Ryedale Table Tennis League

There was slightly disappointing attendance at this year's important AGM at Ryedale Sports Club on 21 May, but the meeting did accept the Committee's proposed new rules for the league, with a number of amendments. The revised rules will shortly be published on this site and sent out to all players in next season's handbook.

From now on, each club is entitled to have one member on the Management Committee. This will ensure that decisions made in future represent the wishes of the majority of clubs, teams and players.

Cliff Edens was voted in as Development Secretary in addition to his other roles, and Pat Swindell becomes the league's Welfare Officer. Steve Miller (looking very well after his operation I'm glad to report) agreed to take on the job of Handicap League Secretary. With Andy Grayson running the Summer League, this means that the committee's 'situations vacant' have now been filled and that we are able to share out the work even further. This is good news indeed, and we are grateful to all those who have volunteered to help run the league.

Chairman John Gascoyne said that it had been a very successful year with RTTL looking healthy. The tournament and dinner both went well and it is good to see so much going on in the way of coaching and development. Cliff Edens reported on the successes of publicity and coaching in Ryedale, and outlined the progress made by the league's veterans teams and cadets and juniors. He reminded people that anyone over 40 who would like to join a veterans team is very welcome - please contact Cliff.

Treasurer Jean Wardman gave out a summary of the league's accounts, which have been checked by an external examiner. The accounts are in a healthy state, with a balance of approximately £1070 in the bank, although there are some outstanding bills still to pay, eg for trophies.

Andy Seed reported on his first year as Match Secretary and asked that team secretaries would make a big effort to send in scorecards early and tell him of any postponements. He also asked that team secretaries keep a record of home match scores on printed sheets of paper - these will be sent out with handbooks in September (more details to follow). There was wide agreement that the website has been a success. Gerald Cosens reported on the tournament and had some good feedback. It was agreed that the committee would look into ways to improve the handicap competition in 2007 and also possibly include the Drawn Doubles competition which has been popular in the past.

Entry forms were given out to teams present. Forms will be sent out to Whitby, Settrington, and Laundry soon. Forms can also be downloaded here. It was reported that there will probably be 3 new teams joining RTTL next season: Hutton-le-Hole, Hovingham and a seventh Ryedale Sports Club team, although none of these are definite until entry forms have been received. Ryedale Sports Club will re-organise their teams for the coming season to comply with the new rules. CSL expressed a wish to see the league expand to 3 divisions and there was some support for this. The decision on the number of divisions and which teams play in each division will be made by the Management Committee in a meeting in early August after the deadline for entering teams.

Cliff Edens announced that there will be another Jarvis bat workshop in Helmsley in September: details and date to be announced. Any players are also welcome to join practice sessions at Hovingham Village Hall on Mondays from 7.30 - 8.30. John Freeman expressed a vote of thanks for the work of the committee in the past year.

The date of the next committee meeting has not yet been confirmed but will be announced as soon as possible. Thanks to all those who attended and contributed to this year's meeting.

The 2006 league dinner and presentation evening held on 19th May at The Forest and Vale Hotel in Pickering was a jolly fine night with good food, excellent service, a varied array of interesting (and just plain daft) speakers and, of course, lots of trophies and applause. If you have any photos of the evening you'd like to see on the website (or any other good TT pics for that matter) please email them to Andy Seed at andy@cannybooks.com. Thanks.

Helmsley B show off their new Div 1 champs trophy: Peter is clearly ecstatic about winning.

CSL celebrate their great season as Div 2 winners, although Ken Mills obviously thought it was a Poirot evening

Ryedale E show off their Div 2 runners up awards as John Ellis breaks a very rude joke

Fred Yeung gives an impassioned speech after discovering that his Div 1 averages runners up trophy is smaller than he'd hoped

Div 2 averages winner Gareth Bryning really dresses up to receive his trophy as RTTL chairman Geoff Cawthorn finally manages to get into a photo

Ian Stansfield picks up the Bower Trophy while his minders ensure strict security (although it might be Amotherby A)

Two kids sneak in and make off with the Pairs Trophy. Hang on a minute - they won it? Finn Neeham and Edward Fambely? Nice one.

Titch Temple receives the Div 1 Most Sporting Team trophy from Jill Adams. Now that's a proper cup.

For some reason Steve Miller expects to find lots of goodies inside the Div 2 most sporting team trophy won by Scarborians

Guest speaker Tafadzwa Gwanoya from Zimbabwe wonders what on earth he's let himself in for

Former RTTL Secretary Andy Grayson is given a special award for services to the league by Ozzie Osborne

What! The suited hirsute one turns out to be RTTL chairman John Gascoyne. I thought this was a formal dinner...

