Northumberland County Table Tennis

Cramlington and Saint Chads have both won all three of their opening matches in the Northumbria League Premier Division. In their latest matches Casuals beat The Mount B team 8 -2, Andrew Wilkinson and Steve Penman both winning all of their sets with new signing Kate Roberts getting one.. The Saint’s team of Jimmy Scope, Keith Weatherby and Josh Weatherby easily accounted for Cramlington Tigers 10 -0.

Unbeaten performances by Graeme Barella and Phil Prady saw The Mount A team beat Cramlington Stingers 8 – 2 and similarily Chun Yin Yu and Adam Webster were undefeated for North East Chinese Association in a 9 – 1 win over NESLC Eagles.

Tyneside TTC A team had a double success away from home in the first division when they beat Prudhoe And District United Services B and N.E.C.A. B, both to the tune of 6 – 4. Mark Patterson was their star player winning all three of his sets at Prudhoe and two at the Chinese club who had Keming Li in fine form with a hat trick.

Cramlington Reivers went to the top of the table by beating The Mount C 7 – 3, Old England Jacks won their third successive match by beating Prudhoe 6 – 4 , their Crocks side beat Ouston A 8 – 2 while Matfen Centurians and Mitford shared the spoils.

The Mount E team of Dave Bannon, Mick Hope and Caron Guthrie  kept up their winning start to the season in division two 7 – 3 away to Cramlington Swifts, Guthrie getting a hat trick while Ouston B and Brandon Anacondas both recorded 8 – 2 victories against Trojans and Tyneside B respectively.

Matfen Tribunes continue to dominate division three after an 8 – 2 success over Corinthians and Brandon Bravehearts with Stephen Pattinson and Ryan Morton both unbeaten in a 9 – 1 win at Tyneside C are in second place although Old England FATTS  6 – 4 win at Cramlington Spartans was their third in a row.

Ouston C look to be the strongest team in division four and their side of Duncan Hindmarsh, Jamie Milroy and Shirley Robson came away from Cramlington Dynamos with a 9 – 1 win under their belts.

Chris Blake was in form for Saint Chads when they visited The Mount B team in the Premier Division of the Northumbria League. The Saints appeared to be set for a big win when they led 5 – 2 but victories for Dave Cutler over Dave Bissett and for Rod Roberts over Jimmy Scope pulled it back to 5 – 4 before Blake beat Jamie Dent to secure his hat trick and give his team a 6 – 4 success,

The Chinese club, N.E.C.A. have signed Naradin Muktar from Stockton and he had an immediate impact with an unbeaten performance against Newton in a 9 – 1 victory.

Cramlington Reivers took a 4 – 0 away to Mitford in division  one but the home side hit back before finally losing out 4 – 6 with Paul Jamieson unbeaten for the visitors. He was backed up by Steve Pearce who won two and Mike Dunn who got one.

Caron Guthrie was on top of her game in Division Two winning all of her sets as The Mount E ran out 7 – 3 winners over Brandon Anacondas.

Mounts D team took a 2 -1 lead when they visited Matfen Senators but the home side ran out 8 – 2 winners with Alex Holiday undefeated and Neil Forsyth and Stephen Oxley winning two each.

Matfen Tribunes had a third successive 9 – 1 victory in division three at Cramlington when they took on the Ravens but they were made to fight all of the way with five of the ten matches needing a fifth game to decide them. In the end Dave Swan and Nigel Tree were both unbeaten and Keith Hodges won twice with Swan and Hodges getting the doubles.

The Tynedale derby between Newton C and Matfen Cohorts in division four went the way of the Cohorts who had Richard Rayfield in form with three singles wins as well as partnering David Crompton to success in the doubles.

NESLC Eagles included Eddie Smith in their team along with Jim Stamas and Paul Baines for the visit of Newton in the Premier division of the Northumbria League and duly ran out 10 –  0 winners. Saint Chads played their first match and beat Cramlington Stingers 8-2. They included young Charlotte Weatherby in their team who did well to beat Adam Curran.  Geoff Salter was unbeaten for Prudhoe & District United Services who defeated Cramlington Tigers 6 – 4.

