Nelson Nomands - the cup holders - have been knocked out of this year's competition.
The Second Round of the Keighley & District Table Tennis League's Jeff Naylor Handicap Cup produced several surprises, but Wilsden's (180) victory over last season winners, Nelson Nomads (54) was a real shock.
The 126 point advantage enjoyed by the home team looked as though it would prove to be an insignificance to Nomads after David Ayrton (+63) and Peter Wood (+59) reduced the deficit by a massive 53 points in the first two games with Ayrton hammering Adam Broadbent (-21) 21-11, 21-2 and Wood doing likewise to Luke Broadbent (-35) 21-7, 21-11.
However, Dave Broadbent (-36) stopped the rot against Cath Lawson (+30) 21-18, 21-20 who also lost to Adam 21-10, 21-12 before sharing with Luke 21-14, 20-21 in the seventh to effectively end Nomads hopes of victory. Adam played well in the final rubber, only just losing to Peter Wood (+59) 21-14, 21-16, to ensure a victory for Wilsden by 34 points and set up a mouth-watering quarter final at home to Embassy 'C'.
As individual performances go, Paul Lister's (-10) display for Cononley Sports (126) away to Embassy 'B' (54) must rank up there with the best. The Second Division player only just lost to Neil Foley (+64) 21-17, 21-17 even though Foley currently enjoys a First Division average of 74%. Better was to come from Lister who shared with Geoff Bartlett (-2) 16-21, 21-18 and Mark Emmott (+46) 16-21, 21-16. However, he found support from team mates Michael Mitchell (-29) and Stuart Maude (-69) in short supply as the Bingley team steadily ate into the 72 point handicap to finally end the match as winners by 36 points.
Not surprisingly it was John Pullen's massive points haul of +86 that proved to be the undoing of Ilkley Fastbats 'C' (288) away to Johnson & Johnson (180). None of his opponents even looked remotely like reaching double figures against the single minded Gargrave star. It all looked so bright for the visitors to start with as Ben Huggan (-35) and Jack Katterfield (-53) shared with Derek Stanforth (+58) and Tony Bugeja (+19) 18-21, 21-20 and 18-21, 20-21 respectively. But that was before Pullen took charge to propel J & J towards a quarter final tie at home to Ukrainian 'B'.
Results
Naylor Cup Round Two: Embassy 'B' 409, Cononley Sports 373; Haworth Hawks 'A' 485, Embassy 'C' 503; Johnson & Johnson 558, Ilkley Fastbats 'C' 502; Lothersdale 'A' 427, Embassy 'D' 311; Lothersdale 'B' 478, Skipton 413; Oakbank 437, Ukrainian 'B' 468; South Craven 339, Embassy 'A' 378; Wilsden 435, Nelson Nomads 401.
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