Press Report

After ten rounds of British League matches it is interesting to contrast the number of points that the leading sides have in each of the divisions. Only two sides remain undefeated - Drumchapel Glasgow I in division One (North) and Guinness Polska I in division Two (South & Midlands) whilst four leading teams are "sitting pretty" on a very impressive 18 points - TTK Greenhouse I in division One (South & Midlands), Chesterfield in division Two (North), Generation II in division Two (South) and Kingfisher Reading in division Three (South & West). When you look at the points differential that the leading team has in each division it is not one of the teams who have 20 points who are the most clear-cut leaders either. That honour goes to Generation II who have a massive seven points advantage over second-placed Fusion II.

It is the low-scoring division three (South) where the battle for promotion looks least certain as a mere three points cover the top five teams - Brighton II (14 points), TTK Greenhouse (13 points), Eastbourne (12 points), Cippenham III (12 points) and Ellenborough II (11 points). Too close to call ?.

Division One (North) - Drumchapel Glasgow I, one of only two teams left in the British League with a perfect record of 20 points out of 20 (Guinness Polska in division Two (South & Midlands) are the other side) added a further four points to their record with victories over the two bottom sides - Seasiders (6-2) and Rotherham Scorpions (7-1). When a team is so dominant it is the games they lose that make the most interesting reading and that was the case here. Matt Dodds was Rotherham's hero as he secured a fine 3-2 victory over Terry McLernon whilst the defenders Paul Cicchelli and Brian Allison were both on target for Seasiders. Cicchelli saw off Gordon Clancey

-7, 5, 5, 11 and Allison was an excellent 11, 7, -11, 5 winner over Terry McLernon. In fact this match gave Glasgow one of their toughest tests to date as two other games were also decided by the narrowest possible margin. Ian McLean looks to have been at real pains to dispose of Paul Cicchelli 8, -5, 10, -13, 9 whilst Stephen Jenkins appears to have found even more extreme difficulties before he eventually beat Shi Guang ("Victor") 18, -13, 8,-7, 9.

Glasgow pulled a further point ahead of their main rivals - Derwent I who were held to a 4-4 draw by Seasiders. The "top half of the Scorecard" proved to be Derwent's undoing as Seasiders picked up all four singles. Good wins as well !. Shi Guang beat Stephen Horsfield (3-1) and Simon Noutch (again 3-1) whilst Paul Cicchelli was similarly impressive. He saw off Simon Noutch 9, 9, -8, 8 and added a second vital victory with a 7, -15, -7, 9 ,10 success over Richard Smith. Despite having scored an excellent 16 points there looks to be no way that Derwent are going to be able wrest the title away from Glasgow.

Ormesby II will be disappointed with their 6-2 loss to Grantham as they lost four games in the fifth end, tantalisingly three of them at scores of 11-8 or closer.The experienced David Harvey twice came up trumps as he beat Andrew Wilson 6, -9, -4,3, 8 and Tony Wilson 8, -4, -11, 4, 8 and his tenacity seems to have rubbed off on William Cooney. William was involved in two equally hard-fought encounters and he came out on top by beating Mark Simon -9, 11, -6, 6, 14 and Anthony Wright -7, 6, 9, -7, 5. Grantham only lost one of the games that were decided in the fifth end, with Anthony Wright taking the honours on this occasion. Wright emerged as a -6, 7, -10, 11, 11 winner over Andrew Leighton.

Grantham's match against ELGRE finished all square after ELGRE had surged into a 3-1 lead and then fallen 4-3 behind. Sam Perry deservedly took the Player of the Match honours as he beat both Mark Donohue and David Harvey and his team-mate David Arrowsmith earned his side a draw by beating William Cooney 8, 11, 5. Cooney had previously impressed as he beat ELGRE 's Trevor Kerry 4, -9, 5, 9.

Division One (South) - It turned out to be a great weekend for DHS London Progress II as they not only picked up four points but crucially they also saw second-placed Harvey Barnets II slip up against Byng Hall I 5-3 and third-placed Cippenham I miss out 5-3 against Fusion I. Byng Hall's ace-defender Mark Brown produced his best performance of the Season, and he cruised home 3-0 against Ilin Pypylin in his first singles. It was in his second singles where Brown really made his mark, as he beat David Csuti quite convincingly 3-1. This result seemed to galvanise the Byng Hall side and Phil Cox made no mistake as he beat Zoltan Hosszu 3-0. With everything to play for William Power (who had already beaten Hosszu 10, -7, 6,-3, 10) capped a tremendous performance by the Kent side by beating Pypylin -8, 8,-5, 7,9. With the age-old issue of Clubs who already have teams in the Premier Division not being eligible for promotion it is the Harvey Barnets Club who may well be the hungrier for success because if their first team are relegated from the Premier division, then their second side may well give them a welcome Passport to retaining their Club's status.