Old England Crocks joined their Jacks team at the top of Division One by beating Mitford 7 – 3 with Brian Bateman getting a hat trick. In the same division Yao Li also got a hat trick for the Chinese team N.E.C.A. ‘B’ as they defeated  Mount C 6 – 4.

Matfen Senators team of Alex Holiday, Neil Forsyth and Steve Oxley lead the way in the second division after coming away from Cramlington Cobras with a resounding 10 – 0 success.

Ouston Table Tennis Club have some new players in their teams this season and one of them. David Byers, was unbeaten for their ‘B’ side as they beat Cramlington Swifts 8 – 2 being supported by Tom Fowle who was also unbeaten and Kevin Richardson who won two.

Another Matfen team, the Tribunes are early leaders in division three after a big 9 – 1 victory over Saints with both Keith Hodges and Nigel Tree winning all of their sets.

Ethan Brown was the man of the match with three wins as Cramlington Ravens came away from Tyneside ‘C’ with a draw.

Three successive victories have taken Cramlington Knights young side to the top of division four. Their latest success was a 6 – 4 win away to Matfen Cohorts with Matthew Mastaglio and Paddy Easton getting two apiece, John Hogg one and also the doubles set while David Crompton was unbeaten for the home side.

Last year’s division 4 winners cramlington ravens have got off to a flying start in division 3 this season winning their first match 6-4 against club rivals Jaguars who were promoted with them. The player of the match was Israel Shodeinde winning all 3 of his games against Joe Hastings, Jamie Hall and John Murrells as well as combining with Jack Cairns to win the doubles. Jack Cairns winning 2 hard fought 5 enders to complete the 6-4 victory. The following week they took on another of their club rivals the Spartans and drew against on paper a much stronger side. The fast improving Israel again taking the man of the match award by winning all 3 of his singles and winning the doubles again with Cairns who won the other set for the draw. These 2 results show great promise and they currently sit in second position in the division.

In Division 4 another Cramlington team has got off to a flyer, they have 16 in the league this year. The Knights have won both of their opening matches 9-1 and both Mathew Mastaglio and Patrick Easton are currently undefeated with their other player John Hogg losing only 1, a dropped doubles set accounting for the other. However, the Newton C team who may be a challenger have only played the one match so far winning 10-0 against Cramlington Magpies and having a bye last week. The team of Julian Manuel, John Morgan and Raymond Lazareto taking the win comfortably only dropping one end the whole of the match.

In Division 2 this week Tyneside TTC B won again to top the division at this early stage. The took on Cramlington Cobras at home and only Mike Dunn and Rob Swinburn from the away team registered wins in the 8-2 victory for Tyneside. Bob sanderson taking the man of the match award with 3 wins being supported by 2 a piece from Jim Robertson and Don Catley.

The winter league has now started and please find attached this weeks copy for Northumbria League table Tennis.

Table Tennis has now resumed for the Winter season with the first round of matches played last week. Last years Champions Cramlington Casuals got their campaign off to a winning start when they fielded a depleted 2 man team at home against newly promoted Newton A team of John Russell, Graeme Bell and Craig Fryer. Despite only having two players both Andrew Wilkinson and Steve Penman won all their games and combined to also win the doubles to run out 7-3 winners. The other tasty fixture in the Premier Division saw two other potential contenders The Mount A take on NESLC Eagles. The Eagles have strengthened their squad with the signing of Martin Schapira and will push all the way this year. The match ended in a draw with the Mounts Graeme Barella winning all 3 of his matches against Schapira, Jim Stamas and Richard Wilson.. He was backed by Anthony Ainley who beat Wilson and Phil Prady. NESLC,s number 1 Stamas opted not to play in the doubles and the Barella, Prady combination proved too strong for Schapira and Wilson winning in 3 straight games. A point of note is that NESLC start their 70^th consecutive season in the Northumbria League this year which is quite an achievement. St Chads had their match postponed vs the NE Chinese A team as their top student players have not started term yet and they too will be in the chase for honours.

