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BOSTON TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

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Round-up for October 2005 by Mick Williams

Report for week ending Friday October 28:

Leaders are made to battle hard

Leaders in the Yates and Greenhough Division One, Graves Park C almost suffered the indignity of defeat when they met newly promoted Lodgers F. Before this match, Lodgers only had a single point to their name.

The Park got away to the worst possible start, Martin Walters losing to Pete Truepenny, while Steve Harker got the better of James Quinton with an 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 victory. Mick East pulled one back beating David Kime although he dropped one end, while Quinton got his name on the board in a rousing match with Truepenny, Quinton winning a tense fifth 11-9. Walters gave the Park the lead for the first time with a close win over Kime (11-8 in the fifth) and with East comfortably disposing of Harker, the Park began to breathe a little easier.

Lodgers, though, hung in and Kime caused an upset beating Quinton in four, while Truepenny almost caused the shock of the night taking East to five. Harker kept Lodgers in the hunt, turning the formbook upside down beating Walters who, along with Quinton, had a very unimpressive evening. Both teams needed the doubles, the Park to keep intact their 100 percent record while Lodgers required it for what for them would be a momentous result. Walters and Quinton who both seemed off colour found their form in the doubles and although losing the second set 10-12 won the next two with contemptuous ease, giving their team a 6-4 victory.

Buoyed by their result against the Park, Lodgers F next port of call was their match against stablemates Lodgers B.The B team, who have made a reasonable start to the campaign, suffered an early blow. Tom Day, after winning the first two, was beaten 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 13-15, 7-11 by Pete Truepenny but Vic Clements and Pete Evans quickly repaired the damage, comfortably beating David Kime and Steve Harker respectively. Kime levelled the score in a five set thriller over Day but it was short lived, the B continued their march, Clements making short work of Harker, while Evans out-manoeuvred Truepenny and Kime, despite dropping a set in both games. Harker pulled one back for the F beating Day who had a poor night but it was too little too late, Clements putting the result beyond doubt, beating Truepenny in straight ends. The doubles, although not decisive, were keenly fought, Day gaining some revenge for his singles performance combining with Evans to win in four, guiding the B to a 7-3 victory.

Shodfriars B could be the surprise packet of the season and event without star player Alan Ashberry, who was demoted to the substitutes bench, recorded a sound defeat over Wrangle for their third win of the season.

However, it was Wrangle who opened the scoring, Dave Coulson beating Dave “Smiler” Smith but with Roger Hooton and Scott Sykes in impressive form, Shoddys took control, Hooton beating Dennis Pattrick while Sykes overcame the tenacious Sam Cooper. “Smiler” got his name on the board with a close win over Cooper and the Shoddy’s machine rolled on, winning the next three. Hooton and Sykes both completing hat-tricks, beating Cooper and Coulson respectively. Wrangle made a brief flurry, Pattrick beating “Smiler” but Shoddys pair of Sykes and Hooton put the icing on the cake easing home 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 in the doubles to guide their team to a powerful 8-2 victory.

Some of the big teams in this division have so far failed to shine, defending champions Lodgers G being a case in point and although they are not losing they are only just scraping home, labouring to a 6-4 win over their A team. This was a classic match with the local derby being of added interest, the game swinging first one way then the other, Graham Lacey giving the a the lead with a straightforward victory over Andy Kirk. No 1 ranked Kelvin Clements quickly levelled the score beating Ian Stones while No 2 ranked Ian Royle put the G in front having little trouble with Trev Blackbourn. Stones got his name on the board levelling the score with a narrow win over Kirk and Royle in a titanic game against Lacey regained the G’s lead, Ian beating Graham 11-9, 8-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7. Then came an incident the game could do without, Blackbourn refusing to play Clements and this may have swung the game in the Gs favour. Undeterred the A pressed on, Stones keeping them in the hunt with a terrific 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9 victory over No 2 ranked Royle. However, Kirk who so far had had a quiet night, put Lodgers into an unbeaten position beating Blackbourn in a tight five-ender. The last singles caused shock waves with Graham Lacey, who for some time has been unable to get near Clements, bating him 11-7, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7 to inflict upon Kelvin his first defeat for over a year. With the result resting upon the doubles, Royle and Clements guided the G to victory, comfortably beating Lacey and Stones in straight legs to guide the team home.

