredrawn,an- glers were given the choice whichpeg tofish from. On a flat calm, warm af- ternoon, and as the aera- tor had just been removed, fish were showing every- where, soall-inwas calledat 2 o’clock. Jamie Blissettdecided to give peg two a go and set out to fishwithmeat as a bait at 14-16 metres. He remained on that line throughout the match, getting fish fairly steadily before picking up the pace in thefinal hour. Roger Platford decided on peg four and was going ok, but not as plentiful as he hadhoped for (bait unsure). Geoff Hurst had a break fromdrawingpegsat thetop end and decided to give peg seven a go instead. Not re- nowned for big fish, it again providedlotsofsmallerones - as inpreviousmatches. Namesake Geoff Gilbert was on peg 14, where he started on a 10-metre line using pellets. He had a cou- ple of fish, but things didn’t

ANGLING

The IsleofMan35-and-over tennis teamrecently trav- elled toEastbourne toplayon the famousDevonshirePark grass courts after ayear’s break in2020. The team of five - made up of captain Neil Ronan, Rob Ma- son,RobComber,NigelHunt- er and JosWoolford - were in for a tough time, with some large counties in their group. Day one saw the teamtake on Cumbria in a fixture that has become quite regular in recent years and one which usually promises to be quite a tight contest. This match was played on courts at Moira House, used as practice courts for the ATP and WTA when playing at Devonshire Park - as such, thecourtswereinperfectcon- dition. First on court was team debutant Woolford who had been at his old club Totnes in Devon for a week before the tournamenttogetwarmedup. Woolford took on the very handy David Herd who was playing at second singles, having played previous years atnumberone.Woolfordgave a good account of himself but Herdprovedtoostrong,taking a 6-1, 6-3 victory. Next up was Comber tak- ing on the very experienced Gary Payton. This proved to beavery longandtightmatch with a break of serve in each setprovingdecisive.Unfortu- nately it was not in the Isle of Man’s favour and Payton ran out thewinner 6-4, 6-4. Next up was the first of threedoubles,MasonandRo- nantakingonAndrewTweed- ie and newbie Ben Davidson. This one went to a third-set championshiptie-breakwith the island pair taking thewin 3-6, 6-4, 10-5. The second doubles saw

pickupsoitwasoutwiththe pasterig.Thatproducedfish more quickly, but nothing worthshoutingabout. Later still he changed to corn and caught the odd better fish, but the thickscumgathered closetothepegcoveredboth the angler andhis gear. First to draw was Keith Jones who picked 15, fish- ing mainly with worms. He headedaroundthereeds, in- evitably hooking better fish but got lost in the reeds. Most were shying away from margins, hoping for better fish in deeper water. The small roach were at- tacking any bait put in, even floats, but all-in-all it was a decent afternoon’s fishing. Nobigweights, butanice close match. Well done all and thanks toBernie for do- ing theweigh-in. Result: 1 , Geof f Hurst 50.13lb (£35); 2, Jamie Blis- sett 50.07lb (£15); 3, Geoff Gilbert 46.04lb; 4, Roger Platford 39.07lb; 5, Keith Jones 28.00lb. l With the nights draw- ing in, one more late finish is to take place tomorrow (Wednesday), same time 2-7pm. GEOFF GILBERT

The IsleofMan35-and-over tennis teamthat travelled toEastbourne

inDavid Perrenwhowon 6-2, 6-0. It was then down to the doubles pairing of Ronanand Hunter to keep the match alive, but theAvonpairof Jon- athanCainesandGuyThomas provedwhytheirteamwastop of the division. Ronan and Hunter gave it everything they had on the fi- nal day of a tough weekend, but it wasn’t to be, losing out 3-6, 4-6. This gave the Avon team an unassailable lead, mean- ingthelast twodoubleswould not beplayed. Final score: 3-0 win for Avon. The team would like to thank Isle of Man Lawn Ten- nisAssociationforitsvaluable supportandalsosponsorSean OatesofICRRetailSystemsfor his valuable support for the seventh year in succession. The teamalsodecidedthis year todonateasumofmoney to the charity Isle Listen. For every game the team won £1 would be donated, whichgaveasumof £82tothe charity but the teamdecided to round this up to £100. l

timeagainstahigh-qualityop- ponent in Richard Stock who barely put a foot wrong, run- ning out the victor 6-1, 6-0. Becauseofweatherdelays, the organisers changed the doubles to a fast four format. Hunter and Comber com- bined in the first doubles to take a very narrow 3-4, 4-0, 10-7 win against Neil Kanka andGraemeTucker. Unfortunately this turned out tobe theonlyvictorywith Mason and Ronan unable to do the same against Kanka and Tucker, losing 2-4, 0-4, and Comber and Hunter los- ingout3-4,2-4againstBelfield andStock. This left the overall final score at Somerset 4, Isle of Man 1. OndaythreetheIsleofMan teamfaced their toughest fix- tureof the three, takingonta- ble-toppingAvon. Mason played at second singlesfillinginfortheinjured Woolford and a very tough match against Avon captain JoshWhite ended in a 1-6, 1-6 loss. Comberwasnextupatfirst singlesagainstaqualityplayer