MC Andy Seed cracks some hilarious gags - for some reason the room rapidly empties.

Finally, conclusive proof that the league has been infiltrated by demonic forces with bad hair.

Finn Needham and Edward Fambely, combined age 28, took on Paul Swift and Ken Pidgeon, combined age 395, in the President's Pairs final. Edward was first up, playing off minus 10 against Paul off minus 16. Paul won the toss and chose to serve. Edward promptly smacked the first three balls straight past him. When it was Edward's turn to serve, Paul returned the favour with interest and that set the tone for their match. Neither player able to hold serve, such was the ferocity of the returns. And when a rally did start, there were fireworks on both sides. Paul slowly nudged ahead, only for Edward to peg him back. There were two points in it at the half way stage, then Paul eased five ahead. Both players hardly made any mistakes, points were traded by one or the other hitting an outright winner. And there were dozens of those, all breathtaking shots. It was like a wild west shoot out -- both so quick on the draw that the only way to know who'd shot who was by whoever fell over at the end. When the dust settled, it was Billy the kid Fambely who'd outgunned Wyatt Earp Swift, taking the match 44/42. A great start for the youngsters.

Next up, Finn versus Ken. Each with a giant bat, it was more like the start to a pancake race, but the match was anything but flat. Ken hit some nifty one-twos while Finn served and blocked with style. The term 'a pidgeon' has crept into the lexicon of the Ryedale Table Tennis League: it refers to when the serve hits the server's own edge and catapults over the far end of the table. Ken surprised even himself by hitting a 'ken of pidgeons' (more than one in a row) and total five pidgeons in the match. This proved costly. That said, Finn's blocking was terrific and for all those out there who might be afraid he's following in his father's footsteps, be afraid. Not only does Finn have lightning reactions and long pimples, but he twiddles -- something his father can't do. Finn closed out the match 52/37.

The youngsters were now two up and even before it was time for a tea break, wrapped up the contest with a doubles victory 48/37. Having finally finished the extension to their house, the Fambelys will now have to build another one for all Edward's trophies. Either that or melt them down and build a very large ship. [17.5.06]

That was the final match of the 2005-06 season. Well done to everybody who took part in RTTL matches: let's hope next season is even better!

Team entry forms for next season are now available to download here along with full details.

Entry forms will be handed out at the AGM and posted to anyone who can't make the meeting.

An epic three and a half hour KO final went right to the wire last night as Amotherby A edged out Ryedale A in the Bower Trophy after a tremendous battle at Ryedale Sports Club. As always, Amotherby had Ian Stansfield to thank, as the high-energy table tennis maestro blitzed all three opponents on a night when there was more sweat than would be polite to describe.

It was 10.30pm on a sultry evening after the hottest day of the year so far as Pat Swindell faced John Freeman with the score at 4-4, following some blistering table tennis from both sides. The resulting decider was agony to watch as the two men entered a war of attrition, with neither willing to attack and each player's style cancelling the other's out.

The match had started with a cracker of a contest between Ian and Paul Young, the Pickering side having surprisingly opted to leave their highest-average performer John Flintoft on the bench. Paul began well, his monster forehand clearly having been fine-tuned for the occasion, and at halfway through the 62-point contest the scores were still quite close. Stansfield specialises in pulling away from opponents in the second half of sets, however, and this he did here as he began to ping his trademark topspinners into both corners and block Young's attacks with impressive speed. The game finished 62-52 to Stan (42-34 with handicap adjustment): Amotherby were one ahead.

Andy Seed was next up for the 'home' team (who were actually playing away but won the toss) against one of his least favourite opponents, the crafty John Freeman. With a 16 difference in the handicaps, Seed tried to be patient before launching what he hoped would be a series of devastating attacks against the left-hander. Unfortunately, he was neither patient nor devastating, and John successfully moved him around with a clever mix of floaters, chops and hits to win 58-37 (42-37) and level things at one apiece.

The next game was very similar, as Ryedale's Charles Allenby stepped against Pat Swindell. Somehow, whatever he tried, Pat just couldn't deal with Charles' unique style, and a series of flat hits soon opened up a big lead for the hard bat legend. Swindell blocked, chopped, floated, pushed, lobbed and even attacked (blimey) and everything was just blasted down his backhand without reply. It finished 62-31 (42-25) and Ryedale were now ahead and looking good.

