The leaders of Division One of the Eastern Valley Table Tennis League, Bristol Nomads, were without a game this week. This gave the second placed side, YMCA Preachers, the opportunity to take over top spot in their match against Blaenavon Aces. After a hard fought match the Preachers came out on top 20-17, thanks to another player of the match performance from Claire Flannagan, including a 5 set win over the higher ranked Piotr Sniezek. David Lloyd also had a good win, again in 5 sets, against Sniezek. For the Aces Jonathan Allen battled hard for his 2 wins.
In the other match in Div. One Cwmbran Blues beat Cwmbran Aztecs 25-13. Whilst the Blues won all but one of their games, 4 of the games were won in 5 sets. The Blues were without their main players Farrow and Lloyd, but their replacements Roger Grech (player of the match) and Mike Bishop proved able deputies with 3 wins each. The Aztecs were also missing their main player Tony Collins, whose replacement Peter Gordon battled hard to pick up 5 sets. Congratulations should go to the Blues' Matthew O'Dwyer on winning his first matches of the season.
In Division Two there is no stopping the Cwmbran Panthers' relentless march to the title. Their latest win came at the expense of Blaenavon Bulldogs 26-9. There were 3 wins each for player of the match Mike Blatchford and Howard Gaut, whose wins included beating the higher ranked Lincoln Alford in 5 sets. For the Bulldogs Alford battled hard to stem the tide with 7 sets.
The team trying to hang on to the coat-tails of the leaders are Cwmbran Dynamos and they kept up the chase by beating Cwmbran Fellows 22-12. The main interest in this match was whether the Fellows' Wayne Ford could maintain his unbeaten record. The best match of the night was between Ford and Dynamos' Star Limbu where Ford came back from 2 sets down and survived 2 match points to win 12-10 in the 5th set. Ford also had to work very hard to beat Alex Jones in 5 sets to maintain his undefeated start to the season.
The final match in Div. Two saw Cwmbran Devils secure a comfortable win against Cwmbran Eccentrics 26-5. The Devils were helped by a player of the match performance from Stan Williams with his 3 wins, just pipping team mate Colin Scott for the award with his 3 wins. For the Eccentrics Alan Howse battled hard for his 4 points.
