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Mercury/Gazette & Herald 26 April 06

Helmsley B champions.

Helmsley B cemented their Division 1 championship with a 7-3 victory over Coneysthorpe A.  Tom Needham and Peter Fambely , playing together for only the fifth time this season, were undefeated whilst the two youngsters, Charlie Allott and Edward Fambely, both aged 14 years, have ably assisted the side over the season, playing in the vast majority of the matches.  Charlie played in this match and had a close match against York junior, Nathan Horsley, losing in 5 games.

M alcolm Haswell and Wendy Prest both beat Charlie to give the Coneysthorpe team their 3 sets.  English Cadet ranked number 80, Edward, waiting patiently on the sidelines, partnered England ranked Veteran Needham in the doubles which they won in 3 close games.   Congratulations to the Helmsley B team!

Their A team were having a close match with Amotherby A.  Emily Glass made her second appearance for Helmsley and showed good promise but didn’t get a win.  Amotherby’s Ian Stansfield was on fine form, avenging his defeat against Cliff Edens.  He then faced Ruth Purseglove and won 3-2 in a set which had some magical rallies of smashing and returning.  Edens and Purseglove eventually gelled to win the doubles against Stansfield and Swindell to make the final match score 5-5.

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 M orse all of whom contributed significantly to a splendid season.

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 29 March 06

Following two big wins, 8-2 over Amotherby C and 7-3 over Ryedale F, Settrington sensationally stole to the top of the second division table, with just one week to go in the season. With the three teams behind them all having games in hand, this looks like it's going to be one of the most exciting finishes for years, with four teams going full pelt for promotion. Long-time leaders Ryedale E have dropped to second after their thrashing by CSL, who are currently fourth but with five games still to play. In-form Helmsley C are coming up hard on the rails, also with games in hand, following their two recent maximum-points wins.  Helmsley C cemented their hopes of promotion with two big max points home wins over Scarborians (10-0) and Settrington (8-2).  Ian Johnson, returned for Settrington this week to help his side to a pair of good performances themselves. The victims were Amotherby C (8-2) and Ryedale F (7-3). In the latter, Johnson won his long-awaited clash with left-handed Andy Paton 3-1, with the games going 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9.  In Div 2 Adrian Voicu disposed of Andy Grayson in straight games in the big Laundry derby. Grayson was rewarded though as his side won 7-3.

In division1, Helmsley B continue to threaten the top position following a 7-3 win over Coneysthorpe B.  Danny Foxton won two but found Helmsley’s England ranked veteran, Tom Needham, too consistent; Needham retaining his 100% record.  Helmsley A managed a 6-4 win over Swinton.  Ray Mitchell was injured but still fought to beat rising star, Sam Lunn.  Steve Oldfield won two matches but found Mike Polkinghorn’s serve and third ball attack too strong.  Cliff Edens won two for Helmsley and combined with unbeaten Polkinghorn to win the doubles. Malton's fast-improving student David Chugg won two sets against bottom team Ryedale D. Chugg saw off Temple 3-1 and Chet Butler 3-1 as Malton came out 7-3 victors. Joel Wright was untroubled, winning all three.  Ryedale A booked their place in the semi-final of the Bower Trophy KO this week with a comprehensive 5½-1½ win over Coneysthorpe A. John Freeman was on admirable form, defeating both the dangerous Malc Haswell (42-36 on aggregate) and the steadfast Wendy Prest (42-29). Haswell had started well too, with another fine win over Charles Allenby, a player he seems to thrive against, 46-30 being the final score.  John Stokes halved his game with Charles but lost to hard-punching Paul Young, who also proved too good for Wendy. Charles and John also beat Wendy to set up a semi-final meeting with second division form team CSL. There will be another div 2 side in the semis too, either Westow or Helmsley C. 

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 19 March 06

Both Divisions saw ‘battles at the top’ this week.  In Division 2, CSL met Ryedale E and fielded their strongest side.  Gareth Bryning, Ken M ills and Giles Budge were too strong for the Ryedale Sports Club team of Jean Wardman, Alan Kirkwood and Paul M orse as they won by an emphatic 9-1.  Ryedale F team sneaked a 6-4 win over Settrington with Andy Paton winning all three for the victors. It’s good to see so many young players joining the League and Settrington fielded three of them.  Likewise it’s good to see Ron Florey still playing some fine table tennis and enjoying himself, such is the great thing about table tennis, all ages and all weathers!

In Division 1, there were two games affecting possible Champions.  Ryedale A could only come away with a 5-5 draw against Swinton where an inspired Paul Cuthbertson won all three of his matches against the League Leaders.  A fantastic achievement.  Paul has one of those styles that everyone loves to play where the ball just keeps coming back on the table.  Obviously it came back more than not this week.  He was ably assisted by Ray M itchell and Steve Oldfield.  Paul Young picked up two wins for Ryedale.

Helmsley B, the other title contenders, played Helmsley A in a match that had some spectacular rallies and shocks all around as they beat the A team 6-4.  Tom Needham won all three to maintain his unbeaten record winning a classic five game match against M ike Polkinghorn .  Edward Fambely beat one of his coaches, Cliff Edens and Charlie Allott beat one of his coaches, Ruth Purseglove, before they teamed up together to beat the Edens Purseglove combination in the doubles to win the match.  Coneysthorpe A avenged their early season defeat by the B team by winning 8-2.  Nathan Horsley and M alc Haswell were undefeated for the A team. Danny Foxton stopped the rot against Wendy Prest and then linked up with Eddie Prest to win the doubles against Haswell and Horsley.

