12th January 2016 Match Reports

The battle for the Division One title in the Eastern Valley Table Tennis League continues. After this weeks matches YMCA Preachers and Bristol Nomads are neck and neck with the same number of points. The Preachers had on paper the toughest match against the team in third place Cwmbran Blues which after a titanic struggle they managed to win 18-17 despite a player of the match performance from the Blues' Mark Farrow. For the Preachers Ray Goulding and David Lloyd won 2 matches each.

Bristol Nomads also had a tough struggle against Blaenavon Aces, which was closer than their respective league positions would have indicated. However, both sides were decimated by the unavailability of their usual players with the Aces fielding a complete new line up. One of the Aces substitutes saw the first appearance after many years away from the league of ex Welsh International David Buck who proved he still has what it takes by winning the player of the match award. Buck won all his matches including a tough 5 set win over the Nomads Tom Lewis, who was making his debut in the league. For the Nomads Lewis and Emily Standing won 2 matches each to help their side to a 19-16 win to draw their side level with the Preachers at the top of the league. 

In the final match in division one Cwmbran Aztecs secured a 21-15 win against Cwmbran Colts thanks to a player of the match performance from Mark Edmunds with his 3 wins. For the Colts Matthew Pearce had 2 good wins over the higher ranked Eric Turner and Andrew Ryder.

The Division Two title took a big step towards being settled when the leaders Cwmbran Panthers faced their biggest challengers Cwmbran Dynamos for their last time this season. Despite a man of the match performance from the Dynamos' Alex Jones he could not prevent his team going down 20-13. This results leaves the Panthers with a 25 point lead with 4 matches to go. For the Panthers Mike Blatchford, Yuri Cherkasenko and Howard Gaut won 2 matches each with their only defeats coming against Jones.

The team currently in 3rd place are Cwmbran Devils and they cemented their position with a 20-15 win over Blaenavon Bulldogs. The player of the match was Colin Scott for the Devils with his 3 wins. For the Bulldogs Lincoln Alford tried hard to stem the tide with his only defeat coming against Scott 10-12 in the deciding 5th set. A notable result in this match was the win for Callum Hunt(Bulldogs) over the higher ranked Stan Williams(Devils), coming back from being 2 sets down.

The final match in division two saw Cwmbran Fellows overcome Cwmbran Eccentrics 17-15 with the match being decided in the last game. There were 3 wins for the Fellows' Wayne Ford and 2 wins each for the Eccentrics' Richard Lownsbrough and Matthew Powell.

Author: via Gwent Table Tennis Club
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