Cippenham's 5-3 defeat against Fusion I had little to do with the impressive form of their top player - Martin Adams. The Cippenham no. one made short work of John Dennison and in his second singles he hung onto get the better of Tom Cutler 3-2. It was Fusion's Simon Phillipz who made all the difference. He saw off Rob Lemon 7, 9,13 and in his second singles he secured a vital -9, 9,12, -8, 10 victory over Mark Butler to give the Slough side a 4-2 lead. The ever determined Rob Hansell hit back by beating John Dennison 3-1 but new signing Etine Francois made sure of the points for the London Club by completing a double with a convincing 7,7,7 win over Robert Lemon.

DHS London Progress II had not looked particularly convincing as they beat Fusion I 5-3. They were rather fortunate to have been in a 3-0 lead as Fusion's John Dennison came perilously close to beating Marco Essomba before succumbing 6, 9, -8, -5, -9 and Chris Bush was similarly ill at ease before he saw off Simon Phillipz 5, -1, -6, 8,-8. Tom Cutler was a surprisingly comfortable 5, 9, 8 winner over an out-of-sorts Essomba and when John Dennison secured a fine 3-1 victory over James Sprackling Fusion must have been hopeful of sharing the points. In the end it wasn't quite enough and England no. 76 Chris Bush secured victory for the Southall side by beating Etine Francois 10, -8, -9, -9 - a tense end to a close match. Progress were more convincing 7-1 winners against Brighton I, with Marco Essomba, James Sprackling and Vidal Graham all notching up doubles. It was Dov Katz who picked up the Brighton victory, and an excellent one it was as well, as he beat Dhaivat Pandya 4, -8, 7,6.

Division One (South & Midlands) - Few people would be prepared to bet against TTK Greenhouse winning this division, and with 18 points out of 20 they look well on course to do so. However, credit must be extended to DHS London Progress (16 points) for pushing them so closely. TTK were very much in control in both of their matches beating EBS-Orange Westfield I (7-1) and Cippenham II (8-0). Nevertheless, EBS look to have given the Champions-elect a decent work-out with Henry Medellin pushed to see off Steve Munson 6, -8, -16, 6, 9. It was TTK's England no. six Lady Natalie Bawden who really excelled and her 13, 4, -10, 7 win over England no. 23 Senior Man Eric Amoah certainly catches the eye as one of the most stunning British League results of the whole weekend. For good measure Natalie completed an excellent afternoon's work with a 5, 3, 7 victory over Steve Munson. Up-and-coming Chris Doran clearly relishes the British League stage and he again "matched" England no. six Gareth Herbert before losing -7, -10, -7. Doran was EBS's sole Winner with a fine success over Alex Green 11, -8, -3, 6, 6.

DHS London Progress III were hard pushed to pick up two 5-3 wins. EBS Orange Westfield I may feel they should have done better and Eric Amoah will not be too delighted with his morning's work. He was a five game loser to both Matt Ware and Ashley Stokes. Ware completed his double with a four game win over Steve Munson whilst Chris Doran fared best of the EBS players. Doran beat both Ashley Stokes (3-1) and Dan Cannon (3-1). ETTA Eastern Region Development Officer Greg Yarnall levelled the match scores with a 3-1 win over Dan Cannon but he was unable to earn his side a point when he missed out 3-1 to the ever reliable Egle Adomeltye in the last game of the match. ELGRE Nottingham II (without a point to their names to date) came surprisingly close to pinching a point off of Progress. ELGRE no. four Wayne Glossop scored two victories, an emphatic 3-0 success against Dan Cannon and an equally impressive 12, 8, 4 victory over Egle Adomelyte. Matt Ware and Ashley Stokes again dominated the top half of the score card and they both remained undefeated. Stokes displayed fine form in beating Paul Wood 3-1. After losing the first end he dominated affairs to run out a -7, 7, 6, 4 winner.

