Teams from Newton Abbot are gearing their championship challenges up in their respective divisions of the Acacia Blinds 2010-11 South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League Division 1 to claim top spot.

Newton Abbot Batmen, Battlers and Livewires are all in healthy positions in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 respectively to go all the way and scoop all trophies as the league approaches its final phase of matches.

Reigning champions, Newton Abbot Batmen continued their winning run at the top of the table at the expense of stablemates Newton Abbot Academicals and Full of Beans from Bishopsteighnton.

Dennis Gibbs was back to his top form winning maximums in both after his defeat before Christmas to Dave Wadling from nearest challengers, Halwell. In the Full of Beans match, a welcome return to the league was made by Slovakian import Patrik Cincala who won over Batmen’s Tony Halse in straight sets. The new signing will surely strengthen Full of Beans’ campaign to survive in Division 1 as they teeter at the edge of relegation.

The lower end of the table remains an interesting affair as Newton Abbot Academicals, Marldon and Brixham Trawlers all traded places at 40 points each just above Full of Beans who have some games in hand. Best placed, Academicals, boosted their Division 1 status with a healthy 7-3 victory over a weakened Brixham Gulls. Gulls’ regular Mick Mercer just fell short of notching a score for the team in third spot, losing 11-8 in the 5th set to Academicals’ Doug Morgan, while Aaron Millman, drafted in from Brixham’s third division side Swallows struggled against Morgan, Alan Tyrrell and Jim McIvor, who were all beaten by Brixham number one David White.

While Full of Beans fell to Taverners 6-4 in a which in which a resurgent Geoff Read took a maximum, Marldon were able to claim victory against the bottom team by the same scoreline with Tracey Lyon, Richard Jessop and Martin Dilkes all missing out on vital points, losing 11-5, 11-7 and 11-5 in the final legs of their matches against Dave Atkin, Helen Parton and Atkin respectively.

Marldon came good once again winning over Brixham Trawlers 6-4 in a match which saw six of the ten matches go the distance. No one player shone above the rest in the match, although Helen Parton just lost out to Alan Maynard 14-12 in the fifth set of their encounter to leave Trawlers needing a win in the doubles to draw the match. In the end, Parton and Dave Atkin came from behind to beat Maynard and Chris Baron, win the match and leave all three teams in the danger zone on equal points.

Taverners were also able to claim a resounding victory over Brixham Trawlers to take them within two points of third placed Brixham Gulls. Once again, Geoff Read, playing the table tennis he’s renowned for after a lame spell at the start of the season, took a maximum with only two sets dropped. He was well supported by Colin Harrop and Nick Williamson who, pairing up with Read, beat Maynard and Baron 12-10, 10-12, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10 in a marathon game to take the 8-2 away win.

In Division 2, Newton Abbot Battlers played some great table tennis to win two vital matches to put breathing space between themselves and the division challengers.

Keith Hawkins was the hero for Battlers in their matches against Dawlish Diamonds at home and in a tricky away tie against 21 Up. He came away with maximums in both dropping only one set over the two encounters as they took home 16 points from a possible 20.

It was Ed Thompson who took over the role of leading light in an even more important meeting with Tykes who were hovering in third position prior to the Christmas break. Battlers took the match to Tykes from the start, nestling in a comfortable 6-1 lead going into the final matches of the evening. Once again however, Kevin Ayling for Tykes was able to win over Keith Hawkins 11-8 in the final set to take the match to 6-2. Ayling is the only player who Hawkins has been unable to overcome in two meetings in this division. The match was close to being turned on its head was it not for a brilliant come back from Thompson to beat Pat Darch in the fifth and for Hawkins and Thompson to come from two sets down to win the doubles 14-12 in the last to claim an 8-2 victory and give Battlers a five point lead over Tykes, who leapfrog Dawlish Aces into second spot following a 10-0 whitewash over 21 Up. Steve Metcalfe, Pat Darch and Chris Garner all shone for the cause over Matt Davison, Simon Furgol and Robert Excell with only Davison coming close to upset the party, taking Garner to five.

Dawlish Aces were able to claw to a 6-4 win over 21 Up who were unveiling their new Polish import Krzysztof Piwowar, who was able to demolish Ed Crawford, Steve Cooper and David Davies in straight sets to aid their Division 2 survival campaign. Although it remained a good win for Aces, they will still have it all to do in their remaining matches as they now lie 11 points behind the leaders.

Down at the bottom, Brixham Pirates were unable to make any impression on Dawlish Diamonds in a match in which Don Beesley and Mike Coxhead took maximums, Beesley’s first since November 2007. Only Caolan Walpot was able to take a sole point for Pirates, with Henry Smithson coming close against Beesley, whilst Walpot and Kieran Rapier lost 11-9 in the final set in the doubles. It was a match which puts Pirates needing wins in their games in hand to stand any hope of surviving in the division.

In Division 3, Newton Abbot Livewires are priming themselves for a home-straight onslaught as they won a pre-Christmas meeting against Brixham Swallows with Robert Stephens and Andrew Tyrrell each winning a brace of games and then taking the doubles against Brixham’s Andrew and Aaron Millman 11-7 in the fifth to win the encounter 6-4. Livewires stumbled however, on their New Year travels to Torquay’s Torre Table Tennis Club to face second-placed 21 Down. Tyrrell was unable to fire in this match as Dan Brewer for 21 Down played a blinder to beat Tyrrell in five and brothers Ashleigh and Robert Stephens in four to win a maximum for his team. Connor Adams struck twice for the home team, losing out to Robert Stephens, but beating Tyrrell 11-7 in the fifth.

Table toppers, Dawlish Drifters, stuttering before the break in their home match against Brixham Swifts, losing 6-4, a match in which Brixham’s Chris Meah Snr won all three, corrected their situation on their travels to Brixham to meet Rebels. Bruce Freeman won a maximum over Marilyn Parton, Kevin Salt and Steve Munns and was well supported by Tony Munson and Matt Reed who both only lost out to Munns. A doubles match conceded after two sets down, saw the league leaders extend their lead at the top to 13.

With the league breaking into its final phase with teams meeting each other again for the third and final time, its all to play for with only 15 points separating second place and bottom.

For more information about the Acacia Blinds South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League, see www. sdt-tabletennisleague.co.uk.

Report by Alan Maynard, results secretary.