Having to face the top two teams in the division over the same weekend would seem a tall order to many teams but it didn't seem to phase Barnet at all. They responded brilliantly by beating BATTS Team Peniel I 5-3 and securing a draw with the Champions elect London Progress I. Seasiders, last weekend's success story carried on where they had left with two more victories and they have now moved up to fourth place.
The star of the weekend was Barnet's Gergely Urban who won his four singles. Lower down the playing order Seasider's John Hilton, in his first matches of the season, also made a real impact by taking his four singles whilst JAGS's Lorestas Trumpauskas also hit top form as he too stayed undefeated. A nomination for the most improved performer of the weekend might well be tossed in Eddie Smith's direction. With five wins out of sixteen he hadn't "set the world alight" in the first two rounds of matches but here he fared much better taking the scalps of Adam Bleakley, Jonathan Taylor and Peter Cleminson.
Barnet's victory over BATTS Team Peniel I owed a lot to Tim Yarnall and Gergely Urban who both won twice -Yarnall's victories over Peter Cleminson and John Holland being sufficient to earn him the Player-of-the-Match Award. Darius Knight, who received little change from Holland in his first game, played his part with another victory over Junior rival Craig Bryant, this time at 11-8 in the deciding end. It was Gergely Urban who eventually sealed victory for Barnet with a 3-1 success over Peter Cleminson. Barnet looked to be heading for defeat against London Progress as they trailed 2-0 but they fought back in stirring fashion. Urban had few problems in defeating Leeroy Pye 3-0 - a result you might have predicted if not the scoreline. Nial Cameron then came up with an excellent 3-0 victory over Darren Blake to level the scores at 2-2, arguably Cameron's best display in the British League this season. From then onwards it was neck and neck, Tim Yarnall succumbed to Marco Essomba 3-1 but Gergely Urban hit back with an 11-9 in the fifth game victory over Jason Sugrue to make the score 3-3. At this point Darius Knight couldn't quite live with Darren Blake but a determined Cameron came back from 2-0 down to beat Leeroy Pye to tie the scores at 4-4.
BATTS stay second although with JAGS, Seasiders and London Progress still to play they will need to perform very well in the next round of matches to retain this position. John Holland held the BATTS side together in their match against Darlington as he won both his singles; 3-0 against Andrew Wilkinson and 3-1 against Eddie Smith. It wasn't enough though as Wilkinson hit back with an excellent success against Craig Bryant and Player-of-the-Match Michael Marsden played his part with victories over Neil Charles (3-0) and Peter Cleminson (3-2). A draw looks a fair result.
Seasiders won both of their matches 5-3. Darlington proved to be tough opponents because, in addition to Eddie Smith's victories over Adam Bleakley and Johnathan Taylor, they had to contend with an inform Michael Marsden as well. Kevin Dolder succumbed to Marsden at 11-7 in the fifth end although Adam Bleakley hit back by beating him 11-9 in the decider. Against JAGS they had to contend with Lorestas Trumpauskas getting the better of both Adam Bleakley and Jonathan Taylor 3-1 and from that perspective the match followed the same pattern as the Darlington game. John Hilton's two wins, this time against Selwyn Campbell and Abdul Wuraola, came to their rescue and in the last game of the match Kevin Dolder sealed the Seasiders' victory with a stirring 16-14 in the deciding set success over Campbell. Having previously beaten Clive Carthy 3-1 Dolder deservedly took the Player of the Match Award.
Horsham excelled against JAGS to earn themselves a vital draw, but a 5-3 defeat against Derwent means they still have everything to do to avoid relegation. Their last match of next round will be against Darlington and it is quite likely that both sides might need to win this match to avoid relegation. Their draw against JAGS was a triumph for team-work as Adrian Moore, Steve Beerling, Peter Bartram and Dominic Hall all won one singles as there was never more than a game between the two teams throughout the match. Hall secured a vital point for his side with his 3-2 victory over Campbell in the last game. If that point was a touch unexpected then they will admit that they came unstuck in their "Bushtucker trial" against Derwent. The 5-3 defeat was certainly not on their menu! Four of Derwent's wins came at scorelines of 11-8 in the fifth end or closer. If Derwent are going to be relegated they clearly have every intention of going down fighting! All five of Derwent's wins are worthy of mention - Steve Horsfield beating Adrian Moore (3-1), Simon Noutch prevailing 11-9 in the decider against Peter Bartram, Richard Smith getting the better of Dominic Hall again at 11-9 in the fifth end, Andy Horsfield securing a fine 3-1 victory over Adrian Moore and Steve Horsfield completing a great match for the Horsfield family with an 11-8 in the fifth game win over the luckless Bartram.
There was no upset from the overall match perspective when Derwent faced London Progress I. However Derwent's 2-6 defeat hides the fact that they were tied at 2-2 at one stage after Stephen Horsfield had scored a magnificent 11-9 in the fifth game win over Marco Essomba and Richard Smith had secured an equally impressive 11-9 in the deciding set victory over Leeroy Pye. It wasn't enough though, as a better second half performance saw London Progress rattle off the next four singles. Essomba hit back with a 3-1 victory over Andrew Horsfield, Darren Blake got the better of Steve Horsfield 3-0, Jason Sugrue ran out a 3-1 winner against Richard Smith and Leeroy Pye completed the job with a 3-1 victory over Simon Noutch.
The last round of matches take place on Saturday/Sunday 17/18 April 2004 at London Progress Table Tennis Academy, Southall, Middlesex and although London Progress look odds on favourites to retain their title the battles to finish second and to avoid relegation look far from complete. Should be well worth getting along to.
British League Chairman Keith Ponting would like to remind any Clubs that want to enter new teams next season to get in touch with him. Keith can be contacted on telephone no. 01392 278642 or on E-mail at keith@ponting4570.fsnet.co.uk
Steve Kerns