SCISSETT WMC B entertained Marsh Con D in a seesaw battle which ended all square at five all.

Four players each won two sets and among these there was a merry old roundabout of success.

Steve Dunn, of Marsh Con D, beat Peter Heywood 3-1 with each game finishing at 11-9 and Heywood in turn overcame Steve Martin in an absolutely super duel by 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6. It was a remarkable win in that Martin was leading 2-1 in games and 5-0 in points in the fourth game when Heywood staged his victory charge.

He went from 0-5 to 10-7 before finally clinching victory at 12-10.

With his amazing turn-around under his belt there was no stopping him in the final game which he won convincingly, defending well, then hitting selective winners.

Setting aside the disappointment of losing, Martin then caused his own upset by beating Stewart Clarke, who hitherto had 10 wins from 11 to his name, by 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, in another great battle.

In fact in the final six sets of the evening, four went to deciding fifth games, with only one being won three straight, and that was 16-14 in the third.

This victory by Martin completed the cycle of win one, lose one, for earlier Clarke had disposed of Dunn by 11-5, 11-6, 16-14, in that merry old roundabout.

Clarke had started the evening off with a win over Keith Hague.

With both players relying mainly on their backhands, it became a case of who stand the pace under pressure.

Leading 7-5 in the fourth game Hague went for a couple of backhand hits too many, twice clipping the net before going off the table, in his bid to get extra power into his shots. Nevertheless, a good start to an excellent evening.

Next up were Sarah Napier, for Scissett, and Steve Martin, for Marsh.

Napier plays a type of game based on touch and timing which only comes with lots of table time.

Back after an eight-month lay-off with knee problems, she found the going tough.

Napier went down in three to both Martin and Keith Hague but towards the end of the second set she was showing signs of getting back into her old rhythm.

In her final match she pushed Steve Dunn to the limit, taking him to a deciding fifth game before losing out.

Surprise package of the evening was Peter Heywood, who has struggled in the early part of this season.

Having lost to Dunn and then beaten Martin in a five gamer, and with the match score standing at four each, he turned on the performance of the evening.

His set with Keith Hague was unbelievable – 26 minutes of sheer suspense.

With fortunes up one moment, then down, and the pendulum of fate swinging to and fro, neither player deserved to lose, yet one had to do just that.

Look at the scores with Heywood just clinching it, 12-14, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, and finally 15-13. Amazing performances!

That was the icing on the cake, but what about the “doubles” for a turn around.

Playing brilliantly, Hague and Martin combined to put Clarke and Heywood to the sword, winning the first two games by 11-4, 11-3.

I don’t know what happened, but from then on it was all downhill for Marsh.

Hits went awry or were pushed weakly into the net. The scoreline of the last three games tells the story, 11-8, 11-4, 11-4 to Scissett.

A great recovery, but who can explain the dramatic change in fortune? It happens a lot in table tennis!