BUDMOUTH B continued to show their Division One potential with a good 24-14 win over Red Triangle up at Portland YMCA in the Weymouth & District League.

No single player could secure the maximum nine points but Budmouth’s Rob Hawes scored eight, only losing out 11-8 in the fifth set to Derrick Dawson (4) after coming from two sets down.

Youngsters Jed Brackenridge (7) and Ben Howe (6) ably supported Hawes and are fitting nicely at the top level locally but neither could get the better of Mike Spracklen (6), both going down 3-1.

Budmouth A had a hard fought 27-15 victory over Dorchester’s YMCA and this was a much closer game than the scoreline suggests, with only one singles match and the doubles being decided in three legs.

Steve White’s defensive tactics earned him six legs but he could not prevent Josh Clark and Moses Lewis scoring maximums.

Evergreen Brian Hansford (5) notched a 3-1 win over Will Jolliffe (6) but their victory keeps the pressure on the other title contenders.

Springfield A retained second spot with 27-6 win at Preston B, while Terry Whitworth (3) and Roger Lovell (3) both had wins over Springfield’s Andy Pipe (6) but that was as good as it got for the home side, with Springfield winning the remaining matches without dropping a leg.

There was a top-of-the-table clash in Division Two, which resulted in a 20-19 Springfield B win by the narrowest of margins over table topping Shipton Gorge B, and was achieved in the fourth game of the doubles. Matches were fiercely contested but no individual match went to five games.

Heavy hitting and stubborn defence was the order of the day with every player achieving at least one win.

Chris Whitefield justified his position at the top of the averages with a maximum nine points, while Graham Albertella top scored for Shipton with seven.

The result leaves the destiny of the Division Two title still closely balanced between these two sides.

Budmouth C and All Saints played out a really good game between two teams of very talented youngsters with All Saints winning 27-16 in a margin that did not really represent the closeness of the overall match.

Ethan Clark (7) suffered a rare defeat at the hands of Edith Dedman (8) who played her best table tennis of the season.

Jess Moggeridge (9) was pushed all the way by Dedman having to come back after losing the first two legs.

Jaimee Browne (4) and Ollie James (8) produced an epic display of hard hitting table tennis with James just edging it 11-8 in the fifth leg.

The future of table tennis in Weymouth is secure if these youngsters continue to improve.

Shipton Gorge C managed to find a way past Preston A but it took them until the final doubles match to get over the line in an 20-18 win.

In a nip and tuck match, in which Preston’s Eddie Chapman scored a maximum but ended up on the losing team, there was never more than a few points in it the whole night.

Chapman overcame Dave Poole (6) 3-0 in the final singles match to square the match up 17-17 but with partner Thierry Roy (8) was unable to overcome Dan Corren (5) and Tom Baldry (6) despite taking the first set 11-3 and eventually lost in four.

Springfield D’s Division Three title hope took a bit of a knock in losing 22-17 to Wey Valley.

The youngsters of Wey Valley were just too good for the Springfield veterans, although Pete Anderson (9) played superbly to come back from a two-set-deficit to defeat Ethan Bingham (8) in the match of the night.

The first match set the tone with Richard Lane (4) overpowering Barry Thomas (4) in a highly entertaining match.

Bingham’s 3-0 win over Mike Wood (2) ensured Wey Valley were out of reach before a close 3-2 doubles result gave Wey Valley the deserved win.

In a match with a lot of good rallies, Wyke B achieved a good 24-12 win against Preston E.

Roy Sharp (7), Rod Wyness (7) and Paul Robson-Rowell (7) each had two wins with the Preston team of Eric Chalker (4), Chris Harris(4) and Martin Singer (4) each getting one win a-piece.

Preston D scored a convincing 26-10 win over Wyke C, who were aided by how Wyke were only able to field two players.

Both of those players, Derek Heaver (6) and Nina Moggeridge (4), managed to beat Preston’s Heather Merritt (5) 3-1 but the remaining eight games went the way of Preston.