Lothersdale 'B's David Galley took his tally to 12 from 24 in the Keighley & District Table Tennis League First Division with a full house at Nelson Nomads.
His team earned a draw in a relegation battle. Martin Connolly and Peter Midgley assisted the Lothersdale cause with defeats of Ayrton and Lawson respectively.
Ukrainians, another team haunted by the relegation spectre, fared less well at home to Lothersdale 'A' where an 8-2 defeat left them only two points above Lothersdale's B team. Keith Wilkinson was in scintillating form for the revitalised dalesmen with wins against Stef Szczur 21-11, 21-13; Peter Holbrook 10-21, 21-19, 21-16 and Jerry Harkaway 21-9, 21-7.
Consolation for the hosts came in the form of a Holbrook defeat of Bob Davis 21-11, 21-19 and a 21-11, 16-21, 21-18 Szczur success against the same player.
In Division Two Michael Mitchell took his tally to 14 from 15 with three points for Cononley Sports at home to Wilsden. It was a good all round team performance for the sportsmen with Eric Hudson grabbing a couple against Adam Broadbent 21-14, 21-8 and Dave Broadbent 21-10, 17-21, 21-13, as did Paul Lister, 21-14, 21-16 against Luke Broadbent and 14-21, 21-13, 21-6 against Dave. A 15-21, 21-17, 21-19 win in the doubles for Adam and Luke was the final flourish for the losers in a 7-3 scoreline.
Haworth 'A', 13 points adrift at the bottom, did well to hold Lothersdale 'C' to a 6-4 home win. Haleem Ishaq was on top form for the losers with a 21-9, 21-19 defeat of Richard Crookes followed by a 21-12, 21-11 win against Sean Kirkwood. Lothersdale had Jack Anderson to thank for their ultimate success, with his max earning his team half their points.
Ilkley Road 'A' sneaked the narrowest of wins at St Peter's thanks to another good performance by Roy Towler. The Riddlesden player, undefeated in his last 15 rubbers, took his total for the season to 25 from 27 with a full house that included the defeat of Richard Foster 21-16, 18-21, 21-13.
Foster and Tony Richardson earned the points for the losers, Richardson along the way defeating Geoff Bartlett 21-18, 21-18 before almost snatching a draw for his team by just losing the doubles with Foster 21-19, 22-20 to Towler and Bartlett.
In Division Three, Crossflatts A moved level on points with second placed Johnson & Johnson thanks to a 10-0 victory over their 'B' team. The combination of youth provided by Danny McHugh and Ben Hinchcliffe, plus maturity in the form of John Patrick is providing an exciting blend for the cricketers. Anthony Mann, another Crossflatts junior with potential, pushed Hinchcliffe to three before losing 21-16, 14-21, 21-13, Mick Davis did similarly but lost out 21-16, 19-21, 21-8. McHugh got the better of Pat Legg 18-21, 22-20, 21-17 along the way and Patrick's threesome included a win against Davis 21-15, 19-21, 21-10.
Ilkley Road C did their league leading B team a huge favour with a superb draw at home to second placed Johnson & Johnson who now trail the leaders by ten points. Determined to avenge an early season 9-1 hammering at Gargrave, the Riddlesden team worked their socks off, none more so than Paul Stead who defeated Tony Bugeja 14-21, 21-18, 21-18 followed by Allan Ripley 21-18, 10-21, 21-16 to take his tally to 17 from 29. Steve Ives got the better of the same two players and Ken Feather used his head to overcome Bugeja 13-21, 24-22, 21-16. John Pullen kept J&J in the match with three straight wins.
RESULTS
Division One: Nelson Nomads 5, Lothersdale 'B' 5; Ukrainians 2, Lothersdale 'A' 8.
Division Two: Cononley Sports 7, Wilsden 3; Haworth 'A' 7, Cononley Sports 3; Lothersdale 'C' 6, Haworth 'A' 4; Oakworth 2, Nemesis 8; St Peter's 6, Embassy 'C' 4; St Peter's 4, Ilkley Road 'A' 6; Stockbridge Spartans 8, Haworth 'A' 2.
Division Three: Crossflatts 'B' 0, Crossflatts 'A' 10; Ilkley Road 'B' 10, Crossflatts 'B' 0; Ilkley Road 'C' 5, Johnson & Johnson 5; St Wilf's 'A' 0, Ilkley Road 'C' 10; South Craven 0, Johnson & Johnson 10.
Yorkshire League: Keighley 10, Scarborough 0.
Yorkshire Veterans: Keighley 1st 9, Dewsbury 1; Keighley 2nd 4, Leeds 2nd 6; Keighley 3rd 5, Halifax 2nd 5.
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