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First up on Monday night was a battle for control of the group between the Firecrackers and the Toffees. While the Toffees brought a 100% match record into this tie it was the Pumpkins who held a narrow ten game lead, thanks to their early season high scoring performances. With the Pumpkins missing a couple of their star performers the Toffees were looking for an early boost but Paul Lendrum and substitute Liz Murphy were unable to make an impression on Pumpkin stand in Dominic Burns and star on the night Jenny Humphries whose display of power forehands and timely volleys saw the Pumpkins lead 9-3. Backed up by a gruelling 7-5 victory for Clive Funston and Pumpkins captain Josie Boyle and a very tense 7-5 win for Roman Stefanyan and Vanessa McBrien over rivals Matt Dillon and Vivienne Kells the game was slipping away from the Toffees. Step up James Wilson and Mary Griffin who single handed dragged the Toffees back in to the tie with a conclusive and powerful 10-2 victory in the mixed doubles leaving the Toffees only two behind at the halfway stage. With their hopes now restored the Toffees raced into the lead with James and Matt combining to defeat Keith Miller and Roman 9-3 making outright leadership of the group a distinct possibility. However when Paul Lendrum and Donal Burns were unable to make their power tennis count against the never say die partnership of Clive Funston and stand in Dominic Burns, with the Pumpkins fighting back for a 6-6 draw, it was time for Jenny Humphries to again take centre stage with an impressive 9-3 win with Josie Boyle, over Liz Murphy and Ann Elliott. The Pumpkins final pairing of Vanessa McBrien and Anne Smyth played superb tennis to hold off Vivienne Kells and Mary Griffin in a crucial 6-6 draw and secure an overall 49-47 Pumpkin victory which should now be enough to secure group victory and qualification for the semi finals in December.
Having seen the Toffees defeated at last, the Bonfires now saw a chance to challenge for the second qualifying place in Monday nights second match against the Wizards. A repeat of their early season 64-32 thrashing of the Wizards would get the Bonfires within a manageable 10 games of the Toffees with 2 rounds remaining. Top pairing of Danny Redmond and Louise McGann got them off on the right footing with an 8-4 victory over Innes Redmond and Helen Cooper followed up immediately by a 7-5 win for John Reihill and Leonie Madigan.. While Gareth Armstrong and Bennie Sheridan kept the Wizards hopes up with a close fought 7-5 victory these hopes were short lived when Catherine Sloan playing with stand-in Mark Cousins won their match in conclusive style 10-2 setting up a 12 game lead at the halfway mark. More of the same would keep the Bonfires on course but the Wizards were not giving up. In the match of the night Innes Redmond and Martin Sharkey at last found some magic and secured a thrilling 7-5 victory over Danny and John. With the next two matches ending in tight 6-6 draws it was only after a magnificent 9-3 victory for top ladies Louise McGann and Leonie Madigan over Helen and Moira McAdam that the Bonfires were able to stretch their halfway lead and win the tie 56-40.
When the Bangers took to the court on Wednesday night, still in search of their first league victory, to face runaway group leaders the Firecrackers it was more in hope than expectation. However to their credit they managed to raise their game across the whole team and while still defeated 55-41 on the night the Bangers fought hard in every match losing by the minimum 7-5 in three of the eight ties and drawing 6-6 in a mammoth battle between John Griffin and Bernadette Cornyn against Bangers top pairing of Davy Thompson and Bernie Hall. The Firecrackers key victories on the night were provided by Allen Reynolds and Neville Crawford as well as Bernadette Cornyn and Andrea Crawford in the ladies doubles while the Bangers did manage to win the last match of the tie 7-5 with a win for Ruth Elliott and Sheila Colville.
With only two matches remaining after tonight Wednesday night was likely to be the Rockets last chance to take the shine off the Sparklers 7 game lead in the race for the last qualifying place in the group. Needing a strong start against the Sparklers top pairings to inspire the Rockets things did not go according to plan as both their leading doubles teams were defeated 8-4. Reggie Ferguson and Bridie McCaffrey did manage to secure a much needed 7-5 victory over Martin Hamblin and Bennie Sheridan in for the injured Anne Mooney. However it was with the last mixed doubles pairing of Brian Donaldson and Lisa Greaves for the Sparklers that the Rockets saw their chances for the semi-final fade away as Brian and Lisa both struck top form at the same time and recorded a crushing 11-1 victory for the Sparklers leaving them 16 games ahead at the halfway stage. Matters did not improve for the Rockets as the Sparklers went on to win all 4 matches in the men's and ladies doubles giving them an amazing 63-33 victory in what was expected by all to be a tight and tense battle for a semi final place.
Standings after week 7 with the top two to qualify from each group are:
Monday Nights: Pumpkins 329 games, Toffees 317, Bonfires 299 (all 6 matches played) Conkers 203 and Wizards 196 (5 matches played)
Wednesday Night: Firecrackers 382 games, Sparklers 350, Rockets 329, Bangers 283 (All 7 matches played)