NORTH Hill A are just two points behind leaders Torridge in Division One of the North Cornwall Table Tennis League after a convincing 9-1 victory over bottom side Crackington B on Thursday night.

Shirley Luckhurst and Bob Thompson won all their matches in straight games with the visitors’ solitary point coming from Ross Paynter, who beat Martin Hynes for his fourth success of the season.

However, Hynes had no such troubles in defeating Robin Evans and Keiron Chatterjea.

Torridge won a close contest 6-4 at champions Helland who are struggling down in fourth, 18 points off the top.

Despite the home side missing Ingus Abolnieks, his replacement, Allan Brooks, was their best player on the night to win two games with Ritchie Bartlett and Mike Fisher earning one point apiece.

For Torridge, Steve Cragg fought back from 2-1 down to beat Bartlett 11-9 in the fifth on his way to winning all three with Peter Freeburn providing solid support with two. They also won the doubles together.

Budehaven A are quietly going about their business and are up to third after thrashing Whitstone Wanderers 10-0.

Although David Ewen, Helen Murgatroyd and Dave Salisbury had no trouble in beating Barry Stearman and Doug Genini in straight games, Nathan Jukes took Ewen to five ends as well as winning the first game against Murgatroyd.

Budehaven B made it three wins from five games ahead of their visit to North Hill A this coming Thursday with a 7-3 success at Crackington A, who were without star player Frank Barnes.

Despite his absence, his replacement Zach Parker fared well, beating Brandon Forsyth and pushing the in-form Ashley Taylor all the way with the second of their ends finishing 20-18.

Judith Cook and Ross Wilmshurst also beat Forsyth but Taylor and David Sillifant were unbeaten all night.

The top-of-the-table clash in Division Two at Budehaven between the D and C teams was postponed due to an emergency family matter, meaning North Hill B took advantage to move up to third, one point behind Budehaven D, after an 8-2 victory at Launceston on Wednesday night.

Adrian Davis made it ten wins from 12 for the season while Trevor Luckhurst and Michael Kinger each won two. However they both lost to the wily Stephen Parsons.

Crackington C are solidly in mid-table after a 6-4 victory at Bridgerule A on Friday night.

Zach Parker — playing for the second night in a row — earned half of the Crackington points with Trevor Dean (2) and Simon Patterson contributing well.

For the home side, the ever-reliable Alan Quilter was victorious in two and won the doubles with Mick Menzies, who also beat Patterson 11-9 in the decider.

Altarnun A picked up their second win from five outings with a 7-3 victory over bottom side Budehaven E.

Paul Burden enjoyed a maximum haul without losing a game while Geoff Hale returned to form with a brace. They also combined to win the doubles while Dave Jones was victorious once on his first ever Division Two appearance. However, he would have been left frustrated by Ezra Jukes’ fightback from 2-0 down.

Ian Westaway kept up his solid form with two victories.

Jones also played for his regular team Altarnun B on the same night as they took on Budehaven F and won 3-2 in Division Three.

Jones beat both Phil Hawken and George Reilly-Hawkins (who also played for Budehaven E on the same night), who both defeated William Salt.

But Salt showed his worth to claim the doubles with Jones.

The other match saw Budehaven G slip to a 5-0 defeat to league leaders North Hill C although every game was close.

John Parker won both of his singles from 2-1 down against the youth of Luka Talajic-Sims and Will Jose while Jill Diggory kept her composure in some tight contests.