KINGSMITH FOB put up a battling display as they made Woodfield Park B work hard for their win in the Huddersfield Table Tennis League.

Six places and 31 points separated the two teams going into the Division II contest, but it was not until the penultimate set that Woodfield Park B were able to claim victory .

The final score was 6-4 to Woodfield in a match characterised by sets being won in straight games – the one exception being when Kingsmith’s Rod Wright beat Janet West by 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-3.

West is a newcomer to the sport, having previously played in league tennis and badminton in the Pudsey area.

But Woodfield Park have been very willing to give West her chance in such a highly competitive division of the League and, while to date she has managed only one victory, West has already made a great deal of progress.

Mike Belk was as solid as ever for Woodfield Park, he has a 79% average at the halfway stage of the season, but he had to give way to Geoff Heywood who turned in a strong performance to give Kingsmith an opening set victory by 11-9, 11-6, 11-9.

This was Belk’s only blemish as he comfortably overcame both Gerry Kerr and Rod Wright and, together with Derek Moorhouse, destroyed the Kingsmith duo of Heywood and Kerr 11-4, 11-5, 11-5.

Moorhouse has played a special part in Woodfield’s success this season winning 22 of his 24 sets and at the halfway stage he lies in second place of both the averages and the merit table.

He produced a very disciplined performance, so much so that none of his opponents scored more than 15 points in the whole set. Time and again Moorhouse went looking for points and his forehand hitting proved successful in a match-winning performance.

After 12 matches Marsh Con B still lead Division II by one point from Kingsmith Eng C.

In Division I Brooks A have taken over at the top with 87 points, though both Kingsmith Eng A and Woodfield Park A have a match in hand.

Kingsmith PW are runaway leaders in Division III, but Newsome SC B have overtaken Kingsmith Eng D in second place.

Watch out for more table tennis action in next Saturday’s column.