Thompsons, Brandon Air title race looks set to go to the wire

There was no let-up in the twohorse race for the Sunderland Table Tennis League Division One title as both pacesetters chalked up handsome home victories.

Second-placed Brandon Air demolished Unionist Club A with maximums from Lee Tinkler, Jamie Lupton, and Troy Maddison.

Leaders Thompsons responded in their fixture against St Gabriel’s A which featured a convincing performance from Max Duffin.

The visitors’ Norman Pescod and Tom Bainbridge both pushed Chris Blake to a fifth end, but Blake came through the dual test 11-5 and 11-8.

Bainbridge bagged a consolation for Gabriel’s when he defeated John Williamson 113 in the fourth, but Duffin and Blake went on to complete trebles as Thompsons ran out 9-1 victors.

Backspin A’s 9-1 win against Brandon Bullets was far from routine.

Jamie Dent survived a fiveender against Stephen Pattinson before Jack Jacomb equalised with a win over David Mcallister.

Jacomb was also involved in nail-biters against Craig Fryer and Dent. Fryer scraped home 15-13, while Dent edged their five-end tussle 11-9.

Sacriston Aces sought to close the gap on their relegation rivals, but only did so marginally after going down 7-3 at home to West CA.

Elsewhere, a magnificent return for Mark O’Connor helped True Roof Direct achieve a 6-4 win at St Chads.

O’Connor’s triple-strike included a notable win over Keith Weatherby, and he was supported by team-mate James Bradbury’s two winning sets.

Division Two featured some close contests with 6-4 wins for Sacriston Bombers and Brandon Crusaders.

Bombers faced Redby CA and the tone was set early as Kevin Richardson recovered from 2-0 down to pip Amanda Paxton 13-11.

Nigel Coe and Ian McPherson were also last-gasp victors, but Redby fought back as Frank Booth rediscovered his form to inflict Richardson’s only defeat before despatching Coe in straight ends.

Paxton also shook off her early reverse, defeating McPherson 11-9 in the fourth.

Two sets apiece from Paul Dale and Brian Childs helped Crusaders to their win at St Gabriel’s C, with David Revell notching a treble for the hosts.

At Silksworth IM, Mario Hadjinicola gave West B a boost by overcoming Bob Sanderson 11-2 in the fifth end.

Kishore Sridharan mirrored this outstanding effort with an 11-6 win over Howard Brown.

Graham Sleep later managed to nick a 14-12 decision against Sridharan, and Brown blunted Hadjinicola’s attack in four ends.

SandersonalsohaltedMike Lyons’ winning streak, but Lyons and Hadjinicola linked up to take a pivotal doubles set and an overall 6-4 success.

Elsewhere, Unionist Club B moved into second spot after a 7-3 home win over St Gabriel’s D.

Ray Purves helped himself to a hat-trick, but Tony Watson battled to a last-ditch win, 1412 over Richard Karczewski, to gain the visitors an extra point.