GOLCAR Liberal scored an incredible victory to reach the semi-finals of the Concorde Trophy.

They visited fellow Division II side Wilshaw A and started the match with a 42-point advantage on handicap.

They had, however, the psychological disadvantage of having been at the wrong end of a 7-3 defeat only three weeks previously in their Huddersfield Table Tennis League meeting.

A close opening game saw Jonathan Vaughan claw just one point back from Roger Wood who believed that a more cautious, defensive approach to their play was called for following the earlier defeat.

Game two surprisingly produced an 11-point advantage for Golcar’s Steve Tattersley over Francis Cioffi, Tattersley winning the second set 11-1.

Haydn Huston restored the balance with an 11-point margin over David Singleton while Cioffi had a 10-point advantage over Wood and Vaughan had a 12-point lead over Singleton, before Tattersley pulled six points back from Huston.

So going into the final round of three games, Golcar’s advantage had been cut to 25 points.

Cioffi’s match with Singleton completely turned things round to give Wilshaw a one-point lead which was extended to two as Huston narrowly defeated Wood.

So it all hung on the final game between the oft explosive Vaughan and the dour yet highly effective and controlled defensive play of Tattersley.

The first set went 11-3 to Tattersley to give Golcar a six-point advantage.

Vaughan won the next two 11-9, 11-7 to make the scores even going into the final set.

He was leading 9-7 and 10-8 before being pegged back to deuce – the next point deciding the match and it went to Tattersley to book Golcar a sensational place in the semi-finals.

There was better luck for Wilshaw B, who finally ended Kingsmith F’s long run of success in the Concorde Cup.

The defending champions had only a single point disadvantage over their fellow Division III opponents and this was overturned in the first game between David Barrow and Graham Hudson.

Hudson recovered from a slow start in which he lost 11-2,11-7 to narrowly win the third on deuce and 11-6 in the final game to finish with a deficit of seven points.

Howard Birch also had a poor start against Barry Lockwood but never recovered, winning only 13 points in their four games as Wilshaw moved 27 points ahead.

This was reduced to nine points as David Arnold beat John Vaughan. By game six the lead had extended to 34 points with a notable performance from Vaughan in beating the dangerous Barrow by 10 points overall.

Arnold clawed 15points back in game eight against Hudson, leaving Lockwood to defend a lead of 18 points going into the final match with Barrow.

Barrow took the first 11-4 to suggest a tight finish was in prospect, but Lockwood recovered well to take the next two games 11-8 11-3 to put the tie out of reach – Wilshaw finally winning by 18 points.

Kingsmith E secured their place in the semi-finals with a six-point win over a ‘hybrid’ Brooks B team.

Russell Senior joined Tony Astwick and Matt Corcoran and his low handicap meant that the Division III leaders had a 74-point advantage over Brooks.

Senior, off just six, defended his handicap magnificently in conceding just 31 points from his 12 games. Astwick also played his part in coming out on top by an aggregate of 16 points in his first two games against Mike Jagger and Steve Cook.

Going into the final game Brooks had a four-point advantage. Astwick started favourite against David Wood but found the Kingsmith man a difficult opponent, losing the first two sets 11-5, 11-5. Astwick took the third 11-7 but Wood recovered to win the final game 11-9 to give his side victory by just six points.

The final place in the semis went to Scissett WMC B who got home by 13 points against Deighton.

Semi-final draw: Golcar Liberal v Scissett WMC B, Kingsmith E v Wilshaw B.

The close results in all four matches will have pleased the handicappers almost as much as the winners.

It is never easy to try to handicap such a wide range of ability over three divisions. However, the absence of any First Division sides from the last eight suggests there may be an imbalance to be addressed once all this seasons’s results are assessed.

It’s now the second round of the CSD Logistics handicap competition – no rest for the wicked, or their handicappers!