Bay sides in Semi thriller

Division 4 Canterbury & District Table Tennis League side Herne Bay P beat Division 2 Herne Bay J at the Semi-final stage of the Lew Vale Cup. Russell Perry started at -5, +15, against Simon Douglas and the latter held Perry off in both games for a 2-0 win. Simon Turnnidge suffered a 2-0 defeat.

Tony Morgan had to overcome a -5, +15, deficit against Peter Steer and just narrowly lost the first game, although Morgan did pull off a win in the second game. Douglas, giving him a -4, +15, start, shared a game apiece before Perry faced a -12, +15, start as he took on Steer. Perry played a brilliant couple of games to register a 2-0 win that left Herne Bay J 6-4 ahead at the halfway stage. Morgan began at -5, +15, against Turnnidge. Morgan just lost the opening game and couldn’t do anything in game two, losing 2-0 to take the match score to 6-6. After Steer had shared the spoils from the next two games with his opponent, Morgan had to give Douglas a 13-point start and lost both games, which put Herne Bay P 9-7 ahead.

Perry had to give Turnnidge a -12, +15, start.

Over two close games, he managed a tight win in game one and followed it with a deuce victory in game two to score a 2-0 win and level the tie at 9-9, with just the doubles to play after that. The doubles saw Perry and his playing partner take on Douglas and Turnnidge, having to give them a -8, +15, start.

The Bay J duo got the first game by a close margin, only to see the Herne Bay P pair get a similar victory in game two to take the match to 1010!

And, in a tense sudden-death winner-takes-all game, Herne Bay P came through 25-17 to win 11-10 and book their spot in the Final.