Ryedale Table Tennis League

Each year Ryedale Table Tennis League runs a handicap league which ranks teams based on their main league performances but adjusted in accordance with a handicap. The handicap league tables have now been completed and the winners are:

The Summer League has also finished (just as summer arrives!). This year’s winners were The Threesome. Paul Young and Stephen Temple (supported by Titch Temple and Mick Carter) finished two points ahead of the PR Pros, Pat Swindell and Ray Mitchell 's team. Paul Young also won the averages for the third year running, finishing on 100%.

The 2009 AGM took place on 14 June at Ryedale Sports Club. There were no rule amendments or major policy changes made to the running of the league and other events, although the following points were raised and decisions taken:

Team entry forms for season 2009-2010 are now available via team secretaries and the Ryedale Table Tennis league web site – www.ryedalett.net. Entries have to be made by 31 July 2009.

Ryedale Table Tennis League held its annual Presentation Evening Dinner on Saturday 25th May at the Forest & Vale Hotel in Pickering . A special award was presented to the League’s President, Geoff Cawthorn, to mark 25 years in the position, and the impressive new Howard Wass Trophy was awarded to Graham Slater who is retiring from coaching children at Gillamoor Primary School after years of dedicated service.

Other notable awards went to 14 year-old Pickering Schoolboy Stephen Temple, who picked up the league’s Most Improved Player cup in addition to winning a host of other trophies. Tom Needham also had his hands full, winning five trophies including the Division One Champions Shield for his team Amotherby A.

John Flintoft, Ed Wardman, Dave Burnham, Mike Wheatley, Mike Fenby, John Eastwood

Geoff Cawthorn Trophy for the Season’s Most Improved Player : Stephen Temple

Terry Adams Memorial Trophy for the Most Sporting Team in Division 2: Ryedale Sports Club C

Doubles: Winner – Titch Temple and Stephen Temple, Runner Up Tom Needham and Ruth Purseglove

Selected Doubles: Winner - Tom Needham and Tim Penrose, Runner Up - Andy Grayson and Kris Waluk

Awarded to Graham Slater for years of dedicated coaching work at Gillamoor Primary School

Graham Slater receives the Howard Wass Trophy from league Chairman John Gascoyne

Table tennis matches do not come much closer than this and when they are the final of the league's team knockout competition, the Bower Trophy, with the top two division 1 sides facing each other it is all the more exciting. Ryedale Sports Club's first team put out a strong line up of Dave Burnham, John Flintoft and Mike Fenby to face Amotherby A who were without Ian Stansfield who has been unbeaten in handicap games for a remarkable length of time.

Ryedale took the initiative from the off as Mike Fenby outplayed Pat Swindell and Dave Burnham's antispin expertise proved difficult for the opposition. Paul Young beat John Flintoft, however, as did Tom Needham , although the Pickering man picked up a set against Pat Swindell , his bogey player of times past.

With one set to play, Ryedale found themselves 4½ - 3½ ahead and needing just a draw or win to take the Bower Trophy. Up stepped the evening's only two unbeaten players: Mike Fenby and Tom Needham . Their encounter was a tremendously tight tussle, with controversial edge calls and two great battling performances but Tom came out on top, levelling the match and requiring a points countback. With the card checked several times, Amotherby A emerged as the winners, by 11 points, and so it was by the narrowest of margins that they won the league and cup double for 2009. Well done to them and commiserations to Ryedale Sports Club A who put up a great fight.

There are now just two major issues to be decided as Ryedale Table Tennis League moves towards the end of another successful season – the Bower Trophy final between Ryedale A and Amotherby A and a play off between Ryedale Sports Club E of division 2 and division 3 runners up Amotherby D to determine the final relegation place from division 2 and the final promotion place from division 3.

In the final league match in division 2, Ryedale D beat bottom side Ryedale Laundry 10-0 to stave off relegation and ensure division 2 action next season. The result left club neighbours Ryedale E in second to last place and in the play off.

Young and not-so-young combined brilliantly once again in the President's Pairs final as John Freeman and Stephen Temple took the trophy in convincing style against Amotherby duo Nick Knight and Jill Adams. The Ryedale Sports Club left handers were simply too good on the night, especially Pickering schoolboy Stephen Temple who won both of his singles sets to secure a 4-1 result.

Jill Adams put up a stirring fight for the beaten pair, however, outpointing skilled veteran John Freeman with her unique 100 mph serve-and-whack style that has been so fruitful down the years. Her partner Nick Knight admitted that he was off the pace on this occasion and neither could live with Temple 's excellent controlled attack.

The Ryedale pair won the doubles in style and deservedly picked up the trophy after a very convincing campaign.

In the League, a rare unbeaten performance from team captain Andy Seed helped propel Amotherby B into the first division for next season after an enjoyable and closely contested play-off match against Coneysthorpe. The evening began with Coneysthorpe's number one Malcolm Haswell facing Andy Seed and the Amotherby player deciding that a policy of all-out attack was the order of the day. It worked for a while, with Haswell being surprised into losing the first game. He then rallied, however, using some deftly varied serves and whipped backhands to take the next two ends for a 2-1 lead. Seed then found a couple of nasty edges and started returning the Coneysthorpe man's hits, to edge ahead, finally taking the decider 11-7 for a shock win.

The second set was another epic 5-gamer as Wendy Prest gave a stirring performance to see off John Gascoyne . Prest slammed some expert attacking forehands past the Amotherby veteran for a two game lead before Gascoyne employed a more defensive strategy to peg her back to 2-2. Prest cleverly frustrated Gascoyne in the fifth, preventing him from deploying his deadly backhand attack and she deservedly took the set with an 11-8 win to tie the match.

John Stokes stepped up against Eddie Prest next and played a canny game of mixed spin and counter-attack to knock the vastly experienced Coneysthorpe man off his rhythm and secure an impressive 3-0 win. Seed next faced Wendy Prest in a key encounter but his forehand was on song once again for another 3-0 victory to put Amotherby 3-1 ahead before Gascoyne made it 4-1 with a comfortable win against Eddie Prest. Haswell then kept Coneysthorpe in the contest by beating Stokes 3-0 with Amotherby needing just one more set for promotion.

The breakthrough came in the next encounter as Seed beat Eddie Prest 3-0 to secure the win for Amotherby. The last two games were relaxed and entertaining, as Gascoyne - his backhand now off the leash - beat Haswell in style, and Wendy Prest proved too smart for John Stokes . 6-3 was the final score at the end of a very sporting and enjoyable match, leaving Coneysthorpe contemplating division 2 and Amotherby B looking forward to the top tier next season.

The League's main social event and awards ceremony takes place on Saturday 23 May at The Forest & Vale Hotel in Pickering , 7pm for 7.30pm. Apply for your places now to Mary Chappell – application forms can be downloaded via the RTTL web site www.ryedalett.net.

Jill Adams and Nick Knight reached the final of the President's Pairs when they beat Jean Wardman and John Gascoyne 3-2 in an excellent semi final which could have gone either way right to the end, Adams and Knight clawing their way through by clinching the doubles by a 2 point margin. Gascoyne stood firm winning both his singles, gaining victory over Knight by a single point. Wardman played well in both her games but was unable to hold off the opposition. Adams and Knight now play Stephen Temple and John Freeman in what should be a fascinating final on a date to be fixed.

After winning the division 3 title last season, Helmsley B strengthened their squad with the addition of David Chugg and have now confirmed themselves as champions of division 2 with a hard-fought victory over Scarborians. Congratulations to Helmsley for coming out on top in a tremendous three-way tussle for the title.

Helmsley knew that a 4 point 6-4 win was all that they needed, in their last match of the season, to win the championship. However, their aim was a maximum 6 point win and that is exactly what they achieved. Scabs' captain, Steve Miller, could not repeat his tournament success over a more focused Adam Ridley though he did catch Chugg off guard to record a straight games victory.

Tim Penrose proved that Ridley was beatable by taking the first 2 ends before Ridley fought back valiantly just losing out 9-11 in the decider. With Helmsley's James Mayne unbeatable, Scarborians' only chance of further success was in the doubles, but with Penrose sidelined, Henry Peak and Miller had little to offer against a jubilant Ridley/Chugg partnership.

In a hard-fought encounter with Amotherby B, Ryedale D, battling to stave off the spectre of relegation, were unlucky not to emerge with a point as they went down 8-2. The result confirmed Amotherby B as runners up and they will now face Coneysthorpe of division 1 in a play-off.

Ryedale began the match well with Johann Voigt slamming a series of forehand winners past a shell-shocked John Stokes. Amotherby then won the next eight sets but all except 2 were very tight affairs. Stokes played particularly well against Andy Paton, and Barry Rudd gave John Gascoyne a real scare, going 2-0 up in games before the Amotherby man got into gear to win 3-2.

Paton and Voigt pushed Andy Seed hard but he and Gascoyne managed to win all their singles to secure the maximum points needed for the second spot in the division. The result also leaves Ryedale D in trouble at the base of the table, although a win in their final game against bottom side Laundry will see them safe. Ryedale E, also in the mix, still have to play Malton B, whilst Amotherby C must await their fate.

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	SF	SA	Pts
1	Helmsley B	18	14	2	2	136	44	91
2	Amotherby B	18	15	1	2	134	46	88
3	Malton B	17	14	1	2	122	48	82

7	Amotherby C	18	4	3	11	66	114	35
8	Ryedale E	17	4	1	12	61	109	35
9	Ryedale D	17	4	1	12	62	108	31
10	Ryedale Laundry	17	1	0	16	35	134	10

In division 3, 15 year-old Cameron Walker scored a impressive win over hard bat legend Mick Carter as Amotherby E beat Ryedale F 7-3. This was after Walker had surprisingly lost 3-2 to Silvio Rusu after being 2-0 up. Ian Dawson and Josh Garcia-Hall also won two each for Amotherby.

Linda Clarke of Amotherby F put in a sensational performance to beat top man Doug Annan 3-1 as Hutton A lost 6-4. John Mothersill also beat Annan to win all 3 while primary school champ James Rule was Hutton's mainstay with another 2 wins.

RTTL’s Summer League will start on April 14th and will run for 7 weeks, all matches taking place at Ryedale Sports Club as last year.

The RTTL Annual Dinner and Presentation Evening is on Saturday 23 May at the Forest & Vale Hotel in Pickering . Places must be reserved by 5 May using an application form that can be downloaded via the RTTL website www.ryedalett.net.

The RTTL division 2 title beckons for Helmsley B who now lead Amotherby B by 3 points with just one match to play.

Helmsley beat Ryedale C 8-2 to pick up maximum points. They got off to a good start as Adam Ridley beat Jan Bryan 3-0 and James Mayne then proved as reliable as ever as he beat Barry Todd 3-1. Dave Chugg had a difficult night losing 3-1 to Bryan and 3-0 to Todd, although he did beat Chet Butler 3-2 to put Helmsley 3-0 ahead.

Mayne beat both Butler and Bryan 3-0 and Ridley beat Butler 3-0 and Todd 3-2 to put Helmsley 7-2 up with the doubles to play.

Ridley and Mayne have a 100% record together in the doubles this season and they triumphed 3-1 against Bryan and Todd to give Helmsley a 8-2 win.

