Corinthians stalwart Martin Lowe shines in 5-5 draw with title rivals Premier Club

The intriguing sub-plot of the match was whether Club’s two youngsters - Louis Fell and Mia Longman - could get the better of Corinthians veteran Martin Lowe, writes Karl Cousins.

Mia started well against Lowe and raced into a 2-0 lead before Lowe put his foot on the gas to accelerate away in the last three sets to win 6-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-3.

Conversely, Lowe started well against Fell and soon led 11-6, 11-6.

Fell fought his way back into the game to take the next two close games 12-10 and 15-13.

The decider again went to deuce with Lowe staying strong to take it 12-10.

Lowe’s treble meant Corinthians went into the final rubber 5-4 up, but Fell and Longman exacted a measure of revenge to beat Lowe and Glenn Hodgson to tie the match.

Mavericks beat Scalby Old Boys 9-1 thanks to trebles from Dale Symons and Jon Mancrief, and Premier Club B beat Hobnobs 6-4 thanks to an inspired player of the match performance from Gerald Smith.

Net Prophets might have to settle for their current position of second in Division Two after they failed to beat an in-form Premier Wolves side.

In a 5-5 draw Wolves’ Seb Richards won each of his singles matches to be given the player of the match honour.

Nigel Chandley came closest to beating Richards, but from two sets down the promising youngster turned the tables to win the last two in a close match.

Chandley won his two remaining matches and teammate Nigel Escreet also won a brace.

At 4-5 down Net Prophets managed to salvage a draw when the two Nigels beat Richards and Jack Evans in the doubles.

In a lengthy encounter, featuring a number of five-setters, Picadore A held their nerve to come through 7-3 winners against Eraserblades A.

The final rubber went the distance, with Picadore’s Tony Ingham and Vic Hollingsworth beating Adam Pietrzyk and Tony Rudge 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 14-12.