Pontefract 1's whitewash win keeps their title hopes alive and helps stablemates' relegation fight
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Doncaster won 19-9 at mid-table Dunnington, with their highlight being a brilliant comeback by their Pontefract-born world ranked star Asia Harris, who battled back from losing the first two games 11-4 11-1 against Sam Gibbon to win the third on a tie-break, then take the next two.
But Pontefract whitewashed Woodfield, with their 20-3 success reducing the gap at the top by one to 10 points and they may be further encouraged by the fact that all three of their remaining fixtures are against teams in the bottom half of the table.
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Hide AdIt was their second maximum of the season and did their stablemates Pontefract 2 a big favour at the bottom of the table.
Skipper Matt Godson and Adam Taylor gave the hosts a pleasing start by winning in three and four games respectively, before Tom Bamford swept Woodfield head coach Alex Cutts aside in three entertaining, clean games to register the bonus points.
Although Elijah Thomas's clash with Caleb Boy was also a straight-games affair, it was by no means straightforward for the New Zealander as each game finished 13-11. That set the stage for the no.1s and Ponte's 23-year-old Egyptian Omar El Torkey to finish off a great night for the home crowd by battling back from two down against former England international George Parker for a sizzling 6-11 6-11 11-8 11-3 11-8 win.
Pontefract 2 went 10 points clear of the dreaded dotted line with a 15-10 win at Harrogate.
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Hide AdRoss Kneller struck an early blow for the Straysiders, but back came Connor Sheen for Ponte as his recent ankle injury did not seem too much of a problem as he swept to a 3-0 win over Richard Hinds.
The night's highlight was the second string tussle between Ben Hetherington and Gabriel Cox.
Hetherington not only battled back from two games down, he then saved eight match balls to squeeze out a crucial 16/14 win in the fifth.
But when Harrogate's Lawmba Chileshe won the all-Kiwi battle at top string with Mason Smales in three games, it set the stage for a winner-takes-all clash between the third strings, Chester Dockray and Lewis Harding.
Almost inevitably, it also went to five with Ponte's Dockray winning the decider 11-7 and giving his side a massive relegation tonic.