THE leaders of the first division Torbay Academy 1, with another fine victory over one of their closest challengers NA Batmen, are closing in on the title, writes Tony Halse.

Both Adam Shipway and Toma Mitranescu were unbeaten for the Academy as they comfortably beat the Batmen 8-2.

The NA Buzzards, with two matches and two wins this week, are currently in the runners-up position. Kevin Nicholls and Herbie Sage secured maximums in the Buzzards 7-3 victory over Brixham Sharks and Nicholls again and skipper Sonja Ryland completed maximums in a 9-1 victory over Halwell B. Not a good couple of days for the Halwell B team with a second defeat on consecutive nights to Newton Abbot opposition, as they went down 7-3 to a Ben Yarde-Buller inspired NA Eagles.

The second division leaders Torbay Academy 2, who had the week off, are unlikely to be caught so the battle is for the runners-up position with several teams in the mix. Torre Titans currently have the edge following two wins this week over Dawlish Aces and NA Raptors, however Brixham Gulls also with two wins this week are hot on their heels.

There were maximums from Martin Sharp for the Gulls in an 8-2 win over NA Owls and for Alan Maynard as the Gulls defeated clubmates the Trawlers 7-3. Torre Titans’ Rhys Lush and Ed Crawford had maximums in both of their encounters, an 8-2 victory over Dawlish Aces followed by a similar score line against NA Raptors.

The top teams in both the third and fourth divisions had matches postponed this week which gave the mid-table teams an opportunity to close the gap.

Maximums from Robert Johnston and Natty Mitranescu helped Torbay Academy 5 climb up the third division table with a fine 7-3 win over NA Hawks.  The two third division Torre sides could not be separated as the Vikings shared the points with the Tornadoes, Steve Russell with a maximum for the Vikings.

NA Ospreys edged the all Newton Abbot fourth division encounter over NA Kites 6-4 thanks to another maximum from Ken Ramsden. Marc Grim was undefeated for Dawlish Doubtfuls but they lost out to NA Vultures 7-3 thanks to a fine all round team performance from the Vultures.

RESULTS:

DIVISION 1 

NA Buzzards 7 (Nicholls 3, H Sage 3, Ryland 1), Brixham Sharks 3 (Millman 1, Harper 1, Dbls).

Halwell B 4 (Sugden 2, Wadling 1, Symons 0, Dbls),NA Eagles 6 (Yarde-Buller 3, Gaston 2, Broad 1).

NA Buzzards 9 (Ryland 3, Nicholls 3, H Sage 2, Dbls), Halwell B 1 (Wadling 1, Sugden 0, Symons 0).

NA Batmen 2 (S Gibbs 1, Jackson 1, D Gibbs 0), Torbay Academy (1) 8 (T Mitranescu 3, Shipway 3, A Mitranescu 1, Dbls).

DIVISION 2

NA Owls 2 (M Cyron 1, C Sage 1, W Cyron 0), Brixham Gulls 8 (Sharp 3, Pack 2, Edwards 2, Dbls).

Brixham Trawlers 3 (Saxby 2, Williamson 1, Lamden 0), Brixham Gulls 7 (Maynard 3, Edwards 2, Pack 1, Dbls).

Torre Titans 8 (Lush 3, Crawford 3, Garner 2), NA Raptors 2 (Darch 1, Tyler 0, Hine 0, Dbls).

Torre Titans 8 (Lush 3, Crawford 3, Garner 1, Dbls), Dawlish Aces 2 (Davies 1, Sharratt 1, Kashap 0).

DIVISION 3

NA Hawks 3 (Whitehorn 1, Sercombe 1, Kitchen 1), Torbay Academy (5) 7 (Mitranescu 3, Johnston 3, Ichim 0, Dbls).

Torre Tornadoes 5 (Keywood 2, Davies 2, James 0, Dbls), Torre Vikings 5 (Russell 3, Holtham 1, Excell 1).

DIVISION 4

NA Ospreys 6 (Ramsden 3, Ferguson 2, Dulling 0, Dbls), NA Kites 4 (Northcott 2, Stratton 1, Shirt 1).

NA Vultures 7 ( Thain 2, Wilson 2, Ozuna Montero 2, Dbls), Dawlish Doubtfuls 3 (M Grim 3, S Grim 0, Pook 0).