Nunthorpe B moved ahead at the top of Division 2 of the Cleveland & District Summer Table Tennis League this week when they defeated one of their main rivals Hartlepool Westbourne B by 7 sets to 3. 

For Nunthorpe, their three players, Barbara Kearney, Bob Evans and David Hildreth, all won two sets.  Jason Lloyd provided most of the opposition for Westbourne B with wins against Barbara Kearney and David Hildreth, both of which went to a fifth game. The match was very much in the balance until the last singles when Evans beat Lloyd by 3-1 and the Nunthorpe pair of Kearney and Evans won the doubles to clinch the 7-3 win.

The third team in contention for the title, Beaumont Nomads B, improved their chances with a 9-1 victory over Ormesby Hopes B.  Jane Lynas, Malcolm Noble both won three while Bruce Lowther two.  The Ormesby win was scored by Seth Holland who best Bruce Lowther by 3 games to 1. 

The fourth team in contention, Ormesby D, kept their interest in the title race with a 7-3 victory over Ormesby Hopes A team.  Syd Davis was the star of the match scoring a hat trick while John McCullow and Tom Hand scored two each.

George Tickner did well for the Hopes team, winning his two matches against Tom Hand and John McCullow by 11-4 in the deciding game.

The Hopes A pair of Tickner and Ella Pashley also delivered in the doubles.  Trailing by 2-0 they won the three remaining games, the fourth and fifth being 11-9 and 12-10. 

These results help to make the position at the top of the table very tight.  Nunthorpe lead with 87 points from 11 matches, Westbourne are 4 points behind on 83 points with the same numbers of matches played.  Beaumont B are in a very strong position with 82 points but with one match in hand, while Ormesby D stay in the frame with 67 points with two matches in hand. 

A very close finish for this Championship race is anticipated.

Match reports by Alan Ransome OBE