Bath Street Marine Table Tennis Club
A Table Tennis England PremierClub
News Release - BSMTTC News 180
Dateline: 12 October 2024
Divisional Cups
The respective Divisional Cup competitions started this week and the club had teams in action in every division in Round 1.
The Action
The week started with both of the club's teams in Div 5 in action in the Stamp Cup. The seniors of the I Team were at Marine where they entertained Arriva B. The visitors found themselves a player short, and the home team had to field three substitutes in their line-up. Unfortunately the BSM subs were no match for the experienced Arriva players who took all of the matches played on the table. The result 2:5 in favour of Arriva.
The juniors of the J Team faced a fellow junior team Cadwa D at Anfield. The boys played valiantly but the top two of their opponents were far too strong and experienced and with a brilliant youngster at No.3 the Cadwa team are definitely a team to watch out for in this division. They will be very near the top of the division come the end of the season. Eddie Thurgood put in a very good performance for the home side snatching one win to give an overall result of 1:5 in favour of Cadwa.
Above, the juniors of the J Team - Eddie Thurgood, Ezra Stephan-Whiteford, Myles Ambrose & Charlie King - life continues to be tough for them.
And on the right: at the top the I Team led by non-playing captain, Keith Hardman (centre), Richard Woodley, Alan Hale, Sue Young and Stepehn Riley. And below them the Arriva B team of Harry Hughes, Jack Heslin & Craig Jago.
The Action
Tuesday at Marine brought together the D & E Teams of Div 3 for a derby in the Hyde Cup. And what a start there was to this match, with the first two sets needing all 5 games to separate the contenders. 1:1 after two sets! Set 3 went the way of the E team in the meeting of the two team captains, 1:2. Then Dave Aimson entered the fray and together with James Haskell they took the next 3 sets for the D Team to take them 4:2 up. Captain Andrew then returned to the table against Amir Norouzzi who was substituting up for the E Team, who are currently a player short. What a set this was, again needing all 5 games to separate the two. But in the end it fell to Andrew to give the D team a hard earned 5:2 win. A great match.
The players of the D & E Teams, Dave Aimson, James Haskell & Andrew Armstrong for the D Team, and Marcin Bytnar, Mark Benson & Amir Norouzzi for the E Team. And it is worth noting the match card for this match, some very close sets. Pictures courtesy of Ray Hibbs Photography.
The Action
It was the turn of the 1st Team on Wednesday to entertain Maghull A at Marine in the Readman Cup. For the first time this season a full strength 1st team were present even so, Maghull A were determined to fight for everything. And fight they did with 3 sets going the full distance. The home team hung on and took them all plus two more sets to give them a clean 5:0 win. But it was far from easy!
The players of the 1st Team, Clare Peers, Steve Green & Keith Williams; and the Maghull A Team, Michael Stewart, Luke Courtney & Jordan Pipet.
The Action
Possibly the strangest match of the week was on Thursday in the Rumjahn Cup (Div 2). The C Team faced Waterloo & Bootle A who they had played just a week earlier, with exactly the same line-up for the BSM team, a match they won 2:8. In that league match Dave Noden played a blinder winning all 3. But, as team captain, Dave Stoddern. said, quoting Jimmy Greaves, "it's a funny old game"! Once again though Ken Jackson was at his best taking all 3 of his singles, but each time he pulled the home side ahead it seemed as if the visitors pulled back! However, when it reached 4:2 in favour of the home side, surely the match was going the same way as the earlier league match? The visitors had different ideas somehow levelling it off at 4:4 courtesy of an excellent win by super sub Eddie Preston, playing up from division 4, over home team captain Dave Stoddern. It left Dave Noden facing visiting team captain Phil Cashmore in the final set of the night, and Phil made no mistake with a convincing 0:3 win to take the set and the match 4:5 in favour of Waterloo & Bootle. What a match!
Above, before the start a very relaxed C Team of Dave Stoddern, Ken Jackson & Dave Noden. The visitors Waterloo & Bootle A, Nikolaj Primuk, Phil Cashmore & Eddie Preston. Reckon Eddie was definitely smiling come the end of the evening!
The Action
The final match of the week was in the Div 4 Cup, the Forrest Cup. The junior G Team entertaining Cadwa B. Once again the juniors were forced to make last minute changes as a result of illness with Kai Morgan & Charlie King stepping in to replace Seb & Will Rice. The visitors also had to bring in a sub to complete their line-up, so overall the match looked very even. It was one of the subs, Kai Morgan who led the charge for the home team. Called on first by the visitors he was not overwhelmed by the unusual style of the very experienced Richie Pucula and went on to take the opening set. Scott French also took his opening set giving the G team an early 2:0 lead. But the visitors pegged this back and after 6 sets it was 3:3. For the visitors Richie Winckle proved just too strong and his maximum helped the Cadwa side take the final 2 singles sets to give them a 3:5 victory. A very good match, with Kai remaining unbeaten for the home side.
Courtesy of Ray Hibbs Photography, above left the G Team of Kai Morgan (sub), Scott French, Henry Sinker (team captain) & Charlie King (sub). And above right the Cadwa B team of Richie Winckle (team captain), Richard Pucula, Bobby Bell & Alby Ofoeme (sub). Richie Winckle was the player of the match, but Kai Morgan was also unbeaten.
And in conclusion.......
Six matches, but only 2 teams through to join the 4 other teams who received a bye from Round 1. So, there will be more action for the clubs teams in the next round.