Bedford Modern's fine 5-3 victory over Oxford Fire Place Centre II owed a lot to the impressive form of their top player Martin Gray. The Cambridgeshire counter-hitter excelled as he beat Tim O'Mahoney 4, 8, 10 and in his second singles he really put it together as he toppled Eddie Roofe -7, 6, 8. 7. Brother Kevin (seemingly always good for a game at this level) contributed a 3-0 win over Earl Sweeney and with Mick Harper beating Dave Richards 3-0 Bedford led 4-3. The eighth game produced a tightly fought contest and Adam Gigli earned Bedford the two points by defeating Earl Sweeney 11, 9, -5, 9. Bedford added a further two points to their total by beating ELGRE Nottingham II 6-2. ELGRE's win here was a surprise one, with England no. 96 Senior Man Martin Gray finding himself downed 3-0 (8, 8, 10) by Eddie Croydon-Fowler. Older brother Kevin showed the higher ranked Martin the error of his ways and he beat Croydon-Fowler 2, 12, 6 although it was still enough for Croydon-Fowler to take the Player of the Match Award on this occasion.

Division Two (North) - "Division One here we come" must have been the feelings Chesterfield harboured after their fine 6-2 victory over second-placed Halton I in round nine. Richard Lightowler gave Halton an early lead as he beat Neil Marples 3-0 but four consecutive 3-1 victories for Chesterfield meant there was no way back for Halton. Andy Henry beat both Mick Moir and Lightowler and England no. two Cadet Liam Pitchford also picked up two wins as he beat Phil Biggs and Mick Moir. Halton's Mark Ramsbottom added a second victory as he beat Neil Marples 6, 7, -7, 9 but Sean Cullen completed an excellent Chesterfield team performance as he came back from 2-0 down to beat Phil Biggs -5, -7, 8, 6, 9.

Chesterfield's 7-1 Sunday afternoon victory over bottom side Woodfield wasn't quite as easy as they might have expected with five games decided in the fifth end. As so often happens in these cases it was the leaders who won four of them with Andy Henry opening proceedings with a -7, 6, 14, -9, 10 victory over Anthony Isaacs and he added a second victory, another good one over Andy Rich, this time by a rather close -3, 11, 13, 9 scoreline. Andy Rich picked up Woodfield's sole victory, a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Neil Marples. Liam Pitchford took the Player of the Match Award and this came about via courtesy of fine wins over Jarendra Patel 6, 7, 5 and Anthony Isaacs 4, -9, 8, 7.

Third-placed Northfield with Keith Rodger in their line-up are a pretty formidable side, and they ran out fairly comfortable 7-1 winners over Grimsby and 6-2 winners over Fastbats.. Needless to say Rodger was undefeated in both games and he won all four of his encounters 3-0 for good measure. Bryn Tyler was Grimsby's sole winner as he beat Philip Robinson 3-1 whilst Steve Cooper avenged his team-mate's defeat by getting the better of Tyler 7, 7,.7. Fastbats made an impressive start with James Brown getting the better of Steve Cooper 6, 9, 7 but they had a long wait until game number seven before they picked up a second singles. It was Darren Page who managed it, coming back from 2-0 down to beat Tony Langley -6, -11, 7, 6, 7.

Worse followed for Grimsby who found themselves "white-washed" 8-0 by a rampant Halton I. Richard Lightowler, Mick Moir, Mark Ramsbottom and Phil Biggs were very much in charge throughout this encounter.

Division Two (South) - With 18 points out of 20 and a massive lead of seven points Generation II have made this division "their own", and they will surely be looking forward to playing in division one next year. And just to demonstrate what an evenly matched division this one is it was bottom side OLOP Impact II who pushed the leaders closest after racing into a 2-0 lead. Newcomer Jared Smith beat Generation's Wesley Bush-Harris 3-1 and with Shaun Parsley making light work of Ashley Willetts Generation looked to be in real trouble. Valmiki Sinanin redressed the balance by beating Graham Outrim 3-1, and Graham Toole came up trumps against Steve Davis (again 3-1).There was now no stopping Generation and Wesley Bush-Harris overcame Shaun Parsley to give his side a 3-2 lead. The next two games were shared with Sinanin adding a second excellent victory, this time beating Jared Smith -8, 8,-9, 11, 9 whilst Steve Davis pulled one back for OLOP just getting the better of Ashley Willetts 11, 11, -4, -7,10. With the score at 4-3 Graham Toole (arguably the best number four in this division) made no mistake as he beat Graham Outrim 12, 5, 8. What is the secret of Generation's excellent season ?. Well, without an obvious "number one player", even their own team-members have commented that they are surprised to be so far ahead !. Perhaps their strength in depth is the key. With four very good "number two's" in Bush-Harris,Willetts, Sinanin and Toole (and with Roger Hookey in reserve) they really do have excellent allround strength. They are worthy Champions.

