Astros took on Island Ladies, still celebrating from their Jersey Open victory last weekend, and despite the scoreline Ladies were in control of some of the rallies with excellent blocking and court coverage.
However, the power of the Astros men told on numerous occasions but as they succumbed to mistakes at times, letting Ladies regroup, it led to a highly competitive and entertaining game.
Excellent setting and defence from Paula Hindley was matched by strong hitting and blocking by Michelle Hervieu with Astros taking the win 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-10).
Pentagon Red Hot Tomatoes were jubilant in their 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) defeat of Walkers II although they were made to work at times by this season’s most improved team.
An excellent first senior game from Matt Le Marquand was matched by strong play from Stuart Black through the middle.
This leaves a tempting final league day next weekend as Pentagon RHT face the Island Ladies and Astros play Walkers I with the league hinging on the results of these games and also the sets difference involved.
Meanwhile in the mixed league, the Jersey Juniors team put up a strong attempt to break down Usual Suspects but lost out 3-1 (26-24, 24-26, 25-23, 25-19).
With all four sets close, it could have gone either way and despite their best performance so far, Juniors were unlucky not to win the match or at least take it to five sets – notable performances from Natalia and Natasha de Jesus, Chris de Rue and Ryan Vautier for Juniors.
The other match in this league led to Walkers’ unbeaten run this season finally coming to an end as ABN Amro were able to get the better of them after a tense and thrilling five set win 3-2 (26-24, 21-25, 17-25, 25-17, 16-14).
The final set proved an epic affair, 16-14, with the experience of Walkers able to pull back but just too late – notable performances from Steve Holmes, Ross Angell, Deirdre de Rue from Walkers and Adrian Moss from ABN Amro.
