Wensum hold off runners-up Cippenham
Cippenham Table Tennis Club
Cippenham's Women's team lost only one match as they returned from the British League Division 5 meet with runners-up medals this weekend.
The team's only defeat came in their very final match, against the champions Wensum, when a win was needed to wrestle the title from their opponents from Norwich.
They began the weekend in second place after the first round of matches, level on points with Wensum, and managed to maintain that position thanks to a series of victories, starting with a 4-2 win over Stanek.
Julie Dean, Denise Weller and Sue Hayes put Cippenham 3-0, before Dean completed her brace against Lesley Slack to ensure her team maximum points.
They dropped a point in their next match, a 3-3 draw with Sutton, which saw Cippenham fall 2-0 behind before mounting a comeback.
The first day of play concluded with a convincing 5-1 win over bottom team Halton 4, with Hayes and Weller each winning two matches apiece.
The pressure on the league leaders was maintained with Sunday morning's 4-2 win over Fastbats, where Hayes and Mary Heffernan both secured braces while the unfortunate Julie Dean was beaten twice.
Wensum had gone through the weekend without dropping a point, so sat one point ahead of Cippenham ahead of the decider. Hayes and Weller lost their opening matches, but Heffernan, against Isobel McGerty, and Weller, against Ella Barnard, restored parity as well as Cippenham's title hopes. However, Hayes and Heffernan both lost their final matches as Wensum claimed the divisional title by three points.