Amotherby B dropped a point at Scarborians. The seasiders’ Henry Peak was not firing on all cylinders in the singles and Steve Miller could not get going against Amotherby's on-form John Gascoyne. Tim Penrose managed a straight games victory over Ray Holroyd whilst Miller managed the same against John Stokes. The latter then bamboozled Penrose.

All the pressure was then on Holroyd not to lose to Miller, if Amotherby were not to jeopardize their promotion chances by dropping a point. He started well, winning the first end with his brick wall-like defence, but Miller found a chink in his armour that required a lot of patience and nimble footwork, normally missing from his game, and just shaded the next 3 games to give Scarborians a point.

Penrose and Peak gave a good account of themselves in the doubles, but Gascoyne and Holroyd got away from them in the decider to claim the win.

Amotherby D are confirmed as runners up to Helmsley C in division 3 after rivals Ryedale F dropped two points in a 6-4 win over Helmsley D. Amotherby D will now face the team which finishes second bottom in division 2 in a play off - this could well be Amotherby C although Ryedale D and E are both still in the picture after heavy defeats at the hands of Malton B and CSL A.

Young James Rule achieved another notable scalp when beating Westow’s Colin Payne in straight games as Hutton A won 7-3.

Champions Amotherby A and second placed Ryedale A fought out an entertaining 5-5 draw in division 1. The match had some spice to it as John Flintoft and Paul Young were battling it out for runners-up spot in the averages behind Ian Stansfield .

Amotherby called up Andy Seed , from division 2, who performed well on the night not least against the tricky Mike Wheatley. After a series of loop v pimples-block rallies, Seed found himself 10-6 up in the fifth game before somehow contriving to lose all 4 match points and allowing Wheatley to take the spoils. Seed made amends by beating Ed Wardman 3-1. Young then stepped up to face Flintoft and a tremendous contest ensued. Flintoft took the first end 13-11 before Young blitzed the Pickering man 11-0 in the second. Game 3 went 15-13 to Flintoft but Young levelled the set by edging the fourth 18-16. The deciding game was just as close with Young taking it 12-10. He then won his other 2 sets to sneak ahead of Flintoft in the averages by less than one percent.

Gerald Cosens of Ryedale B won only his second set of the season, sensationally beating Swinton's athletic defender Paul 'The Wall' Cuthbertson as the bottom team continued their late surge with a 5-5 draw. Steve Oldfield was unbeaten while Alec Hodgson won 2 as did in-form John Freeman .

John Freeman and Stephen Temple are through to the final of the President's Pairs having decisively beaten Ken Pidgeon and Kenny Brown 3½ - ½. Temple outpointed Brown 42-31 to underline his improvement this season while Freeman won his sets comfortably.

Helmsley C have won the third division championship of Ryedale Table Tennis League after beating Westow 8-2, the second successive year that Helmsley’s C team have won the title. Following a slow start to the season the team has settled on an experienced and talented line up of Howard Mayne, Philip Trevelyan and John Toll that proved to be too strong for the rest of the division.

The battle is now on between Amotherby D and Ryedale F for the runner up spot, with the team finishing second going into a promotion play off.

50 players took part in the 2009 RTTL Closed Tournament at Northern Ryedale Leisure Centre in Pickering on Sunday 22 March. The event was kindly sponsored by Lady Lumley School and a great day was enjoyed by one and all thanks in particular to Paul Stansfield’s superb organisation

Doubles: Winner – Titch Temple and Stephen Temple, Runner Up Tom Needham and Ruth Purseglove

Selected Doubles: Winner - Tom Needham and Tim Penrose, Runner Up - Andy Grayson and Kris Waluk

Tom Needham, left, and Steve Oldfield who contested the Div 1 Singles final, with Steve winning a close match 3-2

Congratulations to Amotherby A who became champions of Ryedale Table Tennis League Division One after a 7-3 victory over Helmsley A. The 5 points gained put them just out of reach of rivals Ryedale A with 2 matches left to play. It is Amotherby's first ever title in the top division and only the second league trophy the club has won since it was formed in 2001.

The celebrations were somewhat subdued, however, as both teams said farewell to Ian Stansfield , Amotherby's top man and one of the best players to grace the Ryedale League in the past 30 years. Stansfield will be emigrating to Canada at the end of the month with his family and it was fitting that his last game should secure the championship, with 'Stan' winning 3 out of 3 as usual. He may yet win the division 1 averages too and Amotherby are still in with a chance of the double as they are through to the semi-finals of the Bower Trophy.

As to the match itself Stansfield played well, managing to claw back his set against Charlie Allott from 2 games down. Tom Needham is getting to grips with his pimples now, and none of the Helmsley players posed a threat to him. Kenny Brown, playing up for Amotherby, played well.

Elsewhere in division 1, Swinton won 8-2 at Coneysthorpe and Ryedale A thrashed Whitby 10-0 virtually to guarantee them second place.

In division 2, Jean Wardman had a great unbeaten match as Ryedale E put their relegation fears behind them with an emphatic 8-2 win over Ryedale Laundry to claim maximum points. John Ellis (3) was also in superb form. Alan Kirkwood (1) was somewhat lacklustre.

Laundry also came a cropper at CSL A where they lost 9-1 and they are adrift at the foot of the table.

Kenny Brown was on storming form for strugglers Amotherby C and helped them pick up 2 valuable points against Ryedale C. Brown's 3 wins included 2 stirring five-gamers against Chet Butler and Barry Todd. Jan Bryan won a brace for Ryedale.

First and second placed Helmsley B and Amotherby B each did not play and the Helmsley team remain 8 points clear of Amotherby who have a game in hand.

In division 3, Helmsley C are 13 points clear at the top and need just a point to guarantee winning the championship. They beat The Drifters 10-0.

Nearest challengers Amotherby D were beaten 7-3 at home to Ryedale F who can now overhaul them for second place.

Hutton B beat The Drifters 8-2 and then travelled to Westow where they had to settle for a 5-5 draw. After an early win by Chris Parker over John Clayton, Westow raced into a 4-1 lead at half-time, including wins by Colin Payne and Clayton over Sara Winn-Darley, and an impressive win by Matthew Shipley over Angela Parker.

Hutton were rejuvenated after the interval, but, despite Chris Parker beating both Payne and Shipley, Hutton were still 3-5 down. Winn-Darley and Shipley then had the battle of the night, eventually won by Winn-Darley in the fifth game by 11-9, and Westow’s doubles pair were then outgunned to give Hutton a draw.

CSL B's Pawel Plonczkier mustered a fine performance to defeat Westow's top man John Clayton but everything else went wrong for the scientists as they were pummelled 9-1.

In the Amotherby derby, the F team's John Mothersill was unbeaten during an entertaining 5-5 draw with the feisty E team.

In division 2 of Ryedale Table Tennis League third placed Malton B dropped two vital points against CSL A. They only managed a 6-4 win but the star was John Loftus, winning his 3 with a powerful attacking game, including a rare defeat for Gareth Bryning.

Leaders Helmsley B beat Amotherby C convincingly (8-2). Second placed Amotherby B thrashed Ryedale E 9-1 to keep the pressure on Helmsley. Paul Morse played out of his skin to beat a less than impressive Andy Seed but this was the away side's only win. John Stokes put in a great effort to be unbeaten on the night.

The Pickering derby between Ryedale D and C was dominated by Stephen Temple, playing up for the D team, who admirably won all 3 against a very handy C team of Chet Butler, Ken Pidgeon and Jan Bryan. The match finished all square.

In division 1, Coneysthorpe called on the quality of York player Joe Suchecki for their clash with in-form Ryedale A but neither he nor Malcolm Haswell and Eddie Prest could do anything as John Flintoft, Mike Wheatley and Dave Burnham powered to an impressive 10-0 whitewash to keep them in with a slim hope of the championship.

Leaders Amotherby A won 7-3 at Whitby . Kenny Brown stepped up a grade to play for Amotherby, beating Stewart Brown and only losing in 5 to the tricky John Hanson.

Division 3 saw some notable performances, the first being a sensational win for young Andrew Cavanagh of Helmsley D against the vastly experienced Jill Adams. Cavanagh also beat Thomas Thorp to help his team to a shock 8-2 win over high-flying Amotherby D who played the match with just 2 players.

9 year old James Rule, playing up for Hutton A, beat both Andy Baxter and Richard Budgey in straight games as the Hutton team beat CSL B 7-3. Rule is definitely one for the future as he showed when winning the North Yorkshire under 11 title on 3 March. He is strong for his age, has a fine temperament and a good range of shots on either side. He has clearly benefited from his coaching by RTTL Chairman John Gascoyne.

Pawel Plonczkier produced a shock result when beating Doug Annan in 5. Baxter played some excellent table tennis and was rewarded with a straight games win against Andrew Chappell. Richard Budgey was unable to make an impression on the Hutton 3.

Cameron Walker mustered another excellent unbeaten showing as Amotherby F pulverised The Drifters 10-0. Linda Clarke and John Mothersill were the other winners.

Helmsley C’s 8-2 win at Hutton C took them into an 8 point lead at the top of the division. Jim Bailey won 2 for Hutton but was unable to stop Howard Mayne.

In the first round of the President’s Pairs, Jill Adams and Nick Knight both played admirable table tennis against David Chugg in a 3-2 win. Although neither could master James Mayne, the Amotherby pair won the doubles to go through.

Ken Brown and Ken Pigeon teamed up against Adrian Voicu and Dave Grayson, managing to squeak through to the semi final after a hard fought 3-2 win which was decided by the doubles.

John Gascoyne and Jean Wardman saw off Wardman’s team-mates Alan Kirkwood and Paul Morse with rather more ease, the final result being 4-1.

The 2009 RTTL Closed Tournament is to be held on Sunday 22 March at the Northern Ryedale Leisure Centre, Pickering .

The closing date for entries is now 13 March 2009 and entry forms are available via the RTTL web site – www.ryedalett.net.

It was a bad week for Helmsley in Ryedale Table Tennis League as their A, B and C teams all suffered surprise results.

In division 3, Helmsley C slumped to only their second defeat of the season at the hands of Ryedale F by 6-4. Helmsley now having a slender two point advantage at the top of the third tier. Steve Temple won his three sets, one of which was Howard Mayne’s first defeat of the season. Temple thoroughly deserved this win: he is a vastly improved player, dominating the the game early, imposing himself with an armoury of spinny serves to claim the first 2 ends. Mayne scraped home in the third, but was unable to make sufficient winners from then on (and spent most of the remainder defending) to affect the result.

Philip Trevelyan made Temple work very hard over five ends for his third win of the evening.

In division 2, leaders Helmsley B unexpectedly dropped two points against Ryedale D in a 6-4 win, leaving the door open for their rivals to close within one and two points, if they gain maximum points wins from their games in hand. For Ryedale, Johann Voigt beat Adam Ridley and Barry Rudd beat both Joe Newton and Ridley, the latter in an exciting 5 game set. Andy Paton beat Ridley in 5 having lost the first 2 ends. However none of the Ryedale team could cope with James Mayne who won all 3 in convincing fashion as well as teaming up with Ridley to take the doubles.

In division 1, Helmsley A fell behind in the title race after a 7-3 defeat at the hands of Swinton, despite another great effort from James Mayne (playing up from the B team) who beat Steve Oldfield and Ray Mitchell. Paul Cuthbertson (3) was man of the match for the visitors. Luke Lunn took Oldfield and Mitchell to 5.