The following night the Lodgers A, without the influential Graham Lacey, played their B team and everything seemed to be going according to plan, Blackbourn beating Vic Clements while after a first set hiccup Stones made short work of Tim Day. With Blackbourn also beating Day, things were looking more than acceptable but B then went on a run, Pete Evans reducing the arrears beating both Bell and Stones, while Clements in a five set encounter overcame a stubborn Bell 9-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9. Day gave the B team the lead for the first time with a tense win over Bell (good win this) while Evans and Clements tidied up beating Blackbourn and Stones respectively to put the B into an uncatchable position. With the result in the bag the A team were left shell-shocked but to their credit they stood their ground in the doubles, Stones and Blackbourn managing to win a five set encounter 12-10, 8-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-3, thus putting a bit of a gloss on what must be seen by Lodgers A as a disappointing result.

Playing their second match in four days obviously gave Lodgers G the confidence boost they needed, crushing Graves Park A 8-2 that moved them to the top of the table. Lodgers got away to a flyer, Andy Kirk and Ian Royle requiring four ends to see off Nick Langley and Rob Smith respectively, while Kelvin Clements made short work of Phil Brooks. Smith got the Park on the board beating Kirk but the Park’s celebrations were muted, Royle and Clements taking charge, both of them winning their remaining games although it must be said Brooks gave Royle a scare winning the third, while Smith also worried Clements winning the second only to lose the next two.

Brooks picked up a further consolation point for the Park in the last singles of the evening, narrowly beating Kirk 13-11 in the vital fifth.

Yates and Greenhough Division One: Lodgers A 4, Lodgers G 6; Lodgers B 6, Lodgers A 4; Graves Park C 6, Lodgers F 4; Shodfriars B 8, Wrangle 2; Lodgers F 3, Lodgers B 7; Lodgers G 8, Graves Park A 2.

Report for week ending Friday October 21:

Park C team consolidate position

To make a refreshing change, a full programme of action took place in the Boston and District Table Tennis League this week. And now all teams have played at least one game an early league table can be formulated.

At the top of Yates and Greenhough Division set Graves Park C who consolidated their position with a victory over Shodfriars A in a match that was closer than the score suggests. Mick East gave the Park an early lead beating Jake the Pegg but it was far from easy, Jake winning the second and third legs. Mick quickly levelled the score in the fourth and in the vital fifth Mick just scraped home 12-10.

James Quinton increased the Park lead, making short work of Neil Snaith. But the Park were stopped in their tracks when Maurice Buck surprisingly beat Martin Walters, to record his (Maurice’s) first win of the season.

East gave the Park a bit of breathing space with a non to convincing win over Snaith but Shoddy’s hit back, Jake the Pegg beating a sadly, out of touch Walters. Quinton put the Park in control with comfortable wins over Pegg and Buck while Walters at last got his name on the board, struggling to an 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8 over Snaith, while East closed the singles with a four end win over Buck. The doubles was also close, the Park taking an early two set lead but they failed to capitalise on this, allowing the home team to fight back to level the scores.

A tight fifth leg saw the game swing both ways but it was the Park who came home 13-11 for what on paper looks a commanding 8-2 victory.

Lodgers G strolled to their second victory of the season with a 9-1 victory over stablemates Lodgers F, Kelvin Clements and Ian Royle proving to be too strong for the newly promoted F team. Andy Kirk chipped

in with two beating Pete Truepenny and after going two down against Steve Harker he picked himself up to win the next three.

Graves Park A have suffered an indifferent start, beating Wrangle but losing to Shodfriars B who have had a brilliant start, thanks mainly to new signing Alan Ashbery who so far is unbeaten. Against Wrangle the game was evenly balanced and at 2-2 and a close result looked to be on the cards, Rob Smith beating Frank Burbidge rather easily but losing to Dave Coulson. Phil Brooks also lost out to Coulson in a tight four setter, while Nick Langley made short work of Dennis Pattrick. The Park then took command, taking the next four games, Langley overcoming Burbidge 11-6, 11-4, 14-16, 6-11, 17-15 for what must be so far the longest game of the season. Brooks then hit through Pattrick (this one played at 90mph) while Langley completed his hat-trick, beating Coulson in four. Smith made sure that the Park were going to be on the winning side easily beating Pattrick but Burbidge gave the scoresheet a look of credibility, beating Brooks 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8. The Park pairing of Smith

and Langley then put the icing on the cake, effortlessly winning the doubles for a 7-3 victory.

