Tight at the top in table tennis league

A clutch of teams are jostling to burst from the pack in Division One of the Sunderland & District Table Tennis League, with clear front-runners yet to emerge.

Brandon Air reinforced their claims with a 7-3 victory over East Boldon Amigos, but were reliant on Jamie Lupton and Geoff Salter maximums, with Lupton only claiming the last set of the night after a tense fifth-end shoot-out with David Byers.

St Chads’ efforts to keep in touch suffered a jolt when they were held at home following a tremendous man-ofthe-match show from Richard Wilson, which earned visiting Unionist Club a draw.

Wilson and Mick Grimes were both made to work hard by James Scope before they raced away with the fifth end.

Dave Bissett got the better of Grimes but came unstuck in straight games against Dave Cutler, while Keith Weatherby was only undone by Wilson’s tour de force.

Reigning champions Thompson continue to stutter, and only a hat-trick from new signing Martin Schapira saved them from a drubbing at Backspin A.

Dan Dodds, Jamie Dent, and Troy Maddison accounted for Allan Thompson and John Williamson, but Schapira’s defiance restricted the margin to 7-3.

A similar scenario unfolded at West CA as Brandon Bullets made last season’s relegation fight seem a faded memory, clocking up another 7-3 win.

Stephen Pattinson, Jack Jacomb and Lynsey Storey recorded doubles, but none could threaten West’s Adam Webster who salvaged home pride.

There were two particularly close affairs in Division Two, the first coming at Redby CA where the hosts fought out a 5-5 result against West B.

Redby’s Malcolm Deneven pipped Dave Barber 11-9, but Mike Lyons secured a share of the spoils when he completed his treble, 11-6 over Ken Tweedy.

Backspin B edged the honours at East Boldon Bandits with Debbie Irwin and John Cook completing a busy week of commitments by winning two apiece.

Both were pushed to five ends by Sophie Richardson, before finding Istvan Franko unbreakable as the chief Bandit posted another hat-trick.

Ryan Campbell aided the home cause as he overcame Alex Nicholl 11-3 in the fifth, but Backspin ran out narrow victors, 6-4.

The Backspin outfits in Division Three were also at the fore as the C team’s 9-1 triumph over Lanchester Eagles A enabled Backspin D to take over second position in the table. However, East Boldon Cowboys made it tough as double strikes from Bruce Davison and Colin Byers restricted Backspin to a 5-5 scoreline.

Elsewhere, Durham City Tornadoes were burnt 9-1 by Brandon Fire, with wins from Christopher Leishman (3), John Parkin (3), and Gordon Mitchell (2). It was a similar story when Lanchester Eagles B disposed of Henderson Leisure.