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 15 Feb 06

Veterans British League success: Helmsley win British League title.

Games-Web Helmsley won Division 7 of the Veterans British League this weekend with some stunning personal performances.  The team of Cliff Edens, Steve Barnes , Brian Quinn and Tom Needham won four out of five of their second round matches and drew the fifth to take the title and gain promotion into Division 1 of the Veterans National League next year under a new structure.

In the first match of the weekend, there was a memorable game between Cliff Edens and M ick Burton of XystusII of West Yorkshire.  Cliff led 2-1 but at 10-9 down in the fourth set, he was driven back from the table by some relentless smashing.  Going for a forehand topspin return from the barriers, the ball struck the edge of Cliff’s bat and headed skywards.  M ick waited patiently for the ball to land on the table but it struck the edge, making it veer to the side.  M ick touched the ball as gently as he could but it missed the table to make the score 10-10.  Encouraged by his good fortune, Cliff went on to win the set 15-13 and take the game, and eventually the match 4-2.

Steve Barnes had an ‘off day’ on Saturday but played some of the best table tennis of the day against the other title contenders, Twymark from Berkshire .  Against the combination bat of Clive Banham, he played forceful forehands and backhands to win 3-0.  In this, the final match of the weekend, Helmsley needed to win and Twymark needed to draw to win the League.  After Steve’s victory, Brian Quinn lost to the no. 1, Tim Heaps.  Tom then played Nick Heaps, a player ranked 200 points ahead of him in the English Table Tennis rankings.  With some stunning blocks and devastating forehand drives, Tom won the game 3-1, frustratingly for the Twymark team.  Steve then lost to the consistent left handed Tim with 2-2 the match score. 

Tom next played the higher ranked Clive.  With similar bats, the crowd anticipated a long game but Tom played with thought and aggression to force Clive away from the table and used his forehand smashes to great effect: 3-2 to Games-Web Helmsley.  In the final game, Brian faced Nick Heaps.  After a series of fast hitting rallies, Brian took the first set.  Nick battled to take the second only for Brian to change pace and spin to take the third.  In the fourth set, Brian attacked Nick’s forehand side winning some valuable points.  At 10-9 up, Brian drove a fierce forehand drive across court and Nick’s attempt to block it went straight into the bottom of the net.  11-9 to Brian and Helmsley won the match 4-2 and the League by a clear 2 points.  Brian finished tournament with a 78% average and Tom with 75%.  It was a great team performance in only their third season of British League table tennis. 

Cliff Edens

Photo, from left to right, Cliff Edens, Steve Barnes , Brian Quinn , Tom Needham .

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 1 Feb 06

Ryedale Cadets (under 15) in the Yorkshire Cadet League Division 2

Three hopefuls travelled to Hull Table Tennis Club for the second day of the Yorkshire Cadet League Division 2 on Sunday the 29th.  Adam Ridley, Richard Addison and Andrew Cavanagh  who are all part of Helmsley Table Tennis Club, played against two teams from Scarborough , losing both matches 8-1 and 5-4  but gained some valuable experiences.  Adam Ridley, played the Captain’s role and ended the whole tournament with a 78% average having played 9 games and won 7.  Richard and Andrew are new to Competitions and both played very well.  Andrew, still recovering from the current bug that is sweeping the schools, took many sets off the opposition and shows great promise.  Richard won a thrilling match, 14-12 in the fifth beating Luke M achin from Scarborough .  Coach Cliff Edens said that they can feel very proud of themselves.

Ryedale Table Tennis League:

Division 1 saw a fantastic match last week, Helmsley B v Boro in a top of the table clash.  Tom Needham from Helmsley maintained his 100% record but was pushed hard by Fred Yeung in a thrilling 5 set encounter.  Star of the night was 13 year old, Edward Fambely.  Having recently been selected for ‘advanced coaching in Sheffield ’ he made good use of his forehand to beat Boro’s penholder, Yeung, in another 5 set match.  This made all the difference to the match score as his father, Peter, failed to get a win leaving it to Edward and Tom to maintain their 100% doubles record to win the match 6-4 for Helmsley B.  The Ryedale Table Tennis Closed tournament is taking place on the 12th M arch; the junior tournament is on the 11th, both taking place at M alton School under a new system.  Gerald Cosens has application forms so please contact him on 01653 691255 or off the website, www.ryedalett.net.  Closing date is the 25th February.

Bower Trophy:  Holders Out...

Helmsley A, the current holders of the handicap tournament, the Bower Trophy, are out of the competition.  Ruth Purseglove, the sole player from last year's winning team, was joined by young hopefuls Sam Lunn and Adam Ridley as they attempted to stop Ryedale Laundry from knocking them out of the cup.  Star for the Laundry was hard bat player, George Davison who won all three.  The closest match was Sam Lunn against Davison where the Veteran sneaked his win by 1 point 48-47 in the final game of the evening.  Two wins by David Grayson made the final score 5-4 to Laundry for a place in the second round.

