A night set aside by Spalding and District Table Tennis League – sponsored by Vital Recruitment – for the Marylands Cup matches began with three being postponed, while another was a player short.
However, eight matches were still played – at least in part – with teams rearranging or completing league fixtures.
Neither the holders nor runners-up were able to play, but the top tie between South Holland and One From The Past went ahead.
Sasha Martin and David Moore overcame the close handicaps to win 5-0, only dropping an end in the doubles.
Jean White and Alan Fear, of Defenders, were conceding between 5 and 16 points in their clash with second division Insidious.
They won the first game but lost the next two before winning the final two for a 3-2 victory.
Even so it was a close run thing with the final end of the fourth match going their way 31-30 on the last point.
Haz Beans also defeated lower division opponents in Saunter Together, 3-2.
Although they were never behind they were forced into third-end wins for two of their points.
The second division’s Practice Makes Perfect did come through 3-2 against JDM from the top division.
In a ding-dong match they took the lead twice only to be pegged back, but won on a third end of the final game.
JAG’s opponents could only field one player, so the teams opted to play one round of singles and complete the match as soon as possible.
Reece Kerry and James Gibson put themselves in a strong position with two hard fought but well-judged performances.
Meanwhile, Outsiders and Bladerunners, without opponents in the Marylands because of illness, got together and brought a match forward.
Tomascz Dobrzyn won both his games in even time, contributing to Blades’ 5-0 win. For the losers, Joe Beadle continued his fine form of late by coming from behind to push his second match to a fifth end.
South Holland doubled up on the evening by also moving a match forward with One from the Past.
Facing a slightly different pairing, and the more usual format, they managed two wins, going down 2-3 but thereby dropping further back in the title race.
Insidious concluded their unfinished match with Saunter Together. Starting 2-1 down they took the final singles and the doubles to turn things round for a 3-2 win and so moving ahead of their opponents on victories.
Round two of the Marylands (January 28): Practice Makes Perfect v Bladerunners or A Win for a Curry; Casey’s Pingers or Outsiders v Defenders; One From The Past v Castle Sports or Mine’s A Pint; Haz Beans v JAG or Hope For The Best.
