Mount True Roof started where they left off last season with a 10/0 win at Burnmoor kicking off the first fixture round in the Sunderland League first division. Mount’s number one Andrew Wilkinson was on England duty in Guernsey, the evergreen Neil Herrington starred for last season’s first division champions with Jamie Dent and Anthony Ainley also winning three close matches against the home side’s Anthony Doyle, Joe Perrin and Alan Atkinson. Elsewhere in division one St.Gabriel’s B edged out West CA’s first team 6/4 with Jason Gargett winning all three matches 3/0 against the experienced Neil Wilkinson and top tier new boys Billy Lee and Josh Jackman. Newly promoted Backspin’s A team found in hard in a 8/2 reverse at home to the Unionists - Phil Prady and Richard Wilson starred for the South Shields’ side both taking maximums. Other results in one - East Boldon 3 Brandon Air 7, Durham Aces 3 St. Chads 7, Brandon Outlaws v DL Tigers postponed.
In Division Two Old England Legends beat Lanchester Centurions 9/1 to go second in the table. Dave Godbold not dropping a game for his Legends side, this was his first season back since 2017/18, Phil Bowden also won all three. Graham Sleep added two more, Alan Kent beat Sleep to get the newly promoted Centurions off the mark. Brandon Energy went top with a 10/0 win at home to Wild West CA - David Flynn, Colin Pritchard and Neil Richards had too much for the Sunderland side of veterans Alan Whitwham, Declan Kelly and Michael Hepworth - Hepworth took Richards close in the five end final match. Other results in two - Durham City Tornadoes 2 Brandon Crusaders 8, West CA B 6 East Boldon B 4, Unionist B 5 Backspin B 5. Durham University v Mount was postponed until after the students return in October.
Seven times Durham County Champion Tony Gelder debuted for his David Lloyd side in division three inspiring them to a 10/0 set and 30/1 game rout at Lanchester Cohorts. Dan Sanderson and Tim Field help inflict the damage with Derek O’Brien taking the sole game off Field. League newbies Ashbrooke B travelled to Brandon Topspinners in Division 3 and also won 10/0. Man of the match Michael Oliver was alongside Alan Thompson and Keith Remmer in a strong Ashbrooke side who had too much for Brandon’s Diane Snowsill, Christine Edward and Grace Carter. Ashbrooke’s A team were held 5/5 at home to East Boldon C when Bruce Davison won all three matches for Boldon - Keith Mitchinson and Ray Hall added two each for Ashbrooke, Bob Gibson not scoring on his debut. Other results in three - Brandon Devils 10 Backspin D 0, Burnmoor B 9 Brandon Fire 1, Backspin C 5 Brandon Jets 5.
Want to start table tennis yourself ? Imagine Table Tennis Club runs weekly sessions at the Beacon of Light Thursdays (over 50s) 10am-12am and Friday’s (adults and juniors) 5.30pm - 7.30pm - cost £5 per session, coaching and equipment provided, first session free, just turn up to play.
Written By
Howard Mc Cain