Elsewhere in division 1, Joel Wright suffered a rare defeat at the hands of Mike Fenby as Malton A lost 6-4 to Ryedale A. Fenby was unbeaten but team mate Dave Burnham had an off-night, losing twice, including an epic 5-game set with form player Neil Raine .

Amotherby A are in a strong position at the top of the league after a decisive 9-1 win over bottom team Ryedale B. Tom Needham and Paul Young were unbeaten, with John Freeman beating Pat Swindell for the Pickering side.

In division 2, Ryedale C had no difficulty in overcoming Ryedale E 9-1 despite being without their leading player Barry Todd. The E’s only success came from John Ellis whose awkward style was too much for the equally awkward Ken Pidgeon. For the C’s Chet Butler was on fire, losing only one end to Paul Morse in winning 3 and Jan Bryan was also impressive, dropping only 2 ends in her 3 wins. Butler and Bryan ended the evening in style, making short work of Alan Kirkwood and Morse in the doubles.

In division 3, Stephen Temple starred in another fine win for Ryedale F (against Hutton A). Silvio Rusu played some good games but was unable to come away with a win but Mick Carter won all 3. Temple and Carter combined in the doubles for a straight games win. Sara Winn-Darley deputised for Mary Chappell and did well to beat Rusu, coming back from a game down, as well as taking a game off Carter but Temple proved untouchable on the night.

There was a notable debut for 9 year old James Rule for Hutton C against Westow. Although Westow won 10- 0, Rule played exceptionally well, troubling all of Westow’s players and taking a game off John Clayton.

In the Bower Trophy, the competition's last remaining third division side, Amotherby F, faced up to division 1’s Helmsley A in the last of the second round matches. Five of the nine sets were decided by just one point or less and the tie finished as a draw which required a points count-back.

Helmsley made a fine start as Cameron Walker beat Ruth Purseglove before Charlie Allot levelled the match by edging out Ollie Grimshaw 42-41. Helmsley's Chris Londesborough then produced the night's one really comfortable win, outplaying Janet Bailey to put the visitors ahead before Walker once again displayed his excellent potential by just holding off Allot 43-42 to make it 2-2.

Grimshaw then beat Londesborough also by 43-42 and Amotherby went 4-2 up as Bailey put in her best performance to defeat Purseglove. Helmsley were not finished, though, and Londesborough held his nerve to stop Walker claiming a maximum with a 42-41 win. With Amotherby still needing one set for victory, Grimshaw came agonisingly close as he was held to a 42-42 draw by Purseglove.

Allot then played brilliantly to restrict Bailey to just 9 points for a 42-37 win which secured a 4½-4½ draw. The overall points countback revealed that Helmsley A had won an epic cup tie by 378-375.

Improving Malton School student Cameron Walker put up an impressive display for Amotherby F against Westow in Division 3 of Ryedale Table Tennis League, defeating Colin Payne and the previously unbeaten Tom McAuley, before just losing out 11-8 in the fifth to the visitors' best player, John Clayton. Showing good temperament and some well placed shots on the forehand, Walker looks like an exciting prospect for the future.

The vastly experienced Linda Clarke also came close to picking up 3 wins. After seeing off Payne in four she outplayed Clayton whose sidespin serves were powerless against Clarke’s dead bat. However, Clarke came unstuck against canny Tom McAuley who won a tight five-gamer. John Mothersill also won a brace but fell to Clayton before combining well with Walker to win the doubles thereby giving Amotherby F a 7-3 win.

Westow also lost out to The Drifters, this time by 6-4. The Scarborough team had a good week as they travelled to Hutton C and thrashed them 10-0. There was nearly a first victory of the season for Barbara Johnson of the League’s bottom club as she lost out 13-11 to Liz Chadwick in the 5th.

Amotherby D moved level with Helmsley C at the top after squeezing out a 6-4 win at Hutton B. Helmsley C’s match at Ryedale F was postponed.

In Division 2, CSL A took a well-deserved point off Amotherby B in a 7-3 defeat. Gareth Bryning just held off John Gascoyne's exceptional backhand in 5 to win all 3 but Li He and Ken Mills struggled to get a foothold. This result leaves Amotherby B in third place just a point behind Malton B in a very close three-way promotion race.

The leaders are Helmsley B who have made up ground in the last week by winning their two matches in hand and are now 3 points clear at the top. They demolished Ryedale E 10-0.

Helmsley’s star youngster James Mayne played up for their A team in Division 1 and once more demonstrated what an outstanding talent he is by defeating both John Flintoft and Ed Wardman of Ryedale A. Ryedale consolidated their second place in the division, however, by winning the match 7-3.

Amotherby A remain clear leaders of the division having won 8-2 at Swinton. Whitby moved into fourth place with a fine 9-1 win against Ryedale B.

Scarborians achieved only their second victory of the season, winning 6-4 away to Ryedale E in division 2 of Ryedale Table Tennis League. Steve Miller won all his singles. Tim Penrose lost over five ends to Paul Morse but Henry Peak managed to beat John Ellis. Penrose then had to come back from 1-2 down to beat Ellis 3-2. Jean Wardman wiped the floor with Miller in the first two games forcing him completely to change his tactics to snatch the next three. Wardman and Morse easily beat Peak and Miller in the doubles.

Helmsley B were sitting 8 points behind leaders Malton B when they played CSL A in one of their two games in hand. A strong team performance from Helmsley saw James Mayne win 3, Adam Ridley 2 and Dave Chugg 1, plus a Mayne/Chugg doubles win, the home side claiming a 7-3 victory. Gareth Bryning, put up the most resistance for CSL, winning 2, but was unable to cope with a back to form Mayne. This result leaves Helmsley 3 points adrift of the leaders and has implications for the division 2 averages as all the leading players have now lost two sets.

Malton B maintained their lead at the top of the second division with a deserved 6-4 win against an off colour Amotherby B side. The home team's John Loftus got Malton off to an unexpectedly good start, beating John Gascoyne for the first time ever and coming back from 2-1 down to do so. Stuart Chadwick then played very well to reverse his early season loss against Andy Seed and Tom Harrington did the same against veteran defender Ray Holroyd to put Malton 3-0 ahead.

John Gascoyne moved up a gear to defeat Chadwick convincingly and then inflict on Harrington only his second defeat of the season, playing some dazzling backhands during a series of rapid exchanges with the talented Scarborough junior. Holroyd then pipped Chadwick in a tremendous five-game set featuring classic hard bat defending against a variety of tactics from the canny teenager. Loftus won his remaining sets, both of which were very close, before Amotherby took the doubles 3-0.

Ryedale D beat Amotherby C 6-4 as these two teams struggling near the foot of the second division met. The match featured an admirable unbeaten performance by the much improved Johann Voigt and the welcome return of Ryedale League stalwart Barry Rudd after injury. He registered one win, a tremendous comeback from being two sets and 10-6 down against the unlucky Richard Brown .

Kenny Brown scored an excellent 3-1 win over Andy Paton and another in five against Rudd before finding Voigt just too hot to handle.

In a late result in division 1, Dave Hildreth won three mammoth five-game sets for Whitby away to Swinton but could not prevent his side losing 6-4. Whitby then lost out 7-3 at home to Malton A in the only first division match to survive last week’s weather.

Helmsley C now lead division 3 by 4 points from Amotherby D, having beaten Helmsley D in a local derby by 9-1.

Entries have now closed for the President’s Pairs, the handicap knockout tournament featuring two players per team. We will report on the early rounds over the next few weeks.

On Sunday 1st February, Helmsley cadets played in the third round of the National Cadet League in Billingham.

The team of Andrew Cavanagh, Guy Harris and Andrew Howe started very well, beating near neighbours Scarborough ‘B’ team 7-2, with Guy winning all three and both Andrews winning two apiece.

Unfortunately, this was the only win of the day. The next match against Northumbria was lost 2-7 with Guy winning the only games but against Ormsby ‘B’ they did slightly better, losing 3-6 with all the boys winning one game each.

Twelve teams from the north-east entered this competition and following the first three rounds where all teams compete against one another, the six top teams go through to their play off and the six bottom teams go through to theirs. Having missed one of the rounds due to illness, Helmsley went through to the bottom play off, playing their first match against Sunderland . Their two good players were too much for a tired Helmsley team, with Andrew Cavanagh winning the only game. The match finished 5-4 to Sunderland (3 games given to Helmsley from the smaller team).

The Helmsley boys enjoyed the day. Last year Guy only won a game or two in this competition but this year he has already won 10 games and is improving all the time. The two Andrews have played in the Cadet League for the last three years. Well done boys.

The quarter final line-up for Ryedale Table Tennis League’s handicap cup competition, the Bower Trophy, is now nearly complete and is as follows:

Ryedale Sports Club have 4 of the 8 quarter finalists. Ryedale A moved effortlessly forward with a decisive 5-1 win over third division leaders Helmsley C. John Toll put up the most resistance, edging out Dave Burnham by one point, but the experience and craft of John Flintoft and Ed Wardman was too much for the Helmsley team.

Defenders Paul Morse and Alan Kirkwood won two apiece to put high-flying Helmsley B out as Ryedale E picked up a commendable 5-4 win. James Mayne had the chance to win the tie in game 8 but Kirkwood kept his nerve.

Andy Paton's Ryedale D are looking like strong contenders for the Trophy after trouncing third division Hutton B. Chris Parker put up a good show against Mike Shepherdson but otherwise it was one way traffic and the Hutton team called it a day at 5-0.

Ryedale B won 5-1 away to CSL A but Ryedale C lost out at home to division 1’s Amotherby A by 5-2. Coneysthorpe squeezed home against The Drifters by 5-4 in a close contest.

In division 1 of the league, Ryedale B suffered two 9-1 pastings at the hands of Ryedale A and Amotherby A. Ryedale A’s Ed Wardman and Dave Burnham were on top form. For the losers, John Freeman put up his usual battling performance, beating old friend John Flintoft in five epic ends and taking games off the other two. Amotherby A cemented their position at the top with their fine win.

In the third division, Angela Parker was unstoppable for Hutton B who registered a great 8-2 result at home to Amotherby E. Chris Parker also won 3 to make it 6 out of 6 for the Parkers against a team weakened by the absence of Paul Stansfield and Kris Waluk. Ollie Grimshaw, playing up for Amotherby, did very well to beat Sara Winn-Darley 3-0.

Jill Adams was in fine form for Amotherby D as they beat Hutton A 7-3 and she proved untouchable on the night.

In division 2, Amotherby B put in a strong performance against Ryedale Laundry, who lost 10-0. John Stokes played superbly against Andy Grayson and Adrian Voicu gave a spirited performance for the visitors.

Division 3 of Ryedale Table Tennis League had been led all season by Amotherby D until last week when they lost their unbeaten record and were knocked off the top by Helmsley C in spectacular style, 9-1.

Howard Mayne who has a 100% record in this division this season was unassailable and ably assisted by his team mates Phil Trevelyan (2) and John Toll (3), with the latter hitting some fantastic forehand and backhand winners. Nick Knight was the away team's only winner, seeing off Trevelyan in five. Helmsley C are now 2 points clear at the top and playing with a settled three-man team who are all on form and looking good for the title.