But Stan was back on next. John Freeman fancied his chances against Ian, having beaten him once in the league and knowing that he always gives the Amotherby no. 1 a tough challenge. The game as it unfolded was almost identical to the opening set of the night with John starting well, making it awkward for Stan to get into his hitting rhythm. But, once again, after the break Stansfield lit the afterburner and started going for it - his big arm swings causing the ball to leap off the table and accelerate away from his opponent, who was visibly wilting in the heat. John couldn't keep up and went down 45-62 (29-42) before heading off in search of fluids. 2-2.

Table tennis is all about styles and, for some mysterious reason, Charles Allenby just hates playing Andy Seed. With a hefty difference in the handicaps, Seed knew that this was one he could win and sure enough, the game followed the same pattern as all their other encounters, with Allenby finding his hits coming back and getting frustrated by the mixture of spin concocted by the tall Amotherby captain. At one stage, with Seed rapidly approaching the 43 point mark he needed for victory, Charles decided that there was only one option left to him and proceeded to thump every single ball which came over the net, no matter how low, long, short, or spinny. Amazingly, nearly every single one went in and Andy suddenly found himself under pressure. He then started attacking himself (er, if you see what I mean) and a few nets and edges later it was all over at 54-62 (54-42) and Amotherby were ahead again at 3-2.

Next up were Paul and Pat in a classic attack v defence encounter. Almost every rally followed the same pattern with Pat putting in his trademark low chops to the backhand and Paul pushing them back with an angled bat, waiting for an opportunity to bring his blockbuster forehand into play. Eventually Paul would hit one and Pat would try to backspin a return but Young's placement and power were just too good for Swindell, and soon the younger man opened up a big lead. After the swap of ends Pat changed tactics and stayed closer to the table, employing a series of fantastic rapid blocks to counter Paul's loops but even these didn't bring enough points for Amotherby as an in-form Young deservedly ran out a 60-42 (42-36) winner.

The match was now all-square at three all and Charles Allenby was back on to face possibly his least favourite opponent of all time: old friend Ian Stansfield. Ian just loves playing Charles and hasn't lost to him for decades. Could this be the moment to change history and arrest this depressing pattern of results? No. Although Charles did rattle Stan at one stage by continuing his kamikaze all-out attack strategy belting Ian's serves and everything else in a desperate attempt to stop the inevitable. The trouble is that Ian prefers fast games and so Charles' hits just came back over the net with interest. It finished 62-43 (42-23) to Stansfield as, for the third time, he pulled away in the second half. Amotherby now stood at 4-3 up, needing only one win to secure the trophy.

The eighth game of the night saw Paul Young demonstrate just how good his looping now is as he blitzed a struggling Andy Seed off the table. Paul served well and even had the temerity to return Andy's favourite forehand shot on at least three occasions. Amotherby were nowhere near winning the cup at this point in time as Young finished the set at 60-29 (42-29). The final now stood tantalisingly at 4-4, with one to play: Swindell v Freeman.

It was like watching a penalty shoot-out. With a difference in handicap of only 10, both players worked like their lives depended on it to give nothing away. Even this late at night, the heat hadn't dissipated, and the two opponents needed to regularly stop for a towel break in between the long cagey rallies. Pat chopped off his red side and floated off his anti-loop; John cut his sidespinner and pushed the ball deep then changed the angle to try and force a mistake from his opponent. The exchanges were long and tense, each point taking 15 or 20 shots, with neither player willing to risk an attack against good defence and funny bats. Pat played extremely well, knowing that he just had to stay with John and this he did, right up to the changeover, with Freeman just 29-28 ahead following a series of unkind nets.

John had been frustrated in the early part of the game, giving away points by floating simple pushes off the end of the table as Pat used both sides of his bat to good effect, but after the break the tide turned and the Ryedale man began to edge ahead as Swindell now made the uncharacteristic errors. Soon John was four ahead, then six and seven. The watching Ian Stansfield and Andy Seed could barely stand the tension. John needed to get ten ahead and still he edged on as Pat started tiring: in the forties John reached nine ahead and the trophy seemed to be slipping away from Amotherby. However, Pat is nothing if not a dogged competitor and he dug deep to find a way back, aided by a couple more cruel edges. The luck seemed to have been against John all night and he made a pair of anxious slips to reduce the gap to five.

At 51-47 to John, Pat suddenly skipped around onto his forehand and smote a huge winner down the line. He then stepped forward to shake John's hand, thinking the game was over. It wasn't - he needed 49, but John was now physically and mentally exhausted after a making such a tremendous effort in a long, grinding match. He pushed another loose one long and that was it, all over. Amotherby had won 5-4 as 11pm arrived.

