Monsters Starting To Scare The Top Teams

DTH Redlands Monsters in their debut season in Division One of the Worksop & District Table Tennis League are now starting to worry teams in the top division. Their latest victory came against club colleagues and defending champions DTH Redlands Fluffy Toys who must have gone into the match expecting a win and to continue their push for the title but they were in for a rude awakening as all three Riauba brothers got stuck in. Both Orestas and Martynas Riauba enjoyed great wins over Farrell Anthony and Steve Johnson and when Valentinas also defeated  Johnson it which capped a miserable night for him losing all his three singles games. There was some personal joy for the Fluffy Toys as captain Steve Walker beat all three of the Riauba brothers but his joy was cut short when he partnered Anthony in the doubles against Orestas and Martynas as they won a vital game 3 sets to 1 which when added to the 5 singles games that they'd racked up meant that the Monsters ran out 6-4 winners.
League leaders DTH Redlands Roosters made the most of their title rivals slip up as they enjoyed a 7-3 win over Manton Nomads who had been clinging on to the top three sides. There were hat tricks for both Ernest Mpundu and Tom McIntosh who still have a 100% record this season with Steve Fox chipping in with a single win over Kartik Lakhani but he couldn't repeat his win over Lakhani losing to both Chris Cattell and Sarah Short. Fox then teamed up with Mpundu in the doubles but they couldn't beat the Cattell and Short who won in four sets which now mean that the Nomads have won 9 out of 10 doubles matches this season.
The nearest team to the Roosters are now Worksop Miners Welfare 'A' who this week brushed aside a Stanley Street 'A' side whose form had improved in recent weeks to improve their chances of avoiding relegation. Welfare 'A's 8-2 win was built around two solid hat tricks for Mark Stanfield and Richard Element who enjoyed wins overall three Street players in Alex Millward, Jack Kirkland and Peter Eyre. Stanley Streets only success in the singles came when Alex Millward beat Dave Marsh in a five set thriller with Kirkland and Eyre teaming up to win an impressive doubles against Stanfield and Element to get Stanley Streets second and final set of the evening.
Manton Misfits who have had a dreadful league campaign so far managed to win only their second match of the season which came against Worksop Welfare Snipers 'A' who had Dean Brookes in their side for only the second time this season and if they could have played him more often they probably wouldn't be rooted to the bottom of the table judging by the fact he won all his three games. Brooks fine hat trick couldn't be repeated by either of his team mates as both Jim Westwood and Nigel Stent couldn't get on the score sheet despite going close on several occasions. For the Misfits Steve Lyon, Matt Fowkes and Kalpesh Bhatt all registered wins over Stent and Westwood with Lyons and Bhatt also defeating them in the doubles to record a much needed 7-3 win for the Misfits.
The last of the Mike Tunningley Handicap Shield quarter finals was played this week Manton Tigers and DTH Redlands Roosters with the Tigers playing probably their strongest team in Bill Bateman, Chris Mokes and Ron Firth which in the end proved to be crucial as all three of them registered vital points on the table with Bateman scoring 120, Firth 118 and Mokes adding 117 which gave the Tigers a total of 355 points scored on the table. The three opponents themselves also acquitted themselves well with Kyle McIntosh scoring 101, Kieran Tutter 112 and Matthew Mudd adding 95 to give the Joggers 308 points which was never going to be enough for a Joggers side that sit top of the 2nd Division table so therefore knew that the handicap points in the sealed envelope would be in the Tigers favour and so it proved to be as the Tigers were awarded 54 handicap points which when added to their total scored on the table gave them a 409 points to 308 victory and saw them progress in to the semi-finals.
Division Two Results: Worksop Welfare Snipers 'B' 5 Manton Sports 5, DTH Redlands Joggers 9 Manton Tigers 1.
Division Three Results: DTH Redlands Tarr Babies 4 Worksop Welfare Cypriots 'A' 6, Worksop Owls 3 Worksop Welfare Cypriots 'B' 7