Two of the leading sides clashed in Spalding and District Table Tennis League last week – and it was Jokers who edged home to consolidate their position at the summit.
On a night where the focus returned to league action, two Marylands Cup matches were also completed on the Castle Sports Complex tables.
The big match of the week between the top two in Division One saw the leaders Jokers beat South Holland 3-2, but remain only one clear after results elsewhere.
League number one, Sasha Martin, took two for table-topping Jokers, but Jean White and John Gilbert fought back to take the other two singles for South Holland.
Martin and Guntars Briedes then won the doubles to clinch the match for their side.
Meanwhile, Bladerunners were taking all five points against Mine’s a Pint to leapfrog South Holland into second place.
However, three of the games had five deuces between them – so it was not all plain sailing.
Bladerunners trail Jokers by just one point and are very much in the title race.
JDM remain fourth – and well clear of the rest – despite losing 3-2 against Nets and Edges.
Edges’ James Gibson took both his singles, with JDM’s Jon Chesworth taking his other singles and helping to win the doubles with Phil Chandler.
Unfortunately Chandler – having gone an end down in the final singles – was unable to continue and conceded the game and the match.
In Division Two Hurricane Brothers missed out on catching the leaders when they could only win 3-2 against A Win for a Curry.
Curry’s Dylan Taylor turned in his performance of the season when he won both his singles in four ends.
However, the brothers were too strong for his team-mate and also won the doubles to seal the win.
Second tier leaders MatDuf could only field one player for their match with Castle Sports, but the scores were not available at the time of writing.
Third-placed Chunky and Monkey Jnr also faced a one-man team against Pingers, but conceded both points to Phil Knowles.
In the Marylands Cup round one, JDM’s Danny Dorey came in and turned the match round.
Facing a 0-2 deficit, he won both his singles, – though needing the third end each time to overcome the handicaps – and then took the doubles with Chesworth for the overall win.
Nets and Edges met Skidlids in the rearranged match which belied the final scoreline.
Skidlids’ Richard Matthews took the first singles, but the remaining matches all went to the Edges.
However, all four went to the third end, and all five games had at least one end that ended in deuce.
- Visit www.spaldingtabletennisleague.co.uk for more information on the league, which meets every Wednesday night at the Castle Sports Complex.