Helmsley C progressed through to round 2 of this year's Team KO competition with a good 6-3 win against an Amotherby C team carrying some high handicaps. James Harrison, Amotherby's new player, started well with a 54-50 aggregate victory over Jon Parkinson. Helmsley's John Toll then levelled the match by edging out Richard Brown 54-52 before Luke Lunn put the home side ahead with a 52-47 win over long-range defender Janet Bailey.  Brown had another close defeat, 50-48, against Parkinson but Toll found it easier to account for Bailey 54-43. Lunn's game against Harrison was the closest of the night, and the youngster's 52-51 win gave Helmsley an unassailable 5-1 lead. Too late for Amotherby, Bailey beat Parkinson and Brown beat Lunn before Toll won his third of the evening in another tight game with the unlucky but cheerful Harrison .

Settrington 4 Coneysthorpe C 5 was the result in another cliffhanger. A much weakened Settrington side, without Ian Johnson, saw Stephen Beal play out of his skin to win all three games but M ike Shepherdson's game with him went to him 42-40. Peter Lytton-Cobbold also put a good performance, winning two and giving Stephen a bit of a fright. Jill Adams won the decider, blazing her way through in her inimitable style, to win the game and the match 5-4.

Swinton needed nerve, patience and the application of years of experience to come through an awkward team KO match against close neighbours Amotherby B 6-3. The home team's secret weapon was schoolboy, Tom Thorp, playing off a +32 handicap. He began with a 48-42 victory over hard bat player Ray M itchell and followed this with an excellent 46-42 win against Steve Oldfield. Thorp met his match in the consistency of ace defender Paul Cuthbertson, however, and only managed to score 8 points to lose 42-40 on aggregate. Tom's mum Gill Thorp was involved in the closest game of the night, eventually squeaking through against Cuthbertson 43-42. Despite scoring well, she didn't quite accumulate enough points against Oldfield and M itchell though, and Amotherby were soon struggling, especially as Nick Knight was just edged out in all three of his games. The Amotherby captain went down 42-39 to Oldfield, 42-40 to Cuthbertson and 42-39 to M itchell.

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 25 Jan 06

Ryedale School Under 16 Boys Team travelled to Billingham in Cleveland as North Yorkshire Schools Champions to play in the ‘Zone Final’ of the English Schools Table Tennis Competition on Sunday.  The team played Northfield School to decide who would go through to Blackburn as the Zone winners.  The runners up would have a place at Bradford but would face stronger opposition.  Having travelled all the way, the Ryedale youngsters faced three strong players instead of four due to a late illness.

First up for Ryedale was Charlie Allott who played the current England No. 11 Cadet player, Anthony Wright.  Charlie took the second set to make it 1-1 then Wright showed that he was worth his ranking and took the next two sets to put Northfield into an early lead.  Edward Fambely, Ryedale’s No.1, then faced Jonathon Riley and took the game 3-0 to level the match with some stunning three ball attacks.

Sam Lunn was next to face the Northfield No.3, Chris Lidgerton.  Sam has improved remarkably this season and playing for Helmsley C in the Ryedale League has sharpened his matchplay.  He subsequently won 3-0 to clinch a vital game for his team.  Edward then lost to Wright and Charlie beat Lidgerton to win the match for Ryedale but the final game was between the Ryedale No.3, Adam Ridley and Northfield ’s Riley.  Adam lost the first two sets 11-7, 11-1, then suddenly found his form and confidence to take the next two 11-13 and 10-12.  The fifth was extremely close when, at 7-7, Riley Riley opened up with some strong backhands down the line to finally win 11-8.

The final score was Ryedale 5, Northfield 3.  They are now in the top 16 schools in the Country and will face three others on the 19th February.  . 

Ryedale School Under 16s, from left to right:  Edward Fambely, Charlie Allott and Sam Lunn with Adam Ridley kneeling

Ryedale Table tennis league:

Division 1 of the Ryedale table tennis league is entering an interesting few months.  Current leaders, Ryedale A met a strong M alton team and lost 7-3.  The team was strengthened by Brian Quinn who won all three as did the M alton captain, Joel Wright.  They teamed up to take the doubles too.

Whitby made the long journey to Coneysthorpe and went away with a couple of points from a 4-6 defeat mainly thanks to Bernie Welford who recorded 3 wins. It was an especially long trip for John Goulding who travelled from his home in Newcastle to make up the Whitby team.  Bernie won all his three games with his own unique style, beating Eddie Prest 3-0 in the first game of the night. Bernie continued his good form beating both John and Danny Foxton 3-1.   The Coneysthorpe trio however quickly regained their composure; all three of them beating both Stuart Brown and John Goulding. Welford & Goulding combined to take the doubles 3-1.

Coneysthorpe A are comfortably mid table after a 6-4 victory at Amotherby A.  Neither M alcolm Haswell, Tim Smith nor Wendy Prest had an answer to Amotherby’s Ian Stansfield who won his three games 3-0.  But game of the night was Smith against Andy Seed .  After 4 closely contested sets, they entered the fifth.  Andy Seed had 3 game points but eventually lost 13-15 to Tim who used a good mix of chops and drives to baffle his opponent.

In Division 2, Amotherby C's James Harrison deservedly claimed his first win of the season as his side narrowly went down 4-6 to Coneysthorpe C in a match described by M ike Shepherdson as a classic.  Amotherby raced into a 4-0 lead.  From then on Coneysthorpe justifiably took the next 6 sets to win 6-4. Star of the night was Peter Lytton-Cobbold in the 9th game when he turned a 2-0 deficit against Linda Clarke into a 3-2 win.  Harrison played well to beat Lytton-Cobbold but the result must have been a blow to an Amotherby side looking for only their second win of the season in Division 2.