BATTS Team Peniel had jumped into second place after scoring a fine 6-2 win over Club Cornwall, but they were always struggling against Generation 2. BATTS' Martin Kubrt, the top player in the division (still unbeaten after 12 games) held his side together by beating both Willetts and Bush-Harris 3-0 but as hard as his team-mates tried they were unable to add to their side's points total. Billy Deville gave it his all against Ashley Willetts in a vital sixth game but despite leading 3-0 it was Willetts who pulled through to win -6, -11, 7, 8,3. An inform Miki Sinanin capped a second excellent display by beating Abigail Embling 4, 11, -7, 4.

Horsham II turned out their strongest side of the season and were excellent 5-3 winners over Fusion II. Horsham dominated the "top half" of the scorecard with Mayur Mayithia beating both Jogenes Senorin and Farhat Rasul whilst Paul Carter beat Farhat Rasul and Martin Smith. Their no. four - Thomas Hughes fared best of the Fusion players as he beat both Marc Burman and Jogenes Senorin 3-0.

Mossford's match against Club Cornwall saw each side trade games with their opponents, and the match eventually finished tied at 4-4. Cornwall's all-action Adrian Noott stole the honours by beating both Euan Liddle and Matt Spero and he received good support from his team-mates. Mathew Trevorrow was an excellent five game winner over Keith Lesser and a battling Jeremy Williams also pulled through in the fifth end against the luckless Lesser. Shelley Uzal who is slowly returning to her best form fared best of the Mossford players as she beat Graham Worth 3-1 and Matthew Trevorrow decisively 3-0.

Division Two (South & Midlands) - The "Guinness Polska Road-show" continues and they scored two more wins, to make it 20 points out of 20. But without their top player Darek Zurowski they weren't quite the same force as in other rounds and they had to settle for two 6-2 wins, getting the better of Bedford Modern II and De Vere NETTS. Bottom side NETTS in particular put up a fine showing with NETTS no. four Alastair Hill scoring a truly magnificent win over England no. 117 - Andrew Lasota whilst Essex County Senior first team player Kelly Skeggs added a second excellent win as she gunned down Marcin Pijanowski. Bedford Modern were also able to celebrate two fine individual wins, as John Camilleri beat Pijanowski 3-1 and Hamish Yeung got the better of Andrew Lasota, again 3-1. But with Leo Veinsreider and Tomasz Gretschel both taking their four singles Guinness still eventually came through fairly comfortably in both matches. Their opponents will be pleased to see the back of them !.

Ashford enjoyed a good weekend as well, posting two excellent wins. They beat EBS-Orange Westfield II 6-2 and they went "one better" against Bedford Modern II winning 7-1. EBS's Simon Pryke was responsible for both of his side's victories, as he saw off John Robinson after trailing 2-0 and he added a second victory after just shading a hard-fought tussle against Jason Tendler (10,10, -8, 8). Ashford's England no. five Over 70 player Ramesh Bhalla shows no sign of slowing down and he took the Player of the Match Award against EBS by defeating Daniel Smalley (3-0) and Mark Purcell (3-1).

Guernsey, who beat NETTS emphatically 8-0 in the first half of the season were given a tougher work-out this time, and NETTS will be disappointed to have lost 7-1. Paul Davison gave NETTS a 1-0 lead by beating Jez Powell 3-2 but as hard as NETTS battled they were unable to add to this success. Gary Dodd impressed most of the Guernsey players with a 3-0 success against Alistair Hill and a 3-1 win over Hamish Innes Alistair Hill went down fighting against Peter Bretel - eventually missing out -7, 5, 10, -7, -7 whilst Hamish Innes gave it all his all against the powerful Guernsey no. one Scott Romeril before succumbing 9,-11, -8, 10, 4.

