The Men’s 3s were edged out by Bournemouth 1s in a middle of the table clash. Ben Leslie set the tone with a fantastic 3-2 victory, while Tom Walters and Kieran McGahan narrowly lost. Ben Maxwell was also unable to match his opponent, and with the result beyond doubt, Captain Fin Kettlewell lost his dead rubber encounter.
McGahan was moving well from the outset, enabling him to close out the opening game 11-8. Losing his way a little in the second game, McGahan fell 3-11 to his Bournemouth counterpart. Starting the third game with real intent, McGahan took a 5-3 lead, but the Exeter player let his concentration slip and lost 7-11. Unfortunately, the final game was extremely one-sided and McGahan lost with only one point to his name.
Ben Leslie struggled to match his opponent’s early intensity and went two games down to his Bournemouth counterpart. In the third game, howevever, Leslie was looking and playing with much more character. In a must-win game, Leslie emerged the 13-11 victor in what was becoming a fascinating duel and went on to win the final two games against his increasingly riled opponent.
At third seed, Tom Walters took an early lead and won the first game 11-6. At 5-8 down in the second, Walters was still fighting to stay in the game. However, Bournemouth were equal to his challenge and he lost 6-11. Despite going to a decider, Walters was unable to complete the job falling 5-11 in the crucial fifth game.
In a must-win encounter, it was Ben Maxwell’s opponent who settled quicker and looked more comfortable, winning the first game 5-11. Unfortunately, Maxwell never seemed to have the better of his opponent and despite a mini comeback in the third game, he was unable to make it telling, losing three games to nil.
Although the result had already been decided, Fin Kettlewell raced into a one-game lead against his opponent. Bournemouth came out fighting and wrestled back the initiative, and the match, as his visiting opponent won three games in a row.