This was a fine match and a fitting end to the competition. Every player won at least one game and it was played in a splendid spirit. Well done to Ryedale A for being extremely sporting in defeat, as ever, and due honour to Ian Stansfield for rescuing Amotherby's bacon once more: a true hero. [12.5.06]

Teenagers Edward Fambely and Finn Needham successfully negotiated their President's Pairs semi final against Paul Young and Andy Grayson. The Helmsley pair won all four singles games, with the doubles conceded, for an impressive 4-0 win. They now face the might of Div 1 singles champion Paul Swift in the final, along with tricky pimple flicker Ken Pidgeon. No date has been fixed yet but hopefully it will be played before the Presentation dinner. [9.5.06]

Unfortunately unable to find a date for their final match of the season against new champions Helmsley B, Boro conceded the game meaning that all matches have now been played and final league positions are all decided.

So it's congratulations to Helmsley B in div 1 and well done to Ryedale A as runners up. Congratulations also to CSL for winning the second division championship and to Ryedale E for finishing a close second to secure promotion. These two teams will replace Ryedale C and D who are relegated after a long struggle in a very tough top division.

Tom Needham wins the Div 1 averages with a fantastic 98%, losing only one set all season, and Fred Yeung from Scarborough is the runner up with nearly 87%, just pipping Helmsley A's unfortunate Mike Polkinghorn, who was one game short of qualifying for the averages after only losing a single set, to Tom Needham of course.

CSL's Gareth Bryning managed a fine achievement, going through the entire season unbeaten in Division 2 to win the averages - the league's first 100% record for some time. A very creditable second place goes to Ian Johnson of Settrington, with 93%. The two Andys, Paton and Grayson, pushed him close and Dave Lunn also finished on 90% although not able to play as many games as he would have liked.

I think it has been a tremendous season in the league, with the standard of play quite possibly the strongest it's ever been and and amazing 50 more players registered than in 2000! Well done to everyone who played and let's hope that Ryedale continues to go from strength to strength next season.

Finally, don't forget that there are still several trophies to be awarded on our presentation dinner evening including Most Improved Player, Most Sporting Teams (both divisions) and the Bower and Pairs cups. I do hope that many of the tournament winners can also make it so that they can be given another round of applause. [6.5.06]

There is just one match left in Division One before the RTTL league programme is tied up for the 2005-06 season. Division 2 is now finished and a final league table can at last be seen - sorry this has taken so long but I have been waiting 3 weeks for two cards from a team secretary.

The Bower Trophy final is still to play - this will now be on Thurs 11 May at Ryedale Sports Club (we all want to cheer on the Boro on Wed). The President's Pairs second semi and final have also not yet been resolved - if you are involved in this please make a really big effort to get both matches played before the Presentation Dinner on Fri 19th May.

There is still time to reserve a place at the Presentation dinner - click 'events' on the left for details.

Averages have finally been updated but a final version will be available showing positions when I have received the last scorecard.

The Summer League is now underway - I'm happy to put results and reports etc up on the website if anyone sends them to me!

Another reminder that the league AGM is on Sunday 21st May at 7pm at Ryedale Sports Club, Pickering. It is important that as many people as possible attend as a new set of league rules is being proposed. There is also the possibility of change to the number of divisions - please do your best to be there and vote.

Westow's Tom MacAuley mightily enjoyed watching all three of his opponents squirm while they attempted to overcome his monster +34 handicap in the Bower Trophy semi final last night. Needing only nine points against each of the three Amotherby A players, Tom played some great stuff, particularly to thwart the away side's no.1, Ian Stansfield, who needed to somehow get to 62.

Amazingly, Ian led 31-3 at the halfway mark, winning 20 points on the spin, literally, against an opponent who played some athletic returns. Stan tried everything: pushing, looping and pinging the ball at tight angles but it just kept coming back. The turning point came soon after the changeover when Ian flicked a backhand across the table with Tom stranded on the forehand side. Remarkably, the Scots veteran twisted round and scooped the ball off the floor with his back to the table. Stansfield was so bemused that he promptly pushed the ball into the net amidst much hooting from the watching Westow team. MacAuley went down 62-12 in the end but fully deserved his 46-42 win.

Andy Seed faced the challenge of overcoming Roger Dunning next - a task that was at least possible. The wily Westow man, playing off +18, employed his flashing backhand flick to great effect to get some early points on the table before Andy started mixing up some spin and moving him around the table. Roger struggled to return the Amotherby captain's serves too and went down 42-18 (42-36 on aggregate).