John Mothersill was on sparkling form for Amotherby F in their 5-5 draw with Hutton-le-Hole B. He beat Angela Parker and Sara Winn-Darley in three before overcoming Hutton's number one Chris Parker in a stirring five-game set with the decider going to 13-11. Linda Clarke also won a brace for Amotherby.

Elsewhere in division 3, Drifters beat Helmsley 7-3 and Hutton C struggled again as they lost 9-1 at home to Ryedale F.

In division 2 there was a pivotal clash between the top two teams as Malton B drew with Helmsley B in which two significant knock out blows were landed on the previously unbeaten Helmsley B talisman, James Mayne.

Trevor Teasdale was responsible for Mayne’s first defeat as his consistent defence, and Mayne’s miss-firing forehand attack earned the Malton man a deserved 3-1 victory.

The wily Ken Darby, with great tactical nouse and dogged tenacity, was the second to claim the scalp of the Helmsley youngster, in a close 5 setter.

With Mayne out of sorts, his team mates produced some sterling performances to keep Helmsley in the tie. Adam Ridley got involved in an enthralling contest with Darby, prevailing in 5 and then came from 2-1 down to win against John Loftus. Once again Teasdale's endless patience and skilful defence proved to be a bridge too far for Ridley who went down 3-1.

Helmsley's most attacking player, Dave Chugg, finally broke down the 'stonewall' Teasdale defence leaving the score at 5-4 to Malton. Helmsley then claimed the doubles in another long and close set, for a 5-5 tie.

Ryedale D's Johann Voigt (3) was on devastating form as his team beat Ryedale E 6-4. The man of the match was assisted by Andy Paton (2) who only lost to Paul Morse (2). John Ellis and Jean Wardman also beat the Ds’ Mike Shepherdson to give the Es two points.

Scarborians gained a creditable draw at CSL A for whom Ken Mills was on top form.

In division 1, second placed Helmsley A had a shocker, losing 7-3 at home to mid-table Whitby for whom unbeaten John Hanson was too good. Charlie Allott was off-colour for Helmsley and Luke Lunn tried very hard but could not win a game. Dave Hildreth bagged two for Whitby .

Amotherby A moved 4 points clear at the top as they beat Malton A 7-3 away. Joel Wright, Malton's top man, turned out for this key clash with leaders Amotherby A and inflicted another defeat on their number one Ian Stansfield. However, he did not have things all his own way, losing the big forehand battle with Paul Young who was unbeaten on the night.

Ross Dransfield beat Tom Needham to ensure that Malton took a point but lost to Stansfield who then combined with the in-form Young to beat Dransfield and Wright in the doubles to give Amotherby a 7-3 win.

In division 1 of Ryedale Table Tennis League, bottom team Ryedale B held a strong Malton A to a draw in a match which saw John Freeman give a vintage performance of athletic defending and table tennis craft to win all three of his sets. The Pickering man rolled back the years as he dug deep in two titanic five-gamers against attackers Neil Raine and Ross Dransfield before enjoying a slightly more comfortable 3-1 victory over John Loftus.

Alec Hodgson also put in a strong showing for Ryedale, winning two, although unable to make headway against Dransfield's top quality serves. The latter also beat Titch Temple to gain two sets for Malton and then combined to take the doubles in another very long encounter which prevented Ryedale from gaining their first win of the season.

Helmsley A brought in Eddie Fambely to peg back Amotherby A's lead at the top of the division and open up the championship race with an impressive 7-3 win. Fambely was once again just too good for the opposition and in winning his three sets inflicted only the second defeat of the season on the home team's number one, Ian Stansfield.

In form Rebecca George pushed Stansfield close in five after edging out Paul Young, again in the fifth game, and beat Pat Swindell 3-0. Chris Londesborough also beat Swindell but lost to Stansfield and Young. Amotherby, missing the unavailable Tom Needham , will be disappointed with just a point, allowing Helmsley to draw level with them at the top of the table, although they do still have a game in hand.

John Flintoft turned in a masterful unbeaten performance for Ryedale A against a strong Whitby side for whom Bernie Welford scored two, including an exceptional 3-0 win over the formidable Dave Burnham. The match finished 6-4 to Ryedale.

Coneysthorpe posted a rare win, 6-4 away to Swinton. Joe Suchecki (3) was their principle weapon, ably assisted by Malc Haswell (2). Once again it looks like both these sides will be involved in a relegation struggle.

In division 2, Chinese scientist Li He (3) was in great shape for CSL A in a 5-5 draw at Amotherby C. Richard and Kenny Brown took two apiece while Janet Bailey, promoted from Amotherby F, scored an excellent win over the previously in-form Katha Heinrich.

At the top, Helmsley B and Amotherby B both closed the gap on leaders Malton B with maximum points wins. Helmsley’s Adam Ridley (3) survived two match points against Laundry's Andy Grayson. James Mayne was untroubled once again in an 8-2 win. Amotherby B took a strong team to Ryedale C and came away with a 9-1 result thanks to unbeaten performances from John Gascoyne and Andy Seed .

Division 3 leaders Amotherby D kept up the pace with a maximum points 8-2 win over Westow. James Harrison was on fine form, winning all three including a fine five-gamer with John Clayton who had earlier seen off Jill Adams and Nick Knight.

Helmsley C are swift on the heels of Amotherby D and they hammered Amotherby E 9-1 to maintain their challenge. John Toll and Howard Mayne both scored three sets while Kris Waluk beat Phil Trevelyan for the opposition's only success.

In a local derby, Hutton A beat Hutton B 6-4 as Mary Chappell scored a shock 5 game win over high flying Chris Parker. Ray Chadwick was on sensational form for Drifters against CSL B, laughing his way to three 3-0 wins in a 6-4 victory. Richard Budgey performed admirably to beat Mark Philips in four for CSL.

The second round of the English Schools Table Tennis Association Competition took place on Sunday, 17th January. Helmsley Primary School , playing in Billingham, came second in the Under 11 Group and now go forward to play in Grantham.

Their first match against Priors Mill Primary School , Billingham ended in a 4:4 draw, with Guy Harris winning his games in straight sets. Gareth Skelton also won his games, one in straight sets and the other 4-1. Daniel Potter and Thomas Thorn played well, taking sets off their opponents but unfortunately didn’t win a game.

Their second match, against Gladstone Road School , Scarborough who had beaten them in the first round, also ended in a 4-4 draw. Daniel Potter, playing first, found a tough opponent in their number 1 and could not win a set. Guy, playing next, beat their number 2 in straight sets. Thomas took a set from their number 3 but lost in 4. Gareth beat their number 4 in 4 sets. Guy, playing again beat their number 1 in 4 sets. Gareth could not get to grips with their number 2, losing in straight sets and Thomas also lost in straight games to their number 4. This was Thomas’ first table tennis competition and he worked hard. But the game of the day was Daniel against their number 3. Two games to love down, Daniel came back to win three games to two.

Priors Mill beat Gladstone Road so Helmsley took the runners up spot, which means a trip to Grantham. Well done lads. [25.1.09]

After picking up just two points in a tough season following their promotion last year, Ryedale Laundry finally registered a win in Ryedale Table Tennis League’s second division as Andrew Grayson returned to bamboozle Scarborians.

Grayson’s awkward spinny lobs were too much for Steve Miller, Henry Peak and an off-colour Tim Penrose. Miller had made a promising start, defeating a lively Adrian Voicu in five while septuagenarian Peak rolled back the years to play a blinder against hard bat meister George Davison. At this point Scarborians were 2-1 up but alas it was all downhill from then on as Voicu and Davison each won their next two and Grayson dominated to make the score 7-2 to the Laundry. Scarborians rescued a modicum of pride in a five-game doubles set but Laundry were already dreaming of escaping relegation, with the away team admitting that they were lucky to grab a point.

Elsewhere in division 2, second and third placed Helmsley B and Amotherby B fought out a 5-5 draw at Amotherby. With Adam Ridley and Joe Newton unavailable, Helmsley B's manager Howard Mayne was forced to tweak his rotation policy a little further than usual this week by playing himself. Despite Mayne's best efforts, including some spectacular new serves, it was his son James who once again demonstrated his outstanding talent and mettle against experienced opponents to ensure that Helmsley maintained their lead at the top of the second tier.

David Chugg was a late call up for Helmsley and he showed some great ability on the forehand, just losing out in close sets against Andy Seed and John Gascoyne. He then picked up a vital win for the visitors, outgunning veteran Ray Holroyd.

Amotherby knew that they had a good chance of winning the match if James Mayne could be pegged back but he had little difficulty in disposing of Holroyd before baffling Seed with a series of great pimple blocks followed up by devastating forehand kills. Gascoyne then stepped up to face the leading junior, with both players having 100% averages, and was unlucky not to win the first end after using his excellent backhand to stop his opponent attacking. But Mayne moved up a gear in the next game before finishing off the set with superb shot selection as he won the third 12-10. Amotherby went into the doubles 5-4 up but James Mayne and Chugg proved too good for Gascoyne and Seed, confirming Helmsley as favourites to move into the top division.

Malton B made the most of their rivals' draw by moving to the top of the table with two 9-1 wins. The first was a rearranged match with Scarborians played before Christmas and the second was a convincing home win over Amotherby C, with Trevor Teasdale and John Loftus unbeaten.

In the other division 2 match, CSL A overcame Ryedale D 7-3 to maintain fourth place in the table.

In division 1, bottom team Ryedale B travelled to Helmsley A for an entertaining fixture in which 4 out of the 10 matches went the distance. Charlie Allott continued his good form with another maximum and Chris Londesbrough won all 3 too. Titch Temple and Alec Hodgson picked up a good wins against higher ranked Ruth Purseglove. Purseglove won against Gerald Cosens who still hits the ball as hard as anyone. The doubles went to Helmsley in the tie break in the fifth and the match ended 8-2 to them.

Helmsley A are now in second place, 4 points behind Amotherby A – who thrashed Whitby 9-1 - but have played a game more than their rivals. Whitby's Stuart Brown picked up his second major scalp of the season, beating Paul Young 3-2 last night, but that was his team's only plus from a match in which Tom Needham and Pat Swindell were unbeaten.

In division 3, Helmsley D picked up a very good 6-4 away win over Amotherby F with Stuart Ellis giving a man of the match performance in winning all 3 and Tony Harrison making a rare but valuable appearance to win 2. Linda Clarke , who won 2, was the home team's mainstay.

Bernadette Billington and Mark Phillips each picked up impressive wins over Nick Knight despite their Drifters team losing 8-2 at home to Amotherby D. For the visitors, James Harrison won all 3 (despite the black rubber falling off his bat!) and Jill Adams also chalked up a triple.

Improving junior Josh Garcia-Hall won two against Westow, as did team mates Kris Waluk and Ian Dawson, as Amotherby E triumphed 7-3. Dawson notched up an impressive win against John Clayton in five.

Helmsley C continued their impressive run of form with an 8-2 win over Hutton A. Howard Mayne was unruffled but Andrew Chappell scored a creditable 5-game victory over Phil Trevelyan and Doug Annan beat John Toll in five for Hutton.