Division Three (North) - Leaders Barrow faltered, and two 4-4 draws mean that they now only lead Derwent II by a single point. The two teams meet in round twelve and their match will surely have a major outcome as to who wins this division. Barrow's 4-4 draw against ELGRE Nottingham III was the match that they came closest to winning. They led throughout and had the misfortune to lose the two closest encounters. Chris Burgess missed out against Tim Mitchell 11, 10, -5, -9, -8 whilst Tristan Swan came even closer to winning before he lost -6, 7, -4, 7, -10 to Craig Feargrieve. Chris Burgess gave it everything in the last game as he attempted to get the better of Mark Naylor but it was Mark who eventually triumphed 5, -10, 6, 11.

It was the reverse scenario when Barrow faced St. Mary's Hull and this time St. Mary's led 4-3 going into the last game. No one likes losing when there is something on the game and Chris Burgess earned his "colours" on this occasion as he won a very tight four-game encounter against Kevin Hodgson. Adam Smith had earlier given St. Mary's a 4-3 lead when he beat Tristan Swan -7, 2, -8, 5, 13. Barrow no. one Steve Dixon had held his side together and he got the better of Adam Smith -3, -3, -8 as well as Sean Madden 9, 6, -7, 5.

Second placed Derwent will rue the point they dropped against ELGRE Nottingham III as otherwise they would be tied with Barrow on points. Suitably inspired by their efforts against Barrow, ELGRE were equally resolute against Derwent II and this time they won all three five end encounters, all of which finished at 11-9 in the fifth end or closer. Tim Mitchell kept ELGRE in the frame by beating Brian Quinn 7, -8, -8, 9, 9 whilst Mark Naylor came good in the fifth game as he beat Stephen Robinson 6, -8, 5, 9, 11. It eventually turned out to be a match that Robinson might want to forget as he also lost -6, -11, 4, 5, -11 to Craig Feargrieve.

Uxbridge Burton's 4-4 draw against Murrayfield produced the closest individual game of the Season when Roy Norton just edged home 3-1 against Siful Khan. To say that this game didn't go to five ends fails to give the whole story as Roy came through to win 26, -11, 11, 11. Roy must have possibly felt short-changed in his earlier singles when he beat Stewart Armitage 9, 14, -9, 13. I challenge anyone to come up with two harder fought four-enders in British League history ! .

Division Three (South) - Brighton II are the new leaders of this low-scoring division as the previous incumbents TTK Greenhouse II lost twice, which included a 5-3 defeat to the Brighton team in round nine. With a mere five points covering the top five teams it is Brighton who lead the way on 14 points and Brighton will take heart from the fact that their last weekend of fixtures includes matches against the two bottom sides - Horsham III and Southampton West.

Brighton's victory against TTK Greenhouse III owed a lot to the tricky play of the defensive Barry Gilbert who won twice. He had to toil hard to beat Wahab Adam by a 12, -10, 7, 10 margin in his opening singles whilst in his second singles he appears to have had things pretty much his own way as he hammered Rashid Benallal 2, 5, 7. Harry McCarney also won twice and he had to pull out all the stops to beat Benallal 6, -7, -7, 8, 9 in his opening encounter. It was Tim Holtam who secured the Brighton victory by getting the better of Fatlum Sadiku -6, 9, -11, 7, 4 in the deciding eighth singles encounter.

Brighton will be very relieved to have beaten Hastings 5-3 because two of their victories were achieved by the deciding margin in the fifth end. Hastings' Rosemary Rainton seemed to be coasting home against Barry Gilbert as she won the first two ends comfortably before Barry reasserted himself. It went all the "way to the proverbial wire" before Barry finally edged home -6, -6, 4, 5, 10. With Nick Standen beating Gilbert 6, -8, -3, 6, 7 and Rosemary Rainton getting the better of Ade Akinboyewa Hastings pulled back from 1-3 down to trail 3-4. This left Tim Holtam with the task of securing the points for Brighton II and this he managed by beating Lisa Standen, but only after a last gasp encounter. Tim finally edged home 5, 4, -10, -7, 9.

