Ormeau moved to the top of the Senior British Clubs League, Championship division with a perfect weekend of four victories in Nottingham.
Ormeau, spurred by eight wins out of eight for Mat Ware (pictured above, photo by Michael Loveder), head the table by a point from BATTS II and Perry Dale as previous leaders Wymondham picked up only two points all weekend to drop to sixth.
The other big movers were Urban, who climbed from bottom place to fifth as they won three and drew one across the weekend.
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Only one of the top five won their opening match of the weekend, and it was a whitewash as hosts Nottingham beat Ormesby II 8-0.
Urban picked up their first victory of the season with a 5-3 scoreline against BATTS, though they were made to sweat after seeing a 4-0 lead whittled away to 4-3. Liam McTiernan got them over the line by beating Ethan Walsh 3-1 (9-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-5) in the final match to complete a personal double having earlier defeated Jack Bennett.
Leaders Wymondham were held 4-4 by Perry Dale in a match which saw the lead change hands four times. Perry Dale took the first tie but Wymondham hit back to lead 2-1 after James Hobson beat Sam Wilson 12-10 in the fifth.
Perry Dale again moved in front at 3-2 but again Wymondham won two in a row, including Hobson’s five-game victory over Max Radiven which ended the latter’s 100% record in his 10th match.
The final match was a tight four-setter as Wilson earned a point for Perry Dale with a 12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7 win over Connor Whitehead.
Wensum scented their first victory of the season when they led Woodford Wells 3-1, with Lauren Charles and Wayne Mason both notching wins in the fifth, only for the Essex team hit back to lead 4-3. Mason ensured Wensum were not left empty-handed as he beat Lucas Papantoniou 3-2 (11-4, 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9) in the final match.
Ormeau started with a 6-2 win over Milton Keynes, and they followed up with a 7-1 victory over Woodford in the Saturday afternoon fixtures. Jonathan Mooney and Mat Ware took doubles in both those victories.
BATTS recovered from their opening defeat with an emphatic 8-0 win over Wensum, five of the matches done in three and only Mason going the distance, against Jack Bennett, who hit back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 (11-13, 11-13, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7).
Urban got their second victory, 6-2 against Wymondham, whose two wins were both earned by Hobson. Krish Chotai and Alim Hirji doubled up for Urban.
It was also 6-2 for Perry Dale against Nottingham, who actually led 2-1 after Owen Brown had overcome Joseph Marlor in a decider. Perry Dale hit back to win the next five, with doubles for Wilson and Harri Docherty.
Ormesby had won only one of their opening five fixtures, but they changed that with a 5-3 scoreline against Milton Keynes. They romped into a 3-0 lead and also won match five, but they were made to wait for victory as Matt Evans beat Josh Weatherby 11-9 in the fifth and Yan Masa Hiko defeated Tom Rayner 11-8 in the decider. Zac Greenhough settled Ormesby nerves as he beat Ben Dunkley in three.
Ormesby backed up that victory on Sunday morning as they defeated Woodford Wells 5-3 – it might have been more emphatic as the Middlesbrough side led 5-1 after doubles for Graeme Barella and Rayner, who clinched the points with a 3-2 (11-8, 10-12, 16-14, 8-11, 11-9) win over Denise Payet. Woodford won the final two matches to put a gloss on the scoreline – including a 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 14-16, 12-10, 13-11) win for Emmanuel Kwesi Asante over Greenhough.
Ormeau kept on their roll with a 7-1 margin against Wensum, while BATTS also maintained their challenge as they poured more misery on Wymondham with a 6-2 scoreline – though Wymondham led 2-0.
The other two matches ended in 4-4 draws and Urban dropped what turned out to be their only point of the weekend as they were held by Nottingham. Urban were 2-1 and 3-2 down but led 4-3 after McTiernan – a member of the title-winning London Academy team last season – beat Joe Sawyer 3-2 (8-11, 12-10, 11-13, 14-12, 11-8). Brown earned the point for Nottingham as he beat Jasmin Wong in three in the final match.
It was also 4-4 between Perry Dale and Milton Keynes, with the victories going in blocks of two – Perry Dale went 2-0 and 4-2 up but were pegged back both times, and MK kept the pattern going as Evans beat Marlor 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-5) in match seven and Takuya Nakai overcame Mari Baldwin 3-2 (11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9) in the eighth and final tie.
Sunday afternoon’s final round saw Urban complete their good weekend with an 8-0 win over Milton Keynes.
Wymondham and Wensum shared a 4-4 draw, meaning bottom-placed Wensum are still waiting for their first victory, although they have drawn half of their matches.
That latest draw saw them recover from 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 down to claim a point which was sealed by Mason’s win in four over Shun Hei Chang.
Up at the top, the leading three all won 6-2 to set up a three-point buffer ahead of the chasing pack.
Perry Dale did the hard yards at the start of their match against Woodford Wells, going 4-0 up with three of the matches going to a decider – the closest seeing Marlor beat Adam Alibhai 12-10, while Baldwin beat Payet in the battle of two senior England internationals. Although Woodford won the next two, Radiven (against Payet) and Baldwin (12-10 in a decider against Alibhai) completed Perry Dale’s victory.
BATTS saw off Nottingham, leading 4-1 but being held up as Sawyer beat Walsh 11-9 in the fifth. It only delayed the result, though.
Ormeau made sure they led the table as they triumphed 6-2 over Ormesby in a match featuring a couple of eye-catching scorelines. The Ulster side won the first four, including Mooney’s 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 12-14, 19-17, 11-8) victory over Weatherby. If that was a marathon, then so was Mooney’s second match – this time he was on the losing end against Tom Rayner, who won it 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 20-18, 12-10).
Mat Ware won Match 6 to complete a personal double to seal the result for the new leaders – and it also completed a perfect weekend for Ware, who now heads the averages with 100% from his eight matches, having missed the first weekend.
Of the players to have seen most action, Mooney and Radiven have both won 14/16 for an average of 87.5%.
So, Ormeau lead the table with 12pts, one more than BATTS and Perry Dale. There is then a gap of three points to Nottingham, Urban and Wymondham.
The next action is the ‘pivot’ day on Saturday 7 December, when the teams will play the final match of the first half of the season, followed by the first of the second half. Ormeau versus Perry Dale looks to be the pick of the morning matches.