Northumberland County Table Tennis

Last year’s champions the North East Chinese Association finished in third place this year and their team of Adam Webster, Jamie Collins and Chun Yin Yu  ended with a 7 – 3 victory over Cramlington Casuals when both Webster and Chun were both unbeaten. This year’s title will be decided when Mount A visit Saint Chads and NESLC Eagles entertain Saint Columbas.

Prudhoe and District United Services Club made sure that they won the first division by beating Mount D 7 – 3 with Andrew Firth, Mark O’Connor and Peter Stempczyk each winning two singles and Firth and O’Connor combining to take the doubles set.

Matfen Senators side of Alex Holliday, Neil Forsyth and Steve Oxley beat their Centurians team to finish in second place.

Prudhoe had a really good week by also reaching the final of the Handicap Cup with a 5 – 4 victory over the young Cramlington Falcons in a hard fought match thanks mainly to Firth who won all three of his matches. O’Connor and Maurice Cheek got one each. Alfie Stokes got two for the losing side with his brother Archie getting one as did Oliver Ho.

Prudhoe will now meet either The Mount or Cramlington Trojans in the final.

In Division Three Cramlington Spartans had Sree Kanakala in fine form and he recorded a hat trick in their 7 – 3 victory over Newton B with Sam Nair and Jamie Hall both getting two but losing out to Tom Manuel. The victory means that the Spartans finish top of the division with the club’s  Falcons side in second place.

The Northumberland County veterans team of Andrew Wilkinson, Martin Schapira, Christine Burke and Phil Prady, a late replacement for Eddie Smith, drew all three of their matches against Worcestershire, Lancashire and Gloucestershire to end up overall with five draws and one defeat  to keep their place in the County Championships Veterans Division 1A.

Wilkinson was unbeaten in all of his singles and doubles matches.

At the other end of the age scale the Northumbria League Cadet side of Ethan Brown, Patrick Nicholson, Ferg Kilsby and Alan Roskilly finished third in the Northern Division of the National Cadet League after winning two and losing one in the final session.

In the Northumbria League Wilkinson helped  full strength NESLC Eagles to gain ten points with victory over Mount C and they are now three behind Mount A at the top of the Premier Division.  All will be decided in the final matches when Mount go to St. Chads and the Eagles entertain St.Columbas.

Prudhoe and District United Services Club and Matfen Senators are the teams to be promoted from the first division after Prudhoe drew at Newton and the Senators beat Brandon Anacondas. This is the first time ever that the Matfen players Alex Holliday, Neil Forsyth and Steve Oxley who all played in every match have reached the top division.

Ouston B  team of Kevin Richardson, David Byers and Tom Fowle beat Cramlington Swifts 9 – 1 to win the second division but the one set won by  Richard Williamson was enough to keep the Swifts in the division and relegate Cramlington Reivers. Mitford who drew  with Mount E are also promoted.

In Division Three Cramlington Falcons young side recorded another 9 – 1 success when they visited second placed Matfen Whitley Chapel to gain promotion along with the club’s Spartans who need three points from their final match to finish top.

The Mount now look certain to be champions of the Northumbria league after their team of Anthony Barella, Bailey Pye and Anthony Ainley easily defeated the bottom team Old England Jacks 10 – 0. With only one match to play they are now thirteen points ahead of NESLC Eagles  who have two to play. The Old England team and Cramlington Stingers will be relegated.

Prudhoe and District United Services Club only need one point from their last match to ensure promotion from the first division after a 10 – 0 victory over Cramlington Tigers. The other promotion place will be between Matfen Senators and Newton, the latter having won away to North East Chinese ‘B’ with only two players, John Rowell and Graeme Bell to go second. Matfen are three points adrift but have a game in hand.  Tigers and Brandon Anacondas will be relegated.

Ouston B team of David Byers, Kevin Richardson and Tom Fowle defeated Tyneside B  8 – 2 to edge two points ahead of Mitford at the top of Division Two, the latter only getting six points from their match with Matfen Tribunes. At the foot of the table the Cramlington derby saw the Swifts beat the Reivers 6 – 4 and in their last matches Ouston will now determine which of them join the Trojans in going down as the Swifts entertain Ouston B and the Reivers are away to Ouston A.