The previous week, Westow played an experienced Coneysthorpe C team and almost managed a draw.   Player of the night was Westow’s John Clayton with his effective sidespin serves.  Clayton's first victim was Jill Adams. Her lightning serves and half-volley attacks were no match for the Clayton's steely defence and 3-1 was the outcome. Next up was ex-Westow mainstay John Smith. And what a fight he put up. Clayton took the first set 11-8 but Smith's new bat has surprised one or two people this season and he duly secured the second by the same score. Clayton served well next end to come through 11-5 but still Smith came back with a tremendous 11-6 surge. The decider was a battle of nerves but Clayton's touch was just the better, giving him a memorable 11-8 victory.  Clayton finished off with a tidy 3-1 win of M ike Shepherdson to take Division 2 performance of the week.  Newcomer Tom M cAuley took John Smith close, going down 3-2, with a close 12-10 decider. Dawn Hopkins teamed up with the Clayton to grab the doubles for Westow. The match finished 6-4 to Coneysthorpe. 

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 18 Jan 06

The New Year started well for Ryedale F in Division 2 of the Ryedale Table Tennis League.  Their opponents, Amotherby B were the victims.  Andy Paton and Johann Voight won all three of their games and Ron Florey won one for the Ryedale team but praise was given for the efforts of another young player on the League scene.  Thomas Thorp joined his mother, Gill, for only his second game in the League for Amotherby winning sets in all of his games and is another fine young prospect for the future. Ryedale went on to win 8-2.

In Division 1, Coneysthorpe B travelled to Helmsley A and came away with a 5-5 draw that was very nearly a 6-4 win.  Hero of the night was Danny Foxton for Coneysthorpe who won all 3 of his games to set them up for a 5-4 lead with only the doubles to play which they narrowly lost in 5 sets.   Danny has to be a candidate for the most improved player of the year.  On the next table, Helmsley B had no trouble despatching Ryedale SC D with only M ick Temple beating Edward Fambely to take Ryedale’s only game.  Charlie Allott played with vocal determination to win all 3, ably assisted by Peter Fambely as the title contenders won 9-1.

Amotherby A were grateful for Ian Stansfield's unbeaten performance against Whitby in a match which ended 5-5. Bernie Welford, with his unconventional style, was the only player to trouble Ian with their contest going to five sets. John Goulding, making his RTTL debut for Whitby, played well to win two, and Stuart Brown hit some fabulous backhands to defeat a misfiring Andy Seed 3-2. Pat Swindell teamed up with Stansfield to take a very close doubles game.

Veteran maestro John Gascoyne swept aside all three Swinton players as his Ryedale C team put up a great battle, eventually going down 6-4.  Gascoyne's first victim was Steve Oldfield who lost 3-1, despite winning the first set 11-3. The RTTL Chairman then took out ace defender Paul Cuthbertson 3-1 before an epic encounter with Ray M itchell. Gascoyne won the first 13-11 but the Swinton stoic swept back 11-6 to level the game. M itchell then went ahead, securing the third end 11-8 before The Ryedale captain got his legendary backhand into top gear, making the contest 2-2 with an 11-5 win. The decider was tense, with neither man faltering until John edged ahead and took it 12-10.  Paul Cuthbertson made some amazing returns against Ken Pidgeon winning 3-2 but lost a long scrap with feisty Reg Cammidge, eventually going down 11-9 in the fifth.

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 11 Jan 06

Ryedale Veterans double victory

Ryedale Veterans 1st and 2nd teams both won 7-3 in divisions 2 and 3 of the Yorkshire Veterans' Leagues.  The 1st team played Huddersfield 2 in Division 2 and had a worrying start when team captain Cliff Edens lost his first game to Philip Schofield.  Edens couldn’t cope on his backhand side and Schofield duly exploited this and won by 3 sets to 1.  Tom Needham stopped the rot with a fine display of blocking against Bob Sanderson.  Needham totally frustrated his opponent who had no answer to the consistent troublesome effect of his backhand rubber and the lightning forehand smashes.

M ike Polkinghorn continued the Ryedale recovery with a fine win over Ken Burgess.  Burgess did some fantastic retrieving from the back of the hall but the famous Polkinghorn backhand moved the veteran in and out of the table then finished the point with some great forehand loops.  Edens redeemed himself with some controlled play against the defender, Burgess, and combination bat player Sanderson, winning both games.  Needham lost to Burgess who used his forehand to attack the troublesome long pimples but he then beat Schofield in a tense 5 setter.  Polkinghorn looked untroubled all afternoon.  Having joined the Helmsley Club after a long lay off from the sport, his form is improving each week and Ryedale Veterans have gained a very classy player.  However, he couldn’t compete against Schofield and Sanderson, when matched in the doubles with Edens, the visitors winning 3-0 in some very close sets.

The second team played Wakefield 4th team in Division 3 and each of the players came away with 2 wins each.  Ruth Purseglove, Gerald Cosens and Ray M itchell won some very close games and two of the three that they lost, went to 5 sets.  The combination of Ruth, the current England Over 50 years 10th ranked player, and Ray in the doubles proved a good choice as they comfortably won 3-0.  At the end of the first half of the season, the 2nd team are in 7th place out of 10 in Division 3 and the 1st team are placed 3rd out of 9 in Division 2.

