North Ayrshire finish strong

May 24, 2023

North Ayrshire TTC welcomed top London club, Urban TT, to Saltcoats for the final match of the British Premier League campaign and it was another close affair. A great friendly match with a social on Friday night followed by fierce competition on Saturday.

NATTC started off with the impressive Martin Johnson on top form, leading the talented Toby Ellis 2-0. Toby came back in the third from 10-7 down, saving three match points to take the set 14-12. Martin came back in the fourth set blowing Toby away with a top class set winning 11-4, taking the match 3-1.

Martin’s younger brother Jamie, making his home British Premier League debut, had a great match with Urbans number 1 player, Alim Hirji. Jamie lost the first two sets to deuce, coming back in the next two, but Alim came through in the final set to take the match. Good performance from Jamie making his home debut.

Martin Johnson and Chris Main were dominant in the doubles with a good 3-0 win over Toby and Alim. They also produced top class singles performances, both playing at their peak beating Hirji and Hamblet 3-0.

Martin and Chris knew two wins would secure the match and secure third place overall, maybe second depending on results elsewhere. The match score going into the final two matches was 4-1 to NATTC.

The final two matches went to Urban and a 4-3 match victory for North Ayrshire secured third place. A great achievement for our club to finish third in the British Premier League after second place last season.

The team now heads to London for the inaugural British Premier Cup, competing against 8 clubs over the weekend of 3rd June.

Match report by Billy Main