Star Paving Services North Norfolk Table Tennis LeagueTHE twelfth week of league activity saw 10-0 wins in the first division for both Sidewinders and Outlaws.

Star Paving Services North Norfolk Table Tennis League

THE twelfth week of league activity saw 10-0 wins in the first division for both Sidewinders and Outlaws.

The Sidewinders team of Paul Warner, John Batchford and Martin Lawes won away against the Backhanders trio of Teucer Wilson, Chris Marshall and Murray Shanahan.

The best entertainment came from a good clash of styles between Shanahan and Batchford, with the Sidewinder winning in five sets. Lawes recovered from 6-10 to defeat Shanahan 14-12 in the fourth, while Wilson missed set-point opportunities as Warner closed out his win 17-15 in the third. Another deuce set ended the night with Batchford and Lawes recovering from a poor third set to win the doubles against Wilson and Shanahan 11-5, 11-8, 2-11, 16-14.

Outlaws were also away, but Ian Darricott, Colin Humphreys and John Hancock Jnr's whitewash over the Cobras did not reflect the level of the matches.

James Baldock-Yaxley defended well and pushed both Darricott and Humphries to a fifth set and Alex Spragg also took Humphries the distance.

There were fishy goings-on in the Seaflames derby with the Dolphins netting a former Barracuda and one Shark mixing with two Seals.

Steve Nicholls has transferred to Dolphins and joined Scott Wallace and Steve Hudson while Peter Betts and Ray Amo both played up for Sharks, joining Keith Register.

Betts took a brace, but a Steve Hudson maximum - he went the distance with Betts and Amo - plus a doubles win in five helped Dolphins to their first win of the season 7-3.

And Betts and Amo were also involved in the other Seaflames derby in the second division as they took on the Barracudas line-up of Derek Philpott, Rod Hill and Nigel Pegg.

Philpott changed tactics to stop Mike Toye's hitting as he snatched the last two sets of their encounter that went the distance, but that was the only point to go the lower team's way as Seals secured a comfortable 9-1 victory.

A 9-1 win for Delta over the visiting Aces team of Clive Smith, Eric Dolden and Ron Povey has seen the Walsham team move ahead of Barracudas into fourth place in the league table. Dolden needed lots of concentration to defeat Phil Mole in a classic five-setter, but for the hosts John Vaughan took a maximum as did Jamie Carter - back after a couple of months' absence and tidy on the backhand and vicious on the forehand.

The Beta team of Simon Halliday, Philip Stone, Matt Robinson and Chris Johnson visited the Poachers team of Barry Evans, Alan Rutledge and Andy Woods.

Halliday's match against Rutledge saw the Beta starting poorly, the Poacher solid throughout their battle. Halliday was a player transformed from the third set - a 7-1 start after dropping the first two sets helping him send the match the distance.

The two players couldn't be separated but serve was key with Rutledge missing the return on six of his eight match-point chances and Halliday delivering another service winner on his second match-point as he took the fifth set 20-18.

Woods took the last four points from 7-9 and deserved the second set against Robinson after some good hitting, but a 6-0 start in the third saw the Beta to a win in four (although the Poacher got as close as 7-8 in that third set). Robinson had struggled against Rutledge previously, but won the crucial points this time around - saving set-points in the last two sets of his win in straight.

The Betas won the remaining games in straight sets during their 10-0 win. Goblins' Simeon Care, Peter and Rosie Ward hosted Crosscourt's Will De Neve and the Peter's Taylor and Triston. Care wasn't consistent enough in his smashing, picking up a set against De Neve, but the night belonged to Rosie who took two good wins before losing to Taylor (all three good four-set encounters) and then teamed up with her lesser-half Peter to win the doubles against Taylor and De Neve. The fifth set of the doubles was very one-sided - Goblins winning

11-1 to seal the match 6-4.

Players of the Week: Rosie Ward, James Baldock-Yaxley, Paul Warner, Steve Hudson, Peter Betts, Jamie Carter, Simon Halliday and Matt Robinson.