Half the sets needed a decider in the thrilling encounter between St Wilf's and South Craven in the Third Divison.

The match proved that entertaining table tennis is not the exclusive privilege of the higher echelons of the Keighley & District Table Tennis League. Second bottom St Wilf's were hosts to the only team below them, South Craven, and between them they served up a truly competitive match.

Home team stalwart John Mitchell was unlucky not to register his second full house of the season; sandwiched between decisive wins against Tom Fryett (21-14, 21-16) and Ben Airey (21-13, 21-9) came a heart breaking defeat 20-22, 24-22, 24-22 against the delighted Sam Wright, playing his first match of the season for the visitors.

William Lister avenged his team mate's defeat, however, as he turned a losing start into an exciting win 15-21, 21-10, 21-16 against Wright. Tom Fryett was probably the best performer for South Craven with his 21-17, 19-21, 21-11 victory against William Lister being particularly good value and left St Wilf's needing a win in the doubles for Mitchell and Lister 12-21, 21-18, 21-18 against Fryett and Airey to square it.

Oakbank Juniors continue on their winning way at the top, although Central proved to be a more difficult proposition than some of their earlier opponents. In fact it was the visitors who drew first blood when Abid Hussain dispatched Nick Clegg 21-18, 21-17 in the first. Hussain went on to grab the notable scalp of Adam Broadbent 21-18, 16-21, 21-17 before just losing out to the impressive Gareth Wiles 19-21, 21-12, 21-15. Wiles was best man for the Champions elect with further wins against Azeem Khan (18-21, 21-14, 21-7) and Mohammed Nafis, helping his team to a good 8-2 victory.

In the First Division, Nelson 'A' now have one hand on the Championship trophy following their 8-2 away win against Oakworth. An upset never looked likely as Nelson stormed into a 4-0 lead with impressive wins for David Ayrton, 21-13, 21-14 against Ben Lowe and 21-19, 21-17 against Steve Busfield plus victories for Michael Wrigley and Catherine Lawson against Busfield and Smith respectively.

A glimmer of hope shone briefly for Oaks when Lowe got the better of Lawson 14-21, 21-15, 21-18 in the fifth but this proved to be a false dawn. The home team could only add a doubles win for Lowe and Busfield against Wrigley and Lawson (21-11, 22-20) to their tally .

Second placed Ukrainians were surprisingly held to a home draw by a determined Nemesis team. After starting well with a 21-11, 21-8 victory for Peter Holbrook against Pete Worger, the hosts struggled to make a meaningful impact, allowing Worger to recover with wins against Jerry Harkaway (21-17, 20-22, 21-4) and Stef Szczur (21-11, 13-21, 21-18).

Harkaway was probably the Ukies best player with good wins against Peter Eastaugh (21-18, 21-13) and John Rawnsley (21-18, 21-13), but a defeat for Holbrook, 17-21, 21-11, 21-13 in the 9th against Eastaugh and an excellent doubles win for Eastaugh and Rawnsley against Holbrook and Stef Szczur enabled the visitors to enjoy a share of the spoils.

Division One: Lothersdale 'A' 9, Oakworth 1; Oakworth 2, Nelson 'A' 8; Ukrainians 5, Nemesis 5; Wanderers 3, Junction Mills 7.

Division Two: Ilkley Road 'A' 9, Cononley Sports 1. Division Three-Terriers 'C' 10, St Wilf's 0; Oakbank 8, Central 2; St Wilf's 5, South Craven 5; South Craven 4, Terriers 'E' 6.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.