Bath Street Marine Table Tennis Club
A Table Tennis England PremierClub
News Release - BSMTTC News 59
Dateline: 3 March 2017
Cup Semi-Finals
This week has seen the semi-final stage of the respective Divisional Cup competitions of the Liverpool & District Table Tennis League. Encouragingly the Club had a team in the semi-final of 4 out of 5 of cup competitions. A very good achievement in a competition in which the Club does not have a particularly good track record!
A brief report on each team is below and on this occasion there were few surprises!
A rare moment, caught on camera, Bath Street 1st Team, Dermot Tierney, Dave Roberts & Clare Peers in Cup action at Marine this week against Fords TTC.
The Readman Cup (Division 1)
The 1st Team of Dave Roberts (Captain), Clare Peers and Dermot Tierney currently sitting at 7th place in Division 1, faced, not for the first time, a home draw with Fords TTC currently sitting at the top of the division. A fixture that has in the past proved controversial in the cup competition. As it turned out the match was much closer than might have been expected, and after 6 sets the teams stood even at 3:3. However the visiting No.1 & 2 proved just a little too strong for the home side as befits their status in the division and were able to take the next two sets, albeit that both quite close. The final score 3:5. The occasion did however provide an opportunity for a very rare picture of the 1st Team!
The Rumjahn Cup (Division 2)
Dave Stoddern's B Team might not have expected to find themselves in the semi-final of this competition. But in it they were, and faced with a home draw to East Wavertree A. The two teams laying 8th and 6th respectively in the 2nd Division table. So on paper it looked like a potentially close match. But then Dave lost two thirds of his team! No.3 Colin Mitchell decided to take a weeks skiing holiday, and No.1 and talisman Barry Davis sustained an ankle injury in a league match a few days earlier whilst playing in the Bath Street derby against the A Team. Fortunately up stepped Darren Taylor and Dave Noden from division 3 to substitute. But they proved no match for the visitors, the East Wavertree side running out comfortable winners 0:5.
The Hyde Cup (Division 3)
Having disposed of Dave Noden's Bath Street Marine D team in the previous round the very strong Arriva North West side entertained Brian Crolley's BSM C team in this semi-final. Brian was at full strength for this match with his settled side of Andy Cheung, Mal Kent and himself. Arriva is always a difficult place to play and the C Team had already faced a very uncomfortable night there in the league encounter. This match was to prove no different, the home side racing through the first 5 sets to record a clear 5:0 victory. What more can you say.....next year Brian......
The Forrest Cup (Division 4)
Another team facing a visit to Arriva was Keith Dudley's E Team. With the team of Miguel Monteiro, Graham Turner, Les Dodd and Keith currently sitting at the top of the 4th Division much was expected, however Arriva are a very good side and the league encounter at Arriva had already been one of the teams toughest matches of the first half of the season. Things didn't start well with Captain Keith dropping the opening set. The home team then made their first mistake calling on Les, who proceeded to totally outfox his higher ranked opponent. Miguel was next to the table in the battle of the No.1's. Showing how much he has improved over the season Miguel took a comprehensive win. In an attempt to redress the balance the home side called Keith back to the table in what was to prove to be the decisive set of the night. A real tussle followed but after one game had gone 11:0 against Keith he rallied magnificently to pull off a 5 end victory. Graham took the next set comfortably and then the home side called Miguel back to the table against one of the few players he had actually lost to in the league encounter. But the improvement was apparent Miguel taking a close encounter 1:3. That was it, game set and match, a very good win for the E Team 1:5.
So, just 1 team through to a final, but a good week of competitive cup play.
Pictures right: at the bottom the E Team of Miguel Monteiro, Keith Dudley, Graham Turner & Les Dodd; and above the C Team of Mal Kent, Brian Crolley & Andy Cheung.