Hutton B scored an excellent 6-4 win over Ryedale F, mainly thanks to an outstanding unbeaten performance from Chris Parker, who beat both Mick Carter and Stephen Temple in two epic sets. The improving Sara Winn-Darley also picked up a very good 5-game win over Silvio Rusu.

Ryedale Table Tennis League’s season resumed last week with the start of the Bower Trophy, the team handicap knockout competition. Last year’s winners were Hutton B comprising Doug Annan, Mary Chappell and Andrew Chappell. This year, as Hutton A of division 3, and with reduced handicaps, they were soundly beaten 8-1 in the first round by the young stars of Helmsley B (who lead division 2) for whom Adam Ridley and James Mayne won all 3 of their matches and David Chugg won 2.

Second division Amotherby B played well in a hard-fought local derby against first division leaders Amotherby A eventually going down 5-3 but none of their players had any answer to Ian Stansfield who, even on a minus 24 handicap, was unplayable as he mesmerised his opponents with spin, lightning fast footwork and blistering speed. John Gascoyne gave the B team hope against Tom Needham early on, playing a series of sensational backhands and Andy Seed beat both Needham and Pat Swindell to put them 3-2 up before the A team dug in. John Stokes found the going particularly tough against quality first division opponents and Swindell edged out John Gascoyne 42-40 in a key encounter to see the A team through.

Malton B of division 2 crashed out, losing 6-3 to third division Hutton B for whom Chris Parker, Sara Winn-Darley and Angela Parker won two each. Ken Darby bagged two for Malton and Tom Harrington one but Stuart Chadwick had an unsuccessful night.

Ryedale E picked up a rare Bower win for a division 2 team, outplaying Amotherby E 6-3 with unbeaten Jean Wardman masterminding the victory. The match featured two halved sets and a good performance from Ian Dawson for Amotherby against John Ellis and Alan Kirkwood.

There was little between third division Amotherby F and Westow in which every player won at least one game. Both teams fielded juniors with big handicaps and it was Amotherby's improving Cameron Walker who came out on top against Westow's Matthew Shipley with a 70-61 aggregate win.

Linda Clarke was also on form for the home side, edging out both Roger Dunning and John Clayton but falling to Shipley in another close encounter. Amotherby captain Janet Bailey took the opposite approach, going down to both Dunning and Clayton but seeing off Shipley 70-66 as Amotherby won 5-4.

Ryedale D's Andy Paton made the most of his very generous +10 handicap to leave Amotherby C struggling in their all division 2 match. Paton’s fellow team member Mike Shepherdson won two very tight sets 53-52 and 50-48 before drawing 58-58 with Richard Brown to secure a 5½- 1½ win to see Ryedale D through.

Having both picked up a bye through the first round, Whitby and Helmsley D wasted no time in playing their second round tie as the home side booked an early place in the quarter finals after a cracking close match. Whitby 's first division handicaps were minus 10, minus 12 and minus 14 against the rather higher Helmsley ratings of +20, +26 and +28 and yet almost every set went right down to the proverbial wire.

Stuart Ellis made a great start for the visitors, beating Stuart Brown 45-42 before Bernie Welford eased past young Andrew Cavanagh to square the match. John Hanson, unstoppable on the night, then beat Julie Cavanagh before Andrew Cavanagh just lost out to Brown 44-43. Julie Cavanagh then put Helmsley back into the picture with a 43-42 victory over Welford to make the score 3-2 to Whitby .

Ellis came close to levelling things in game six but went down 42-40, unable to find a way past the guile of John Hanson. But the match was not over and, amazingly, Julie Cavanagh then got the score back to 4-3 as she somehow held off Brown for yet another one point win by 43-42.

Ellis had to beat Welford to level the contest at 4-4 and he did so by the relatively big margin of 45-42, leaving the final encounter to decide things: veteran Hanson against junior Andrew Cavanagh. The Helmsley player needed to score 17 points for victory but just could not find a way past the Whitby 's man's seawall-like defence. It finished 54-11 for a 42-37 net score which put the home side 5-4 through after a gallant effort by the visitors.

Two clubs held closed competitions over the Christmas break. Mike Fenby won Ryedale Sports Club's annual competition, beating John Flintoft along the way after Flintoft had defeated the very capable Dave Burnham. 18 people took part in the event.

Amotherby TableTennis Club held their first club mini-tournament and evergreen veteran Jill Adams was triumphant in the handicap singles event. Cameron Walker and Paul Stansfield were runners up. Andy Seed won the hard bat singles knockout event and Walker and Seed also triumphed in the hard bat doubles.

The 2009 RTTL Closed Tournament will take place on Sunday 22 March at the Northern Ryedale Leisure Centre, Pickering . The tournament is being organised by Paul Stansfield and details will be released soon.

Pride was the order of the day for Ryedale A as they travelled to Helmsley A to avenge a previous defeat in division 1 of Ryedale Table Tennis League in the last full week of matches before the Christmas break. It was a mammoth match in which five of the 10 went the distance. Helmsley's Charlie Allott again kept his head to come away with all 3 as both John Flintoft and John Eastwood managed 2 for Ryedale. Ed Wardman won one as did Chris Londesbrough despite playing fifteen ends. Luke Lunn took games off everybody and was unlucky to not register. Allott’s form continued in the doubles and the match ended 5-5.

Helmsley A are now one point behind the division’s leaders Amotherby A and there is then a 10 point gap to Ryedale A. Ian Stansfield of Amotherby A leads the averages of those who have completed 60% or more sets. He has won 95% of sets played.

Division 2’s leaders are Helmsley B for whom James Mayne has a 100% record. Malton B and Amotherby B are hot on Helmsley’s heels and just 3 points separate the leaders from the third placed team.

All 3 of the leading teams enjoyed 8-2 wins last week, Helmsley B beating Ryedale C. James Mayne comfortably maintained his exceptional record, while David Chugg also won 2 for Helmsley, along with Howard Mayne who was playing up from Helmsley’s C team. Ken Pidgeon (2) was the only winner for Ryedale C who struggled with Jan Bryan still suffering from injury.

Scarborians' Tim Penrose endured a spate of ludicrous nets, edges, mishits and flukes during his team’s loss to Amotherby B. Twice, at 9-10 down, Penrose lost the game to an unreturnable dribbler but, to his credit, he fought on courageously and was rewarded by beating John Stokes in 5 after a phoenix-like recovery from 5-1 down in the deciding end.

Henry Peak showed typical flashes of attacking flair in all of his sets but could not maintain it enough for a win, and Steve Miller gave everything before going down to John Gascoyne and Andy Seed . He then enjoyed a decisive win over John Stokes as the Amotherby defender never quite got to grips with Miller’s style, bat, serve or tactics.

Gascoyne and Seed were unbeaten for Amotherby but gave a mixed performance in the doubles, letting a 2-0 lead evaporate before rallying for a 3-2 win against Peak and Penrose.

Amotherby C picked up a rare maximum points win, against Ryedale Laundry. Kenny Brown and Russ Grimshaw won 3 each and Richard Brown (2) enjoyed a rare victory over the resolute George Davison and his ancient bat. Amotherby C’s 8-2 win moved them out of the bottom 2 and left Laundry rooted to the foot of the table.

Amotherby D go into the Christmas break with a healthy lead at the top of division 3 having thrashed lowly Hutton C 10-0. The Amotherby team are unbeaten this season having won 10 and drawn one of their matches. Helmsley C and Ryedale F remain their nearest challengers, Helmsley C having beaten Hutton B 7-3 but dropped a point in the process. Chris Parker won two for Hutton B but met his match in Howard Mayne, while Angela Parker had a fine win over the experienced campaigner John Toll.

Hutton A came away from Westow with a 6-4 win in a very close and hard-fought match, the points being decided in the fifth game of the doubles which Hutton just scraped 12-10 after an epic struggle. Doug Annan won all his games, although Matthew Shipley fought hard before eventually being overpowered, and Roger Dunning took him to 5 games before succumbing. Colin Payne and Roger Dunning both beat Andrew and Mary Chappell after some real battles.

Howard Mayne leads the division 3 averages with an unbeaten record over 18 sets and is followed by Mick Carter of Ryedale F on 92% and his grandson Stephen Temple on 91%.

Swinton played the top 2 teams in division 1 last week, beginning with a rearranged match against Helmsley A. Steve Oldfield was on song again for Swinton, winning all 3, and Ray Mitchell turned back the clock to chop Ruth Purseglove into submission. Chris Londesborough and Charlie Allott won 2 apiece, however, to give Helmsley a 6-4 win.

Swinton took a point off close neighbours Amotherby A in what was a great match. Amotherby might have been wary entering this contest without their talisman Ian Stansfield but recent acquisition Paul Young stepped up to the mark in his place winning all 3 and inflicting a rare defeat on canny Steve Oldfield. Tom Needham won 2 singles and then combined with Young to take an epic doubles as they came from 2 games down against Mitchell and Oldfield thereby snatching a 7-3 win for Amotherby; the latter now have a 9 point lead over Helmsley A at the top of the table.

Joel Wright blasted his way to 3 straight-game sets as Malton A beat Coneysthorpe 6-4. He was ably assisted by Neil Raine (2) although their young teammate Macaulay Youngson found the going tough. Malcolm Haswell scored two for Coneysthorpe and Eddie & Wendy Prest one apiece.

A combination of sub-arctic temperatures and the ability of York Division 1 player Jo Suchecki accounted for the shock loss of Helmsley A's unbeaten record this season as they went down to Coneysthorpe. Suchecki triumphed in straight games against Ruth Purseglove, Chris Londesborough and Luke Lunn, then partnered Malcolm Haswell to take the doubles. Haswell played his part in the shock win, with victories over Purseglove and Lunn, while Coneysthorpe's other veteran Eddie Prest just missed out in five to Lunn. Londesborough won 2 for Helmsley and Purseglove one in Coneysthorpe’s very cold venue.

In division 2, Scarborians took advantage of a slow starting Ryedale C and Jan Bryan's restricted mobility due to injury to draw 5-5. Tim Penrose overcame Barry Todd in 4, the same as Steve Miller's surprise win over Ken Pidgeon. Scarborians' Henry Peak had a stroke of luck when, at 10-10 in the deciding fifth game against Bryan, two consecutive net cords won him the set. Todd's excellent defence wore down Miller's limited patience to win their set 14-12, 14-12, 13-15, 11-5 whilst Penrose had an 18-16 fourth game win over Bryan .

Bryan also lost out to Miller for the first time ever despite being hampered by her injury. Todd and Pidgeon, having won 2 sets each, needed to win the doubles to square the match which they duly did, thrashing Penrose and Miller in straight games.

Malton B could only field two players against Ryedale E but still had little difficulty in securing a 6-4 win. Ryedale's only set came from Alan Kirkwood whose steady and determined defence proved too much for Ken Darby. Trevor Teasedale won all three of his sets although he was taken to 4 by Jean Wardman and Paul Morse. Malton B are second in the table, just a point adrift of Helmsley B. Amotherby B are a close third in what is increasingly looking like a 3 horse race.

In division 3 leaders Amotherby D racked up another win but dropped a point to club rivals Amotherby F in a 7-3 win. Nick Knight (3) was good for the D side while John Mothersill (2) represented the F side with honour. Amotherby D are now 6 points clear at the top.

