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With wins over Jason Sugrue, Terry Young, Gary Tendler and Gareth Herbert it was Darlington's new-signing Carl Prean who stole the show. The powerful forehand remained as potent as ever but there was one major difference to Prean's game, the famous punched backhand with the long pimples had disappeared and been replaced by the most consistent and accurate of backhand drives with normal reverse rubber. Long, hard-fought driving rallies became the order of the day, particularly in Prean's fast and furious encounter against Terry Young.

Darlington I were London Progress's first opponents, and Progress will certainly have breathed a sigh of relief that Euan Walker wasn't in the Darlington side as well. With Carl beating Jason Sugrue 3-1 and Terry Young 3-2 and England no. 7 Junior David Meads scoring a superb 3-1 win over Marco Essomba Progress slipped 3-2 behind. They will therefore be really pleased with just how well they held themselves together to take the match 5-3. Marco made no mistake in his second singles beating Bradley Evans (3-0), Jason Sugrue saw off the challenge of Michael Marsden much easier than expected (3-0) and Darren Blake rode out a storm before he eventually came through safely 3-1 against David Meads.

Ormesby I dominated against BATTS Team Peniel and won 6-2. Paul Drinkhall made a slow start against John Holland but just as it looked as if John could be celebrating an unexpected victory Paul's game clicked into overdrive. He eventually raced away with the match 9-11, 4-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-5. Likewise Craig Bryant was also stretched by former team-mate Holland before he came thorough 14-12, 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-8. BATTS's two wins were both good ones with Neil Charles and Martin Kubrt doing well to get the better of the higher-ranked Steve Bailey. Bryn Drinkhall was the most dominant player on view beating both Kubrt and Peter Cleminson convincingly 3-0.

Ellenborough recorded their first victory of the season, and their 7-1 success against Seasiders couldn't have come at a better time. Gary Tendler set them on their way with a fighting 12-10 in the fifth set victory over England no. 8 Michael Rogala, possibly the top performance of the day. With the whole Ellenborough squad hitting form at the same time they eventually ran away with the match. Decide for yourself which Ellenborough player produced the best performance as they all excelled. Gary Tendler for his wins over Rogala and Greg Baker, Jimmy Walsh for his excellent 11-9 in the fifth end success against John Hilton, Gareth Herbert for his convincing wins against John Hilton (3-0) and Michael Rogala (3-1) or the under-rated John Nilsson who beat both Greg Baker (3-2) and Louis Rosenthal (3-1). A very good all-round performance by the Ellenborough team.

S.K.