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 28 Dec

Division 2 had a break this week.  Division 1 has one more team than Division 2 so have to catch up two weeks.  Three of the four completed matches gave reports and all looked as if the winning teams had nights to remember.  Helmsley B used their 5th player in the person of Mungo Arney who had popped back to Ryedale for the Christmas break.  Malton were the opponents and showed their worth against Mungo and the other youngsters, Charlie Allott and Edward Fambely.  In fact, Malton’s side consisted of teenagers too, Joel Wright who won all three of his games, new signing from Norton, Marcus Atkinson and David Chugg.  It is good to see the youth from many years of coaching in Ryedale playing at this high level.  Joel’s closest game was against Edward who had two game points in the fifth set before Joel composed himself to take the next four points.  Marcus Atkinson, another teenager with promise, made his league debut for Malton but couldn't find a breakthrough on the night. Nor could his team mate David Chugg, who was unlucky not to win one as he took both Mungo and Charlie to five. The final result was 6-4 to Helmsley. This was surely the youngest match in the history of RTTL, with every player under 20.  

Coneysthorpe B entertained Ryedale SC B at their village hall, affectionately known as the ‘Fridge’.  A cold reception was waiting for the Pickering side who suffered a 7-3 defeat with Danny Foxton winning all three for Coneysthorpe, ably supported by his father, John with two wins and Eddie Prest who won one game.  The Foxtons also won the doubles.  Ed Wardman won two for Ryedale B and narrowly lost in 5 sets at 11-9 to Danny.  Danny is developing into a good allround player.  The son of a gardener, it would be good to know what John is feeding him!

Lastly, Helmsley A, back up to full strength with M ike Polkinghorn being available, played top of the table Ryedale SC A.  It was a memorable match full of highs and lows for individual players.  Ruth Purseglove, Helmsley’s Captain, clearly drained after a busy two weeks of ‘top level’ matches for Yorkshire and Ryedale Veterans struggled to find any form and lost all three games to the League Leaders.  Disappointed by her own performance, she watched as M ike and Cliff Edens won all three of their games and an impressive doubles game to take the match 7-3 for Helmsley and move them up ahead of Swinton and Boro into second place.  Charles Allenby, John Flintoft, Paul Young and John Freeman of Ryedale A are still the leaders in this fiercely contested Division as we approach the halfway mark of the season.  Five teams are potential contenders for the title and it will be a very interesting second half. 

Cliff Edens

Photo:  League Division 1 Leaders, Ryedale Sports Club A. Left to right:  John Flintoft,  John Freeman,  Charles Allenby,  Paul Young.

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 21 Dec

Another week of really close matches in Division 1 with Ryedale A extending their lead to 7 points with a game in hand over rivals Swinton.  Helmsley A suffered their second defeat of the season.  Adam Ridley, aged 12, had a harsh introduction to the Ryedale League appearing for Helmsley A in his first match against the experienced team of Ryedale B.  Ed Wardman won all three games for Ryedale Sports Club B with the closest being a narrow 14-12 fifth set win over Cliff Edens.  Adam played some brilliant shots against Ed with some inspired blocking, losing at deuce in the first set before Ed found his range and took the next two.  Mick Carter and Fred Hurd both also beat Adam.  An inspired doubles performance by Fred and Ed against Ruth Purseglove and Cliff gave them a well earned victory, 6-4.

Amotherby A came away with a close win over Ryedale Sports Club C but were given a run for their money by Ryedale’s new signing, Paul Swift.  Paul narrowly lost to Amotherby’s Ian Stansfield in five sets but won his other two games.  Pat Swindell for Amotherby developed some form to beat Reg Cammidge and Jon Gascoyne to give them a 6-4 win.  Unfortunately, Division 2 results have produced no reports for this week’s matches.

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 14 Dec

First Division Malton wheeled out a strong team for their match against Amotherby A, with Brian Quinn putting in his first appearance of the season in the Ryedale League. Quinn was too good for the opposition on the night, although Ian Stansfield came very close to defeating him in an epic tussle.  Quinn was not the only one demonstrating class for the previously struggling home team. Norton student Joel Wright produced some inspired and stylish table tennis to easily see off Andy Seed and Pat Swindell before playing one of the matches of his life to defeat local legend Ian Stansfield for the first time in a tense five setter which included some turbo-charged exchanges.  Swindell and Seed played solidly to both beat Gerald Cosens but Malton won the doubles in style to take the match 7-3, and if Quinn starts appearing for them regularly they will be picking up points.  

Helmsley A played hosts to Swinton in a battle for the top of the division.  M ike Polkinghorn was in great form to win his three and was ably assisted by Cliff Edens and Ruth Purseglove who won two each.  Mike was pushed to the limits for only the second time this season by none other than veteran hard bat defender, Ray M itchell.  In a thrilling encounter, Mike kept the forehand topspins flying toward the rear of the hall but Ray kept getting his bat to them and returning the ball with exquisite touch and immense backspin to make him work hard for his 11-7 victory in the fifth set.  Mike and Cliff completed the evening with a 3-0 win over returning legend, Steve Oldfield and Paul Cuthbertson.  Steve beat Ruth and Cliff in tight sets to give Swinton their two games in the 8-2 victory for Helmsley A.

In Division 2,  a strong CSL line up went down 6-4 to leaders Ryedale E. M issing their 100% man Gareth Bryning, CSL struggled against Jean Wardman, John Ellis and Alan Kirkwood. Ken M ills won two for the York team and Patrick Hough beat Wardman but Ryedale took the doubles to ensure their eighth victory of the season. This was another great result for the Pickering outfit and they now must be regarded as big favourites for promotion.