The young Cramlington Falcons side of Oliver Ho and the Stokes twins Archie and Alfie, have come into contention for promotion from Division Three after a 9 – 1 win over Ouston C. With one match to play the Spartans are top with 109 points, Matfen Whitley Chapel with 104 are second, the Falcons have 102 and Ouston 100 and In the last matches Whitley Chapel are at home to the Falcons. Matfen Cohorts and Cramlington Jaguars will go down

Tyneside C team will finish top of Division Four to claim the Aubrey Drapkin Cup with Ouston D in second place. lv

Seventeen year old Adam Webster turned in the performance of the week, if not of the season, in the Premier Division of the Northumbria League with victory over leading County player Andrew Wilkinson when his team the North East Chinese Association met second placed N.E.S.L.C. Eagles. The Chinese side were trailing 5 – 3 before Chun Yin Yu defeated Steve Penman to complete his hat trick leaving  Webster to play Wilkinson in the final set. The youngster won in four games to give his team a share of the spoils and put a large dent in the Eagles championships hopes.

They now trail The Mount who beat Cramlington Casuals 10 – 0 by thirteen points with only three matches to play although they do have a game in hand.

In the second division Mitford and Ouston B are now level on points at the top of the table after Mitford’s Micky Bull, Karen Henry and Barry Hill beat Cramlington Swifts 9 – 1.

There were two very close matches in the quarter finals of the Handicap K.O. Cup, the first being when the young Cramlington Falcons  came from 4 – 2 down away to Matfen Senators to win 5 – 4. Alex Holliday and Neil Forsyth had both won twice for Matfen but Alfie and Archie Stokes along with Oliver Ho took the last three matches.

The other one was at Prudhoe where the home side of Mark O’Connor, Andrew Firth and Maurice Cheek won the first three matches only for Cramlington Cobras’ Steve Ralph(1), Joe Hastings (1) and Alan Hedley (2) to take the next four before Firth beat Hastings and O’Connor defeated Ralph to give Prudhoe a 5 – 4 victory.

In the other matches Cramlington Trojans’ Mike Dunn, Israel Shodeinde and Jack Cairns beat Cramlington Jaguars 7 – 2 and the Mount B team of Bailey Pye, Dan Dodds and Jamie Dent won 5 – 0 away against the Tyneside TTC A team.

The semi final draw sees Prudhoe play the Falcons and Mount B take on the Trojans.

The Mount team of Graeme and Anthony Barella along with Phil Prady took advantage of the fact that NESLC Eagles had no fixture to go eight points ahead at the top of the Northumbria League Premier Division by defeating a weak Mount B team 10 – 0. The Eagles, however, do have a game in hand.

Andy Firth, Peter Stempczyk and Mark O’Connor were all unbeaten for Prudhoe and District United Services in a 10 – 0 victory over N.E.C.A. B team to go top of the first division.  Third placed Newton stay in the promotion race despite being a player short when they took on Tyneside TTC as John Russell and Dave Lucas just did enough to give them a 6 – 4 win.

Ouston Community Centre B team of David Byers, Kevin Richardson and Tom Fowle have taken over at the top of Division Two by beating the previous leaders Mitford 8 – 2 and winning 7 – 3 away to Cramlington Reivers. Byers was unbeaten in both matches, winning all of his singles and also both doubles with Richardson.

Cramlington Trojans defeated Old England FATTS 8 – 2 but are now bound to be relegated with one other Cramlington team, Reivers or Swifts also looking likely to join them.

In the third division Whitley Chapel, who now only have one match left to play, lost to Newton B  6 – 4 but are top of the table by three points over Cramlington Spartans who have a game in hand and  by six over Ouston C who still have three to play.

Fourth Division Matfen Consuls strengthened their team by the inclusion of Ben Kilsby and got a 6 – 4 win over the leaders Tyneside C. He duly won two but the player of the match was undoubtedly young Ferg Kilsby who got a hat trick.

