There were some close matches this week in Division One of the Hastings Table Tennis League, two of which involved Bexhill teams.

Bexhill H edged past Hollington A 6-4, thanks mainly to an excellent maximum for Lewis Mayhew. Ron Davenport won two for Hollington while the match also featured the return to league competition of Bexhill’s David Rayment after three years.  The scoreline could have been better for Bexhill as the three contests which went the distance all went to Hollington by narrow margins. Two of these were won by Davenport, who also did well to take a game from Mayhew.

Bexhill A and Academy C could not be separated, finishing 5-5 with both teams missing key players. Robin Gibbs won three for Academy and John Ellis two in a match neither team may have felt they could afford to lose. Bexhill led 4-2 but Sheila King started a come-back, beating Yotza Krstic 13-11 in the fifth. King could not repeat this against Ellis, leaving Gibbs to beat John Bradbury in four to ensure the draw.

Leaders Academy A beat Academy B 6-4 and have now seen off their two main rivals by this scoreline (the other being Bexhill H). Paul Barry was unbeaten and Nathan Darby won twice for the A team while Dave Butler  won twice for the B side. In a clash of two younger players, Matthew Davies (B) had a fine win over Ryan Heselden (A) at 15-13 in the fifth.

In a one-sided contest, Tackleway B fielded a scratch team and went down 1-9 to Tackleway A who had Arthur Bracken and Mike Funnell unbeaten and two from James Gorridge. Credit to Sachin Davis and Thomas Mann for stepping up two and one divisions respectively, and also credit to Tackleway B for fulfilling a fixture when so many teams are postponing matches if they are missing one player.

Division Two looks more of a contest, with 5 points covering the top 5 teams, although one of these has played 3 matches, one has played 5 and the rest 4.

With Bexhill D v Bexhill E postponed, the Ladies team was the only Bexhill side in action and they beat Monarchs A 7-3 despite Bob Lowe’s maximum for the losers. The match was over as a contest when Monarchs’ Alison Jordan was forced to concede her last two singles with an elbow injury, disappointing for both sides.

Leaders Tackleway C beat Tackleway D 9-1 with maximums for Kevin Rowe and Dan Rickaby and two wins for Adrian Goodrum. Keith Lindsay returned for the D side and picked up their consolation.

Academy D won 7-3 at Monarchs B where Terry Dean was unbeaten and Martin Richards and Graham Deeprose both won twice.

In Division Three, Bexhill F continued their winning start, beating Academy E 6-4 with George Reidy winning three and Harvey Webb two. Andy Murphy’s two wins kept the Academics interested and included a good win over Webb at 12-10 in the fifth.

Also 100%, but with two games in hand, are Hollington D who won 7-3 at Hollington C with maximums from Rob Clemence and Steph Sargent, both of whom have yet to lose a singles, as is Reidy.

Tackleway G had a good 7-3 win at Bexhill G with Stuart Batchelor unbeaten and Peter Lilja winning two. Dom Goodson won two for Bexhill.

Tackleway E beat Tackleway F 7-3 with a maximum from Sachin Davis and two wins for Dominic Bigg while Thomas Porter won two for the losers.