Princes still on the throne despite match called off
PRINCES St A (104pts), remain top of the first division, even after their home match against Argyle C was called off an hour before its start, due to premises difficulties.
Second placed Crosby C made sure they kept in touch with a good 2-8 victory at Argyle D, where captain Nick Wilson and Stefan Schober Thomson did most of the damage, both securing a full quota of wins.
Now with 99pts, they only trail the leaders by 5pts, but with a match in hand it is still the Princes St outfit’s title to lose.
But then that could become purely academic as the two meet in the next round of league fixtures, making it a must win match for the Crosby side, as well as avenging the 9-1 loss they suffered first time round.
Argyle B (87pts) seem to have consolidated third place, after overcoming their A team 7-3. Again Julian Quirk was their standout performer, but winning both doubles looked to have been just as pivotal in gaining the victory.
With Southport A’s home match against Holy Trinity A also falling to premises unavailability, then the only other match in the top tier was the Crosby ‘derby’ between their D and B teams.
With Rhys Davies back in the fold for the B team, the match looked to be heading their way as the B team established a 2-4 lead.
Lee Madin then pulled one back for the D team, before ‘that man again’ Stefan Schober Thomson rattled off two wins out of the last three contests to ensure the match finished all square.
Just to add, what a tremendous season Stefan has had so far, with a 28 from 30 win ratio.
At the top of the second division the three way battle intensified as all three teams were given a stern test.
Leaders Waterloo A (106pts) found the going a little tough at the start of their home match versus Southport C.
After six contests it was all square at 3-3, but they eventually found their rhythm and edged an intriguing match 6-4. It was the same scenario for second placed Princes St C (103pts), who also found themselves all square at 3-3 in their ‘derby’ against their D team, before finally Ged Wilson became the hero clinching the 6-4 win in the very last contest of the evening.
Third placed Holy Trinity B (101pts), travelled to bottom team Crosby F, with obvious expectations, but again a strong Crosby lineup could well have upset the apple cart.
It finished 3-7 Holy Trinity, but considering three of those points were earned by very close fifth game wins, then it could have gone either way.
Princes St E way back in 4th place on 72pts, put another dent in Southport B’s survival hopes, with a 7-3 home victory.
It was a tough night for the visitors as being vastly understrength didn’t help the cause!
There were no such worries for Crosby E, who virtually ended any relegation fears with a very good 8-2 home win against Argyle E, moving up to 6th place, 21pts ahead of the bottom two. Rainford (104pts) continued their charge towards the third division title after a convincing 9-1 home win over Argyle G.
Captain Paul Melling led his troops very well, dropping just one point in their first doubles encounter. Second placed the
Para’s (86pts) lost a little ground on the leaders after recording a 7-3 win against Carlton.
Geremis Luces returned for them and certainly made an impact, as did Matt Spofforth with both players recording a full quota of wins, against a resilient Carlton team who had Kris Cooper and Mick Walsh in fine form.
Fourth placed Princes St F visited third placed Argyle F, so we tagged along to see how these potential promotion candidates fared.
Brian Holden got the visitors off to a great start with a four game success over home captain Lee Hones, only for Tom Johnson to square it up in similar fashion against the visitors captain Harry Hobson.
No sooner had they drawn level, the home side were now in front, their talisman Lewis Hible overcame his opposite number Peter Williams with some aplomb, three straight, made it 2-1 Argyle. Then a superb no messing response from Peter Crichton against Gary (Lewis’s dad) tied it up once again at 2-2.
Both doubles then went to the visitors, to make it 2-4 and it was advantage Princes St.
Brian then increased his side’s lead whilst making the match safe at 2-5, finishing off a great night for himself with a narrow victory, 12-14 in the fourth against Gary.
Two further wins from first Harry and then Peter Williams gave the visitors their deserved win, but the last word was left to Lewis in the main, who with Peter Crichton served up a wonderful finish to a great evening’s table tennis.
Peter supplied the comeback from two games down, before Lewis eclipsed that with a clinical finish in the fifth 11-6, which made the score 3-7 Princes St F, which in turn gave them a promising third place on 85pts, two points ahead of their opponents.
Finally, Crosby G always seemed to have the edge throughout on their visit to North Meols, coming out on top with a 4-6 victory.
It’s the Quarter Final week of all four knockout competitions next week, so who will win through to the semis?
All information can be found at southport.ttleagues.com