Top two battle it out in table tennis league

Lodgers A took on Lodgers J and edged a 6-4 win.

Brett Heppenstall was the only player to come out of the battle unscathed, taking all of his three points, brushing aside Gary Hill and Graham Lacey in straight sets but having to work much harder against Kelvin Clements, taking the decisive fifth end 7-11.

As far as singles went, that was as good as it got for the J team.

Gary, Kelvin and Graham all won their remaining match-ups against Alan Ashberry and Chris Christoforou to give them six points.

All that was left was the doubles, with Brett and Alan teaming up against Kelvin and Graham. Kelvin and Graham drew first blood, but after that Brett and Alan showed why they are a formidable doubles partnership, taking the next three ends 6-11, 7-11 and 10-12 to make the scoreline a more respectable 6-4 in favour of Lodgers A.

It was a much needed 6-4 victory for Stickney when they welcomed Graves Park A.

Gavin Herberts was the star man for Stickney, taking three victories, only dropping an end to Alan Reetham and Rob Smith respectively.

Vince Lozynsky also had a very good evening, taking two very good victories against Alan Reetham and Phil Brooks, but found it much tougher going against Rob Smith.

Rob Smith was the Park player who inflicted the most damage with two victories, both in straight ends, with neither Paul Hartnett or Vince Lozynsky able to halt the Rob Smith attack.

It was only the counter-attacking game of Gavin Herberts that was able to do that - Gavin winning in four ends.

Phil and Rob did team up in the doubles, comfortably winning in straight ends to give the scorecard a closer look.

James Quinton was the star player when Graves Park C visited Lodgers Blades, with the Park player unbeaten.

Simon Raistrick and Gavin Read pushed him hard, but it was Quinton’s night.

Graham and Martin Walters backed him up with two points apiece, with Martin losing to Simon Raistrick and Graham just coming up short in five ends against Gavin Read.

It was a tough night for Lodgers’ Nathan Raistrick, but he can take heart by taking an end of the experienced Martin Walters and taking James Quinton to deuce.

The doubles also went the way of the Park with James and Martin being too strong for Simon and Gavin.

It was a thoroughly entertaining evening when Sibsey took on Lodgers C, with some excellent games and rallies despite Lodgers C taking the match comfortably 9-1.

Steve Allen took his customary three points without dropping an end and hopefully will soon be making an appearance in the top 10 when he has played enough matches.

Scott Sykes backed him up with three points, although he nearly blew it against Neil Snaith, being two points games up only to be taken to a fifth set which he nervously took 9-11.

Andy Pocklington added two points, taking points from Dave Smith and the resurgent Neil Snaith, but could do nothing about the unusual stylings of Roger Hooton, who bamboozled him with his chopping.

Although the scoreline says 1-9, it has to be said that the nets and edges were definitely in Lodgers’ favour.

In Division Two, Mayflower 2 did Lodgers D a big favour by gifting them three points by only managing to field two players in Wayne Grooby and Tony Hall.

And it was definitely a case of ‘what if?’ with Mayflower winning four of the singles.

Wayne Grooby and Tony Hall both earned victories over Tony Kime and Richard Scott, although it took a close fifth end for Wayne to get past the experienced Tony Kime.

It was Lodgers’ Steve Hill who was the principle points taker with and excellent five-set victory over ex-teammate Wayne Grooby and a straight sets win over Tony Hall.

With the match poised at 5-4, Mayflower still had the opportunity of a draw with Wayne and Tony taking on Steve and Tony Kime, but it was plain sailing for the Lodgers duo, comfortably taking the match for a 4-6 victory.

Graves Park E put in a battling performance when they welcomed clubmates Graves Park D.

The D’s Paul Matschull was the only unbeaten player on the night, beating Andrew Wheatcroft and Rita Rowe in straight sets and dropping just one set against Fred Calvert.

Dave Walters followed up his good performance last week, taking two points for the D team with good wins against Andrew Wheatcroft and Rita Rowe, but came unstuck against Fred Calvert.

The E team all gained victory over the unlucky Andrew Dodes, who will become stronger with more games.

Rita and Fred paired up against Paul and Dave but the Graves Park D pairing were that little bit stronger and they took the doubles, which gave them a 4-6 victory.

Lodgers D did Graves Park E a big favour by gifting them three points with only Tony Kime and Richard Scott being available for the home team.

Lodgers could have achieved a win if it wasn’t for sterling work from Park captain Peter Bell, who beat both the Lodgers players.

Andrew Wheatcroft and Alex Allbones could not add to their cptain’s performance and were both outplayed on the night.

So with the score at 4-5 in favour of the Park, the doubles took on extra significance, but Tony and Richard came through the test, comfortably beating Peter and Alex in straight ends to clinch a 5-5 draw.