Pat Swindell was back to his consistent best against awkward left-hander Colin Payne, pumping back chops and 'dead-rubber' floaters with metronomic precision. Colin played well pushing back but eventually got bored in most exchanges and went for a hit with the result that the ball ended up in the net. The game finished 48-15 (42-33). Amotherby then raced into a 4-1 lead as Stansfield beat Payne and Swindell overcame the lively Dunning, who hit some fine winners.

Andy Seed then faced the man who only needed 9, MacAuley, and was soon cursing the handicap committee, ahem. Andy started well, like Stansfield had done, and was 21-5 up when the change of ends brought a change of fortune. Seed unaccountably served off the table then Tom started taking a few more risks which paid off. In the end, MacAuley won comfortably, showing that he has most certainly played before.

So, it was up to the mighty Stansfield to give Amotherby the one win they needed to progress through to the final. Roger Dunning fought bravely but Stan's vicious sidespin was just too much for him, as were his disguised serves and big forehands. It finished 62-16 (42-34) and Amotherby were through to face more familiar rivals in the final in the shape of Div 1 runners-up Ryedale A.

Westow were keen to play the final two games. Andy Seed went for all out attack against Colin Payne to win 42-21 (42-39) but poor Pat still had to face the keen-as-mustard Tom who enjoyed pushing back the defender's chops so much that he won the game 48-44, a mere 82-38 on aggregate! The final result was 6-3 to Amotherby but well done to a very sporting and ever-friendly Westow team (especially for not playing Dawn Hopkins...).

The final is due to be played on Thurs May 11 at Ryedale Sports Club if anyone is interested in watching. [27.4.06]

It would have taken a near miraculous performance from Coneysthorpe A to stop Helmsley B in their tracks and prevent them from picking up the couple of points they needed to finally confirm their status as 2006 Ryedale league Division 1 champions. It didn't happen, of course, and so congratulations are due to Helmsley B for winning such as tough league, particularly with two such young players taking part in so many of their matches and having another great season. Well done indeed! [21.4.06]

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	SF	SA	Pts
1	Helmsley B	23	20	2	1	162	68	111
2	Ryedale A	24	18	3	3	164	76	107
3	Boro	23	18	0	5	151	79	100
4	Helmsley A	23	14	3	6	139	91	91

Helmsley B had a very tough match with Coneysthorpe A who brought out their big guns -- Malcolm, Wendy and Nathan. Helmsley B put out both Peter and Tom for only the fifth time this year. Supporting them was Charlie. Unfortunately Charlie's run of poor form continued and he lost all his matches, marring the first game against Wendy with some stroppiness that does neither him nor his team any favours. However, he showed a lot more character in his final game against Nathan. They both played some wonderful table tennis that was a privilege to watch. Countless times the point looked over, but then one of them would produce a brilliant retrieve or counter attack. Nathan eventually won in five.

Charlie's loss of form, however, put extra pressure on Peter and Tom. So close to the finishing line, but not yet over it. It was looking touch and go when Nathan also took Peter to five in another outstanding game, both players hitting huge forehands and once Nathan started reading Peter's big serves, he was very difficult to contain. Peter had to save match point in the fourth and took a close fifth with some ferocious looping. Peter was taken to four by Malcolm, but powered his way past Wendy.

Nathan played very well all evening -- he took two games to find his range against Tom and then promptly blasted him off the table in the third set. Tom changed his game and closed the match out in four. Tom's had a great season for Helmsley B and it was somehow fitting that he should collect the win (against Wendy) that ensured they'd won the league. But the nerves weren't over for him, one of the few players he hadn't faced all year was Malcolm and he was anxious not to drop another game so close to the end of the season. A hot water bottle on his pimples (the ones on his bat, that is) ensured maximum effect and the combination of such a fast forehand and such a troublesome backhand would have bemused most players. Malcolm did very well but, boy, was the ball moving about.

Edward had stayed to watch and was rewarded by combining with Tom in the doubles. They've ham and egged really well this season, only losing once in the league. They played neatly to beat Nathan and Malcolm neatly 11-9, 11-9, 11-9.

Amotherby A wrapped up their league season with a creditable 5-5 draw versus Helmsley A but it was a match they should have won against a weakened side. As usual, Ian 'Stan' Stansfield was the home team's mainstay, his stalwart rating as high as ever as he won all three, including a useful 3-1 victory against a podgy-looking Cliff Edens. Match of the night, however, was Stan's high-speed clash with an in-form Ruth Purseglove.

