Lodgers on the move in table tennis league

Lodgers C had a chance to start moving up the table with a victory over Wrangle, despite losing two out of the first three matches.

Sam Cooper got Wrangle off to the best of starts with a solid four-set victory over Andy Pocklington.

Andy Birks levelled the match, coming through 16-14 in the fourth end to beat Dave Coulson.

However, Pete Evans was in determined mood and brushed Scott Sykes aside in straight ends.

The next three ends were a different story, with Lodgers starting to get a foothold in the match.

Andy Birks came from two sets down to beat Sam Cooper, Andy Pocklington took the deciding fifth end against Pete Evans and Scott Sykes beat Dave Coulson in four to give Lodgers a 4-2 lead.

Pete Evans closed the gap with a win over Andy Birks but Scott Sykes made sure that Lodgers were at least going to get a draw with a straight sets victory over Sam Cooper.

Dave Coulson made it interesting by hitting a purple patch of form in his victory over Andy Pocklington to give Wrangle a glimmer of hope if they could win the doubles.

With the Lodgers pairing of Sykes/Birks taking a very close first end 14-12 and the second 11-7, Lodgers had one foot over the finishing line but Cooper/Evans fought back to take the next two ends 9-11, 7-11 to make it a grandstand finish.

However, it was not to be as Scott and Andy dug deep to take the decisive end 11-5 and the spoils with a 6-4 victory on the night.

There were some closely-fought battles in the match-up between Graves Park A and Lodgers B, with Trev Blackbourn sparing the Lodgers from a whitewash with a good four-set victory over Alan Reetham.

Dave Kime could consider himself very unfortunate, losing 12-10 in the fifth against Alan Reetham and also losing in five to Phil Brooks.

Colin Bell also was unlucky to lose 13-11 in the fifth end to Phil Brooks.

Rob Smith was the star man winning all his matches in straight ends to maintain his place in the Top 10.

A competitive draw was played out when Stickney hosted Graves Park C.

With Gavin Herberts not available, Vince Lozynsky stepped in and battled manfully but in the end James Quinton and the Walters boys were too strong for him.

Quinton was also too strong for Paul Hartnett on the night and, with Martin Walters also achieving a close five-set victory over Paul, Graves Park knew they at least had a draw.

Dave Heppenstall was in no mood to let that happen, winning all of his singles, although Martin Walters nearly upset the apple cart by taking him to a fifth end, albeit a one-sided one, Dave winning 11-2.

With Paul Hartnett getting a point on the board against Graham Walters, it meant that Stickney needed the doubles for a draw, which the duly achieved with the pairing of Dave and Paul too strong for Martin and James, the Stickney duo winning in four ends.

In Division Two, Sibsey C are making good progress up the table with a good 6-4 victory over Mayflower 2.

Mayflower drafted in high-flying Darron Kent from Division Three to make up the numbers and he didn’t disappoint, succeeding in getting a point against Mick Ellis.

Dave Smith and Chris Cooke did the damage for Sibsey, with both players getting wins over Darron Kent and Tony Hall with Mick Ellis getting the one win over Tony Hall.

The Sibsey players though had no answer against Alan Marshall, who remained unbeaten on the night – although only just against Dave Smith, Alan pinching the decisive fifth end 9-11.

The doubles, as usual, was the match of the night with the Mayflower pairing of Hall and Marshall taking the first two ends 9-11, 5-11 and a draw was looking achievable.

But Smith and Cooke were not going to be denied their victory and dug deep to take the next three sets, and with it an excellent 6-4 victory.

With only two players available, Graves Park B were always up against it when they welcomed table-topping Lodgers Blades to Kirton.

With Simon Raistrick and Scott Raistrick winning both of their matches together with the three walkovers it was very much game-over.

Mike Freeston and Mick Maltby did manage though to taste victory over Gavin Read and then doubled up to take on Simon and Scott in the doubles with the Park duo taking an impressive point to at least take three points on the night, which keeps them above the relegation places.

The Blades marched on with a 7-3 victory.

Second placed Lodgers E have not given up on the title with an excellent 7-3 victory over Graves Park D.

Richard Baxter and Gary Jaques were in top form winning all of their singles, although both players were made to work hard for their victories.

Dave Walters took Richard Baxter all the way to a fifth end as did Paul Matschull, against Gary Jaques.

Vic Clements must have wondered what he did to upset the table-tennis Gods when he lost all of his matches in five ends.

With Baxter/Jaques taking the doubles against Dodes/Walters, a 7-3 victory was achieved for the E team, and it keeps the Blades looking over their shoulders.

A strong Sibsey A team were in no mood to take any prisoners when they visited stable-mates and bottom placed Sibsey B – the A team running away with a 9-1 victory on the night.

Matt Haslam and Jason Cade took all three of their singles victories with Neil Snaith adding victories over Wayne Grooby and Ben Sykes.

Steve Hill spared the B team’s blushes with an excellent four set victory over Neil Snaith.

With Graves Park Nomads only being able to field two players, their Division Three match against high-flying Mayflower 1 was looking inevitable - and that’s pretty much what happened, Mayflower coming away with a 10-0 victory.

Alan Davy and John Shortland did their best to hold back the tide with Alan Davy at least taking Lucas East to a fifth end.

But Matt Lilly and Darron Kent were just too good for them on the night.