Owls swoop in knock-out

TABLE TENNIS; OWLS ‘A’ overcame a handicap deficit of 78 points to win the division three knock-out in the Oldham Table Tennis League.

Facing against St Saviour’s ‘A’ in the final, they claimed victory by a dozen points in an absorbing contest.

It took until the end of seventh set for the Owls team of David Harthan (41pts), Richards Tamworth (43) and Paul Woodward (15) to get their noses in front.

Alex Reilly, Alex Leach and Mark Dalton, of St Saviour’s, contributed to an excellent sporting final, which was well-supported.

The division two showdown was contested by the top two teams in the division, with Hollinwood ‘C’ reversing the league positions to deny Coldhurst ‘A’ by 78 points.

Armed with a 41 points start, the Hollinwood’s Nathan Buckley (seven), Matty Evans (18) and Mohammed Sajid (one) actually gained 37 points against the Coldhurst team of Paul Howarth, Simon King and Simon Walsh.

In the division one final, Werneth ‘B’ increased their 14 points start by a further 49 to beat Grotton ‘A’ by a comfortable 63.

It was another excellent all-round team performance by Rob Carter (16), Eddie Darlington (23) and Mandy Winskill (10) in beating Sean Ellis, Philip Schofield and Dave Morris.

The division four clash was a one-sided affair between the juniors from Counthill, with a massive 236 points start, and the Werneth ‘E’ team of Phil Coombe, Joe Taylor and Dave Holme.

Counthill’s Tom Farkas, Tom Farrell and Adam Newton have vastly improved since their handicaps were awarded and lost just 134 points to win by 102.

In the outstanding league fixtures, BAE ‘A’ are confirmed as runners-up in division one after victories in their last two games.

Fielding the same team of Tony Bates, Tom Lang and Tony Smith, they beat BAE ‘B’ 9-1 and Hollinwood ‘A’ 8-2 to finish two points clear of Werneth ‘A’.