Ryedale F have moved into second place in this division. They completed a delayed fixture when they took on Hutton A. Ryedale’s rising young star Stephen Temple trounced high flying Doug Annan 3-0 and then gave the same treatment to Mary and Andrew Chappell. Temple 's grandfather Mick Carter won all his too. John Boardman lost out to the Hutton trio but Carter and Temple, unbeaten in the doubles this season, saw off Annan and Andrew Chappell in 3 to secure a 7-3 win for Ryedale F.

Earlier in the week Carter and Temple had also done the business as Ryedale F beat CSL B 8-2. Their teammate Silvio Rusu beat Tom Nixon but lost to Phil Aldwinkle and Pawel Plonczkier.

Helmsley B added some momentum to their impressive promotion push in division 2 of Ryedale Table Tennis league by whitewashing Scarborians 10-0. They have moved 5 points clear of Malton B at the top of the table but the Malton team have a match in hand.

Barry Todd unleashed his fearsome backhand against strugglers Amotherby C and found little resistance as Ryedale C won 7-3. Ken Pidgeon enjoyed 3 five-gamers and won 2 of them for Ryedale.

Ray Holroyd was on great form for third placed Amotherby B, chopping his way to 3 wins against unlucky Ryedale D. John Gascoyne (3) also made a strong contribution to Amotherby's 9-1 win while Andy Paton registered Ryedale's only score, outplaying a lacklustre Andy Seed .

Mircea Voicu made his debut for Ryedale Laundry against Ryedale Sports Club E but found the going tough in an 8-2 defeat. Paul Morse won three for Ryedale while Adrian Voicu defeated both Jean Wardman and Alan Kirkwood for Laundry who remain rooted to the bottom of the table.

In division 3, Amotherby D are 10 points clear having beaten Amotherby E 7-3 and highflying Ryedale F 6-4. In the first match, an excellent start by Amotherby E team saw them romp to a 3-0 lead. Kris Waluk , despite a very limited number of matches this season, played brilliantly beating Nick Knight in 5 despite a spirited come-back attempt by Knight who was 2 games and 7 points to 3 behind in the third before he got his eye in. Then Waluk beat James Harrison in 3 without any apparent difficulty. Jill Adams brought him back down to earth with a ruthless display of hard hitting. Paul Stansfield was also on good form for the E team beating Adams in 3. Ian Dawson took both Adams and Knight to 4 before succumbing while he and Stansfield made Knight and Harrison struggle initially in the doubles before the home pair got their tactics right to complete the D team's recovery to 7-3.

Kris Waluk went on to win his fifth set out of 6 over consecutive nights as Amotherby E saw off club rivals Amotherby F 7-3. Josh Garcia-Hall (2) and Ian Dawson (2) were the E team's other winners. Ollie Grimshaw played a blinder to beat Garcia-Hall in five for the 'F's.

After seven successive defeats, CSL B were back among the points following a 5-5 draw away to Helmsley D. Mother and son Julie and Andrew Cavanagh showed some form with two wins each and Philip Aldwinkle notched a brace for the scientists.

Hutton C won their first point of the season, against Hutton A in an excellent match in which ex Spaunton player Jim Bailey excelled on his debut for the Cs, winning 2 sets plus the doubles in an all left hander combination with Paul Hampson. For Hutton A, Doug Annan again won 3 and Mary and Andrew Chappell 2 each to give them a 7-3 win.

In division 1, Swinton beat Ryedale B 7-3 in a match that produced some fantastic table tennis. Ryedale were seeking to avenge their 10-0 defeat earlier in the season and they regained some pride as a result of the sets garnered by them. Alec Hodgson was in fine form for Ryedale B, 2 out of his 3 sets going to a decider.

Defending champions Ryedale A entertained league leaders Amotherby A and found themselves on the end of a 9-1 beating for the second time this season. Paul Young found some form, winning all of his sets, alongside Ian Stansfield (3) and Pat Swindell (2). Dave Burnham was Ryedale's sole victor.

The English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) annually hold a nationwide talent identification programme. For the Ryedale area, the first stage of this process took place in October at Scarborough, The Yorkshire Trials. 13 year old James Mayne qualified at Cadet level (under 15), to the second qualification competition, The Regional Trials, held at the ETTA Regional Training Centre, in Leeds last Sunday.

12 players remained in the programme for the combined Yorkshire region. By ranking, competitors were divided into 2 groups of 6, with each playing the other 5 in their group. James confirmed his national ranking, by beating the 4 lower ranked players, but lost to nationally ranked no.18, Sheffield player, Eric Wan, yet still qualified.

In the final group of 6, James suffered an early loss, against the fast improving Liam Chipman, from the Bradford Fast Bats Club. With this defeat, nothing less than 2 wins from his final 2 group matches would keep him in the competition.

In a nail biting encounter, James beat Michael Fraser, from Hull 3-2.

His final match was against Hull number 1 cadet player, Adam Tomkins. Adam is in his second year at this age category, and in 4 previous competitive meetings between the 2, has always made his experience and power count. However using knowledge gained from those previous defeats, James and his coach put together a game plan to expose a potential weakness in Adam's game. James executed the plan with great skill, to achieve one of his best ever victories, winning 3-1.

With this win James gained one of the three qualification places to the Finals. He joins the top 32 cadet players, and will compete in The National Finals, at Grantham, 18th/19th April next year.

Andrew Chappell

James in action at the trials

Amotherby A and Helmsley A still lead the way in division 1 of Ryedale Table Tennis League. Helmsley A beat Malton A 7-3. Charlie Allott used pimples to great effect as he bamboozled his way to win all three in a blistering performance. Two wins for Ruth Purseglove and Chris Londesbrough ensured victory but both fell to Ross Dransfield's adventurous attacking. Neil Raine was just a service away in most games and new boy Macauley Youngson showed enough to suggest he will be winning soon.

Coneysthorpe's Wendy Prest pulled off a sensational 3-0 win over former averages winner Tom Needham at Amotherby A but could not prevent her team going down 8-2. Coneysthorpe's other winner was Malcolm Haswell against Pat Swindell. Ian Stansfield (3) was untroubled for Amotherby A.

In division 2, Helmsley B thrashed Amotherby C 10-0. Adam Ridley, James Mayne and Dave Chugg did the damage for the away side that are a close up second in the table, just behind Malton B.

Ryedale E were very unfortunate not to register a score in their match against Amotherby B, Paul Morse and Jean Wardman both being edged out in tight games with John Stokes. John Gascoyne made a fluent division 2 debut, out-hitting all three Ryedale players in style.

Malton B beat CSL A 8-2 as crafty defender Trevor Teasdale dented Gareth Bryning's 100% record in the division. This means the top three each took maximum points in what is looking to be an exciting promotion race.

In division 3, CSL B are in need of some Harry Redknapp type of inspiration as they suffered another heavy defeat, this time 9-1 to Hutton B for whom Angela and Chris Parker were unbeaten.

Hutton A beat Amotherby F 7-3 in a match which was much closer than the score suggests with 14 games going beyond 11 including a marathon 22-20 win for Linda Clarke in one of her 5 games against Mary Chappell. Doug Annan and Andrew Chappell both won all 3 of their games and then won the doubles 3-1 against John Mothersill and Linda Clarke . For Amotherby, Mothersill, Clarke and young Cameron Walker each won one. Clarke was unlucky not to beat high ranking Annan, going down 12-10 in the fifth.

Leaders Amotherby D defeated Helmsley D 8-2 in another match where many of the games were much closer than the actual scores. Nick Knight beat James Ellis but needed 5 games to do so. Stuart Ellis played well for Helmsley beating both Thomas Thorp and Knight. Thorp and James Ellis put on a great display of attacking forehand hitting but Thorp was victorious. James Harrison was on form for the home side winning all three but not before the much improved Julie Cavanagh had taken him to 12-14 and 16-14 in the first two games. Thorp and Knight made light work of the doubles, winning in three.

This season's RTTL Dinner and Presentation Evening will take place on Saturday 23rd May 2009 at the Forest & Vale Hotel, Pickering . Menus will be posted up in due course and further details of the evening will be given early next year. The event is being organised by Mary Chappell, the new RTTL Social Secretary.

In division 1 of Ryedale Table Tennis League, Champions Ryedale A had to come from 5-2 down to claim a draw at Swinton, with Steve Oldfield once more supreme and Paul Cuthbertson & Ray Mitchell outplaying Ed Wardman. Mike Wheatley and John Eastwood won a brace each for Ryedale.

Coneysthorpe secured their first win of the season, 6-4 over Swinton who were perhaps lacking match sharpness after suffering consecutive postponements. Malcolm Haswell and Wendy Prest notched 2 sets each for Coneysthorpe and Steve Oldfield (3) was untroubled for Swinton.

Amotherby A are top of the table having beaten Malton A 6-4. Ian Stansfield did not lose one game on the night for the leaders. Helmsley A remain a threat to Amotherby being unbeaten and just 3 points off the top with a game in hand.

In division 2, Malton B and Helmsley B have developed a large gap at the top between them and the third placed team, Amotherby B. Malton have just a one point lead after Helmsley B thrashed Ryedale D 9-1 with James Mayne and Joe Newton unbeaten. Andy Paton was Ryedale's solitary winner with a fine 3-1 success against Adam Ridley. Mayne has one of just two 100% averages in this division.

Scarborians’ Steve Miller was in 'seventh heaven' after beating Amotherby C’s Roger Wang and Richard Brown in straight games but was brought back down to earth with a bump by Amotherby's Russ Grimshaw who had already beaten Henry Peak and, in a thrilling five game set, Tim Penrose. Grimshaw sacrificed the first game whilst testing out Miller's defences before dominating the next two. Miller used all the tricks of the trade to steal the fourth end but had nothing left to offer in the decider. With both Brown and Wang just getting the better of the unfortunate Peak, Miller and Penrose had to win the doubles, against Grimshaw and Wang, to square the match 5-5 which they duly did.

In-form Helmsley C won 8-2 at Amotherby F in division 3 to maintain second place just behind Amotherby D. The home side's John Mothersill played well to defeat both Phil Trevelyan and John Toll but juniors Ollie Grimshaw and Cameron Walker found the going tough against experienced opponents for whom Howard Mayne won all 3.

Earlier in the week, Amotherby D came away from CSL B with a hard fought 8-2 win that was much closer than the score-line suggests. Nick Knight won all 3 including playing a blinder in a very entertaining 5 sets against Patrick Hough who proved extremely difficult to break down. Amotherby's James Harrison was 2 sets up against Hough before succumbing to his superior concentration and perseverance. Both Tom Nixon and Phil Aldwinkle displayed some good shots for the home side and showed potential that should see them improve quickly through the season. Jill Adams started slowly but improved throughout the night beating both Nixon and Aldwinkle until she and Knight finished the night off with a devastating performance in the doubles.

Niki Hampson won her first set of the season for Hutton C against Ryedale F, though it was Silvio Rusu who was the star of the show, winning 3, as did the ever-improving Stephen Temple. Ryedale F took the match 8-2.

