KINGSMITH B and David Brown A may be struggling in Division I of the Huddersfield Table Tennis League – but you couldn’t have asked for a better match.

It finished 6-4 to Kingsmith but both teams gave it their all and the result was in doubt until the very last set.

At that point, Brown’s Richard Bailey just couldn't handle the variation and power of Kingsmith’s Janet Adams and lost 3-11, 2-11, 8-11.

Even so Adams, who 36 hours later would be heading down the motorway to St Neots in Cambridgeshire to represent Yorkshire Veterans in the Inter-County Championships, didn't get everything her own way.

The irresistible hard-hitting force which is Adams came up against the rock-solid immovable object which is Jonathan Taylor.

The set had wonderful hitting by Adams, brilliant blocking by Taylor, hitting and counter-hitting by both players and, above all, courage!

Both players bucked the trend to win, both suffered heavy defeats, then replied in kind. The final fifth game was a tribute to Taylor’s ability and determination.

Being on the receiving end of a veritable barrage, he fell 2-5 and 5-9 behind, but rallied and rallied to level the scores, then win 12-10.

How he did it will remain a big mystery, but he did, though the defeat removed only a little of the gloss from Adams’ performance.

Adams started off with a fine victory over Liam Fearn by 11-6, 13-11, 9-11, 11-4 and also combined with Peter Fox to win a close but very important doubles encounter against Richard Bailey and Jonathan Taylor – 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9. Yet again the doubles proving to be a crucial set.

Taylor’s other successes came against Chris Williams by 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, and Peter Fox by 13-11, 12-10, 11-3.

Both were super sets, with subtlety rather than power being the order of the day against Williams. Once again Taylor came from behind in the fifth at 4-5 and 7-9 to clinch victory by 11-9.

Against Fox, however, there was little in the way of retreat and though Fox was aggressive throughout, he lacked the power to really break through, but that aside it was an excellent spectacle.

Fox, having disposed of Fearn in his first set by three games to nil, had an absolute cracker against Bailey. He lost the first two games by 4-11 6-11 to an industrious Bailey, whose long-range defence and selective hitting outmanoeuvred the busy Fox. Baileys’ power and variation held sway over Fox’s steady hitting.

Everything then changed – Fox’s hitting developed a crispness not previously there and, towards the end, in a tight fifth game which Fox won by 12-10, Bailey’s backhand began to let him down. It was a great set, no complaints or criticisms.

Bailey made amends by disposing of Chris Williams in four games after inflicting a similar fate on Fearn.

This victory enabled Kingsmith B to move up one place to sixth, but the teams below them do have matches in hand.

At the other end of the table, Brooks B have jumped from fourth to first, thus usurping their A team. With Woodfield Park A remaining in second spot, this means that Brooks A occupy third.