Northumberland County Table Tennis

With no game for St Chads this week Mount A took full advantage and went top of Division 1 after a 9-1 win against Matfen Senators. Dan Dodds and Jamie Dent both won three games for the Mount team and paired up to win the doubles. Matfen’s consolation point was a good win for Stephen Oxley against the more experienced Rod Roberts. The same 9-1 scoreline saw Cramlington Casuals overcome Prudhoe. Iain Wood and Steve Pearce both won their three games with Gareth Pearson winning two games; Maurice Cheek gained the consolation point for Prudhoe. A strong Brandon Air team beat NESLC Ministers 7-3. Brandon’s Lee Tinkler, Geoff Salter and Richard Johnson all won 2 games each but player of the match went to NESLC’s Steve Penman who won his 3 games.

In Division 2 North East Chinese Association team consolidated second place in the league with a 9-1 win over Tyneside TTC A. All three of the NECA team Chun Yin Yu, David Byers and Keming Lee won their three games but the Tyneside pair of Mark Patterson and Mark Kimberley surprisingly beat Chun Yin Yu and David Byers in the doubles to gain a point. The second game of the week was a straightforward 10-0 win for Durham Bombers against Newton. The Durham team of Daniel Hutchinson, Ian McPherson and Kevin Richardson proving too strong for their opponents.

Cramlington Cobras maintained their unbeaten start in Division 3 with an 8-2 win over Tyneside TTC B. Lynsey Storey for Cramlington was player of the match winning her three games with Bernie McArdle and Pete Wilkinson contributing two wins each. Jim Roberston picked up the two wins for Tyneside. Cramlington Trojans moved into second place in the league with a 7-3 win over Matfen Tribunes. Anthony Doyle was player of the match winning his three games for Cramlington.  For the third week in a row the young Cramlington Spartans player Oliver Ho was player of the match winning his three games despite ending up on the losing team. The Spartans went down to a 6-4 defeat to Mount C.

In Division 4 Cramlington Corinthians maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 5-5 draw against Backspin TTC B. Jamie Hall was player of the match winning his three games for the Cramlington team; Gavin Wilson secured the other two wins for Cramlington. For Backspin Martyn Parry won two games, Craig Henderson one game and Will McCallum one game. Cramlington played Tyneside TTC C twice in the week with one of the games being re-arranged and the Cramlington team took full advantage winning both games 9-1 which moved them into second place in the league. In both games Rohan Rowat and Alan Roskilly won their three games and Ojas Aggarwal won two games. Leo Conn and Pat Thomas secured the consolation points for Tyneside.  Israel Shoedinde was player of the match for Cramlington Ravens winning his three games in the 6-4 defeat of Ouston A.

Cramlington Jaguars maintain top spot in Division 5 after a 7-3 win over Cramlington Dragons. Gavin Wilson and Abdel Warayet both won their three games to help the Jaguars secure the win. Matfen Cohorts moved into second place in the league with a comfortable 9-1 win over Cramlington Magpies. Richard Rayfield was player of the match winning his three games for Matfen, for whom Dave Swan also won his three games. Sara Haddi secured the consolation point for the Magpies. Cramlington Knights secured a 6-4 win over Ouston B. Patrick Easton, Matthew Mastaglio and David Neal all won two games each for the Knights but player of the match was once again Ian Cumpson who won his three games.    

An 8-2 win for St Chads over Matfen Senators saw them go to top spot in Division 1. Keith Weatherby and Barry Cuthbertson both won their three games and paired up to win the doubles.  There was close game between Mount A and Cramlington Casuals which Mount edged with a 6-4 win, Dave Robson was plater of the match winning his three games supported by Jamie Dent who won two. Iain Wood starred for the Cramlington team winning two games on his first appearance this season, Gareth Pearson and Steve Pearce won one game each. There was a good win for Brandon Air away to Prudhoe. Lee Tinkler was player of the match winning his three games with Stephen Pattinson winning two games and Duncan Fraser one game to secure a 7-3 win.  

