North Ayrshire fought back from 3-2 down to beat league newcomers Brighton in the first tie of the 2022/23 Senior British League Premier Division. The thrilling back-and-forth affair was only decided in the final set of the final match.

Joseph Langham-Ferreira, Jordan Wykes and Mark Scutts made the journey to Scotland, lining up against North Ayrshire’s Colin Dalgleish, Christopher Main and Martin Johnson.

Brighton stormed into a 2-0 lead in their first Premier Division outing, Langham-Ferreira and Wykes beating Dalgleish and Main respectively.

Dalgleish didn’t have to wait for long to get a win on the board, pairing up with Johnson to beat Wykes and Langham-Ferreira in the doubles.

At 2-1 the tie was showing signs of the exciting finish that was in store.

Scutts was unable to hold off an impressive looking Johnson, losing out in three. At the same time Wykes put Brighton TTC on the verge of victory beating Dalgleish 11-5, 11-6, 11-8.

The south-coast side were close to a perfect start to Premier Division life, poised at 3-2 going into the last round of matches. Main lined up against Scutts with Johnson and Langham-Ferreira playing in front of a large and particularly raucous crowd.

Main took the first two sets in his match before being given a scare as Scutts took the third, and then the lead in the fourth. Main’s experience came through as he hung on to win 11-9 and level the overall scores at 3-3.

All eyes then turned to the final set of the Johnson and Langham-Ferreira tie that sat at 2-2. Johnson took an early lead at 5-2, but momentum shifted, and Langham-Ferreira made it 8-7. Johnson halted the Brighton march to victory with four points in a row to win the final set 11-8 and the overall match 4-3.

The match was the first to be broadcast live on TTE.tv

The next round of SBL Premier Division fixtures take place on Saturday 22nd October. Ormeau are set to host Urban TTC, with BATTS travelling to Fusion.

North Ayrshire 4 Brighton TTC 3

Joseph Langham-Ferreira bt Colin Dalgleish 3-1 (11-5, 6-11, 16-14, 14-12)

Jordan Wykes bt Christopher Main 3-0 (11-3, 114, 11-5)

Colin Dalgleish/Martin Johnson bt Jordan Wykes/Joseph Langham-Ferreira 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-7)

Martin Johnson bt Mark Scutts 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-8)

Jordan Wykes bt Colin Dalgleish 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-8)

Martin Johnson bt Joseph Langham-Ferreira 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8)

Christopher Main bt Mark Scutts 3-1 (11-6, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9)