Against Shoddy’s the Park were up against it from the start, losing the first four, the unbeaten Alan Ashberry making short work of both Rob Smith and Nick Langley. Scott Sykes beat Langley in three although it was close while Roger Hooton after a second leg defeat by Brooks, got it right in the next two. At this stage the Park were shell-shocked but Smith gave them a ray of hope beating Hooton but with Sykes and Ashberry both beating the unlucky Brooks, it was all over bar the shouting. The Park though to their credit stuck to their task, Langley getting his name on the board narrowly beating Hooton while Smith registered his second of the night overcoming a stubborn Sykes. The doubles were almost immaterial but in effect was probably the closest game of the night, the Park pair of Smith and Brooks giving the scoreline an air of respectability, putting a bit of a shine on the score winning a close five setter over Sykes and Ashberry by the narrowest of margins.

Lodgers A, after their shock defeat the first week by Shodfriars A, got their act together when they met Wrangle, sweeping to a 10-0 victory. Graham Lacey was in brilliant form, winning his singles in straight legs while Colin Bell and Ian Stones gave him excellent support, Stones being taken the full distance by Dave Coulson, Dave being a little unlucky not to take this one. Bell had little trouble with either Coulson or Sam Cooper but had his work cut out against Burbidge, needing four legs to see him off. The doubles were also rather a one sided affair, Lacey and Bell comprehensively beating Coulson and Cooper in straight ends.

In A D Dickinson Division Two, Mayflower cruised to a 9-1 win over a two-man William Lovell side. Mario Hering and Greg Pacho won both of their matches but Greg Dombek could only claim one of his two points, Tom Phoenix getting Lovell’s crumb of consolation. The win, though, took Mayflower to joint top with Graves Park.

William Lovell also tumbled to defeat when they took on Graves Park. Again Phoenix was the Lovell star man, forcing Mike Freeston and David Graham to go all the way in his clashes with them. Michael Bradshaw and Tom Huskisson also did well but weren’t able to make any real impact.

Five-set matches dominated proceedings as Pilgrims defeated Shodfriars 7-3. John Shortland drew first blood for Shodfriars with a win over Alan Davy, but Pilgrims answered with five straight points of their own. Fred Calvert, Barry Frankish (two apiece) and Alan Davy gave their team a decisive lead before Roly Sharp pulled one back for Shoddies. Davy put the issue beyond doubt before Paul Maxwell scored Shoddies’ third point.

Graves Park D made a flying start to their game against Nomads by winning the first three points. But Nomads hit back in kind with wins for Dean Clow, Walt Bridges and Tris Clow. Stan Smith gave Park a 4-3 lead only for Tris Clow to answer again. However, James Smith restored Park’s advantage before Sam Smith and Dave Walters added a sixth point with victory in the doubles.

Yates and Greenhough Division One: Shodfriars A 2, Graves Park C 8; Lodgers G 9, Lodgers F 1; Wrangle A 3, Graves Park A 7; Graves Park A 4, Shodfriars B 6; Lodgers A 10, Wrangle A 0.

A D Dickinson Division Two: Mayflower B 9, William Lovell 1; William Lovell 0, Graves Park D 10; Pilgrims 7, Shodfriars 3; Graves Park D 6, Nomads 4.

Report for week ending Friday October 14:

Things are improving — a little

Things were 50 percent better in the Boston and District Table Tennis League this week.

It would appear that the A D Dickinson Division Two has got its act together. The same cannot be said for Yates and Greenhough Division One with only 40 percent of the scheduled matches being played.

With so few matches being played in Division One, it is a little difficult to form any kind of league table but Graves Park C look to be among the contenders at the top, beating Stickney A, who looked short of match practice 9-1.

James Quinton opened the scoring for the Park with a good win over Paul Hartnett but Geoff Bourne levelled the scores, beating Martin Walters in a five set thriller, Geoff edging home 19-17 (longest set this season) 12-10, 9-11, 10-12, 11-8.

