Orsted A run away with league title
ØRSTED A, comprising three members of the Ørsted Grimsby British League team (Sean Ward, John Hancock, John Aberra) and Isaac Gibney and Aaron Dorey, ran away with the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Table Tennis Association’s Premier Division.
In an amazing season they amassed 71 out of a possible 72 points, winning all their matches, bar one, 8-2, 9-1 or 10-0.
Sean Ward, the Men’s Individual Champion, and John Hancock, the Men’s Veteran’s Champion, remained undefeated and were in the winning team for the fourth time in succession.
The only team to take a point off them, when losing 7-3, were Clee Sports A (David Heppenstall, Lesley Keast, Mike Thornley, John Watkinson) who finished second.
The gap between the Premier Division and Division One was shown by Three Men With Tiny Balls (Chris Bygott, Radek Bierko, Mark Gibney) winning the Division One title.
All three came down from teams in the Premier Division. They will be looking forward to the challenge of returning to the Premier along with new signing Janusz Maliszewski who joined the team late in the season.
Louth (Ian Turner, Ivan Danov, Aaron Stanley) did exceptionally well to finish second after losing Tom Spencer through illness at the beginning of the season. Special mention must be made of Stanley, who joined them from The Centurions in Division Two, and raising his game as the season progressed in his first time in the Grimsby league.
Clee Sports B were very easy winners of the Division Two title, winning 14 and drawing one of their 15 matches. Junior Boys champion George Montgomery (16) led the way, topping the individual averages. He was ably supported by Nigel Brown and Richard Barnes.
Montgomery was awarded the Linda Thompson Trophy as the most improved player at the Association’s annual awards evening. The team completed the double when they won the InterClub Handicap Knock-Out competition defeating Parkside in the final. Parkside (Neil Drewery, Dave Roberts, Graham Cullum, Brian Lomas) also finished second in the league after a very close battle with three teams separated by one point.
The story of the season was probably junior team Ørsted B (Joseph Brown 17, Andrew Cammell 16 and Thomas Claypole 15) taking the Division Three title.
After five games, the team were second bottom with only one win, but they recovered to win 12 and draw one of their next 13.
The team were awarded the Terry Smith Memorial Trophy as the most improved team in the league.
Keelby CC (Thomas Kelly, Kay Ward, Andy Grainger, Alan Travis, Andy Smith), who were leading the league at Christmas, hung on to second from DC Plastering with three generations of Corkes (Ray, Danny and Charlie and Howard Mills).
The Association is looking for new players and teams to compete in the 22-23 season.
If you are interested in playing in the league or just in playing table tennis and taking advantage of the superb facilities at Clee Sports Hall, please contact Colin Woodford Tel. No. (01472) 505230.