The Northumbria League Junior team are champions of the North East Section of the National Junior league.  At Ormesby they defeated Ormesby  first team 7 – 2 and Ormesby seconds  9 – 0. However the important match was the one in between when they took on Bishop Auckland and won 5 – 4. As a result they finished one point ahead of Bishop Auckland to be crowned champions. On the day Ethan Brown won all nine of his sets, Israel Shodeinde won seven and Jack Cairns got five.

Cramlington Stingers at last managed to win a match in the Northumbria Premier Division when two sets each from Steve Pearce and Nigel Rodgers, one from Rob Reed and success in the doubles by Pearce and Rodgers gave them victory over Old England Jacks although Andy Benjamin won all of his sets for the losing side.

In division one the N.E.C.A. B team of Jamie Collins, Ken Lee and Kit Robinson each won two as they beat Tyneside TTC 6 – 4 to move away from the relegation places. 

The shock result in the second division came when bottom of the table Cramington Trojans side of Alastair Johnson and the youngsters Shodeinde and Cairns held the leaders Mitford to a draw. However Mitford stay top of the table with their nearest challengers Tyneside B team being held to a draw by Old England FATTS and Ouston B being held by their A team.

It is now tight at the top of Division Three with only three points separating the top three sides after Cramlington Spartans who lead by a single point drew away to Saints, Ouston C did likewise away to Newton B and Whitley Chapel dropped three points in a 7 – 3 victory over Jaguars. 

Both of the leading teams in Division Four had convincing wins with Tyneside B beating Cramlington Knights 8 – 2 and Ouston D winning 9 – 1 against the Lions.

The Northumbria League Cadet side were in action in the North East section of the National Junior league at Ormesby and won all four of their matches even though they were without their leading player Ethan Brown. Alan Roskilly and Noah Rutherford joined regular Patrick Nicholson as they defeated Bishop Auckland C and B teams, Darlington B and then Ormesby first team. They will go into the final session in second place only three points behind the leaders Scarborough.

The Premier Division of the Northumbria League is now definitely a two horse race between the leaders N.E.S.L.C. Eagles and The Mount after the Mount side of Graeme and Anthony Barella along with Anthony Ainley beat last year’s champions  North East Chinese Association 9 – 1. The Eagles team of Andrew Wilkinson, Eddie Smith and Steve Penman had an easy 10 – 0 win over the bottom team Old England Jacks and with four matches to play are a mere two points ahead.

Prudhoe and District United Services Club squad of Mark O’Connor, Andrew Firth, Peter Stempczyk and Shirley Gelder have taken over at the top of the first division despite being held to a draw by Tyneside TTC for whom Mark Kimberley was unbeaten as they went on to beat Saint Columba’s B 7 – 3 despite Lee Tinkler winning all of his sets for the losers.

In the second division Ouston B received a set back to their hopes of winning the division when Mount E team of John Russell, Charlie Mouzon and Mick Hope beat them 6 – 4 despite Ken Richardson getting a hat trick.

Cramlington’s young player Oliver Ho had a good week  when he won two sets when playing up for the Reivers against Matfen Tribunes in Division Two and then getting a hat trick for his own team the Falcons  in a 6 – 4  defeat by Saints in division three.

Three of the teams to reach the quarter finals of the Northumbria League Handicap Cup had to come from behind to get there.  Two sets from Nigel Tree and one each from Keith Hodges and Dave Swan put Matfen Tribunes 4 – 2 ahead against Cramlington Cobras before the visitors hit back when Alan Hedley beat Swan, Joe Hastings levelled things up with a victory over Hodges and Steve Ralph won the match for the Cobras by beating Nigel Tree.

The Cramlington Trojans side who were 3 – 1 behind away to Ouston B, pulled back to three all  before David Byers completed his hat trick to put Ouston back in front. However Alistair and Jack Cairns won the final two sets for the Trojans.

The third one was another Cramlington side, the Jaguars, who lost their first two matches to Newton B team’s John Henderson and Tom Manuel but two sets each by Abdel Warayet and Gavin Wilson and one by Mick Sursham gave them victory.

Mark Kimberley and Rob Lawson both won two for Tyneside TTC A team and with Steve Dickinson getting one they defeated Saints, for whom Ray Joynson got two, by five sets to three.