Helmsley D went down 7-3 to Amotherby E in an entertaining match in which each side fielded two junior players - Guy Harris and Andrew Cavanagh for Helmsley and Josh Garcia-Hall and James Stansfield for Amotherby. Harris showed signs of his great potential in leading the way for Helmsley with a win against Garcia-Hall. Stansfield took the first two games against Cavanagh but failed to capitalise as Cavanagh fought back with admirable determination to take the set 3-2. Paul Stansfield proved too tricky for Harris, winning in three. Cavanagh then beat Garcia-Hall 3-1. Julie Cavanagh was unable to get on the scoreboard but showed great fighting spirit taking James Stansfield to five games and Garcia-Hall to four.

The Match Secretary of the League has issued a request to team secretaries regarding postponements. The following rules must be followed:

· In cases of postponement, the reason must be given to the Match Secretary by the team requesting the postponement.

· A team postponing a match must give at least twenty four hours notice to the opposing team.

· The team not responsible for postponing the match shall offer three alternative match dates. If none of these is accepted, the team that made the postponement shall forfeit the match.

If these rules are broken then the Management Committee can take action against the club involved. Team secretaries are reminded that, in clubs where there is more than one team, players from lower ranked teams may be called upon to play. Please plan ahead to make sure that you can fulfil all of your fixtures.

In division 2 of Ryedale Table Tennis League, Helmsley B brought Ryedale E’s promising start to the season to a halt with a stylish 8-2 win. The scoreline reflected Helmsley’s superiority despite some hard-fought games that could have gone either way.

Helmsley's Adam Ridley was unbeaten on the night although he only just came through in a five-game thriller against Paul Morse. David Chugg and Joe Newton each took two for Helmsley as well as overcoming Alan Kirkwood and Morse in a hard fought doubles that gave the Helmsley team maximum points.

It has been an excellent few days for Ridley who played up for Helmsley A against bottom of the table Ryedale B in the previous week and produced a storming performance to win all three including a tremendous 3-2 fightback against canny veteran defender John Freeman, during a 7-3 win.

Amotherby's previously unbeaten B team who went down 7-3 at CSL A. Gareth Bryning (3 wins) was ably assisted by Li He and Ken Mills against the visitors who missed captain Andy Seed .

The leaders, Malton B, thrashed Laundry 9-1. Laundry will be looking forward to Andy Grayson finding his old form on his return to his old club. Elsewhere there was an excellent win for Scarborians by 6-4 away to Ryedale D.

In division 1, the two highest placed clubs, Helmsley A and Amotherby A, met in a match which fulfilled all expectations. Amotherby’s Ian Stansfield had it comfortably his own way until he met Eddie Fambely and lost in straight games. Chris Londesbrough came away with 2 wins after just edging out Paul Young in four. Young was a winner against Ruth Purseglove with a confident attacking display. John Gascoyne was unlucky to lose all three but on his first match back this season was certainly not off the pace. The doubles went to Helmsley in an entertaining clash and left them taking the honours 7-3. They go to the top of the table with a 100% record.

Malton A overwhelmed Ryedale B by 10-0 to consolidate their third place in the division and to leave the Ryedale team adrift at this stage of the season. Joel Wright, Gareth Olney and Neil Raine all won 3 for Malton.

In division 3, newcomers Hutton C and CSL B are struggling to find their feet. Hutton C lost 10-0 to The Drifters for whom Bernadette Billington was on fine form, winning her 3 sets without dropping a game. CSL B also went down 10-0 at Amotherby E.

Hutton A met Helmsley D in what turned out to be a closely fought match. Douglas Annan won all 3 but was taken to 5 games (11-9 in the fifth) by the much improved Stuart Ellis. Mary Chappell won 2 including a very fine straight games win over Ellis. For Helmsley, James Ellis won 2 with excellent wins against Mary and Andrew Chappell (the latter in 5). Stuart Ellis and Andrew Cavanagh both chipped in with wins against Andrew Chappell. The teams went into the doubles at 5-4 to Hutton and Annan and Andrew Chappell found some doubles form for the first time this season with a straight games win.

Hutton B’s Chris Parker was unbeaten again, this time against league pacesetters Amotherby D although his team went down by 6-4. Parker did not have it easy as both Nick Knight and Jill Adams took him to five and Tom Thorp was also amongst the games.

Knight and Adams won their other two sets, against the improving Sara Winn-Darley and Angela Parker (who beat Thorp in four) before the two combined to pinch a very long doubles, 12-10 in the deciding end against Hutton's formidable husband and wife pairing.

The top match of the week in this division was the clash between Helmsley C and Ryedale F that ended all square at 5-5. Having just returned from injury, Howard Mayne won all 3 and his addition to an already strong team must leave the Helmsley team as strong contenders for the division 3 title this season. They are now just a point behind leaders Amotherby D having played one game more than the leaders.

Helmsley Table Tennis Club entered 3 players – James Mayne, Guy Harris and Adam Ridley - in the Yorkshire Trials, held at Graham Table Tennis Centre, Scarborough over the weekend. All 3 have moved up an age category this season and were playing competitors who were, in some cases, nearly 2 years older than themselves.

At U13 level, playing in this event for the first time, Guy Harris had success in winning 3 out of his 6 group matches. Unfortunately this did not quite qualify him for the second group stage.

13 years old James Mayne played in the 'Cadet' category (U 15), due to his high national ranking. He proceeded to confirm that rating by beating his 4 first round competitors to top the group.

The best eight qualifiers from the 4 first round groups then played each other at the final group stage to determine the 4 players who progress to the regional finals later in the year. James secured one of the 4 spots.

James had success last year in this competition when, at U13 level, he came through 3 qualifying events to reach the last 8 nationally, in the Derby finals.

In the 'Junior' (U18) event, Adam Ridley was Helmsley's representative. In his first round group of 7, Adam was unlucky to finish 3rd, with the top 2 progressing, to the final qualification stage.

Meanwhile at league level in Ryedale Table Tennis League, James Mayne continues to excel in division 2 and has a 100% record after 12 sets. His Helmsley B team are progressing well at this early stage of the season in a table led by Malton B and Amotherby B. The latter have a game in hand over the leaders and are unbeaten this season having seen off their Malton rivals 6-4 this week.

Ray Holroyd displayed top form for the home side, perplexing Malton's previously unbeaten Tom Harrington with a 3-0 win, using clever hardbat defence variation to out-think his opponent. Holroyd also beat another defender, Trevor Teasdale, in a lengthy encounter. Amotherby started well, going 3-0 up before Malton determinedly pulled it back to 3-3 at the break with Scarborough teenager Stuart Chadwick showing great promise in his defeat of Holroyd. He lost 3-2 to John Stokes, however, and could not handle Andy Seed 's spin. Teasdale then defeated Stokes in a set which was even longer than his previous one!

Harrington beat both Stokes and Seed, playing some great shots off the backhand, to keep Malton in the game at 4-5 but Seed and Holroyd kept their concentration to take the doubles 3-2 against Chadwick and Harrington to ensure victory for Amotherby B.

Also in division 2, Scarborians knew their match against Ryedale E would be a 'battle royal' and so it turned out to be, with neither side able to achieve outright victory. Steve Miller started off well with hard fought wins over Jean Wardman and Paul Morse but was then brought down to earth by the excellent defensive, then sudden attack, strategy of Alan Kirkwood.

Tim Penrose made up for an early loss to Morse by beating both Kirkwood and Wardman while Henry Peak managed to beat Morse but, paired with Miller, lost to Kirkwood and Wardman in the doubles to leave the match all square at 5-5.

In division 1, Ryedale A had a convincing 10-0 victory over Coneysthorpe and Whitby succumbed 9-1 at home to Amotherby A who remain unbeaten and top of the table. Ian Stansfield of Amotherby A leads the way in the individual division 1 averages with a 100% record after 12 sets.

Division 3’s leaders, Amotherby D, did not have a match this week, enabling Helmsley C to join them at the top of the table after an 8-2 win against their fellow Club side Helmsley D. Howard Mayne made a return to the C team winning all his 3 sets. There were two wins each for Phil Trevelyan and Andrea Mayne. Stuart Ellis played well for two victories for the D team.

In another local derby, Hutton-le-Hole B beat Hutton C 10-0 without losing a game all night. Hutton’s A team went to CSL B and came away with a 9-1 victory, Douglas Annan again winning all 3. Debutant Andy Baxter picked up CSL’s one win.

Division 1 of Ryedale Table Tennis League is headed by Amotherby A who are unbeaten this season. They brought in Paul Young for his first match for his new club against Ryedale B. The Kirkbymoorside man used his loopy forehand to great effect and had little trouble outgunning Alec Hodgson, Gerald Cosens and John Freeman. Ian Stansfield and Pat Swindell were also too strong for the Ryedale team as Amotherby A ran out 10-0 winners.

Joel Wright was unbeaten for Malton A who, despite this, went down 6-4 to Ryedale A. This was a a very welcome win for the Ryedale team who have made a mixed start to the season and now have 2 wins and 2 defeats. Mike Wheatley, Ed Wardman and Mike Fenby scored two apiece for Ryedale.

In division 2, Malton B are the pacesetters with 4 straight wins, the latest against Ryedale C by 7-3. Tom Harrington maintained his unbeaten record. Long-pimple man Ken Pidgeon was the visitor's mainstay, his quickfire tactics and outrageous angles proving a mystery to John Loftus and Ken Darby. Loftus did manage to overcome the resistance of Barry Todd in five and Chet Butler in four but Darby fell to Todd's destructive backhand before edging out Butler again in five. The doubles also went to Malton by a 3-2 margin with Tom Harrington starring once more.

Helmsley B are now second in the division. Their young team had a very comfortable 9-1 win against CSL A, Dave Chugg (3) finally finding some form, assisted by James Mayne (3) and Joe Newton (2). Unfortunately there was not the chance this time to see Mayne, who is unbeaten this season, play the unbeaten Gareth Brining of CSL and everyone in the division is looking forward to matches later this season which should see this duo meet and also take their chances against Malton’s Tom Harrington.

Laundry are struggling a little in this division so far but they ran unbeaten Amotherby B close with a 6-4 defeat. Adrian Voicu was on stunning form for Laundry, outplaying veteran Ray Holroyd and then mesmerising in-form Kenny Brown with lightning footwork and flat hitting attack. George Davison's ancient hard bat also baffled Holroyd and it was left to Amotherby's captain Andy Seed (3) to ensure a close win for the visitors.

Division 3 now has convincing leaders in Amotherby D who are 6 points clear of Helmsley C, having won matches 8-2 on successive nights against Hutton A and The Drifters. After a great start to the season with impressive twin wins, the Scarborough team have drifted downwards with a couple of heavy defeats.

Amotherby D undid The Drifters' previous 100% record with an 8-2 victory. Bernadette Billington made her debut alongside Liz and Ray Chadwick and performed well to win in the doubles but James Harrison and Nick Knight were unbeaten for the home side. Ray Chadwick excelled himself 3-0 against Jill Adams for the Drifters' other set.

Amotherby D’s win at Hutton A saw James Harrison again star with 3 fine wins, Jill Adams and Thomas Thorp each chipping in with 2. Doug Annan lost his unbeaten record for Hutton this season when Harrison overcame him in 4. Andrew Chappell lost two 5 game sets to Harrison and Adams before capitulating completely to an excellent display by Thorp. Mary Chappell was unable to get going but continues to show promise of a turn of the tide.

