Nelson 'A' stormed five points clear of nearest rivals Ukrainians at the top of the Keighley & District Table Tennis

League First Division thanks to their 9-1 demolition of weakened Johnson & Johnson and, with a game in hand and the second placed team only having two to play, it looks as though the League Championship could go 'over the border' for the first time.

How the home team missed the steadying influence of John Pullen as David Ayrton started the rout with a 21-9, 21-5 defeat of Alan Ripley. The pattern continued as Ayrton's team mates took advantage of the flagging Gargrave boys with Michael Wrigley getting the better of Derek Stanforth 21-17, 21-15 and Catherine Lawson triumphing against Vince Ferran 21-12, 14-21, 21-13. Ferran battled gamely for the losers, going down again in three to Wrigley 22-24, 22-20, 21-13 but his efforts were to no avail as the title hopefuls finished the evening with a mesmeric win in the doubles for Ayrton and Wrigley 21-13, 21-7 against Ripley and Ferran.

Second placed Ukrainians entertained Oakworth who have settled comfortably into mid-table security since last season's promotion. The hosts started with good wins for Peter Holbrook 21-10, 21-16 against Ben Lowe and Jerry Harkawy 21-19, 21-16 against Steve Smith, but then Oaks showed just how much fighting spirit has contributed to their consolidation at a higher level this season as Steves Smith and Busfield only just failed against Holbrook, 20-22, 21-11, 21-14 and 18-21, 21-17, 21-15 respectively. Between his team mates' heroics, Ben Lowe did even better, comprehensively beating Jerry Harkawy (21-19, 21-9) and Stef Szczur (21-9, 21-13). Harkaway fought back to beat both Smith and Busfield but a fantastic performance by Busfield against Szczur saw him beat the Ukrainian 18-21, 22-20, 21-13. An excellent doubles win for Holbrook and Harkaway against both Steves left the final score 7-3 in favour of the home team.

The promotion picture in Division Two become clearer this week due to two highly significant matches. Firstly, Lothersdale capitulated 9-1 at home to rivals Embassy, the effect of which was compounded by Terriers 'A's 10-0 canter at home to a Cononley Sports team who could only muster two players. Carl White was on top form for Embassy with a 21-7, 21-12 defeat of Martin Connolly being out of the top drawer as he romped to a full house. His performance was emulated by Clive Sherratt who also turned in a faultless display that included a 21-14, 21-16 win against Edgar Klava. Connolly registered a consolation for Lothersdale 22-20, 7-21, 25-23 against Derek Briggs in the ninth but this what too little too late to prevent the hosts slipping out of the promotion frame.

Terriers 'A' were handed three points before start of play when Cononley Sports Club arrived without Stuart Maude. The hospital team are in such good nick at the moment that maybe the inclusion of Maude would have made little difference. Mark Emmott was on exemplary form as 21-11, 21-12 and 21-9, 21-15 wins against Phil Scarr and Eric Hudson proved. Scarr pushed Tim Boothman hard before going down 21-10, 24-26, 21-11 in a disappointing match for the Sportsmen.

Although odds on for relegation, The Bhoys keep proving just how tight Division Two is with some good performances. Although slipping to defeat 6-4 at Nelson 'B', they could easily have emerged as comfortable victors in an encounter that saw no fewer than 7 sets go to a third. The incredibly fit Tom Lacey, now nearer 70 than 60, endured three of these tight affairs, although only triumphed in one, 15-21, 21-19, 21-15 against Ryan Foulds. Mark Deacon was good value for the visitors, just pipping Lacey 16-21, 23-21, 22-20 and Andy Allott 15-21, 21-15, 21-14. Trevor Frankland was the reason Nelson finally ended as winners as he registered a treble that included a 21-17, 21-15 victory against John McPherson.

The promise of a minimum of 6 matches per entrant (7 for juniors and veterans) attracted over 40 people to another spectacularly successful Keighley Championship at Greenhead Sports Centre. Winners were as follows: Singles-Tony Boyd bt. Peter Holbrook 13-21, 21-13, 21-16. Juniors-Alan Miles-Turner bt. Katie Lightowler 21-14, 21-15. Veterans-Rod Robertson bt. Peter Holbrook 21-13, 21-13. Doubles-Holbrook and Boyd bt. Robertson and Mark Emmott. Jack Webber-Derek Briggs bt. Jerry Harkaway 21-8, 18-21, 21-18. Handicap-Abid Hussain (24) bt. Jane Boyes (35) 42-40.

RESULTS -- Division One: Johnson & Johnson 1, Nelson 'A' 9; Johnson & Johnson 3, Nemesis 7; Lothersdale 'A' 10, Nemesis 0; Ukrainians 7, Oakworth 3.

Division One: Terriers 'A' 10, Cononley Sports 0; Terriers 'B' 1, Ilkley Road 'A' 9; Lothersdale 'B' 1, Embassy 9; Nelson 'B' 6, The Bhoys 4; Nelson 4, Ilkley Road 'A' 4 (abandoned due to power failure).

Division Three: Terriers 'D' 3, Central 7; Terriers 'C' 7, Ilkley Road 'C' 3; Terriers 'D' 1, Oakbank Juniors 9; Ilkley Road 'B' 2, Terriers 'E' 8; Ilkley Road 'C' 10, St Wilf's 0; Oakbank Juniors 10, St Wilf's 0.

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