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Last week saw the final group matches in the Erne Business Equipment Spring League played out with places in the semi finals up for grabs.
Having last week beaten group leaders the Staplers, the Erasers this week made a huge effort to seize the top qualifying spot, winning their final tie against the Punchers by a massive 60-36. Despite the gap on the scoreboard a lot of the matches were close encounters with four of them finishing 6 games apiece, However it was the very strong middle pairings that did the damage for the Erasers with Sonja Hateboer and Leonie Madigan winning 11-1 and Stephen Kettyles and Sandra Parker backing this up with a comfortable 10-2 win in the mixed.
However, with the Staplers having won the opening Monday night tie against the Markers by 52-44, the Erasers had to settle for the second semi spot behind pool winners the Staplers. Key scorers on the night for the table toppers were Seamus O'Connell and Gwen Wilson winning their mixed match 10-2. However with the Markers winning 4 of the remaining 7 matches the Staplers needed their top ladies, Ita Hughes and Moira McAdam to step up to the Markers, winning their ladies doubles match 9-3 and ultimately securing the top group spot.
First tie on Wednesday night had the bottom two teams in the group battling only for pride. The Copiers went into the tie trailing the Binders by 13 games but in a surprise turnaround managed a 55-41 victory to push the Binders to the bottom by a single point. The telling contribution came from Copiers captain Bernie Cornyn and mixed partner Davy Thompson who crafted an impressive 9-3 victory in the opening match to put the Copiers in control from the off. Despite competing gamely in all of the remaining 7 matches the Binders couldn't buy a win, drawing 3 of the 7 matches and losing the other 4 by the minimum 7-5 score line.
As both sides in the last match of the week were already assured of qualification, this gave the Dispensers and the Toners an opportunity to test each others strength in a possible dress rehearsal for the league final. The Dispensers, who began this tie leading the Toners by 13 games lead, set off at a flying pace and took the opening four mixed doubles matches by a total of 8 games looking set fair to win the tie. The Toners however regrouped and after a fine 9-3 win for Bridie McCaffrey and Jennifer Kelly in the ladies doubles the Toners led by 2 games with only one match remaining. Martin Hamblin and Brendan Duffy, combining their different styles managed to turn the match back in favour of the Dispensers winning the last match 8-4 and securing a narrow 49-47 win for the Dispensers.
The week's results now mean that the Semi Final line ups are complete with Helen Cooper's Dispensers taking on Sonja Hateboer's Erasers at 7:00 pm on Monday 28th March followed at 8:30pm by Moira McAdams Staplers against Bridie McCaffrey's Toners.
The two winners will then meet in the Erne Business Equipment League Final at 8:00pm on Wednesday 30th March.
Final Pool Standings as follows with the top two from each group in semi finals
Monday Nights: Staplers 463 games, Erasers 460, Punchers 404, Markers 401
Wednesday Night: Dispensers 452 games, Toners 437, Copiers 420, Binders 419