What a week in the Oldham & District Table Tennis League.
In Division 1, Uppermill A registered their first victory of the season over a weakened Hollinwood A side that couldn’t cope with the experience that Uppermill had. Gary Crossley and Dave Grundy picking up 2 victories each and the doubles with Dennis Taylor picking up the other to allow them to win 6-4.
Over in Saddleworth, the freshly promoted Coldhurst A side found out that Division 1 is the strongest league around with Saddleworth B picking up a 10-0 victory over Simon King, Simon Walsh and Stephen Barber. Paul King continues his incredible form and long may it continue.
Sometimes the score line does not reflect the match played. Steven Collins played his heart out against the Oldham Champion, Kyan Chin, even taking a game off of him and came close to going to five, but Unison A still lost 10-0 to the mighty Birley Moss with Miles Benjamin picking up the MOM award, with Naz Ahmed and Kyan winning the 3 each too.
Darryl Meredith showed why he will be a force to be reckoned with in the Oldham Closed Championships with a cool 3 wins over Rosehill and with Simon Hardwich and Big Dave Buckley winning 2, Honeywell A won 8-2.
Elsewhere, Honeywell B and Werneth A shared the spoils as they drew 5-5 and Glodwick beat Saddleworth A 10-0.
In Division 2, Unison B continued their great season and their attempt to claim the top spot with a strong 7-3 win over Hollinwood C, with Jacob Reilly-Cooper and Andrew Tarpey winning 3 each and also continued their 100% record in the doubles. One to watch in the Championships.
Grotton A and Hyde YMCA B shared a great 5-5 with Ste Hilton picking up 3 and Dennis Bradshaw and Matt Durbridge winning 1 each. Lionel Royle and Ste Oliver winning 2 and the doubles to tie.
It may be a last hurrah for Harry Lewis this season as he is expected to undergo surgery to leave Coldhurst B struggling for the consistent point winner, he picked up 1 and Keith Butler picked up 2 as Coldhurst lost 7-3 to Stanley Square with Glen Chadwick picking up 3 and the MOM for Stanley. Glenn Dowse supporting with 2.
Age does wonders for ability it seems as Peter Fowler rolled back the years to claim the MOM award as Honeywell C beat their D team 7-3 along with Tommy ‘Gun’ Ryan and Lukasz Maciejewski winning 2. Pete Buckley and Howard Travis winning 1 for the D team and the doubles.
Division 3 now and Dave Varney helping Liaqat ‘Smiler’ Ali and Ian Cockcroft at Deaf A claim a strong 10-0 victory over Honeywell E this week. This was Dave’s first MOM award this season as Smiler and Ian have been incredibly keeping the awards between themselves.
Uppermill B beat Gilders 6-4, with Mark Simpson taking the MOM award and all three players from Gilders winning 1.
In Division 4, Uppermill C beat Hollinwood E 8-2 with Keith Moores taking the MOM award and being strongly supported by David Harthan and Jim Bradbury whom won 2 each.
Jacob Sharp showed that his early-season form was a blip as he won 3 again for another MOM award but couldn’t stop Unison E losing 7-3 to Hollinwood F.
Owls B and Thornham drew 5-5 with Gerald Lennox of Owls winning 3 and claiming the MOM award. Mass Khan winning 2 in a strong performance for Thornham.
In Division 5, Unison F continued their great run with an 8-2 victory over Hollinwood H. Angelo Robles taking 3 and the MOM home for Unison.
The other match in Division 5 was a team rivalry – Denshaw A v Denshaw B. With Denshaw A looking for promotion this year, they needed a big score and they got it with an impressive 10-0 victory over a much improved side in Denshaw B.
The Oldham Closed Championships is only a few weeks away. Go to tabletennis365.com/Oldham to enter.
