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Photos: Dave Hughes
Last Wednesday, five sublime individual performances helped York destroy Leeds Met 2nds to finish second in their BUCS league table, just three points behind Northumbria 1sts.
Myles Knight began the rout as he demolished Ollie Haworth 3-0 on Court 5. The Dark Knight put in some great forehand smashes, leaving his opponent wrong-footed on numerous occasions. The 11-3, 11-1, 11-4 score-lines reflected Knight’s dominance, providing the perfect start to a stunning York display.
On Court 4, Matt Johnson saw off Leeds’ Chris Baird 3-1 in the closest of the five encounters; whilst on Court 3 David Potter was sticking to his “drop it like it’s hot” philosophy as his slices were proving too much for Stuart Proctor. The Leeds Met player threw his racquet on the floor in frustration after Potter took the match 3-0.
Matt Lewis demonstrated the moves like Jagger as he ran out the 3-1 winner against Andrew Steeper on Court 2; Lewis’ footwork and movement proved to be a key factor in his victory. Losing the first game 7-11; Lewis upped his game and fought back admirably to leave Steeper wondering whether he was facing the same player in the final three games.
And it was left to Ed “The Cannon” Shannon to finish the job as he beat Tom Pepper on Court 1. Some rookie errors left Pepper screaming at himself after gifting Shannon the first game 11-8, and the York player doubled his lead as he deservedly took the second game to edge him ever closer to the win. But, a spirited performance from Pepper brought the scores level at 2-2, after 10-12, 9-11 games. The finale, though, was over in a flash. Shannon’s stamina and quality shone through as he roared to an 11-1 victory in the final game and afterwards said it was a “horrible game, but a great win.”