Ruth put Ian under pressure from the start, her close to the table reflexes sending him sideways and backwards when he was expecting the ball not to come back. Ruth unsettled the Amotherby man sufficiently to take the first end 11-5 but seemed to have riled him too, as he exploded some big forehands in the second to seal it 11-2. But Ruth was not finished and she started returning Stan's topspins with interest, something he just isn't used to. Suddenly Ruth was 2-1 up amidst grunts of support from team mates, and Ian was starting to chunter about his form.

Stan went up a gear in the fourth game to bag it quite comfortably 11-4 but Ruth came back again in the decider, with some extraordinary rapid returns and that nasty left-hander's cross-table drive into the opponent's backhand. A few disguised spinny serves got Ian out of jail after he was 5-3 down, and Ruth hit the net a little too often going for winners with the result that Ian pinched an entertaining set that could have gone either way.

Elsewhere, stand-in tt academy student Emily Glass found the going tough against awkward opponents Pat Swindell and Andy Seed. She admitted lacking match practice although there were clear signs of latent talent and a meaty forehand too.

Pat started well against Ruth in all three games but faded in all too, allowing the va-va voom veteran to whack him off the table 3-0. Andy Seed tried the opposite approach against Ruth, starting pitifully then coming back strongly, not least in the second game where he fought back from 10-6 down to win 21-19! Ah, it was just like t'old days... Ruth then banged in some fiendish serves to finish him off, the meanie.

But Andy was not finished, and saved his best performance for Cliff, returning his nasty serves via the net and hitting into the backhand corner which the Community Safety Officer didn't like. Seed was 2-1 up and going well, but Edens packs a mean forehand and just pulled out enough hits of his own and crafty service variations to square the match. At 9-9 in the fifth, Andy mysteriously played his two worst serves of the night and that was that.

Pat and Ian had a match point in a topsy-turvy doubles contest but couldn't close out despite some wayward swipes by Ruth against Pat's notorious anti-loop rubber. Cliff then pounced on some loose shots and Helmsley won it 3-2 to secure a draw for the match - and a jolly good match it was too. [20.4.06]

The 2006 President's Pairs competition is nearing its conclusion following the completion of the first semi final. John Gascoyne and Jean Wardman narrowly lost out to team-mates Paul Swift and Ken Pidgeon 3-2 with Swift's class once more being the decisive element as he defeated both Ryedale players with plenty to spare.

John beat Ken, and the whole tie then rested on the meeting of the rapid-fire half-volleyers Ken and Jean. With pimples flying, the ball angled all over the shop and some great battling from both players, Jean just lost out 46-45 giving Ken's team the vital third set. John and Jean had the consolation of taking the doubles but the victors now look forward to playing the winners of the other semi: Finn Needham & Edward Fambely v Andy Grayson & Paul Young. [19.4.06]

Ryedale E finally secured the runners up spot in Division 2 after rivals Helmsley C dropped two points to Laundry A. This leaves the third placed side seven points behind with only one game left to play. The Pickering team led the division for most of the season until they were narrowly pipped by CSL for the title but they have now cemented promotion once more in their classic yo-yo fashion!

Congratulations to Alan Kirkwood, Jean Wardman, John Ellis and Paul Morse all of whom contributed significantly to a splendid season. Like CSL, they will certainly face a stern challenge in Division One next season - so keep practising through the summer! [18.4.06]

I am sorry to report that bookings for the league's annual dinner and presentation evening have been extremely disappointing so far, despite reminders and reservation forms being sent out with the last newsletter.

This is the league's one and only social event, a chance for players to get together and have a good natter about all those dodgy nets and edges as well as applaud the winners of the season's various competitions. The evening's raffle is also our only fund raising effort - with fewer players attending this will obviously mean a drop in income for the league (remember - websites cost money!).

The Forest & Vale offers very good food and excellent service in very pleasant surroundings. There have been one or two comments that the menu is expensive but please note this is for three courses plus coffee and is cheaper than last year! The cost (£19.50) has also been subsidised by the League to keep it below £20.

It is inevitable and understandable that the menu selected will not to be to everyone's taste. So, with this in mind, the organiser Sara Allott has contacted the hotel to see if they can provide a plain version (without the sauce) of the chicken breast and pork tenderloin on offer. They are willing to do this so please let Sara know if you would prefer this option - her contact details and more info about the dinner are here.