In division 1 Old England Jacks relegated from the premier last season got off to a fine start winning 7-3 against Matfen Centurions. This looks to be a closely fought division this season with many teams in with a chance of taking the honours. The Mount C also won 7-3 against Ouston A. The Mounts C team fielded their new summer signing Rob Lawson who chipped in with one win but was helped by a resurgent Tony Gelder who won all 3 and Mohinder Rawat who took 2. The Mount also taking the doubles. Another team looking to do well is Tyneside TTC’s A team who had their match postponed against the Chinese Associations team as they were having problems fielding a team. Mitford now down to only one team again had a bye and start their campaign this week and are sure to be in the hunt for honours too.

Cramlington Falcons won Div 5 of the Summer League 2017. They are now playing as Cramlington Ravens in Div 3 of the Winter League. Their first match was away to Cramlington Jaguars on Thursday 14 September which they won 4-6.

Afterwards they were presented with their trophies for winning Div 5 of the Summer league.

Cramlington Ravens: Jack Cairns, Israel Shodeinde and Alfie Davies

The Northumbria summer League is now complete with Cramlington stingers being crowned champions for the third year in a row. St Chads finished second going one place better than last summer. The Cramlington side had the league sown up with 2 weeks of the season left and having reigning Northumberland champion Andrew Wilkinson playing alongside Steve Penman who never lost a match all summer obviously gave them the upper hand.

Division 1 however was a more closely fought affair with The Mount C eventually coming out on top and The North East Chinese Association team finishing second both gaining promotion to the top division. The Mount had two matches in the last week one against bottom team Ouston A which they won 10-0 and the other re arranged match vs third placed Tyneside TTC A which ended in a 5-5 draw. Dan Dodds, Tony Gelder and Mohinder Rowat being the mainstays of the team giving them the edge over the Chinese who invariably suffer in the summer when their university student players go home for the summer. At the other end of the table Tyneside TTC B were relegated along with Ouston. Also in division 1 deserving of mention is Sacriston A who because of players being unavailable due to holiday and not being able to re schedule matches probably lost out on promotion and will have to try again next year.

There is now not much of a break until September the 11^th which sees the start of the winter Season with 50 teams contesting 5 divisions. Also coming up is the Cramlington Junior 2 Star tournament being held at Cramlington Learning Village on Saturday November the 4th. Entry forms are available now from the table tennis England web site or from the club itself.

This week saw Cramlington Falcons crowned division 5 champions when they defeated second placed Brandon Fire to clinch the title with only a rearranged fixture left to play.

Israel Shodeinde got the falcons who were the home side off to a flying start in the first game of match when he won with relative ease by three games to nil against Paul Henderson and then Jack Cairns made it two nil with a win over Bill Maclennan. Up next was Alfie Davies against Abbey Maddison from Brandon who won making the match score 2-1 to the Falcons.

Cairns then won against Henderson before combining with Shodeinde to win the doubles and then going on to win his next singles against Maddison to make the match score 5-1 to the home team.

Next up was Alfie Davies vs Bill Maclennan who lost in three giving brandon a little hope that they may get something out of the match. This however did not materialise as the Falcons won the next 3 sets to run out 8-2 winners on the night. Shodeinde winning the last game between the two number ones who were both unbeaten at this point to claim the man of the match award.

Although losing Brandon finish runners up in the division and will be promoted along with the Falcons.

At the other end of the table Brandon Energy lost 8-2 against East Boldon B who are one of the new teams entered this season but have acquitted themselves well with a mid-table finish and all their young players showing promise. Their star performer being Ethan Brown who has only lost 4 matches all season.

There are a handful of matches left and we’re in the two weeks set aside for matches that were postponed to be played which will decide the outcome of the other divisions.

The final week of matches in Divison 4 were played this week and Lanchester found themselves on the end of a heavy defeat which has ultimately sealed the team’s relegation to Division 5 next Summer season. Lanchester’s Martin Johnson, Neil Forster and Nigel Cardale hosted an Ouston B line-up of Andy Harris, David Nichols and Harry Veitch and found themselves outgunned as they lost 10-0 and managed to win only 4 ends.