The Drifters’ second consecutive defeat came against Ryedale F and this time it was the rock-like consistency and defence of Mick Carter along with his grandson Stephen's steady topspin which was their undoing. Ray & Liz Chadwick and new Drifter Mark Philips all managed to see off Ryedale's Silvio Rusu, although the youngster did take Ray Chadwick to five. Grandfather and grandson were a different matter, however, and neither dropped a game all night, in singles or doubles.

Division 2 of Ryedale Table Tennis League saw Helmsley B entertain leaders Malton B. Two weeks previously, Amotherby B were the visitors. These two visitors are setting the standard that newly promoted Helmsley team need to attain to become a factor in this division. Amotherby edged the week one match 6-4 and it was same again in week 3, same margin with the spoils to the visitors.

Each Helmsley player scored as a fortnight ago as James Mayne claimed 3 victories, the toughest against Peter Lee who is an experienced campaigner with good all round game and a wicked top spin forehand attack. Adam Ridley claimed one win which could have been two, if he hadn't become bogged down against the defender Trevor Teasdale.

David Chugg drew a blank. After a year out from table tennis, the ball is just missing the end of the table from his many and varied attacking shots. The team are confident this will improve as the season progresses. Two weeks ago Ridley and Mayne played the doubles with their team 5-4 down, and lost in 5 again.

Elsewhere in the division, Scarborians gained a creditable draw against CSL A.

In Division 3, The Drifters of Scarborough wen tot the top of the table as they maintained their 100% start to the season with a 7-3 win away to Helmsley D. Ray Chadwick was on lethal form, winning all of his sets, while the improving Andrew Cavanagh won a pair for the home side, assisted by James Ellis with one. The Drifters will face a tougher challenge against Ryedale F this week.

The table is very tight with just 3 points separating the leaders and 8th place.

CSL B went down 8-2 at home to Westow for whom Tom McAuley and Colin Payne each won three and Will Pile got the better of Tom Nixon. Philip Aldwinkle picked up a first win for CSL over Pile.

Amotherby D and Helmsley C fought out an honourable draw in which none of the players was unbeaten on the night. Helmsley have been strengthened by the return of former division 1 Spaunton player Phil Trevelyan who began by taming Jill Adams’ super-fast serve for a 3-0 win. The organic farmer did not have things all his own way, however, and succumbed to the electrifying backhand of Amotherby's James Harrison, now fit and flying again after missing last season.

John Toll also won two for Helmsley, coming back from 2-1 down against Nick Knight and outgunning Harrison before falling to Adams' speed and know-how. Andrea Mayne took a game off Adams on her RTTL debut.

Amotherby F visited Hutton B and were beaten 6-4. Chris Parker was unbeaten for Hutton B while John Mothersill picked up two for the visitors.

In Division 1, after two painful 10-0 thrashings, Ryedale Sports Club B will be delighted to have some points on the board following a creditable draw with a very useful Whitby side. John Freeman was the hero for Ryedale, outplaying Stuart Brown and then returning from the dead against Bernie Welford to grab a fine 3-2 victory. Titch Temple and Alec Hodgson also registered their first wins of the season, both over Brown, although neither could quite get the upper hand against the unconventional hitting of Welford, nor Dave Hildreth who was unbeaten on the night. Hodgson was two games up against Hildreth but lost the last two 11-3, while Temple also failed to capitalise on a 2-0 advantage over Welford.The draw was settled after a ding-dong doubles encounter with Ryedale edging the final two ends 11-9 to make their trip to the seaside worthwhile.

Helmsley A took a strong squad to Ryedale A and gave a polished performance to come away with victory and move 4 points clear the top. Rebecca George won all 3 and Eddie Fambely also took a maximum. Chris Londesbrough won 2 but proved he will not have it all his own way this season when Mike Wheatley beat him in 4. John Eastwood and Ed Wardman lost 3-1 in two of their contests showing that 9-1 score line was not quite that emphatic.

Amotherby A maintained their unbeaten start to the season with an 8-2 win at neighbours Swinton. Ian Stansfield won all 3, while Tom Needham and Pat Swindell both won two but were both undone by Steve Oldfield's shrewdness and talent.

Helmsley Table Tennis Club have developed a web site for their Club news, views and activities. Visit http://helmsleyttclub.webs.com/.

In division 1, Amotherby A played their first match of the season and recorded an excellent 7-3 win over champions Ryedale A. Tom Needham, on his first start for Amotherby, found some of his old form to win all three including a titantic 5-game tussle with the previously unbeaten Dave Burnham. Ian Stansfield also bagged a triple and Pat Swindell accounted for Ed Wardman. Ryedale rescued a point when John Flintoft and Wardman came back superbly from two games down to take the doubles.

Chris Londesbrough made his debut in the first division with a maximum for Helmsley A who beat Coneysthorpe 6-4 and thereby moved to the top of the table. He had a very close game with Jo Suchecki who showed tremendous touch. Malcolm Haswell was too strong for Luke Lunn but was unable to cope with Ruth Purseglove. Suchecki showed guile to defeat Purseglove in 3. Lunn came back against Eddie Prest to record a victory but the best of all was in the doubles. Two left-right combinations made for a great finale with Haswell & Suchecki just having enough to edge out Londesborough and Purseglove in the final game.

Dave Hildreth won all three but couldn't prevent his Whitby side from going down 7-3 to Malton A with Gareth Olney, Ross Dransfield and Neil Raine each notching a double.

Division 2’s early pacesetters are Malton B. Swinton B have had to withdraw from the league because of injury.

Amotherby C thrashed Ryedale C 9-1. Kenny Brown put a difficult year behind him with a devastating display of attacking play. Jan Bryan was his first victim, facing a barrage of brilliant Brown backhands in a 3-1 defeat before Chet Butler and Ken Pigeon also succumbed, leaving Brown with a 100% average.

Andy Seed was also unbeaten. John Stokes' serves mesmerized Butler and his defence was too sturdy for Bryan although he discovered a suitable nemesis in Ken Pidgeon, who beat him 3-0.

After the euphoria of last week's 9-1 win, Scarborians came down to earth as they were trounced 9-1 by Malton B for whom John Loftus (3) and Tom Harrington (3) starred. Steve Miller outfoxed Stuart Chadwick for Scarborians' only set.

Division 3 saw Helmsley D recover from last week's 9-1 reverse with a superb 10-0 whitewash of Hutton C. Juniors Andrew Cavanagh and James Ellis were on top form, accompanied by Julie Cavanagh.

Douglas Annan starred in a 6-4 win for Hutton-le-Hole A against Hutton-le-Hole B winning all his sets without losing a game, including a brilliant victory over Chris Parker. Mary Chappell chipped in with another win and Andrew Chappell took two.

For Hutton B, Chris Parker won two and Angela Parker one. They then joined up for an excellent doubles win over Douglas and Andrew 3-1 having gone a game down. Hutton A lead the division at this early stage alongside Ryedale F.

The Drifters played their first match of the season taking maximum points from CSL B 8-2. Liz Chadwick won all three while Ray Chadwick and Mark Philips scored a brace each, losing only to the improving Richard Budgey.

Ryedale Table Tennis League’s 2008-09 season has started with some impressive performances. In Division 2, nationally-ranked junior James Mayne underlined his progress as his Helmsley B side played their first match in that division after winning promotion last season. James won all three sets but could not stop his side suffering defeat at the hands of an experienced Amotherby B team who ran out 6-4 winners.

The Helmsley number one did not have it all his own way as he had twice to come back from 10-8 down against hard bat veteran Ray Holroyd after pipping Andy Seed 11-9 in the fifth game of a very tight encounter.

Adam Ridley, using a long-pimpled bat to good effect, played very well against Amotherby's John Stokes to come back and win from a 2-1 deficit but ex-Malton man David Chugg, standing in for the injured Howard Mayne, was unlucky to end up winless after a trio of 3-1 defeats.

Also in Division 2, a strong Malton B team demonstrated that they will be clear contenders for a swift return to Division 1, beating Amotherby C 8-2. Tom Harrington was the star for the away side, the left-handed junior using his effective backhand push style to win all three of his sets.

Only Roger Wang registered any sets for Amotherby, beating promising England-ranked youngster Macaulay Youngson 3-1 then overcoming experienced Scarborough man John Loftus.

Scarborians marked their return to Division 2 with a notable 9-1 win against Laundry.

In Division 1, Ryedale A beat Ryedale B with surprising ease 10-0 and Whitby won 6-4 at Swinton in a superb match. Steve Milner, deputising for Paul Cuthbertson, played very well, winning 2 out of 3. Whitby’s Stuart Brown was a revelation, beating Steve Oldfield in 5.

Division 3 has a number of new teams this season and the division has a much more competitive look this time. CSL B easily beat fellow newcomer Hutton-le-Hole C 8-2. Richard Budgey and Patrick Hough were the stars, each scoring three wins, Tom Nixon weighing in with two. Paul Hampson won one for the visitors and went close in his other sets.

Helmsley C have two experienced campaigners in their ranks this season in John Toll and Philip Trevelyan but neither could prevent Hutton-le-Hole A’s 7-3 victory with Douglas Annan and Andrew Chappell each winning 3.

Amotherby E beat Westow 6-4, Paul Stansfield demonstrating that his season in Division 2 last year has stood him in good stead as he dropped only one game all night. Particularly impressive was his 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 demolition of Westow's top man John Clayton.

Improving Ian Dawson notched up two wins for Amotherby and local junior Josh Garcia-Hall beat Roger Dunning 3-0 to get the home side off to a strong start.

Stephen Temple looks set for a good season judging by his fine 3 wins in Ryedale F’s 6-4 victory over Hutton-le-Hole B.

Ryedale Table Tennis League welcomes four new teams for its new season starting on 29 September: Amotherby F, CSL B, Hutton-le-Hole C and The Drifters (of Scarborough ). All of these teams will play in Division 3.

One Ryedale Sports Club team has been lost (the old B team) from Division 1, but overall the League has gained three teams, giving a very healthy total of 31.

Division 1 teams will play each other 3 times in the coming season. This will maintain the strength and competitiveness of the Division.

As there are 4 new teams in Division 3, Laundry and Ryedale E will be playing in Division 2. Amotherby C will also play in Division 2 as Amotherby B and C are effectively two new teams following the addition of new players and several changes to all of the club's teams.

Div 1 (8 teams)	Div 2 (11 teams)	Div 3 (12 teams)
Ryedale A	Ryedale C	Amotherby D
Ryedale B	Ryedale D	Helmsley C
Helmsley A	Amotherby B	Amotherby E
Malton A	Scarborians	CSL B
Amotherby A	Helmsley B	Westow
Coneysthorpe	Ryedale E	Ryedale F
Swinton A	Amotherby C	Amotherby F
Whitby	CSL A	Hutton-le-Hole A
	Swinton B	Hutton-le-Hole B
	Malton B	Hutton-le-Hole C
	Laundry	Helmsley D
		The Drifters

The first week sees last year’s Division 1 champions, Ryedale Sports Club A, in a local derby against Ryedale Sports Club B. In Division 2, Helmsley B, comprising players who made up the runaway winners of last year’s Division 3, open against Amotherby B. In Division 3, newcomers The Drifters will start against Amotherby D.

The League welcomes any new players of whatever level. If you are interested in playing competitive table tennis in Ryedale please contact Andy Seed in the first instance through the League’s web site www.ryedalett.net.