Lodgers battle closer than score

It was one of those, Scott Sykes against David Kime, which provided the B team’s only victory, David coming from 2-1 down to take the next two ends.

Trev Blackbourn was unlucky to lose two of his games in a deciding leg, against Darcie Proud and Andy Birks, whilst Colin Bell was 2-0 sets up against Andy, only to see Andy take the next three for an unlikely victory.

Penmaen took another 10 points in their inexorable rise up the table when Wrangle were the visitors, seven of the games being over in straight sets, led by Derek Wood and Brett Heppenstall, although Dave Coulson went down at deuce in one set against both players.

Pete Evans went closest to causing an upset, going down to Alan Ashberry in the fifth set, whilst Sam Cooper had to be content with winning a solitary end, against Alan.

Lodgers Blades were indebted to Simon Raistrick for his contribution when they hosted Graves Park C, Simon beating Martin Walters and Graham Walters, in four sets each time, whilst Gavin Read went down in four sets in each of his three games.

Scott Raistrick had a tight three set tussle against Martin, losing two of the legs at deuce.

The doubles was the only five-setter of the match, Simon and Gavin losing out to Martin and James Quinton to wrap up a rather disappointing evening for the Blades.

Four days makes a real difference in table tennis, Wrangle bouncing back from their defeat at Penmaen to record a 7-3 victory against Graves Park A, Sam Cooper winning his three, including a deuce victory in the fifth set against number seven-ranked Rob Smith.

Rob replied with a straight set win over Dave Coulson, whilst Phil Brooks was the other Park player to record a singles victory, beating Pete Evans in five sets.

The doubles was the tightest game of the evening, Sam and Pete taking on Phil and Rob, and requiring a fifth set decider to determine a winner – which provided Graves Park their third point of the match.

Brian Hill made a rare appearance for Penmaen when they visited Stickney, maintaining his undefeated record with three victories in straight sets.

Paul Hartnett made the Penmaen players work hard for their wins, going down at deuce in the third end to Brett Heppenstall, and losing two deuce sets to Alan Ashberry.

Jack Christian took the third end against Brett, but for the rest, it was mainly one-way traffic.

Lodgers E’s Vic Clements renewed his acquaintance with the first division, playing for Lodgers A against Sibsey C, and had a tremendous evening, winning his games against Dave Smith and Chris Cooke in straight sets.

Roger Hooten won the only game of the night for Sibsey, beating Vic in five sets, and also took the only other set of the evening, against Tim Day.

Dave took Tim to deuce in the second leg, but it was generally an evening the Sibsey players will not wish to dwell on for long.

Results:

Division One: Lodgers C 9 Lodgers B 1, Penmaen 10 Wrangle 0, Lodgers Blades 2 Graves Park C 8, Wrangle 7 Graves Park A 3, Stickney 0 Penmaen 10, Lodgers A 9 Sibsey C 1

Division Two: Graves Park E 1 Graves Park D, Lodgers D 2 Sibsey B 8, Mayflower Pilgrims 3 Graves Park D 7, Sibsey B 10 Belchford 0.