TTK will be disappointed to have lost 6-2 to Eastbourne, and they were unable to take any solace from the fact that Nick Mason had been playing for Eastbourne as Eastbourne's side was led by Koray Ozcan in the number one position and not the former England number four. Ozcan was too strong for Wahab Adam winning 4, 5, 7 and he was similarly dominant against Rashid Benalall when he triumphed 9, 6,2,. With Teresa Bennett also winning two epic battles an unproductive day for TTK was complete. Teresa beat Fatlum Sadiku -4, -14, 9, 6, 9 whilst her match against Wahab Adam followed the opposite pattern. This time Teresa won 1, 9, -10, -8, 9. Two very different scenarios, and two very hard-fought wins.

The question that the other teams will be pondering is what effect Eastbourne might have on the division if they are able to persuade both of their top players - Nick Mason and Koray Ozcan to play at the same time. Only two points behind the leaders but with four of the lower placed teams left to play - Horsham III, Hastings, Southampton West and Cippenham - they could still have a considerable say in who wins this division.

Division Three (South & West) - With the very impressive total of 18 points out of 20 Kingfisher Reading will be a little concerned that they only lead second-placed Ashford II by two points. However, they go into the last round of matches knowing that they do not have to face their closest rivals. Both sides enjoyed two successes with Kingfisher beating bottom side Waterside 5-3 and third-placed Fusion III 7-1. A case of Waterside playing above themselves when they had little to lose or an example of just how easy it is for leading sides to almost come unstuck when faced with seemingly less strong opponents ?. It wasn't a good game for Mark Banks who lost his opening encounter 11, 6, -7, -8, -10 to David McBeath and he also missed out to David Atkins -12, -9, -4. Richard Andrews held the Reading side together cruising past Howard Davies and avenging Bank's loss with a timely 4, -7, 9, 10 victory over David McBeath. With the scores tied at 3--3 Tom Maynard gave Reading the lead as he eventually eased past Bryan Hayes 9, -11, -13, 8, 2 and Bela Hegedus sealed the points for his side as he beat Howard Davies 10,8, 7.

Kingfisher looked an altogether different outfit as they romped home 7-1 against Fusion III. Mark Banks, Tom Maynard and Bela Hegedus were all undefeated and Richard Andrews won once, only missing out to Akos Baranyi when his side were 6-0 ahead. Banks had the most difficulty retaining the winning streak and he needed all five games before he got the better of Mark Buckley -7, 3, -10, 15, 9. Quite a battle !.

Ashford were also given a decent test by Waterside before they won 6-2 with their side of Adam Brewer, Nic Ravalec and Anthony Johnson all winning twice. Waterside's Brian Hayes and Howard Davies were both successful against Ashford no. four Tom Wilkins. Ashford made little mistake in beating Oxford Fire Place Centre III 7-1 with thier top three players again dominating proceedings. Peter Dasher gave his side a glimmer of hope as he beat Tom Wilkins but a decisive 8, 2, 6 victory for Anthony Johnson over Glenn Freeman will have seen Oxford's hopes evaporate.

Currently ranked no 122 in England, DML Woolwell's Richard Marshall would not expect to lose too many games at this level. But it just wasn't his day on this occasion and he was found out by both NWF's Rod McMullan and VIP Entertainments' Mike Hugh. McMullan's excellent opening game win gave his side a strong base on which to build and the match eventually finished tied at 4-4. DML's Harry Cutler deservedly took the Player of the Match Award for not only avenging Marshall's defeat by beating McMullan 3-1 but by adding a second vital win with a comfortable 3-0 success over Andy Whitcher. DML Woolwell II just shaded the match 5-5 against VIP Entertainments. Harry Cutler was again undefeated whilst Mike Hugh was the scourge of the Woolwell team. In addition to his excellent 3-1 win over Richard Marshall he also managed to beat Chris Smith 3-0.

Division Four (North) - This divsion has become a two-horse race between Drumchapel Glasgow II and Hartlepool Brierton who are tied on 17 points. The two teams meet on the Sunday morning of the last weekend of matches and with both teams also tied on a games record of 56-24 both sides will be very keen to avoid dropping any additional points before that round of matches. Both sides still have the second and third placed sides - Pudsey and Barnt Green to play so neither side will be taking matters too lightly.