In a top of the table clash in Division 2 a strong North East Chinese Association team beat Mount B 6-4 which was Mount’s first defeat this season. Chun Yin Yu and Yao Li both won their three games for NECA. Rod Roberts, Bailey Pye and Dan Dodds all won one game each with Pye and Dodds combining to take the doubles. There was close game between Backspin TTC A and Tyneside TTC A which ended in a 5-5 draw. Dave McAllister was player of the match winning his three games for Backspin. There was another close game between Durham Bombers and Old England which ended in a 6-4 win for the Bombers. Daniel Hutchinson, Kevin Richardson and Ian McPherson all won two games each to secure the win but player of the match went to Old England’s Lynne Herrington who won her three games.

In Division 3 Brandon Bullets lost the opportunity to move into top spot after they lost 7-3 to Cramlington Trojans. Phil Smith , Richard Williamson and Anthony Doyle all won two games each to secure the win for the Cramlington team but player of the match went to Brandon’s Paul Dale who won his three games. There was a straightforward 9-1 win for Mount C over Matfen Tribunes. The experienced Mount players John Rowell, Michael Bradley and William Edwards all won their three games. Pete Seago and Stefan Sobell combined to gain the consolation point for Matfen with a win in the doubles. For the second week in a row the young Cramlington Spartans player Oliver Ho was player of the match winning his three games despite ending up on the losing team. The Spartans went down to a 6-4 defeat to Tyneside B.

In Division 4 Cramlington Corinthians maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 5-5 draw against Cramlington Ravens. Sree Kanakala and Sam Nair both won two games for the Corinthians and were supported by Adrian Barnes who won one game. Israel Shoedinde won two games for the Ravens and paired up with Jack Cairns to win the doubles as well; Cairns and Gavin Wilson both won one game each. Durham Comets played twice in the week and moved into second place. The first game was a 5-5 draw with Ouston A where Ouston had taken a 4-1 lead before being pegged back by the Comets.  Harry Veitch was player of the match for the Comets winning his three games with Oliver Wilkinson adding two games. In the second game the Comets had a straightforward 8-2 win over Cramlington Dynamos, this time Peter Whitfield was player of the match for the Comets winning his three games with Harry Veitch contributing two wins and Luke Dumighan two wins. Backspin TTC B overcame Tyneside TTC C in a 6-4 win. Debbie Irwin, Craig Henderson and Will McCallum for Backspin all won two games each but player of the match went to Tyneside’s Morgan Charles as he won his three games.

A comfortable 10-0 win for Cramlington Jaguars over the Cramlington Knights saw the Jaguars maintain top spot in Division 5. Backspin C keep the pressure on the Jaguars with an 8-2 win over Cramlington Knights which keeps them in second place. Robert Park was player of the match for Backspin winning his three games, supported by Graham Burton and Bailey Neatby who both won two games each. Matfen Cohorts overcame Ouston B securing a 7-3 win, Richard Rayfield, Linda Pinkham and David Crompton all won two games each to secure the win for Matfen but player of the match went to Ouston’s Ian Cumpson who won his three games. The all Cramlington match between Cramlington Dragons and Cramlington Magpies ended with an 8-2 win for the Dragons whose Stephen Baxter was player of the match.  

There was a top of the table clash in Division 1 between Cramlington Casuals and St Chads which ended in a 5-5 draw. James Bradbury won his 3 games for the Cramlington team with Nigel Rodgers and Steve Pearce winning 1 game each. Paul Baines won two of his games and combined with Chris Blake to win the doubles. That result opened the door for NESLC Ministers who moved to top spot with a 9-1 win over Prudhoe. Jimmy Scope and Steve Penman starred for the Ministers both winning their three games. The consolation point for Prudhoe was gained by Andrew Firth who overcame Allan Thompson. In the third game Mount A overcame a strong Brandon Air team of Jamie Lupton, Lee Tinkler and Richard Johnson winning 6-4. Dave Robson was player of the match for Mount A winning his three games supported by Jamie Dent who won two games and the pair combined to win the doubles.