CSL managed a second match this week when the two second division players with 100% averages, Andy Paton of Ryedale F and Gareth Bryning met. The outcome was a comfortable straight-sets win for the experienced Bryning, 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 as his CSL team went on to claim all the points in an 8-2 victory.  Hard bat grinder Ken M ills also defeated Paton, 3-1, although he had no answer to the attacks of the ever-improving Johann Voigt who played possibly his match of the season to beat the CSL veteran in four. Patrick Hough, steady as ever, won two for the scientists and Bryning retained his unbeaten record, seeing off both evergreen penholder Ron Florey and then Voigt 3-0.

Luke Lunn has only played a few RTTL matches for Helmsley C but is beginning to show real promise for the future. He put in a great performance last week winning all three games as his team defeated Scarborians convincingly 8-2 away from home. He then won two games in Helmsley C’s 6-4 victory over Ryedale F.  Andy Paton remained undefeated for the Ryedale team but the Helmsley trio of Jon Parkinson, John Toll and Luke won two each to clinch the victory.  

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 7 Dec

Division 2 of the Ryedale Table Tennis League has seen some very close matches recently.  Amotherby C recorded their first win of the season defeating Laundry B 6-4. Linda Clarke was on form with two wins, along with Richard Brown (2) and Paul Stansfield (1). George Davison prevailed with three wins, for Laundry.  Lisa Young, another player new to the League, won her first game of the season defeating Paul Stansfield 3-2.

Andy Paton put in another strong unbeaten performance, without dropping a set, as Ryedale F beat Coneysthorpe C 6-4. Andy tops the Div 2 averages on 100% along with CSL's Gareth Bryning.

Settington had another admirable win beating Helmsley C 6-4. Two of the division's top players clashed as Ian Johnson took on Dave Lunn: the quick-hitting Lunn from Helmsley took the first set 11-7 but Johnson is increasingly hard to beat these days and the Settrington man won the next three 11-6, 12-10, 11-6 to remain unbeaten on the night. Dave's son Luke is a fine prospect and he played with great determination to defeat both Paul M ills and Stephen Beal. Helmsley's John Toll was unlucky to lose to both Beal and M ills in five. Settrington finished well as they won a see-saw five-set doubles with the Lunns pushing hard all the way. In Division 1, the top two sides, Swinton and Ryedale Sports Club A jockeyed for the number one slot and came away with a draw.  Swinton had an unbelievable start, going 4-0 up. Ryedale then staged a terrific comeback - winning the next five games and leaving Stephen Oldfield & Ray M itchell to win the doubles for Swinton and level the match at 5-5. The game of the night was between Oldfield and Paul Young, with the experienced Swinton campaigner hoping to make it a personal three out of three for the evening. Oldfield made a fine start, using his cunning serves to disrupt Young's flow as he took the first set 11-5. Young then came back, winning a tense second set 17-15. Oldfield went 2-1 up and seemed to be heading for another win as he took the third 11-6 but Young began finding his range in set four, blasting his way to an 11-9 success to level the contest at 2-2. There was nothing in the decider but Young edged it 12-10 after some great play.

Tom Needham put in another superb performance for Helmsley B, blocking and smashing his way to three wins against Amotherby A. Andy Seed , Ian Stansfield and Pat Swindell had no answer to the long-pimpled close to the table defence as Helmsley ran out 6-4 winners.  Needham was ably supported by Edward Fambely and Charlie Allott who each picked up one win in addition to Edward putting in another fearsome attacking performance in the doubles, which Helmsley comfortably won 3-1.

For the first time in recent history Coneysthorpe B secured victory in the local derby by recording a terrific 3-7 win against their A team counterparts.  John Foxton, Danny Foxton and Eddie Prest took a 4-0 lead before M alcolm Haswell opened the A team's account with a 3-1 win over John. Danny was the hero of the night, winning all three games including a thrilling five setter against the all-out attacking style of Nathan Horsley.  Ryedale D beat their C team in convincing style 9-1 to give them their first win of the season.

Ryedale D

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 1 Dec

Possible title decider:  Helmsley A hammered by Haswell and Horsley.

Within 2 days, two of the three Division 1 teams on 100% lost their first matches.  Helmsley B travelled to Ryedale Sports Club A without their injured number 2, Peter Fambely .  Tom Needham of Helmsley remains unbeaten this season with three comfortable victories over the experienced Ryedale players but Edward Fambely and Charlie Allott were out-thought by Ryedale’s John Freeman, Charles Allenby and Paul Young.  There is no doubting the two youngster’s talent, but the experience will only come with time.  Edward and Tom teamed up for the doubles and won convincingly.  Ryedale A have a strong squad and are the favourites for the title in a lot of players' books!

The other unbeaten team, Helmsley A, took a sound hammering at the hands of Haswell and Horsley of Coneysthorpe A.  Nathan Horsley was the hero of the night, beating Cliff Edens and Ruth Purseglove in 5 sets and substitute, Charlie Allott in a thrilling four setter.  M alcolm Haswell played consistently to win all three of his games too.  Wendy Prest came back from two sets down against Charlie Allott to win in 5.  Helmsley salvaged a point when Ruth and Cliff stepped up a gear to beat M alcolm and Nathan in the doubles.  A fine 7-3 victory for Coneysthorpe A.

Ian Stansfield is back in winning form for Amotherby A, winning all three against Coneysthorpe B.  It was a shame about his teammates though - their captain, Andy Seed , made the comment that they played like “a couple of rice puddings!”  Coneysthorpe’s father and son team, John and Danny Foxton and Eddie Prest won 5 singles games but lost the doubles to make the final match score 5-5.