The Park quickly recovered from this reverse with Mick East beating Steve Blanchard who rather surprisingly took a set out of him. Walters got his name on the board with a five setter over Hartnett and with Quinton beating Blanchard, the Park were in control. East, who didn’t look on top form, picked up his remaining two, Bourne taking set out of him, while Harnett took him to five but the final set was 11-2 in Mick’s favour.

Walters extended the Park’s lead beating Blanchard, while Quinton wrapped up the proceedings with a straight leg win over Bourne. The doubles were rather immaterial, the Park winning in four but Stickney should beware, they might need points like these come the end of the season.

Promoted Lodgers B opened their campaign, equally sharing the soils with Shodfriars A, Jake the Pegg being Shoddy’s main man, sweeping aside Vic Clements and Tim Day but having his work cut out by Pete Evans. The first four sets between Jake and Pete were very close, but Jake ran away with the final end 11-2.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Lodgers though, Evans and Day picking up two apiece, both of them beating Neil Snaith and Maurice Buck. However, it was Snaith who kept the result live with a five set cliffhanging victory over Clements. The result was now reliant upon the doubles Snaith and Pegg sweeping aside Day and Evans 11-5, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4 to guide their team to a well deserved draw.

Lodgers A could have got off to a better start, going down 4-6 to Shodfriars B, Alan Ashberry making his debut for Shoddy’s.Alan made an impressive start to his Boston League career, with a three-set win over No 4 ranked Graham Lacey and followed that up with an exciting victory over Colin Bell. Bell made him fight though taking the third end 11-8 but Alan bounced back to sensationally win the fourth 11-3.

He then completed his hat-trick with a comfortable win over Ian Stones, none of the Lodgers lads being able to fathom out his style. Roger Hooton chipped in with two, beating Stones and Bell in close encounters and despite taking a set out of Lacey, Graham won the fourth end 11-6 denying Roger his hat-trick.

“Smiler” Smith had an indifferent night being well beaten by Bell and Lacey and although taking Stones the full distance, he (“Smiler”) faded in the final set.The all-important doubles saw Shoddys requiring a win to gain a memorable victory even though Lacey and Bell easily won the first end, the all new Shodfriars pairing of Hooton and Ashberry dug deep to take the next three sets to clinch the doubles and a memorable 6-4 win on the night.

The A D Dickinson Division Two looks as though it is going to be a tight division but it could be a week or two before the big guns begin to fire.

Mayflower B who were unknown quantities before the season started, made their presence felt when they entertained Stickney B. After this match they were unknown quantities no longer, hammering the Stickney lads 10-0 through to be fair some games could have swung either way. Mario and Adrian Hering and Greg Dombek, all appear to be fair players, Mario brushing off the Stickney challenge in straight legs and although Tony Sharpe put up a bit of a fight he finally succumbed 14-16, 7-11, 12-14.

Adrian Hering also picked up his singles having little trouble against Sharpe but early coming to grief against Tim Sampson, Adrian running out a 12-10 winner in the fifth. Greg Dombek swept aside both Sharpe and Sampson but struggled against Tony Hall, especially in the first narrowly winning 14-12.

However, by the time the next set came round he had got to grips with Tony’s style, storming home in the next two 11-7, 11-4.

Stickney’s run of ill luck continued a few nights later when they met newly relegated Graves Park B. Not as one sided as the score suggests, although Mick Maltby had a good night sweeping aside the Stickney challenge. Dave Graham gave him excellent support and although drubbing Tony Hall in three, he struggled to overcome Sharpe and Sampson. Mike Freeston had little trouble with either of the latter two but blundered against Tony Hall, Hall gaining Stickney’s solitary point of the night.

Although failing to win Pilgrim cannot be disatisfied with their start, coming up against two of the stronger teams, Mayflower C and Graves Park D. Making a welcome return to the table tennis scene was Paul Gilbert and it looked as though he had never been away, winning two of his three fairly comfortably, but being involved in a colossal battle with Fred Calvert, before finally edging home 16-14, 15-17, 11-7, 11-8.

Mick Dodes breezed past all the Pilgrim lads in straight sets but although teaming up with Gilbert in the doubles, they failed to show their singles prowess, going down in four to earn their team a 6-4 victory.

