Following a busy summer...

Following a busy summer which saw Hartlepool Table Tennis Club 'C' team of Andrew Lund, John Harper and Lewis Twidale triumph in the Cleveland and District Summer League knock out cup final V Ormesby 'F', the Hartlepool winter league programme is now underway.

On the regional front, Hartlepool players Anthony Jackson and Ben Goodchild took part in County Junior trials with Anthony ranked at 5 and Ben ranked at 8. Hartlepool Table Tennis Club entered two teams in the British League in division 4 North and 5 North respectively. The Hartlepool squad were strengthened by the signing of Anthony and Graham Barrella, both having represented Durham County, and Ahmed Heykel, an Egyptian international studying at Sunderland University. These signings have resulting in the 4th Division team being unbeaten in the first two rounds of matches and standing top of the division. The club also welcomed back Darren McVitie after a short break. The 5th division team is being used to provide experience for young players and Anthony Jackson and Ben Goodchild have already secured wins at this level. Hartlepool TTC are also involved in the newly formed Cleveland Premier League featuring the top players in the region and again they are unbeaten in this league occupying second place on games difference behind Stockton Northfield 'A'.

On the local front the Hartlepool League week one produced wins for Wanderers 'A' (8-2) V Hartlepool 'D', Hartlepool 'C' (8-2) V Eldon Grove, and Hartlepool 'A' (10-0) V Wanderers 'B'. Match of the week was between Hartlepool 'B' and reigning champions Westbourne which ended 5-5. Dave Godbold, making his debut for Hartlepool was unbeaten in singles and doubles although Andy Greason for Westbourne pushed him to a fourth end. Dave was supported by Alan Price with a victory over John Bushnall (3-1) and assisted Dave in the doubles.

The end of season town championships...

The end of season town championships provided an opportunity for players to settle old rivalries before the summer break. The open singles was a very close affair with five or six players in with a chance of victory. Kevin Smith, who had an immaculate 100% record in the league until the very last match against Westbourne certainly had a point to prove, although he didn't have it all his own way in his group losing ends to both Lewis Twidale and Andrew Lund. Against Andrew he was pushed all the way winning 11:8 in the deciding fifth with Andrew also going through to the next stage. Andy Greason and Roy Horseman came through their group against Alan Hind and Jordan Parkin without any major alarms, as did David Hutchinson and Alan Price.

Group 4 was the group "death" of bringing together Paul Dale, John Bushnall and Keith Thomas. Thomas started off proceedings with a hard fought 3:2 win over Dale. Dale then cruised past Bushnall 3:0 setting up the final decider of Thomas –v- Bushnall which Bushnall took 4, 10, -5, 13, but on countback Dale and Thomas progressed to the next round. The quarter finals saw Greason, Price and Smith progress without alarms, but Andrew Lund maintained his impressive form to defeat Dale -6, 7, 8, -16, 8 to set up a semi final place against Greason. In the semi finals Smith and Greason progressed to meet in the final with Smith taking the title 7, 4, -12, 6, a well deserved victory. The open doubles produced an all Westbourne final with Greason/Bushnall facing Hutchinson/Horseman in the final with Greason/Bushnall running out 3-2 winners in a close encounter with at one stage Hutchinson/Horseman saving 7 match points before their opponents prevailed winning 11-5 in the fifth and deciding game.

Champions elect Westbourne kept up the pressure...

Champions elect Westbourne kept up the pressure with a 10-0 demolition of HPC Wanderers ‘B’, conceding only three ends throughout the match. Graeme Wilson suffered a narrow defeat by Martin Boyce (13-11 in 5th end) but his team-mates Graham Culley and John Dinning found the going tough against David Hutchinson, Roy Horseman and Boyce. Closest rivals HTTC ‘A’ kept up the pressure with a 9-1 win over Eldon Grove ‘A’. Michael Bee gained a consolation point for the Eldon Grove team with a 3-2 victory over Alan Hind and also took Kevin Smith to a fifth game (7-11) and Alan Price to four ends. John Harper and Kevin Waits failed to trouble the Hartlepool trio. HPC Wanderers ‘A’ enjoyed a 6-4 victory over HTTC ‘C’ team with Gerry Clarke (2wins), Malcolm Hewling (2 wins) and Bob Bellas (1 win) assisted by a doubles victory seeing them home. Keith Thomas was best for the losing side winning all three singles games although he was extended by Hewling to a fifth game. Ben Goodchild enjoyed a narrow win over Bob Bellas (3-2) winning 11-9 in the fifth end. Hartlepool enjoyed the final weekend of the Senior British League with 3 wins and a draw leaving them in fourth place in Division 4 (North).

Spokesman Keith Thomas said “This was a good end to the end of the campaign and allowed us to blood some of our younger players at this level which will hopefully provide a platform for future success”. Daren McVitie ended with an 87.5% average putting him at the top end of the individual player rankings which was an extremely good performance.