Another big match in the final week saw Redby take a vital win over Backspin B as Malcolm Deneven, Frank Booth and Istvan Soos won 9-1 over Adam Butler, Alex Nicholl and Debbie Irwin with Butler taking the only win for the away side. This allowed Redby to leapfrog Backspin into second place, securing promotion for the club who were, this year, new to the Northumberland Summer league.

Brandon Crusaders and Brandon Devils had a more closely-fought contest as the Crusaders won 6-4 but this result didn’t affect the outcome of the promotion or relegation places in the division.

Now that all of the matches in Division 4 have been played, the table is complete. Brandon Crusaders have had a phenomenal season, winning every single one of their matches and dropping just 28 sets in the process. In second place, 18 points behind them, lie Redby who, as mentioned, narrowly earned themselves promotion. Backspin B placed third, Ouston B placed fourth and then Brandon Devils narrowly escaped the drop as they finished 3 points above Lanchester. The bottom three spots were tightly contested as Cramlington Jaguars finished in seventh position with just three points less than Lanchester and six away from safety. Unfortunately this means both Lanchester and Cramlington Jaguars will be relegated to next year’s Summer league Division 5.

Leading the averages by a considerable margin is Jamie Westwater who proved that playing at Division 4 is simply too low a standard for him as he won every single match out of the 24 he played. Alongside him is Brian Childs with 23 wins out of 27 and Jamie Collins with 20 wins out of 24 – all three players belonging to title winners Brandon Crusaders. Redby’s two Istvans, Istvan Franko and Istvan Soos, are also worthy of mention as they found themselves on 79% and 89% respectively. These players’ wins have undoubtedly gone a long way to helping the team earn promotion this season.

Brandon Bravehearts’ Jack Jacomb won his hat-trick this week in Division 3 against Sacriston Comets as his team won 6-4. Teammates Jordan Dove and Ryan Morton chipped in with 3 wins between them to clinch the victory. The Comets’ line-up of Peter Whitfield, Dan Hutchinson and Ian Mcpherson weren’t far off the pace however as Hutchinson won 2 and Mcpherson won 1, plus the two combining to win the doubles.

Matfen Tribunes’ match wasn’t quite so close, unfortunately for them, as they lost 9-1 to visitors Prudhoe United Services B. Andrew Firth took man of the match for the away team, Maurice Cheek also winning his 3, Shirley Gelder losing out to Nigel Tree. Tree will be happy with this win as his game has been progressing consistently each season and Gelder will be seen as a considerable scalp for the Winter Division 2 player. John Henderson and Mark Perrin were unfortunately unable to take any wins.

Matfen’s other team, the Senators, fared significantly better as they travelled to Boldon and rampaged home to a 10-0 whitewash. Boldon’s line-up of Michael Stafford, Adam Allsopp and Ryan Campbell all struggled, winning just 3 ends in the singles matches against David Swan, Alex Holliday and Stephen Oxley.

The final match in the division this week saw another one-sided fixture as Cramlington Trojans faced club rivals Cramlington Corinthians. The Trojans’ Lynsey Storey, Karen Henry and Blair Carmichael won 9-1 overall with only Storey losing a match as she struggled with Phil Smith’s strong serves and heavy spin. Neither Pauline Long nor Adrian Barnes were able to pick up any wins, sealing the away team’s fate.

Matfen Senators’ consistency of line-up, having played the same three players in the vast majority of their matches, has helped them to retain the top spot in the division, as they find themselves with 98 points and only a single loss. Prudhoe United Services B lie in second place and have not actually lost a game, but closer scores mean they find themselves with fewer points, 5 points behind the Senators on 93. There is a big gap between Prudhoe and the third-placed team, Cramlington Trojans, who have played a game more and are still 15 points adrift. At the other end of the table, East Boldon look like they won’t be able to survive the drop as they are a full 30 points away from safety. Above them, Cramlington Corinthians are halfway to safety as they find themselves 15 points above East Boldon, and 15 points below sixth-placed Sacriston Comets.