I do hope that many of you will attend the dinner on 19th May - the committee has made a big effort to provide a speaker and generally make it an enjoyable event. It seems both ironic and sad that with the league prospering so much, with a total of 149 registered players, and after a fantastic season of table tennis that so few people want to gather to celebrate our successes. [17.4.06]

CSL are the 2006 Ryedale League Division 2 Champions. After trailing promotion rivals Ryedale E for most of the season, the scientists have produced a great set of performances over the last five weeks to take the title in style with their final four results reading 10-0, 9-1, 10-0, 9-1. Enormous credit must be given to the team's no 1 player Gareth Bryning who maintained his superb 100% record throughout the season, defeating all of his averages rivals in a period in which the second division has, like the first, become much stronger than in past years. Well done also to captain (and father to be) Giles Budge who skilfully juggled the team's squad to extract the best results.

So, a huge well done to CSL after a great battle for the championship - let's hope they can all get to the League Presentation Dinner on 19th May to receive their awards. Congratulations are also due to Ryedale E who battled so hard to win the division after a great season of consistency, winning an admirable 19 of 22 matches. The Pickering team still look favourites to finish runners-up and gain promotion along with CSL but it's not all over yet as they can still be caught by Helmsley C (I think! There seems to be a result missing vs Laundry A, despite numerous phone calls - if anyone knows the score please let Andy Seed know!). The situation could all depend on Helmsley's final match with Westow, still to be played. Watch this space... [16.4.06]

Helmsley B need only two more points of from their final two matches in Division One to secure the league championship after a decisive victory over last year's winners in the long-awaited derby clash. This report from our man on the spot, Clifford Edens:

Friday evening, Good Friday for the B team! Seeing the Championship in sight, B team captain, Peter Fambely fielded a very strong side against their team mates, the A team who were without M ike Polkinghorn who was on holiday. The A team fielded Ruth, Cliff and Emily Glass , back on leave from Grantham College whilst the ‘B’ team had Tom, Peter and Mungo Arney, also back for the Easter break. M ungo had not played for 3 months but it didn’t show as he beat Ruth and Emily 3-0. Emily pushed him close in a couple of games with some excellent heavy ‘pushes’. Cliff managed to win two games against M ungo who, in the fifth game, hit some amazing forehands with incredible width to beat his former coach. Tom was on form and won all of his matches 3-0 although close with Ruth and Cliff. Peter was also on fire, his forehand smashes whistled past all of his opponents with only Ruth ruffling his feathers slightly. So, at 9-0 down, the B team gave the patient Edward and Charlie a go at the doubles against Ruth and Cliff. The more experienced duo smashed the youngsters back to the wall to win 3-0 and give the A team a modicum of honour. After the loss, Cliff went home and looked longingly at his retired long pimpled rubber… again! Saddo!!! [16.4.06]

Jean Wardman's quickfire half-volleying upset the rhythm of first division players Titch Temple and Alec Hodgson in a close all-Ryedale Pairs quarter final last week. With Jean's partner John Gascoyne losing to Titch 46-41 in the first game, Jean needed to make the most of her pimpled bat's awkward returns against Alec in the second. This she did, winning 51-42 on aggregate. Jean then played superbly to beat Titch 48-42 to put her team 2-1 up.

John got his fabled backhand working in the fourth game against Alec to produce a resounding 42-22 victory which saw off last year's finalists (final score 3-2). Jean and John have a tough old tie in the semis, however, where they face two more club rivals: Ken Pidgeon and Div 1 Singles champion Paul Swift, who is playing some great stuff. Jean's contest against Ken should be a cracker - the battle of the anglemeisters. [15.4.06]

Second division Westow are through to the semi-finals of the Bower Trophy team KO competition after defeating promotion-chasing Helmsley C 5-4 in a game which was close all night. High-handicap players Tom McAuley and Dawn Hopkins did the damage, ably supported by the experienced Roger Dunning.

Westow now face Amotherby A for a place in the final against first Division leaders Ryedale A, who are going for the 'double' after another strong season. [14.4.06]

The ping-pong-mad scientists of CSL now look big favourites to go up a division next season after hammering Scarborians 10-0 in their penultimate match of the season in Div 2. They've now opened up an eight point gap over nearest rivals Ryedale E at the top and need a 7-3 or better win in their final game against Laundry A to secure the championship.

Gareth Bryning grabbed three more wins to maintain his outstanding unbeaten record and to virtually assure himself of winning the second division averages after finishing runner-up last season. Patrick Hough and Ken Mills completed the rout for CSL, with only West-country whacker Henry Peak taking more than one game as he pushed Mills to five.

