Thompsons punch the Air as they shrug off title rivals

The Sunderland Table Tennis League returned to action with a bang as teams traded punches in vital championship, promotion, and relegation battles.

In Division One, the top two sides clashed as Brandon Air travelled to Thompsons knowing only a win would keep their title aspirations flickering.

Jamie Lupton gave Air the boost of a set against Paul Stead, leaving it to Chris Blake to steady the ship with an impressive four-end victory over Geoff Salter.

Stead recovered from his early blow to defeat Lee Tinkler 11-9 in the fifth.

Although Lupton repeated that feat in his match with Blake, a steady treble from Max Duffin saw Thompsons emerge with a decisive 7-3 success.

Unionist Club’s Dave Cutler produced a hat-trick in their 7-3 win over St Chads as he overcame Dave Bissett, Barry Cuthbertson and James Scope in five-end tussles.

Team-mate Mick Grimes chipped in with a double, including a four-end win over Scope.

That result allowed Backspin to leap into third place after recording two wins.

The second was at St Gabriel’s A where Jamie Dent and Dan Dodds registered backto-back maximums.

The home team’s George Gibson and Tony Gelder salvaged consolation points when they both defeated David McAllister.

In the basement scrap, Sacriston Aces hauled themselves off the canvas as their trio of Duncan Fraser, Ian McAllister and Jonathan Mawson gained successive wins, 6-4 over Gabriel’s, and 9-1 against rock-bottom Old England.

While the Aces rediscovered their wings, the Brandon Bullets plummeted into the vacant relegation spot.

Division Two pacesetters St Gabriel’s B reinforced their stranglehold after coping with a tricky away test at Brandon Crusaders.

Although Paul Dale and Brian Childs scored sets, a battling display from Graham Murden guided Gabriel’s to a 7-3 victory.

Refusing to yield, Murden defeated Childs 12-10 in the deciding end before rounding things off in another five-ender, 11-7 over Dale.

Sacriston Bombers nicked a 6-4 win over West CA B as Daniel Hutchinson, Ian McPherson and Kevin Richardson nabbed two apiece. But all came unstuck against a rampant Mike Lyons.

At St Gabriel’s D, the Silksworth trio of Howard Brown (2), Alan Bickle (2), and Dave Craddock took a 5-3 lead going into the closing stages.

However, Gary Anderson defeated Craddock in four ends, allowing David Snowdon to earn Gabriel’s a draw as he overcame Brown.

Backspin B and East Boldon Bandits are neck-and-neck at the top of Division Three, but the Bandits received help from the Cowboys when the tabletoppers visited their fellow East Boldon team.

John Cook, Mark Patterson, and Alex Nicholl scored doubles for Backspin, but all fell to an Ethan Brown treble.

Sacriston Scorpions managed a narrow 6-4 win over St Gabriel’s E Joseph Miller (3) and Mike Hampshire replying for the Saints.