Ukrainians are top of the Keighley and District Table Tennis League but after two defeats this week it looks like their tenure might be short-lived.

Nelson Nomads 'A' are breathing down their necks, only three points behind with two games in hand.

The Ukies were no match for Junction Mills who had Tony Boyd in masterful form, capturing the scalp of Peter Holbrook 13-21, 21-18, 21-19 before taking a full house against Stef Szczur (21-18, 21-16) and Jerry Harkawy (21-12, 21-13). Good support from Rod Robertson with a couple plus a solitary Jim Lister success 21-17, 21-13 against Szczur saw the Ukrainians finish on the wrong end of a 7-3 scoreline.

Earlier they suffered against Wanderers despite Peter Holbrook's s 20-22, 21-13, 21-18 victory over Neil Foley. Following Jerry Harkaway's 21-14, 21-23, 21-13 defeat at the hands of Geoff Bartlett confidence visibly drained from the Ukrainian's as Wanderers stormed to a comfortable win. The rejuvenated Paul Farley was on tremendous form and a 22-20, 21-18 win against Holbrook emphasised what an important capture the Riddlesden based player has been for Wanderers this season.

Roy Sugden marked his return to the Keighley League with a first class performance for Lothersdale 'A' at home to Johnson & Johnson. Although slipping to a 21-19, 21-18 defeat at the hands of John Pullen, Sugden still showed he has plenty left in the tank to help the Lothersdale title challenge with 21-8, 21-12 and 21-12, 21-17 wins against Derek Stanforth and Vince Ferren respectively. Team mate Bob Davis also weighed in with a full house and a point from Munzir Nazir plus a 24-22, 21-16 doubles win for Davis and Sugden against Ferren and Pullen ensured a 7-3 success for Lothersdale.

In Division Two Terriers 'A' are still clinging to top spot following an 8-2 defeat of strugglers Bhoys. Stuart Myers, deputising for the unavailable Mark Emmott, performed creditably, but the faultless displays of both Tim Boothman and Paul Beck not only guaranteed a win for the hospital team but also pushed their opponents closer to the drop.

Embassy's 9-1 defeat of John Haggas and Lothersdale 'B's narrow 6-4 defeat of Ilkley Road look to have reduced the title race to just two teams. Lothersdale really needed a big win to maintain their title challenge but Ilkley Road refused to roll over with Steve Barton's 21-19, 17-21, 21-13 defeat of Pete Midgley and Roy Towler's 21-19, 21-16 win against Martin Connolly proving costly to the home team.

Midgley redressed the balance somewhat with a 21-8, 21-14 victory over Towler, but only a fine 21-19, 17-21, 21-14 doubles win for Connolly and Midgley enabled Lothersdale to squeeze home.

Embassy used home advantage to the full against Haggas. Clive Sherratt's treble included the notable scalp of Michael Mitchell 21-17, 21-13 with Steve Crossland repeating the feat 15-21, 21-15, 21-15. Mitchell managed the visitor's only point with a 13-21, 21-19, 21-16 win against Dave Kitson.

Terriers 'B', 15 points adrift of safety, seem already destined for relegation following a morale-sapping 9-1 defeat at home to Nelson 'B'. Fighting hard to maintain their Second Division status only won last season, the hospital team forced an amazing seven sets to three yet, incredibly, lost them all. John Driver was the unluckiest player, first losing to Tom Lacey 21-19, 16-21, 21-18 before faltering 18-21, 25-23, 21-13 against Andy Allott and 17-21, 21-15, 21-16 against Bill Mitchell. Allott and Lacey ended with full marks for the visitors, but a solitary Stuart Myers success, 21-14, 22-20 against Mitchell, left Terriers with life in the Third Division to contemplate for the remainder of the season.

Yet another 10-0 success for the excellent Oakbank Juniors in Division Three still hasn't managed to see off the title challenge of Terriers 'C' who remain at the top, two points ahead of the youngsters who have a game in hand. South Craven were no match for the Oakbank trio of Gareth Wiles, Katie Lightowler and Nick Clegg who never allowed their opponents a look in.

Terriers also came up with the goods at Ilkley Road 'B' where Steve Wands was in impressive form with a full house that included the 21-11, 21-11 defeat of top Roader, Karl McIntyre who, in turn, scored the only points for the hosts with well taken wins against Ronnie Farrar (21-11, 23-21) and Simon Morton (21-18, 21-23, 21-17) as the Terriers maintained their challenge at the top with a good 8-2 victory.

RESULTS -- Division One: Junction Mills 7, Ukrainians 3; Lothersdale 'A' 7, Johnson & Johnson 3; Ukrainians 3, Wanderers 7; Ukrainians 10, Junction Mills 0; Wanderers 7, Oakworth 3. Division Two-Terriers 'A' 8, The Bhoys 2; Terriers 'B' 1, Nelson 'B' 9; Embassy 9, John Haggas 1; John Haggas 5, Cononley Sports 5; John Haggas 5, Nelson 'B' 5; Lothersdale 'B' 6, Ilkley Road 'A' 4. Division Three-Central 4, Ilkley Road 'C' 6; Ilkley Road 'B' 2, Terriers 'C' 8; Ilkley Road 'C' 3, Terriers 'E' 7; Oakbank Juniors 10, South Craven 0; South Craven 0, Ilkley Road 'B' 10.

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