Coldhurst on title march

TABLE TENNIS: Coldhurst A continued their march to the Division 2 title with an 8-2 defeat of nearest rivals Honeywell C in the Oldham Table Tennis League.

Paul Howarth and Simon King both trebled for Coldhurst, who also won 8-2 against Werneth D - Howarth again undefeated and cementing his position at the top of the averages.

Honeywell C went down to another defeat- 7-3 at Hollinwood C for whom Steve Collins was outstanding in winning three.

A two-man Droylsden still managed to beat Hollinwood D 7-3, Miles Benjamin and Mike Truter both winning all their games, including the doubles.

Hollinwood’s E team went down 8-2 at home to Uppermill for whom Mark Simpson won three.

There were a lot of close games in Unison A’s 7-3 victory over Hyde YMCA B. All Unison’s team of Andy Hey, Liaqat Ali and Alan Auxilly won two games.

Hollinwood F lost 8-2 at home to Pennine, Glen Chadwick and Steve Mather registering maximums for the visitors.

In the first division, Karen Hill was in excellent form for Werneth C against Hyde YMCA and won all her three games but couldn’t prevent her team going down to a 7-3 defeat.

Another good performance in defeat came from Grotton’s Shaun Ellis who won two against Glodwick, including beating reigning Oldham singles champion, Mark Ramsbottom. Jeff Craighill was unbeaten for Glodwick.

BAE A won 7-3 away at Werneth B with Tony Bates proving to be the visitor’s match winner in winning three.

Saddleworth A and Hollinwood fought out a draw. The top performance of the night going to Adam Rowbotham, who won three including a defeat of Paul Cichelli.

There was another close encounter at BAE, where the B team drew 5-5 against Hollinwood B. Mick Hill was impressive in winning three for the home side, Hollinwood clinching a draw with an 11-9 win in the fifth set of the doubles.

In a great match at Honeywell there was yet another draw with Honeywell B putting in a good performance to match Werneth A 5-5, clinching the draw by winning the last set of the doubles.

Rosehill lost 8-2 at home to in-form Honeywell A, Phil Myers and Simon Hardwick trebling for the visitors.

The match of the week in the third division was at Oldham Owls, where their A team went down narrowly 6-4 to Unison C. Jim Bollard proved to be the difference between the sides with three good wins and then clinching the deciding doubles with Alan Meltzer.

Oldham Deaf Club A increased their lead at the top of the table with a 9-1 defeat of Saddleworth B. There were maximums for Ian Cockcroft and Dave Varney.

Coldhurst C proved too strong for their D team and beat them 8-2. Malcolm Wills and Neil England both registering trebles.

Unison B gained bragging rights in beating their D team 8-2 in a match played in a good spirit. There were trebles for Paul Whyatt and Glen Jackson.

In the fourth division, Werneth F and Our Lady’s B drew 5-5 with youngsters John Moran and James Chappell both winning two for Our Lady’s, as did Colin Pellowe and David Jefferson for Werneth.

A strong Honeywell F team beat Coldhurst E 8-2 with Leo Cogger winning three.

Werneth G had mixed fortunes, drawing 5-5 in a rearranged encounter with St Saviours B team, for whom Jacob Reilly and Josh Poole won two each. Rob Ainsworth and Alan Nightingale won two each for Werneth.

Werneth G then went down 8-2 to the Deaf Club’s C team for whom Ron Tench trebled.

Oldham Deaf Club B went clear at the top of the table with a 10-0 win over an inexperienced Glodwick Academy team.

Division 1: Rosehill 2, Honeywell A 8; Werneth B 3, BAE A 7; Saddleworth CC A 5, Hollinwood A 5; Grotton A 2, Glodwick 8; Hyde YMCA A 7, Werneth C 3; Honeywell B 5, Werneth A 5.

Division 2: Coldhurst A 8, Honeywell C 2; Unison A 7, Hyde YMCA B 3; Droylsden 7, Hollinwood D 3; Hollinwood E 2, Uppermill A 8; Hollinwood C 7, Honeywell C 3; Hollinwood F 2, Pennine 8; Coldhurst A 8, Werneth D 2.

Division 3: Honeywell E 4, Coldhurst B 6; St Saviour’s A 5, Coldhurst B 5; Owls A 4, Unison C 6; Honeywell E 3, Grotton B 7; Coldhurst D 2, Coldhurst C 8; Deaf Club A 9, Saddleworth CC B 1; Unison D 2, Unison B 8.

Division 4: Werneth G 5, St Saviour’s B 5; Werneth G 2, Deaf Club C 8; Glodwick Academy 0, Deaf Club B 10; Coldhurst E 2, Honeywell F 8; Werneth F 4, Our Lady’s B 6.


Trophy success

OLDHAM’S table tennis town team enjoyed success in the Lancashire & Cheshire League Norman Cook Trophy.

In a repeat of last year’s final, Oldham beat the East Lancs League 5-1 with two wins each for Darryl Meredith and Tristran Swan. Ian McLean added the other point.