CLASHES between Woodfield Park A and Brooks A in recent seasons have invariably determined which of the two would go on to win the First Division title.
With Brooks a little off the pace in the Huddersfield Table Tennis League this time, Deighton B found themselves hoping Brooks could do them a big favour with a strong performance against the Police side – but they were disappointed.
Both sides fielded full-strength teams – Dyson, Senior and Crosland for the defending champions against Lindley, Pugh and McLean.
Dyson proved to be Brooks only scorer, beating Pugh and McLean but losing to Darren Lindley in what could be another rehearsal for the Closed Championship final at the end of April.
Dyson and Senior combined to win the doubles but Woodfield Park A took the match 7-3 to open up a 13-point gap with Deighton, who do have a game in hand.
Brooks may yet influence the final outcome as they must play Deighton B in the final game of the season.
At the foot of the table, David Brown A look to be in trouble as they again lost heavily to Wilshaw A, 8-2.
Wilshaw’s two imports, Ken Ward and Geoff Ogden, were both unbeaten to secure Wilshaw’s safety in their first season in the top flight.
Scissett WMC A are also in the dogfight having lost again to Brooks B, for whom Harry Ness and Shaun Ellis were both unbeaten.
In Division II, Kingsmith C were surprisingly beaten 6-4 by their own D team colleagues.
They found Peter Heywood in a rich vein of form as he had a notable hat trick of victories. Dave Arnold won two, as did Pewist Osman for the losers.
Brooks C are one of four teams who could face relegation but, if the recent form of Stefan Arak and Nathan Spencer continues, they should be OK. They both scored maximums in their 6-4 win over Kingsmith E.
Kingsmith PW recorded only their second win of the season when they beat a strong Marsh C side 6-4. Richard Cowling and Chris Haw both won two, as did Neil Dawson for the losers.
In Division III, U3A’s Andy Parker is currently in fine form. Averaging 75% he was unbeaten as his side fought out an excellent draw against Wilshaw B.
Jonathan Vaughan’s recent dip in form continued as he also lost to John Schoolar, who recovered well from trailing 6-0 in the fifth set.
This defeat has allowed Paul Simpson of Deighton to take over the lead in the Merit Table.
His side had a comfortable 10-0 win over Wilshaw D for whom Linda Batty came closest to spoiling the whitewash, going down 12-10 in her deciding fifth set against Erron Samuda.
The date for the Closed Championships has now been fixed for Sunday April 28 at the new venue of Deighton Leisure Centre.
With several new players in the League this season who have performed exceptionally well, it is hoped they will all enter to give the seedings committee a welcome headache.
