Week 5 Report - October 27 2018
by Steve Richardson
Smugglers now top division 1 – but only by one point from Misfits, with Nets and Edges a further point behind in third. However, the second and third teams have a game in hand on the leaders. In the second division, Holsworthy D lead Litleham by 4 points – both teams have played five and won five.
Smugglers went to Holsworthy and came up against Steve Cragg in fine form. He won all three – but they were all close, two of them going to five. The league leaders won the rest but the scores will show it was far from one sided.
Lee Farrant was in fine form for Balls of Fury who are towards the wrong end of the table. His three victories against Chulmleigh B helped his team to a 7-3 win. Tim Strand picked up two points as did Gerald Luscombe for the B's.
A good feast of table tennis ensued at Instow when Herons hosted Spin Doctors. Mike Sussex won all his 3 in great form but had to be warned by the umpire not to burst the ball with his explosive hitting! Dave Morgan added 2 victories for the visitors and Dave Ewen backed them up with one .For Herons Rob Gale claimed 2 and Bill Tregellas 1, to end the night 3 - 7 to the Docs.
Nets and Edges kept up the pressure at the top with a 7-3 win over Chulmleigh A. Dave Streak held on to his 100% record and didn't drop a game. Skipper Martin Eyles also won all three but he was made to fight for each of his wins – two games against Pawel Ciebien went to 17-15 and 16-14.
Division 2 leaders Holsworthy D had a local derby against the B's – and showed no mercy to their neighbours, running out with an 8-2 win. Dave Sillifant was top player winning all three and not dropping a game. Nathan Jukes, holding his nerve in tight matches, and Ashley Taylor chipped in with two each.
Bob Montague showed that class will tell. Three straight wins kept Holsworthy C well in front of the Vice. The match ended 7-3 – Doug Genini picking up three points as well. Chris Isaac had a tough night, coming close in each of her matches. It could all have been so different!
Littleham reinforced their title credentials with a 7-3 result over Despicables. Dave Stone was clearly in no mood to mess about. His maximum had good support from Alan Pomeroy (2) who is scoring well this season, as is Despicables' Richard Nicholls.
Jai Moore must be getting back to form. He won all three at home against Paddlers, though his game against Dave Andrews was VERY close. Dave and Lindsey Wright picked up two apiece for the Paddlers, and a five set victory in the doubles gave Paddlers a narrow 6-4 win.
Finally, Joey Butt was the star player in Chulmleigh Chief's 5-5 draw with Dolphins. His three points was countered by two from Sam Coutu-Oughton with the draw secured by Dolphins in the fifth set of the doubles.