Ryedale E have two games to play and Helmsley three, so it's still all to play for in terms of promotion to the top division. Whatever happens, one thing is certain - it's going to be very tough next season for whoever goes up. [14.4.06]

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	SF	SA	Pts
1	CSL	21	15	5	1	152	58	101
2	Ryedale E	20	17	1	2	138	62	93
4	Helmsley C	19	14	3	2	136	54	87

I am absolutely shattered, my nerves are raw - it’s not the playing, it’s watching that's the most stressful! Charlie elected to play first and met Joel. Charlie played some brilliant table tennis. The game featured long range looping from both players and was finely balanced at 2-2. Joel started strongly in the 5th and took a lead that he held onto until the final bell.

Edward and David Chugg were next up. David started the first two games strongly, but was caught each time by Edward who ran out winner 3-0. Tom Wright (Joel's Dad) played an attacking game with a side/topspin forehand drive that could not be driven back easily. However, I stayed at the table blocking and won 3-0. Charlie started badly against David's powerful forehand driving and lost the first game but took the second with a combination of pushing and looping. However David read Charlie's loop attack and some fierce driving rallies ensued with David edging ahead and taking the match.

Edward ran out winner against Tom but did not have things all his own way as Tom took a tight third game 12-10. I started strongly against Joel in the first but Joel came back to 9-9 and then won the next two points to take the first. With more thought and variation to my serving, I unsettled Joel to win the next 11-2. In the third, Joel's reading of my serves improved but I held on to a small lead with good counter hitting. In the forth I had difficulty reading Joel's forehand serve to my backhand. And when he switched to the forehand I was unprepared. Joel took the fourth 11-9. In the fifth I made an effort to keep the game as tight as possible and got off to a flying start. At 9-5 I attempted my back hand topspin serve from the forehand side in a acute diagonal across the table. This hit the table edge about 2 feet from the net and was unplayable helping me to win 11-6.

Charlie next met Tom. Charlie was out of sorts and struggled to contain Tom's driving and at 2-1 down looked out of the game. Charlie changed his game plan to controlled counter hitting closer to the table. This change of tactic saw him take the 4th comfortably 11-3. Charlie began the 5th with the same tactic and started with a respectable advantage. However, for a worrying few points Charlie reverted to his earlier tactic and started backing away from Tom's driving. Thankfully Charlie regained control and ran out a comfortable winner at 11-7.

Edward played Joel next. Joel took an early 4-0 lead but Edward fought back only to lose 12-10. The next game was a reversal with Edward starting well and winning a tight finish 12-10. At this point Joel demonstrated better control and shot selection drawing Edward into attempting too many attacking shots that were just not quite on. Joel remained in control and took the fourth 11-8 avenging his defeat in the Ryedale Juniors.

Against David, I felt it was important to start well and not let him in to the match with his powerful forehand. The first game started evenly until I started to read David's serves better allowing me to be more aggressive, eventually winning 3-0. I delegated responsibility for the doubles against Joel & David to Edward and Charlie. At one game each 11-9 and 8-11 the game was finely balanced. The third game featured some fine topspin rallies with the advantage ending up with Charlie and Edward. The fourth was more closely contested - Edward missed a few big hits attempting the return of service but this was made up for by some well chosen shots and consistent play by Charlie giving them a 11-9 win. [8.4.06]

The race for the first division championship looks like going right to the last day after three significant results in the past week. Ryedale A's narrow win over Helmsley A has put them in pole position but they are left in the nervous situation of having to wait now that all of their games are completed.

With three matches to go, reigning champs Helmsley A now cannot catch Ryedale: even with three maximum points victories they can only reach 106 points, one less than Ryedale. Boro have sneaked into second after an excellent first season in Ryedale but they dropped points in a 6-4 win against Whitby and so, with one game left, they can also only reach 106 points if they secure a 7-3 win or better against fellow title contenders Helmsley B.

So, it's all up to Helmsley B: can they catch Ryedale A? After a disappointing draw with Swinton they scored a solid 7-3 win against Malton last night to put them within seven points of the leaders with three games to play (a key win was Peter Fambely's 5-gamer against in-form Joel Wright, especially as Tom Needham was missing). It seems a foregone conclusion that the Helmsley team will do it but they still have to play top-four teams Helmsley A and Boro, plus an awkward game with Coneysthorpe A. What a finish awaits...

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	SF	SA	Pts
1	Ryedale A	24	18	3	3	164	76	107
2	Boro	23	18