RAMSBOTTOM A maintained their grip at the top of the Bolton Table Tennis League Premier Division with a decisive 9-0 victory over a strong Radcliffe Cricket Club.

They are now six points ahead of second-placed Tameside, and nine ahead of their B team in third.

But they look unstoppable as they have played two matches fewer than Tameside, and one less than their B team.

Ramsbottom B’s new signing Derek Yeong continued his unbeaten run, and his three wins at Hilton A helped them to a 6-3 win.

He was supported by two wins from Brian Clemments. Ron Pennington won two for Hilton.

Tameside won 8-1 at bottom team Little Lever B, with trebles by Jake Shaw and John Hope and a double by Jeff Craighill, Roy Costello recording the consolation win for Little Lever.

Burning Desire generally struggle without Lyndsey Reynolds, and this week was no exception as they went down 7-2 at Ramsbottom C for whom Graham Young won three, and Keith Jackson and Graham Hoy two each. Ben Armstrong won the two sets for Burning Desire.

Graham Jeffries recorded three wins for Little Lever A who lost 5-4 at St Catherine’s A.

Division One leaders Heaton A scored a 7-2 victory over Little Lever C with three wins by Paul Ward and two apiece by Matt Ward and Steve Barber. John Hutchinson won two for Little Lever.

Second-placed St Catherine’s B came away with a 6-3 win at Meadow Bank thanks to trebles by Stuart Wallis and Kristof Pinter. David Kay scored three wins for Ramsbottom D who beat Nomads A 6-3, and Alan Cowley won three for Hilton B who beat Heaton C by the same score.

Three wins by John Bradbury and two by his brother Alan was just enough for Wingates to record a 5-4 win over Heaton B.

Grubba Fans scored maximum points against Meadow Hill A to retain top spot in Division Two, with a three-point advantage over Nomads B in second place. Nomads beat Hilton C 8-1 with three wins by Gareth Palmer and Brett Haslam, and two by Martin Howarth.

Heaton D came away from Farnworth TTC B with a 5-4 win thanks to three wins by John Cartledge, but BEN A lost by the same score to visitors Little lever D despite three wins by Mike Heaton.

Coburg’s 7-2 victory over Hilton E featured a treble by Bob Bent. Heaton E had better fortunes against Hilton D when they came out on top 5-4 in a close-fought match which featured two wins by three players, Alan Bradshaw for Hilton and Paul McCormick and Chris Higson for Heaton.

Invincible Division Three table-toppers, St Catherine’s D, beat Irlam 8-1 with trebles by Stuart McCaig and Ben Dudley, and a double by Debbie Wilson.

Hilton G, in second place and playing catch up with their fixtures, beat Walkden Meths 6-3, Irlam Irlam 7-2, and St Pauls’Peel 5-4.

The wins featured trebles by Jim Eardley against Walkden and John Lawrence against Irlam.

Alan Hibbert and Alan Calvert both trebled for BEN B who won 6-3 at Ladybridge C.

Three wins by John Riley and two apiece by Roy Platt and Jackie Smith gave Meadow Hill B a 7-2 victory over Walkden Meths, Steve Kelsall winning the two for the losers.

St Catherine’s E beat Hilton H 5-4 with three wins by Roy Alty and two by Beth Farnworth. Hilton F scored a 5-4 win over Farnworth SC in which three players recorded two wins, Brian Young and Gary Hibbert for Hilton and John Ainley for Farnworth.

Only four points separate the top three teams in Division Four, Farnworth TTC B, Hilton I and Hilon J.

The current leaders, Farnworth TTC B, ran out 7-2 winners at Heaton H, while Hilton I, two points behind in second spot, scraped home 5-4 against Lads Club A.

Hilton J, in third place and a further two points adrift, lost 6-3 at the Lads Club A, but followed with a maximum points win at Brass For Farnworth, Matt Leach and Dan Harris both won three and Sam Evans one, with David Heaton and Sam Walsh winning one apiece for Heaton.

Gordon Stone and Malcolm Rose won two each, and Les Clough one for Hilton I, with Craig Duncan unbeaten for the Lads Club and Ray Isherwood adding one.

In their following match Lads Club A’s Ray Isherwood won three and Craig Duncan two against Hilton J, whose Andy Morey won two.

Josh Sandford and Chris Ahmed both won three for Lads Club B who won 6-3 at Boyzone, as did Colin Roberts and sub Steve Walsh for Heaton H who won 7-2 at St Catherine’s F.