Mount B maintained their unbeaten start to the season and top spot in Division 2 with an 8-2 win against Backspin TTC A. Bailey Pye won his three games for Mount with Rod Roberts and Alan Livingstone both contributing 2 wins each. David McAllister starred for Backspin winning 2 games.  There was the same result in the game between Old England and Newton when Old England gained their first win of the season defeating Newton 8-2. Jake Helm starred for Old England winning his three games; Dave Craddock and Joe Perrin both contributed two wins.

Cramlington Cobras maintained their unbeaten start to the season in Division 3 with a 7-3 win over Cramlington Trojans. Bernie McArdle and Pete Wilkinson both winning their three games for the Cobras. Second placed Brandon Bullets suffered their first defeat of the season losing 6-4 to Mount C. John Rowell and Michael Hope both won 2 games for the Mount team. In the third game Cramlington Spartans went down to a 6-4 defeat against an experienced Matfen Tribunes team of Pete Seago, Stefan Sobell and Keith Hodges. Player of the match was the Spartans young player Oliver Ho who won his three games.

There was only one game in Division 4 this week which saw Cramlington Corinthians maintain their unbeaten start to the season with a 7-3 win over Ouston A. Sree Kanakala and Sam Nair both won their three games for Cramlington and Jamie Hall won one. Andy Harris and Duncan Hindmarsh won one game each for Ouston and then paired up to take the doubles.

In Division 5 top of the table Backspin C suffered their first defeat of the season losing 7-3 to Matfen Cohorts. Richard Rayfield, Mark Perrin and David Crompton all won two games each to secure the win for Matfen but player of the match went Backspin’s Debbie Irwin who won her three games. The all Cramlington match between Cramlington Jaguars and Cramlington Magpies ended with a straightforward 10-0 win for the Jaguars whose Mick Sursham was player of the match. Cramlington Dragons overcame Ouston B with a 7-3 win. Pauline Long starred for the Dragons winning her 3 games and gaining player of the match for the second week in a row. f

There were two games in Division 1 this week which saw a strong Mount A team defeat an experienced Prudhoe team 9-1. Both Dave Robson and Jamie Dent won their three games for Mount, with Andrew Firth securing the consolation point for Prudhoe with a win against Troy Maddison. The second game was a closer affair between Brandon Air and Matfen Senators which Brandon edged with a 6-4 win thanks to Duncan Fraser winning all his three games and Lee Tinkler winning two games.

In Division 2 there was a comprehensive 10-0 win for the NE Chinese Association over Backspin TTC A with David Byers, Ken Lee and Keming Lee all winning their three games. A strong Mount B team of Rod Roberts, Ethan Brown and Bailey Pye defeated Old England 9-1 with Rod Roberts and Bailey Pye both winning their three games; Joe Perrin won the consolation game for Old England with a win over Ethan Brown. In the third game Mark Patterson was the man of the match for Tyneside TTC A as he won all three games in an 8-2 win over Newton. Mount B have made a strong start to the season with two wins in the first two games.

Cramlington Cobras ran out 9-1 winners over Cramlington Spartans in the all Cramlington affair in Division 3, with Bernie McArdle and Lynsey Storey both winning their three games and Blair Carmichael winning two games. Oliver Ho gained the consolation win for the Spartans by defeating Blair Carmichael. Brandon Bullets beat Matfen Tribunes 7-3 and the game between Tyneside TTC B and Cramlington Trojans was a 5-5 draw.  Paul Dale for Brandon and Chas Robertson for Tyneside secured player of the match both winning their three games.

In Division 4 there was a comfortable win for Ouston A who beat Tyneside TTC C 8-2. The other two games in the week were closer with Cramlington Ravens edging out Durham Comets with a 6-4 win; and game between Backspin TTC B and Cramlington Dynamos ending in a 5-5 draw.

In Division 5 there was a comfortable 9-1 win for Cramlington Jaguars over Ouston B. There were straightforward 7-3 wins for Backspin C over Cramlington Magpies, and Matfen Cohorts over Cramlington Knights. For the second week in a row Cramlington’s James Ainsley gained the player of the match yet ended up on the losing team.