Ryedale Sports Club C travelled to Whitby and came away with a point.  John Hansen, Bernie Welford and Stuart Brown won two each and the doubles for Whitby .  John Gascoyne beat Stuart Brown and John Hansen in a close 5 set game and but surprise win of the night went to Ken Pidgeon who beat the unorthodox style of Bernie Welford by 3-1.  Whitby won 7-3.

In Division 2 CSL had a great win over Coneysthorpe C, 8-2.  Gareth Bryning and Ken M ills won three games each to keep CSL’s promotion hopes alive.  Amotherby B’s Kenny Brown, the most enthusiastic player in the League, won all three games in their 8-2 win over Westow.  Kenny is a great advert for table tennis, as spectator and player: he trains wherever he can find a practice partner and watches matches when he can’t play.  In the rest of his time he makes ‘Shaker Style’ furniture!  A great example to the younger players.

Come on lads - get sawing...

Scarborians travelled to Amotherby C and had one of their best wins to date, 3-7.  Henry Peak won all three of his games and this keeps them off the bottom of the table.  Helmsley C have leaped up the table with a convincing 10-0 victory over Ryedale Laundry B.  Dave Lunn, Jonathon Parkinson and John Toll could be title contenders once they have caught up with their matches. A plea from the compiler of these reports; please write a little match report on the rear of the scorecards so he can give credit to players who deserve it. 

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 24 Nov

Ryedale League

Helmsley A are top of Division 1 after a 9-1 victory over Amotherby A.  M ike Polkinghorn and Cliff Edens won 3 games each and Ruth Purseglove won 2 and also teamed up with M ike to win in 3 sets.  Andy Seed , Ian Stansfield and Pat Swindell were stifled by the tight and spinny play of the Helmsley trio in a fine match.  Swinton are now finding the form that brought them many team titles in the 1990’s with a fine 7-3 win over Whitby .  Bernie Welford was the thorn in the side for Swinton as he won all three of his games for the seasiders.

In division 2, Laundry’s Andy Grayson won all three games in their 3-7 defeat against second placed Coneysthorpe C.  First placed Ryedale E continue to head the Division by trouncing Amotherby B 8-2.  Star of the night was Ryedale ‘E’s Alan Kirkwood who remained untroubled all evening only dropping 2 sets. 

NORTH YORKSHIRE SCHOOLS CHA M PIONSHIPS:

Edward Fambely, 13 years, of Ryedale School , became the North Yorkshire Under 16 Schools Champion on Sunday, beating Scarborough ’s Ben Kay in a thrilling final, 3-1.  Edward now goes to the National Finals in Stoke on Trent in April 2006, representing North Yorkshire .  He was also a member of the Ryedale School Under 16 team who also won their event to progress to the Zone finals in January as North Yorkshire Champions.

Edward Fambely

The squad contains Edward, Charlie Allott, and Luke Lunn who are no strangers to this competition as they came third in England last season in the Under 13 category.  This year though, they are joined by Sam Lunn and Adam Ridley.  Adam, aged 12 is the youngest player but one of the most improved over the past year.  He has an excellent defensive style on his backhand and a fast topspinning forehand which keeps his opponents guessing.  Sam Lunn has an outstanding table tennis ‘brain’.  He can out play opponents by cunning matched with his consistency, moving the ball into places where the opponents don’t want it.

In the other categories, Charlie Allott narrowly lost in the final of the Under 13 singles to Thomas Harrison from Scarborough .  The Lunn brothers, Sam and Luke, both got to the semi finals of the Under 16’s, where Sam met Edward and Luke met Ben.  Both were close but exciting games to watch.  Helmsley CP School Under 11 boys and the Under 11 girls were both beaten in the finals of the team competitions by Gladstone Road School , Scarborough .  Playing on their ‘home turf’, the Scarborians were just too strong for Helmsley.  However, they did very well to get to the finals with every player in the squad winning a game. 

The Helmsley boys were Richard Addison, Andrew Cavanagh, James M ayne and Josh M oore.  The girls were Florrie Stockbridge, Katherine Lunn, Hannah Burnell, Izzy Zarb and Sophie Robinson.  Over the whole day, their play improved from game to game and they can all be very proud of themselves.

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 17 Nov

Ryedale League

Helmsley ‘A’ are creeping up the Division 1 table.  Ruth Purseglove, Cliff Edens and M ike Polkinghorn played the new team, Boro at Helmsley and came away with a 7-3 victory.  2 man Boro played very well and Fred Yeung was in inspired form to beat Edens and Purseglove without difficulty.  M ike Polkinghorn proved a tougher challenge and Yeung lost in 5.  Jon M ancrief took Boro’s third game beating Purselove in 5 sets and he almost beat Edens but served off the table at 11-12 down in the fifth.  Amotherby ‘A’ travelled to Ryedale A where an inspired John Freeman won all three of his games in their 7-3 victory.  Highlight of the match was his thrilling 5 setter with Ian Stansfield where Freeman deceived the topspinner with all manner of shots to take the fifth set 11-6.  Stansfield won his other two games and partnered Andy Seed to clinch the doubles 3-2 and give Amotherby their 3rd game. 