Against Graves Park D it was Barry Frankish who was the star of the show, Barry turning in a sparkling performance to win his singles. Fred Calvert had to be content with one, beating Paul Matschull while Alan Davy had a poor night, failing to register. Man of the match Frankish, then crowned a successful evening (for him anyway), combining with Clavert to win a hard fought doubles to guide his side to a deserved draw.

Park D temporarily moved to top spot with a useful 7-3 win over Shodfriars C in a match where form book went out of the window. All the Park lads picked up two each but it was the way it happened, Paul Matschull set the ball rolling effortlessly beating Jon Shortland and Roly Sharp but losing a five set classic to Dave Hocking. James Smith showed early promise beating Sharp and Hocking but then lost out to Shortland in another five set thriller. Sam Smith showed what a good player he has become, beating both Shortland and Hocking but didn’t know enough to overcome the experienced Sharp. To put the icing on the cake, Sam Smith then combined with Matschull to comfortably take the doubles 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, the Park running out 7-3 winners.

Lodgers D opened their account with a good 9-1 win over the young Mayflower D team, Graham Bonsor and Nev Leggate knowing too much for their young opposition. Nev Leggate, despite losing the first game of the night to Sasha Martin had no trouble with either Rachael Searles or Krishna Ramana while Bonsor and Kime despite losing the second set 9-11 wrapped the doubles winning the next two fairly easily for a 9-1 victory.

Yates and Greenhough Division One: Graves Park C 9, Stickney A 1; Lodgers B 5, Shodfriars A 5; Shodfriars B 6, Lodgers A 4.

A D Dickinson Division Two: Mayflower B 10, Stickney B 0; Stickney B 1, Graves Park B 9; Pilgrim 4, Mayflower C 6; Graves Park D 5, Pilgrim 5; Shodfriars C 3, Graves Park D 7; Lodgers D 9, Mayflower D 1.

Report for week ending Friday October 7:

Disastrous first week

The new Boston and District Table Tennis League season opened in disastrous style. Three out of the five scheduled matches in the Yates and Greenhough Division One were called off. The A D Dickinson Division Two fared a little better with two of the five matches due to be played didn’t take place.

I only found out about the postponements myself from teams (those who had handbooks) ringing me up to tell me of the call-offs, as at the time of writing a number of teams and even the match secretary had not received their fixture handbooks for the new season. Added to this is the fact that three clubs failed to fill in their entry forms by the closing date Sunday July 31.

And despite being reminded of this at the fixture meeting almost a month later, I still have no forms in my possession and I was prepared to deduct points for playing players who were not signed on.

I now find these forms have quite recently (two or three days only) have been given to the league treasurer and not the match secretary as stated at the top of the form — I wonder why? During the time I have covered table tennis (27 years at present) this is the most damaging start that I can remember and I can only hope it is going to get better.

With all the postponements, scoresheets are a bit thin on the ground.

But in the Yates and Greenhough Division One defending champions Lodgers C opened their campaign with far from convincing 6-4 victory over Shodfriars A. No 1 ranked Kelvin Clements kept Lodgers on track winning his singles in straight legs, although Shoddies’ ‘Jake the Pegg’ pushed him close in the second and third going down 8-11 in both. No 2 rated Ian Royle chipped in with two beating Neil Snaith and Maurice Buck with something to spare. On the brink of defeat he snatched the third off Pegg but faded in the fourth to go down 7-11 giving Jake a brilliant if somewhat unexpected win. Andy Kirk, after battling against Snaith and Pegg (both five setters) had nothing to show for his efforts but gained some consolation for these defeats beating Buck in yet another five setter, 11-5, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8. Pegg and Snaith then combined to spring yet another surprise beating Clements and Kirk in a five set doubles thriller 11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8 to inflict upon Lodgers their first doubles defeat since November 11, 2004.

In A D Dickinson Division Two, a couple of the new teams met, Mayflower D and William Lovell equally sharing the points.

Lovell’s Tom Phoenix was the star of the show comfortably winning his three and despite a close first leg against Sasha Martin, Tom eased home in the next two. Tom Huskisson chipped in with two beating Martin and Calvin Williamson and in a close game against Rachael Searles he lost out 8-11 in the fifth.

All the Mayflower team proved too strong for Michael Bradford although one or two of the games were close, and with the result in the melting pot, Rachael combined with Martin to win a close fought doubles to force the draw.