The last match in the Winter League 2018-19 was the final of the Team Handicap KO Cup which, as the name indicates, allocates a handicap to each individual player. This allows players from lower divisions to play against the stronger higher placed teams with a points start which enabling closer games.

Thirty-eight teams entered with the first matches being played in October 2018. All told there were six rounds with the final being played, at a neutral venue, between Prudhoe and District United Services Club and Cramlington Trojans on the last day of March 2019.

The route to the final for Prudhoe was 6-3 against Ouston A; 5-1 against Brandon Bravehearts; 5-4 against Cramlington Cobras and 5-4 against Cramlington Falcons.

The Trojans advance was through a 6-3 win over Cramlington Dragons; 5-4 against Ouston B; 7-2 against Cramlington Jaguars and 5-4 against Mount B.

In the Final Prudhoe’s team was Andrew Firth, Maurice Cheek and Mark O’Connor. Jack Cairns, Alastair  Johnson and Israel Shodeinde made up the Trojans.

Match 1 saw Andrew Firth giving a 7 point start to Alastair Johnson which he overcome to take the first game for Prudhoe.

Match 2 followed with Mark O’Connor giving 10 points to Jack Cairns. O’Connor found the rapidly improving Cairns too much and lost in 2 ends to make the match score one all.

The following 2 matches saw Maurice Cheek loose to Israel Shodeinde and O’Connor loose to Johnson both in 2 ends.

Match 5 between Firth and Shodeinde was the first 3 ender when Firth overcome the 8 start of Shodeinde to win 21-12; 11-21 and 21-18.

In match 6 Cheek lost against Cairns.

Match 7 again showed Firth overcoming an 8 point start when he beat Shodeinde 21-19; 21-19 to bring the score to 3 points for Prudhoe and 4 points to Trojans. The next match was going to be crucial.

Match 8 saw Cheek play Johnson with Johnson having a 4 point start. Never the less Johnson found Cheek’s pimples a little difficult and lost the first end to Cheek 21-12. In end 2 Johnson recovered to  take the end 18-12.  The last was again tight. At the half way turnover Johnson seemed to have the game in hand but Cheek stepped up to make it 19-16 to him. Johnson reacted and drew back the score to 20 all. In a nail biting finish Johnson then took the last 2 points to make it 20-22 to Trojans thus winning the overall match 5-3.

Firth and Cairns had both won their 2 matches and though the match was won it was good to see them playing in a ding dong match in which Firth was narrowly beaten, 21-17; 16-21 and 18-21.

The KO Cup and runner up and trophies from winter league and closed tournament will be presented at  Goals Newcastle, High Gosforth Park, Newcastle, NE3 5HP on Friday 10 May.

With the last of the winter matches finalised players can now enjoy the Summer League which begins on Monday 13 May.         

The North East Sports and Leisure Club Eagles based in Longbenton are the new champions of the Northumbria Table Tennis league. For their final match of the season against Saint Columba’s they were able to turn out their strongest team including the County’s top two veteran players Andrew Wilkinson and Eddie Smith along with Steve Penman and they were far too strong for the opposition, running out 10 – 0 victors.

This meant that the Dunston club, The Mount, had to win by at least 7 – 3 when they visited Saint Chads. However they were unable to turn out their regular first team players apart from Phil Prady  and had to bring in Dan Dodds and Jamie Dent. As a result they went down 9 – 1  with the home team turning out a strong side of Keith and Josh Weatherby and Chris Blake. Dodds was their only winner when he defeated Blake.

Whickham based Saints completed the third division fixtures when they came away from Matfen Cohorts with an 8 – 2 victory under their belts, Vince Killen and Steve Dawson both unbeaten.

Cramlington Trojans team of Alastair Johnson and the two youngsters Israel Shodeinde and Jack Cairns beat The Mount team of Dent, Dodds and Bailey Pye in the  semi final of the Handicap Cup 5 – 4  and will now face Prudhoe and District United Services Club side of Andrew Firth, Mark O’Connor and Maurice Cheek in the final which will be played at the Tyneside Badminton Centre on Tuesday April 30th.

After a short break in League play the Northumbria Summer league will start on May 13th.

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.