03/03/2005
DUFFIELD DOWN BUT ...
Not quite out. Brian Hargrave reports on what may be the final home match for the Derbyshire club ...
Renan Lavigne lost to Lee Beachill 9-7, 8-10, 5-9,
3-9
Phillip Barker lost to Marcus Berrett 3-9, 7-9, 4-9
Laurence Delasaux beat Peter Billson 6-9, 10-8, 4-9,
9-5, 9-4
Kevin White lost to Shaun le Roux 5-9, 9-3, 2-9, 7-9
Tania Bailey lost to Jenny Duncalf 5-9, 1-9, ret.
Both Benz-Bavarian Duffield
and Manchester/Pontefract
were missing key players but the defending champions finished their
Group A campaign in grand style, claiming their seventh victory of the
season with a 4-1 win at Duffield.
The Derbyshire club's dreams turned to nightmares in the opening match
when Tania Bailey, the
Lincolnshire 25-year-old who has been beset by a variety of injury woes
over the past few years, was forced to concede after two games against
the visitors' Jenny Duncalf.
Bailey, who beat world No 3 Natalie Grinham, in round 8 started where
she left off and quickly established a 5-1 lead and she looked
completely in charge against the world No 10. Suddenly there were
worrying signs as Bailey began to struggle with her breathing and
Duncalf showed no mercy, allowing her opponent to win just one
more point before Bailey reluctantly decided that she had not fully
recovered from the upper respiratory problem which had forced her to
pull out of the TOC in New York.
It was Duncalf's seventh successive win for the trans-Pennine
cooperative this season.
Kevin White, a founder member
of the Duffield NL team 11 years ago, was making his first appearance
of this season after recovering from shoulder surgery. White faced Shaun le Roux, the 18-year-old from
Yorkshire making his league debut. White put up a brave show and could
consider himself unlucky to be on the receiving end of a couple of
crucial decisions which upset both player and the home supporters.
White went down fighting 5-9, 9-3, 2-9, 7-9. How fitting it was that
Kevin’s father, John White, former secretary and a driving force behind
the original NL venture should return to the Club for what could well
be the last NL home tie.
In an all-Yorkshire clash, European junior champion Laurence Delasaux provided the sole
Duffield win after overcoming Peter
Billson 6-9 10-8 4-9 9-5 9-4. A most enjoyable encounter saw the
talented Delasaux pitted against the gritty much improved Billson.
Laurence’s father Colin inspired his son to come back from 2-1 down to
give the home team a glimmer of hope.
Renan Lavigne felt he owed the
Duffield supporters a good performance and he came close to pulling of
the shock of the night. After taking the first game 9-7 Lavigne led 8-6
in the second as a tired looking Lee
Beachill was making mistakes under pressure. At game point for a
2-0 lead lavigne gambled went for an ambitious overhead smash winner.
He duly tinned it and world number two Beachill took the game and went
on to win the tie for his team. The three-times British National
champion had to work hard but once he got his nose in front he hardly
made a mistake. The brave Frenchman had helped to produce an
entertaining rubber for the near full house.
In the dead rubber, Marcus Berrett
clinched a 4-1 victory for the visitors with a 9-3 9-7 9-4 win over Phillip Barker who threatened
briefly in the second game.
The NL future remains uncertain but Pontefract owner Mick Todd walked off with a Solingen
110 piece canteen of cutlery valued at £2700 when he made the
highest auction bid which will add over £350 towards any future
NL venture of the small Derbyshire Club.
The Duffield Manager Brian Hargrave
duly received his peace offering of a lemon meringue pie and said a few
kind words about the sponsors, loyal supporters and the referees who
are disappointed if they do not get a mention and who have retained a
smile and sense of humour throughout.
Team sponsor Felix Frixou was
disappointed to lose a NL tie on his birthday whilst joint match sponsor Mike Knifton enjoyed his between
rallyies discussion with the world No 2. The other match sponsor,
British Gypsum employee and chairman of Gym, Russell Moore, turned up but kept
his shirt on to advertise getting plastered
.
Contributor: Brian Hargrave
Club: Duffield
Link: http://
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