However, it is Hartlepool who appear to hold the edge following the introduction of two top-class Chinese Junior girls players into their squad. With a "one, two, three" playing order of Xu Shu-Ying (Katie), Darren McVitie and Lui Meihan (Maria) it will be a major surprise if they do not go onto take top honours. Rotherham Scorpions felt the full force of the "Chinese connection" as Hartlepool won 6-2. Steve Lyons fared best of the Rotherham contingent pushing Katie hard before succumbing -6, 10, -6, -6 and faring even better against Maria before going down in five ends : -10, -9,11, 9, -6. A great effort. Hard-hitting Veteran Steve Crosby felt the full force of Katie's speed and he lost -1, -4, -2. A very similar level of impact to what Yue Jiao Wu had on Division One (South) last year with Oxford Fire Place Centre ?. Hartlepool were also in charge against ELGRE IV winning 6-2 with the Katie, Darren and Maria combination again taking all six singles that they were involved in. ELGRE picked up their two victories against Hartlepool no. four Jake McVitie after two hard fought encounters. Chris Turner beat Jake -6, 6, 6, 9 and Adam Ellis earned them a second win as he won 7, 12, 8.

Drumchapel started slowly against ELGRE Notts IV and no doubt fully aware of the strength of their rival's new signings they trailed 3-1 at the half-way stage. The Alarm Bells must have been ringing loud and clear as they produced a far more assured second half performance to win 5-3. Craig Hardie, their only first half winner came up trumps a second time when he beat Steve Bennett 11, -3, 4, 6 and his team mates appear to have been suitably galvanised. Andrew McFadyen in turn beat Jody Cox narrowly 10, 10, 11 whilst Corrina Whittaker was a more comfortable 7, 4, 6 winner over Chris Turner. Sean Doherty completed a great Glasgow fightback by beating Adam Ellis 11, 9, 7 to earn his side two vey important points.

Glasgow found themselves in similar difficulty against Isle of Man who produced a performance far above that of a team without a single point to their name to date !. Isle of Man's top player John Magnall beat Corinna Whitaker 3-1 and when he added a second victory, a 13, 5, -9, 9 success against Craig Hardie Glasgow must have known that they had a real match on their hands. Sure enough Chris Clarke added to their woes as he beat Andrew McFadyen -3, 11, -12, 5, 7 to tie the scores at 3-3. However, again Glasgow showed real determination when they needed it most. Corinna Whitaker saw off Chris Dagnall 2, -8, 4, 10 and in the last game of the match Sean Doherty earned Glasgow their victory by beating Marc Townsend 9, 4,8.

Division Four (South) - York Gardens I (Chris Martin, Trevor Campbell, Ian Buchanan and Anthony Bostic) have leap-frogged over Brighton II after the two teams enjoyed contrasting fortunes.York Gardens excelled as they beat TTK Greenhouse III 7-1 (a result which was later amended to 8-0 when it was found out that TTK had played in the wrong order) to top this low-scoring division with 14 points. They were only marginally less impressive against Stepney Green where they won 6-2. Stepney's Terence Clifton showed a "clean pair of heels" to Trevor Campbell who he beat 8, 8, 6 but he was "all at sea" against Chris Martin succumbing -8, -2, -5.

It turned out to be a disappointing day for Brighton who missed out 5-3 to both DHS London Progress V and to TTK Greenhouse III. In both cases Brighton fell 3-1 behind and were never able to get back on terms. Michael Robinson's opening game defeat over five ends against Progress's Lee Middleton seemed to set the tone in their match and Middleton added a second vital win as he beat Prakash Varsani. Johnathan Hyland eventually sealed the Progress victory by beating Sarah Stedman 7, 5, -2, 8. Brighton fell even further behind against TTK as they slumped to a 4-1 deficit and although Daniel Steel redressed the balance by beating Terry Howe 3-1 and Prakash Varsani saw off Ryan Viegas 3-0 it was Jide Owolabi who sealed the TTK victory with a 3-1 success against Sarah Stedman.

A single point now covers the top five teams and SEH Britannia Ipswich consolidated third place with 13 points after taking full full advantage of their fixtures against the two bottom sides - Guinness Polska II and Byng Hall II. They were comfortable 7-1 winners on both occasions with their no. one Andy Warner and no. four Gary Young both winning all four singles. Ian Brown and Ken Lewis both won three times with Brown succumbing 9,-5, -6, -9 to Polska's Josef Woznica and Ken Lewis only missing out 8, 8, -9, -8, 10 to Byng Hall's Steve New.

Steve Kerns - Press & Publicity Officer

British Table Tennis League