Dan Dodds and Bailey Pye won two sets each and with one from Alan Livingstone, The Mount B team beat Brandon Anacondas 5 – 3.  Brandon’s Bravehearts side also went out when  Mark O’Connor and Andrew Firth got two each and  Tom Firth one to give Prudhoe and District United Services Club a 5 – 3 victory.

Ouston’s D team lost to Cramlingon Falcons 7 – 2 with Alfie Stokes unbeaten for the winners and unfortunately Ouston C had to concede to Matfen Senators because of injuries to their players.

Only a few league matches were played but Matfen Whitley Chapel visited Cramlington two nights running. They beat the Cobras 7 – 3 but lost by the same score to the Spartans and both teams are level on points at the top of the third division but the Spartans have a game in hand.

NORTHUMBRIA TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

KO HANDICAP CUP 2018 – 2019:  Results for Round 3 

• Conceded

Graeme Barella retained the Alan Morpeth Memorial Cup when he beat Chun Yin Yu in the final of the Open Singles at the Northumberland Closed tournament.  After winning his group he accounted for John Cook, Jamie Dent and Peter Smallcombe before winning in four ends against Chun who had put out the number two seed Andrew Wilkinson in the semis.

The Womens Singles round robin event for the Philomena Clark Memorial Cup was won by Lynne Herrington for the third year running with Lynsey Storey the runner up.

In the Veterans Singles Andrew Wilkinson made it three in a row with victory over Steve Penman in the final after putting out Martin Schapira in the semis. Penman beat the number two seed Eddie Smith to get to the final.

Penman was also another player to retain a title when he beat Jamie Dent in the final of the band 1 singles.  The band 2 winner was Ethan Brown, Sree Kanakla, last year’s band four winner won band three this time round, Sam Nair took band four and Linda Pinkham triumphed in band five.

The doubles was again a fun event with a top player being drawn to play with a lower ranked one and the pairing of James Bradbury and Israel Shodeinde  were the winners.

In the Junior Closed tournament Adam Webster made history by becoming the first youngster to win the Junior Singles four year’s running when he beat Ethan Brown in the final.

Brown, however won the Cadet Singles by beating Archie Stokes  in the final.

Oiiver Ho won the Under 13 singles for the second year running, beating Leo Conn in the final and the winner of the  Under 12 round robin event was Toby Dancer with Jessica Yang the runner up.

The Northumbria League Junior side of Ethan Brown, Israel Shodeinde and Jack Cairns recently  beat Bishop Auckland, the leaders of the Junior National League North Eastern Division 5 – 4 and also defeated Darlington Academy and are now in second place with one more session to be played.

This coming weekend sees the staging of both the Northumberland Junior and Senior Tournaments at Cramlington Sporting Club, Cramlington Village School with the Juniors on Friday Evening at 7.00p.m. and the Seniors on Saturday starting at 9.00a.m.

Adam Webster is expected to retain the Junior Singles title and in the Seniors Graeme Barella will be all out to retain the Open Singles crown but he will have strong opposition in Andrew Wilkinson, Chun Yin Yu and Eddie Smith. 

In the Northumbria League Barella, Phil Prady and Anthony Ainley put The Mount back on top of the Premier Division after a comprehensive 10 – 0 victory over the bottom side  Cramlington Stingers.

Newton went to the top of the first division after John Russell, Graeme Bell and Dave Lucas defeated Cramlington Tigers 8 – 2 but Matfen Senators have a game in hand and are only two points behind them. Third placed Mount D were held to a draw by Saint Columba’s B for whom Lee Tinkler got a hat trick.

MItford slipped up in Division Two when they lost at home to Old England FATTS 6 – 4 which allowed Tyneside TTC B to go above them at the top of the table although Mitford do have a game in hand. Joe Perrin was unbeaten for the Old England side. Tyneside’s team of Jim Robertson, John Carr and Chas Robertson ran out 10 – 0 winners against Cramlington Swifts.

The clash between the top two teams in Division Three , Ouston C and Cramlington Spartans ended up all square with Ouston’s Duncan Hindmarsh winning all of his sets and also narrowly winning the doubles 14 – 12 in the fifth end partnered by Andy Harris