Week 2 of the Hastings Table Tennis League saw First Division champions Academy A fully extended by Bexhillians H and trailing 3-4 before coming back to win 6-4.
Bexhill were able to call on one of their star performers in Andy Norwood, but Lewis Mayhew dropped out on the day with injury, while Academy were without Nathan Darby. Paul Barry was unbeaten for Academics and Ryan Heselden won two, while Norwood won twice for Bexhill.
Bexhill led 3-2 after five straight games singles but the match was decided over the next three sets.
Barry and Heselden beat Norwood and Faldie Adams 11-9 in the fifth in the doubles before an epic clash where Barry beat Norwood, also 11-9 in the fifth after trailing 3-9. John Bradbury then had an excellent win over Nick Standen which left things level at 4-4.
The last two sets went to form with Heselden beating Bradbury and Barry beating Adams, both in straight games.
This season’s nostalgia theme continued as Martin Kellaway made an unbeaten return for Bexhill A against Bexhill B. All to no avail, as the B side ran out 7-3 winners with Graham Gillett, Andy Chapman and Pete Robinson all winning twice.
In another close encounter, Tackleway B and Academy B fought out a 5-5 draw with new signing John Boreham’s maximum keeping Tackleway in the game with Dave Butler and 16-year old Matthew Davies winning two each for Academy. Boreham is currently playing in Eastbourne, previously in Bromley and Sevenoaks to name but two. Jamie Martin returned to league play for Academy while Malcolm Barber was another debutant for Tackleway.
As predicted, the signing of 17-year-old Arthur Bracken has improved the chances of Tackleway A and he was unbeaten in a 7-3 win at Hollington A. James Gorridge won two for Tackleway as did Shaun Godfrey for the home side.
In Division 2, Richard Hoyland’s maximum kept Bexhill E in the hunt at Tackleway D and he also won the doubles with Malcolm Glover. Tackleway’s solid teamwork won them the match 6-4, with Keith Lindsay, Thomas Mann and Jacob McCarthy winning two apiece.
Relegated Tackleway C are favourites for this division and their opening match, an 8-2 win at Monarchs B, did nothing to disabuse this theory. Maximums from Aaron Pain and Danny Rickaby and two wins for Kevin Rowe saw them home.
Hollington B beat Bexhill Ladies 8-2 with Paul Hyland unbeaten and Mike Courtnage and Yasar Akar winning two each while Dave Laing took both wins for Bexhill. All three contests which went to five games were won by Hollington, the tightest of which saw Akar beat Kim Shearer 12-10 in the decider.
Third Division Bexhill F had their second win, a narrow 6-4 against Tackleway H, with Harvey Webb winning three and Jim Leppard two, while Mike Cruttenden won two for the losers.
Most of the drama in this match centred on Nuala Geary, making her league debut for Bexhill. Starting with a loss to Derek Godsell, 12-14 in the fifth, she then lost 8-11 in the fifth to both Cruttenden and Peter Agar; so close to a maximum but ending up with a bagel!
Bexhill G beat Tackleway E 7-3 with a Dom Goodson maximum and two from Cheng Liu while Josh Smith picked up two for Tackleway. Crucially, Bexhill won the two sets which went the distance (Cheng beating Dom Bigg and the doubles).
Also unbeaten in this division are serious contenders Hollington D who won 8-2 at Tackleway F. Steph Sargeant and Rob Clemence were again unbeaten, while Andy Holmes and Thomas Porter won one each for Tackleway.
Tackleway G and Hollington C drew 5-5 with Phil Bailey’s maximum, all in straight games keeping Hollington in the match. Martin Woodward and Stuart Batchelor both won two for Tackleway.
