A team have plan
against a near faultless Princes St B performance, which unsurprisingly leaves eight First Division teams in the Quarter Finals.
In the Anon Plate first round it was a much similar story in the Plate competition, where again there were no real upsets to speak of.
Princes St E, Argyle G and Waterloo A dropped just a single point against Southport D, Crosby G and Argyle J respectively whilst Princes St D kept a clean sheet against Crosby H.
Waterloo B however did put the squeeze on Southport B’s progression, making them wait until the eighth contest for their win.
Division Three leaders Argyle H were the beneficiaries of another conceded match, which with the others from the Cup Competition, does continue to cast further doubt on the competitions themselves, and gives more credence to the introduction of Divisional Cups.
As that is definitely for another day, our Cup week roundup finishes on a high note, with Southport C’s visit to the Para’s.
This all Third Division clash was for sure the highlight of the Plate competition.
Andy Bush gave the visitors a dream start with a four game victory over Ian Littlewood, before Mark Wilson levelled with a win against Bill Bradley. Stuart Gibson then restored his side’s lead only for Mark to tie it up again after a good win over Southport’s captain Paul Harrison.
Andy then stepped up to get his second win of the night, after which Bill made it 2-4, the unlucky Matt Spofforth missing out in a five game epic.
Ian and then Kostya Sinitsa made amends for their previous losses with wins over Paul and Stuart to make it 4-4, with just the doubles to go.
Countback could well be called upon again and with that score standing at 15-14 in favour of the hosts, then it was all to play for.
Southport got their noses in front when Bill and Stuart had a four game win over Mark and Matt.
Countback was then truly binned when Paul and Andy secured a momentous 4-6 win for the visitors, with an accomplished five game success
Gunson Cup first round
Princes St E vs Argyle F
Argyle J vs Southport C
Crosby D vs Princes St D
Argyle C vs Paraplegics A Southport D or Argyle A vs Southport A Argyle G vs North Meols A
Formby HT A vs Crosby E
Argyle D vs Argyle H
Crosby A vs Crosby C
Princes St A vs Crosby H
Crosby G vs Crosby B
Southport B vs Formby HT B
Crosby F vs Princes St C
Argyle E vs Waterloo B
Waterloo A vs Princes St B
Princes St F vs Argyle B against Ian and Kostya, a superb effort.
So with one tie still to be decided, in the quarters, there will be four teams from the Second Division and three from the third.
Finally, the pictures this week are from a rearranged second match between Southport B and Waterloo A which made it a great week for Southport who secured a good 8-2 win, which in turn moved them upto second place on 48pts.
All information can be found at www.tabletennis365.com/ southport
“Looking in from the outside, I was thinking maybe they’re in a false position.
“I’ve taken over and only met the players for the first time ninety minutes before kick-off on Saturday so the team that played I had nearly no input in picking. It wouldn’t have been right.
“I’ve now seen them in the match which is probably the best way to see it. We trained
Monday night so I’ve got a bit more of a knowledge on them but you need a week or two to get your methods embedded.”
With finances tight, McNally believes his players will show what they are made of over the coming weeks.
When asked about the financial situation United find themselves in, the foamier Litherland REMYCA boss replied: “I came into this job with both eyes wide open. I’ve knew what’s there and what’s not there. I’ll never use that as an excuse”.