This was a big week for Westbourne...

This was a big week for Westbourne with key matches against Hartlepool T.T.C. ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams and the Methodist’s came through narrowly to make themselves favourites for the title. Against Hartlepool ‘B’ Andy Greason starred with three wins. Paul Dale, who won two for the Hartlepool side, pushed him closest (14-12, 14-12, 11-6). Andy was well supported by Roy Horseman and Martin Boyce with two wins each although both were pushed to a fifth end decider by Andrew Lund and Lewis Twidale respectively. Lewis and Paul combined to take the doubles point. The match against Hartlepool ‘A’ was even closer with Westbourne emerging 6-4 winners. Kevin Smith was unbeaten for the Hartlepool team in singles play but his colleagues Alan Price and Alan Hind could only produce one win with Hind defeating Horseman, although they both suffered close five end defeats, Price from David Hutchinson and Hind from Andy Greason. Eldon Grove ‘A’ had mixed fortunes with a 6-4 win over Hartlepool ‘C’ but a 6-4 defeat by Hartlepool ‘B’ Michael Bee again performed best for the Eldon Grove team with five wins out of six with support from John Harper (3 from 6). Keith Thomas with two wins and Paul Dale with three wins were best for the Hartlepool sides with promising performances from Lewis Twidale, Nicola Gallagher and Luke Alexander. Eldon Grove ‘B’ were also in action twice with a 5-5 draw against a two man Wanderers ‘B’ team for whom Graeme Wilson was unbeaten, Norman Ainsley and Glen Wright taking points for Eldon Grove. Eldon found the game against Hartlepool ‘A’ much tougher and were on the end of a 10-0 defeat with the Hartlepool trio of Kevin Smith, Alan Hind and Mick Kipling showing no mercy.

On the national front Hartlepool enjoyed a successful weekend in the British League with three wins and one draw taking them to third place in Division 4 (north). Darren McVitie was undefeated over the weekend and well supported by Dave Robson, Chris Blake, Allan Thompson and Kevin Smith.

Match of the week ...

Match of the week was between Hartlepool TTC ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams with the ‘A’ team keen to maintain their challenge for the league title and the improving ‘B’ team wanting to lay down a marker for the rest of the season. In the end honours were evenly shared at 5-5 with Kevin Smith unbeaten in singles for the ‘A’ team assisted by Alan Price with two wins. Paul Dale with two wins starred for the ‘B’ team supported by Andrew Lund and Lewis Twidale with one win each. Surprisingly Dale and Twidale got the better of Smith and Mick Kipling in the doubles to secure the draw. Hartlepool TTC ‘C’ played two matches in the week and came away with two victories. A shortened match against Wanderers ‘B’ with both sides missing players ended in a narrow 5-4 victory with an undefeated Keith Thomas supported by Ben Goodchild. Ben narrowly lost to Graham Wilson (11-7) in the fifth end and Wilson had earlier come through 3-1 against Anthony Jackson. The match against Eldon Grove ‘B’ produced a more comfortable 8-2 win for the Hartlepool team with Keith Thomas again undefeated. Glen Wright and Chris Watts won one game each against Luke Alexander and Nicky Gallagher for the Eldon Grove side. Hartlepool ‘B’ where again in action against Wanderers ‘B’ and came away with a 7-3 victory with Andrew Lund and Lewis Twidale unbeaten in singles and doubles play. Stuart Culley unfortunately failed to score losing to Graham Wilson, Stuart Culley and John Dinning respectively, despite taking games of both Culley and Dinning. Westbourne ‘A’ sailed on with a 10-0 win over a two man Wanderers ‘A’ side. The trio of John Bushnall, Roy Horseman and Andy Greason were unbeaten although the duo of Gerry Clarke and Bob Bellas did extend Roy Horseman to a fourth end.

On the national scene, Hartlepool Juniors had mixed fortunes in the National Junior League with a win over Dallom ‘A’ 4-2, draws with Lancaster ‘B’ and Preston ‘B’ (3-3) but losing to title contenders Preston ‘A’ (6-0) and Northumbria (5-1). Star of the weekend was Anthony Jackson with 7 wins out of 10 including a great three straight win over Northumbria’s no1, Ryan Richardson. The National Cadet League squad were also in action with wins over Helmsley ‘B’ (9-0 and 7-2) and Northfield ‘B’ (7-2), but suffering a 6-3 defeat by Ormesby ‘B’. Lewis Twidale, Ben Goodchild and Luke Alexander all contributed to a good team performance which leaves them with a chance of securing a medal as winners of Division 2.

Finally Hartlepool Table Tennis Club host the Senior British League Division 3 and 4 (North) on Saturday 19th and 20th February at St. Hilds School and look forward to welcoming teams from Isle of Man, Glasgow, Pudsey, Rotherham and Hull to the deciding weekend of the league championships. Play commences 10.00 A.M and all are welcome to watch with no admittance fee.