RonanteamupwithHunterto take on the two Cumbria sin- glesplayers,HerdandPayton. This againwas a bit of an epic match, with the Isle of Man pair losing out by thenarrow- est ofmargins 3-6, 6-4, 9-11. In fading light, Woolford and Comber went on court to playTweedieandDavidson. It becameapparentveryquickly that the light andmoistureon the court would cause prob- lems. At six-all, it was decided that the best way would be to settletherubberwithacham- pionship tie-break which re- sultedina10-8winfor the Isle ofMan. This gave thenarrow- estofvictoriestoCumbria3-2. On day two the team took onSomersetwhotheyhadnot metpreviously.Havingloston day one to their close neigh- bours Avon, Somerset were out toget thecampaigngoing. Woolford, again playing at number two singles, started well but Somerset player Pe- ter Belfield just had the edge all the way through, winning 7-5, 6-4. Ronan,fillinginatnumber one singles, had a real tough

Granite Mann entries Entries close today (Tues- day) forthisweekend’sGran- iteMannChallenge. The island’s only offroad Cringle reservoir, followed by a 10km mountain bike ride along the trails of the plantation, culminating in a 5km run along the planta- tiontracks. It isopentoindi- viduals and teams. For details, email Jane triathlon takes place this Sunday, September 19 or- ganised by The Children’s Centreandsponsoredbyac- countancycompanyBrowne Craine&Co. Theeventwillcommence with a 400-metre swim in or Sharon at fundraising@ thechildrenscentre.org.im or visit www.thechildren- scentre.org.im/events

Douglas A seal title asmixed leagues reach conclusion

Isle of Man Mixed Tennis League results frommatches played in week commencing Monday, September 6 (home teamscores shownfirst): MixedDivisionOne CastletownMixedAbeatDouglasRL360 MixedB6-0 - JosWoolford/Lucy Kerr beat Stephen Falconer/MichaelaDuchonova 6-2; Neil Ronan/KirreeRonanbeat Andrew Murray/Tania Thomas 6-4;Woolford / Kerr beatMurray/Thomas 6-2/6-1; Ronan/

DouglasC

6

4 2 0

0 0 0

2 8 4 4 6 0

P 6

W

D 0 0 0 0

L Pts

MIXEDTENNIS

P 6 6 6

W

D 0

L Pts

Woakes /Foy 6-0/6-2.

CastletownD 6

RamseyA

6 4

0 2 5 5

12

DouglasA

6 2 3 0

0 3 3 5

1

Port ErinA

6

These two matches com- plete the mixed league for 2021, with final results in the divisions being as follows: Douglas RL360 A are the Mixed Division One champi- ons, winning all six of their matchesandtakingmaximum points,withCastletownMixed A runners-up.

CastletownB 6 CastletownC 6

8 2

CastletownA 6

1

5 4

Ronanbeat Falconer/Duchonova6-0/6-1.

AlbanyA Douglas B

0

1 1

1

1

Ramsey B 6 2 RamseyCwonMixedDivi- sion Three after winning all sixoftheirmatchesandtaking maximumpoints, withDoug- las C the runners-up. P W D L Pts Ramsey C 6 6 0 0 12

All the match results in- cluding draw standings can found on the competition websiteatwww.competitions. lta.org.uk-click ‘Leagues’ and search for ‘IOM’. PAULJARVIS

MixedDivisionTwo RamseyMixedAbeat CastletownMixed C5-1 - Orry Farnworth/SusanBoot beat TimWoakes/Jenny Foy 6-0; Jonathan Gower-Jackson/HelenBrooks lost to HermanOberholzer/AmandaMunro 3-6; Farnworth/Boot beat Oberholzer/Munro 6-2 /6-3; Gower-Jackson/Brooks beat

Ramsey Mixed A claimed Mixed Division Two by win- ning all six of their matches and taking maximumpoints, with Castletown B runners- up.