Rivals take advantage of Penlan A’s lack of a match

WITH Penlan B not in action this week in the Swansea & District Table Tennis League, the burning question was who could take advantage and reach the summit.

Reigning champions Penyrheol A were the first side to stake a claim, consigning former leaders Carmarthen C to their third defeat in a row. Penyrheol won 24-8 with Chris Bush taking a 9-0 success.

However, joining them at the top on 120 points were Betws, who beat Cam Gears B 24-4.

Kevin Gertsen and Catherine Jones both did well to win 9-0 in the face of stubborn resistance from Morgan Siddley, who took five of the sets to deuce and can consider himself unfortunate to lose them all.

It was another difficult week for last season’s promoted sides. Penlan C and Penlan D were dispatched 27-1 by Carmarthen A and Penlan A respectively. On a positive note, though, Angela Morris, who is Penlan’s longest-serving player, won her first ever set in the premier division while playing up for Penlan D.

The third promoted team, Penyrheol B, fared slightly better but also lost, going down 24-11 to Carmarthen B. Martyn Farmer took his first top division maximum, winning 9-2.

After initial player availability issues, Carmarthen have now won three on the spin and have clawed themselves up to midtable, easing any relegation worries for them.

The final match of the night was between Port Talbot Gas Club A and Cam Gears A. League positions pointed to this being a close encounter but after Cam Gears got off to a flying start they ran out comfortable 24-8 winners, with 9-2 returns for both Jonathan Davies and Evan O’connor.

In the battle for top player, Nancy Yeh still leads the way with a perfect 100% record, but 9-0 wins from Catherine Jones and Chris Bush and the Penlan duo of Lawrence John and

Damian Gadzinski strengthen their chances should Nancy slip up.

In division one, leaders Port Talbot Gas Club D maintained their place at the top as they ran out comfortable 22-10 winners against Cam Gears C, Roger Greech winning 9-1 for the victors.

Port Talbot Gas Club C maintained their challenge by beating Penyrheol D 25-14.

Cam Gears D beat Port Talbot Gas Club E in a very close game, 15-13, with Doug Smith winning 9-0 for the winners.

Port Talbot Gas Club B moved up to fourth after beating Cam Gears C 24-13.