In Division 2 Amotherby B entertained CSL.  Gareth Bryning was the star of the show for CSL, winning all three of his games and dropping only 1 set all night.  Nick Knight and Gill Thorp won two each for Amotherby and win Kenny Brown winning one game, it fell upon the doubles to decide the winner but the CSL pairing of Bryning and Patrick Hough won 3-0 to make the final match score, 5-5.  Amotherby C played a focussed Ryedale E who won comfortably, 0-10.  The Ryedale team of Jean Wardman, Alan Kirkwood and Paul M orse lead the division and are strong candidates for the title.

Veterans' British League:

‘Games-Web’ Helmsley travelled to Stoke on Trent for the first of two weekends in Division 7 of the Veterans British League.  After a tough start, drawing their first two matches 3-3 to teams from Reading and Guildford, they went into overdrive, winning their next three matches 4-2, 4-2 and 5-1 to teams from South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Guernsey to take second place in the Division.  Steve Barnes from Lincolnshire and Brian Quinn, Tom Needham and Cliff Edens from Ryedale make up the squad who are sponsored by ‘Games-Web’ of Helmsley.  “Steve, Brian and Tom excelled themselves winning 6 out of 8 games each against good England ranked players. I am really proud of them,” said Cliff who Captains the side. 

Cliff Edens

‘Games-Web Helmsley’s  squad, from Left to right, Cliff Edens, Brian Quinn, Tom Needham and Steve Barnes.

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 10 Nov

Division 2 of the Ryedale Table Tennis League is well underway and as the results show, it is going to be very close at the top. A rejuvenated Amotherby B dominated the big second division derby against Amotherby C, winning 10-0 despite some close games. This match featured the long-awaited clash between the 'Brown brothers', Richard and Kenny, who have played on the same team for the last three seasons.  At 2 sets to 1, Richard faced defeat and found himself pinned back against the wall with Kenny hitting a succession of hard, flat winners to take the set 11-7 and the game 3-1. A sharp-shooting Gill Thorp (3) was untroubled all evening, helping to secure the doubles in three straight games against James Harrison and Paul Stansfield. After being relegated from Division One last season, Ryedale Sports Club E are now setting the pace in the second division, along with Coneysthorpe C. The Pickering team maintained their 100% start to the season by beating Settrington 6-4 in a match full of long close games. Settrington's Ian Johnson was on form once more winning all three for the away team.

Cliff Edens  

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 19 Oct

Swinton are the early leaders in, what promises to be a keenly contested Division 1.   Their latest victory over Ryedale Sports Club ‘C’ showed that they mean business.  Steve Oldfield (3), Paul Cuthbertson (3) and Ray M itchell (2) are a force to be reckoned with.  Ken Pidgeon for Ryedale was their only game winner.  Ryedale ‘A’ had a shaky start to the season against Coneysthorpe B running out 6-4 winners.  John and Danny Foxton took 2 games each for Coneysthorpe but John Flintoft seems to have found his form early to win his 3 games for Ryedale and teaming up with new signing, Paul Young to beat the Foxtons in the doubles.  Amotherby ‘A’ narrowly lost to Whitby , 4-6 even though Ian Stansfield won his 3 games. 

Division 2 is now underway and the early front runners are Coneysthorpe C and CSL. CSL started with a 7-3 victory over Settrington. Gareth Bryning was the top performer, winning all three of his matches against useful opponents Paul M ills, Stephen Beal and Ian Johnson.  Highlight of the match was Bryning's tussle with Johnson who twice came back from a set down to make it 2-2 in the fourth. Bryning used his first division experience to hold out 11-8 in the deciding end, however, and will be extremely hard to beat this season.  Settrington have experienced a fine win already winning 8-2 against Ryedale Laundry.  Star of the show was Paul M ills who remained the night's only unbeaten player after seeing off Laundry's experienced captain, Andy Grayson 3-2. 

Coneysthorpe C’s win over Amotherby ‘C has sent a message to the rest of the division.  Peter Lytton-Cobbold, Coneysthorpe's new summer signing, made a smart start to his Ryedale TT career with a win against Amotherby’s own debutant, Paul Stansfield who lost in three straight games. John Smith and Jill Adams were unbeaten for Coneysthorpe, who have made a notable start to their league campaign.

Player of the Week is Paul Mills from Settrington for his performance against former Division 1 player Andy Grayson.

Cliff Edens

Mercury/Gazette & Herald 5 Oct

Helmsley ‘B’ team started emphatically with an 8-2 victory over Ryedale Sports Club ‘C’.  Charlie Allott, the youngest player in the League at 13 years old, played with maturity to take all 3 games against the experienced side of John Gascoyne, Reg Cammidge and Ken Pidgeon.  Assisted by Edward Fambely (2) and Edward’s father, Peter (3), this side will be a hard team to beat.  Also waiting on the subs' bench for the Helmsley ‘B’ team is last year's Averages winner, Tom Needham.  Chelsea aren’t the only ones with a strong squad!  

Edward Fambely

Helmsley ‘A’ started the season with a good win over Whitby, 7-3.  New player to the Helmsley team is Mike Polkinghorn who won all three games in convincing style.  Dave Lunn from Helmsley ‘C’ played ‘up’ a division to replace Ruth Purseglove,  and won one of his games against Stuart Brown.  Bernie Welford, with his original and effective style, beat Cliff Edens in 5 sets and Lunn in 4 to give Whitby two games, and their third was a John Hanson win over Lunn.  Please ensure that the scorecards are sent to the Match Secretary, Andy Seed, as soon as possible.  

Cliff Edens

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