Match of the week in the Hastings & District Table Tennis League Division One saw second-placed Bexhillians A and defending champions Saints A fight out a 5-5 draw at Hastings Academy. Dave Butler and James Winchester both won twice for Saints but Rob Warner was outstanding for Bexhill, his maximum included only Butler’s second defeat of the season. David Rayment clinched the draw for Bexhill, beating Andy Syrett 11-7 in the fifth, which was Bexhill’s clean sweep of the four sets which went the distance.

Main beneficiaries of this result were leaders Hollington Academy A (Paul Barry, Bashar Obeyed and Nathan Darby) who beat Hollington Academy C 9-1, losing only the doubles. Academy A now lead Bexhill A by six points while Academy C’s first loss of the season drops them to fifth.

Bexhillians C beat Tackleway A 7-3 with maximums from Graham Gillett and Hastings Over-60 champion Bob Lowe, with the latter making his first appearance of the season.

In a key Second Division match, leaders Bexhillians G beat nearest rivals Tackleway D 9-1 to open up a five point gap with a game in hand. Kevin McEwan and Cameron Jones were unbeaten with Ryan Heselden winning twice, while Tackleway were without Owen Hatter.

Tigers B came from 2-4 down to win 6-4 against NALGO A with three of the last four sets decided by two or three points in the decider. A maximum for Mike Charter and two from Roger Smith were key for Tigers while Paul Hyland won two for the losers.

Three of the five matches in this Division brought together teams from Bexhillians and Tackleway and Tackleway E restored the balance with an 8-2 win at Bexhillians F. Dan Kildea won three and Keith Lindsay and Simon Newstead two each for Tackleway while Harvey Webb picked up both Bexhill’s wins. Newstead had a mixed evening, doubling up for Tackleway E and D teams who, fortunately, were playing on adjacent tables.

Bexhillians E won 7-3 at Tackleway C, with maximums from Pam Winter and Paul Welford.