Week 10
W/C 13/12/2021
Kennon Finals – St Lukes D in memorable win over slain Dragons
This week in the Lancaster and Morecambe Table Tennis League we have the Kennon Trophy and Plate Competition reach their conclusion. The finals in the Kennon Trophy should have been played between St Lukes A/B and Trimpell Bulldogs but St Lukes having failed to take the competition seriously, having failed to put forward a single player for the Semi Finals or the Final had to concede meaning Trimpell Bulldogs were awarded the tie much to their disappointment. No team values walkovers and Bulldogs are no exception to this and St Lukes Premiership players need to question their commitment to the competition. In the Championship Kennon Plate competition however St Lukes D contended the final against favourites Trimpell Dragons. This match was always a close call on paper and in reality provided a thrilling tie. First Up was talisman Mike White taking the first 2 ends against Harrison Lewis before losing the 3 end 11-13 having surrendered a 10-8 advantage? A quick win in the 4th end for Lewis took the pairing to the 5th end where a relieved Mike White edged the pairing and the first point for the Dragons 11-8. In the second pairing Geeza Bilton with a 4 stroke advantage over Mustafa Haider put up little resistance with Haider taking the match all square. Graham White was next up against George Abel with White winning in 4 to take Dragons ahead once more but another lacklustre 0-3 performance by Bilton against Harrison Lewis put St Lukes D back level for the second time. Mike White was up next against George Abel with the vastly more experienced White taking the pairing comfortably putting Dragons ahead for the 3rd time at 3-2. The game of the tie then ensued with Mustafa Haider against Graham White with Haider giving 4 shots to White each game and winning the first 2 ends only for White then to take the game to the nail biting 5th end. Leading 10-8 in the 5th White and his accompanying supporters must have thought he was over the line only to eventually lose the 5th end 10-12, meaning St Lukes would tie the match for the 3rd time at 3-3. Up stepped favoured Geeza Bilton against young George Abel with Abel sticking to his task of frustrating Bilton and taking the pairing 8-11 in the 5th end in another epic encounter, putting St Lukes ahead for the first time in the match with an unlikely 3-4 lead. The match now rested on Dragons player Graham White who was clearly still suffering from the loss against Haider and couldn’t prevent Harrison Lewis from pushing St Lukes D over the finish line taking the tie St Lukes D on 5 with Trimpell Dragons with 3.
Kennon Plate Winners: St Lukes D (George Abel, Harrison Lewis and Mustafa Haider)
Week 9
O’Flynn blunder lets Carr lead Bulldogs into another Final!
This week in the Lancaster and Morecambe Table Tennis League we take a break from league fixtures to play the Kennon Trophy and Kennon Plate Competitions. These competitions vary from normal proceeding with players receiving Individual Handicaps and the match comprising of 9 singles pairings each the best of 5 ends played up to 11 with normal deuce. The first team to win 5 singles matches being the winner. This year due to ongoing restrictions Trimpell and St Luke’s teams played local derby matches to determine the teams that would go forward to the final to play for the prestigious awards.
Frequent Kennon Trophy winners Raptors entertained Bulldogs in a close encounter that left the favourites frustrated as Ben O’Flynn showed his fragility by failing to take the match to 4 all as he succumbed to octogenarian Ray Carr’s cup and competitive experience. Flynn having never lost to Carr previously couldn’t believe his misfortune, wasting a number of game winning opportunities to tie the match. Final score Trimpell Raptors 3 with Bulldogs through to the final on 5.
In the Kennon Plate competition Trimpell City’s good form took another dent as they had their second defeat in as many weeks losing this time to Trimpell Dragons. Dragons players Mike White, Graham White and Geeza Bilton all going extraordinary lengths to record wins over Bruce Armitage and Massoud Rohani with City’s only points coming from Graeme Moorby in a match that ended with Trimpell City on 2 points with Dragons on 5.
Elsewhere St Lukes D overcame St Lukes C with Martin Wakelin, Mustafa Haider, and George Abel proving too strong, winning the tie comfortably 5-1. Mike Gregory was the only D team player to register a win.
Week 8
City’s lights dim as they register their first defeat of season!
As we approach the halfway stage in the Lancaster and Morecambe Table Tennis league we see Raptors pull further away from the field in the Permiership with a 30 points to nil away win at St Lukes B. Ben O’Flynn was player of the night on 9 with Bethany Ellis and Paul Stebbing also on 9 points. For St Lukes B the hapless trio of Paul Hines, Bob Quick and Martin Wakelin could only look on in awe as they came away empty handed.
St Lukes A had similar success winning 28-10 as they welcomed Uni A. Chris Knowles for St Lukes was player of the match taking all 9 points with John Howarth and Mike Armishaw both on 8 points. For Uni A, Catherine Balshaw gained 6 points with Jasper Choi and Owen Li both on 2 points.
Trimpell Bulldogs welcomed Uni B winning the tie 28 points to 9. Phil Goymer was player of the match on 9 points along with Peter Wood also on 9. Bulldogs only losses of the evening were attributed to Ray Carr who came away with a respectable 7 points. For the Uni B side Archie Catnach did well taking 6 points with Euan McWilliams on 2.
Championship
Championship League leaders Trimpell City came down to earth this week as a lacklustre performance sees them record a first defeat of the season losing 16-18 at the hands of an impressive St Lukes D side. Player of the match was St Lukes’ Mustafa Haider on 9 points for nil return. Also doing well for St Lukes D was Harrison Lewis on 6 points with Pam Cheetham as their number 3. For City Graeme Moorby winning average took a dent on 6 points with Bruce Armitage on 5 points and Massoud Rohani on 4.
Lancaster University C welcomed St Lukes C with the Uni C side winning 24 points to 14. Jamie Kennedy was player of the night on 9 points with Liam Silva and Xu Dong Wang on 6 points. For St Lukes C Stephen Galloway did best on 6 points with Martin Wakelin on 4 points and John Riach on 3.
Trimpell Dragons had a busy schedule playing 2 games in a matter of days and came out on top in both. Their 1st game was away to University D which produced a comprehensive 27-9 win. Stars of the show were Mike White and Dave Lamont both recording a maximum 9 points and well supported by Geeza Bilton on 6. Lamont and Bilton also took the doubles 3-1. For the Uni Joel Clarke collected 6 points including a good win over Bilton, but Clarke lacked support as team mates Anson Fong and Rob De Munck were restricted to 1 point each.
Dragons 2nd game was at home to St Luke’s C proved to be a closer encounter with 4 of the match ups going to 5 games. The visitors had Mike Gregory in good form picking up 8 points and with both Steve Galloway and John Raich collecting 3 the away team were always in contention. The bulk of the hosts points came from Mike White 9 and Graham White 8, with Dave Lamont chipping in with 3. The doubles also went the distance as the St Luke’s pairing of Gregory and Galloway went 2-0 up. The Dragons dug deep and the White duo won the next 3 games to leave a final score of 23-16 in favour of the home side.
