TABLE TENNIS: Nomads A won an all-First Division clash at fellow First Division team Meadow Bank in the Brian Gittins Cup third round.

In a close match Nomads’ Derek Watmough, Dennis Collier and Clive Taylor gave Meadow Bank’s Paul Pover, Richard Hinchcliffe and Paul Whyatt 49 points start and came away with a 15-point winning margin.

The First Division Ladybridge A trio, Lee Davenport, Dave Bolton and Craig Bradbury, received 77 points start at Premier Division Hilton A.

Hilton’s Andy Michnowiec, Dave Pickard and Ron Pennington moved ahead by four points in the seventh set, and finished 25 points ahead at the end.

Burning Desire won through to their second semi-final with a 61-point win over First Division Heaton B, who received 76 points start.

Obviously the start was not enough for Heaton’s Barry Dobbins, Paul Mort and sub Alan Crompton as Burning Desire’s Ben Armstrong, Dave Smith and Lyndsey Thornton won comfortably.

The all-Premier Division match between St Catherine’s A and Little Lever A was won by St Cath’s by a surprisingly high margin of 81 points. This result belies their league form as the St Cath’s team of John Hilton, Bill Russell and Pavel Orzechowski received seven points start from Ron Durose, Graham Jeffries and Steve McNicholas whose Little Lever A team are currently two places above them in the league.

In the Warburton Cup third round, the Premier Division’s Burning Desire team of Lyndsey Reynolds, Ben Armstrong and Ian Quinn beat Third Division Nomads B’s Brett Haslam, Dave Holden and Martin Howarth by 43 points after giving them 91 points start.

Nomads held their own up to the seventh set when Burning Desire moved ahead by five points.

The all-Premier Division match between Little Lever B, represented by Phil Riley, Roy Costello and Ian Lansdale, who received 28 points start, and their A team trio of Steve McNicholas, Graham Jeffries and Ron Durose ended in the first tie recorded under the new scoring system.

The B team started the final set 11 points down but Ian Lansdale beat Steve McNicholas by the same margin to tie the match on 351 points and earn a replay.

The outstanding match in the second round between Coburg, and Farnworth TTC A was won by Coburg by 28 points. They play Little Lever C in round three.

Only one match was played in the George Yates Shield third round.

Heaton D’s Alan Crompton, John Cartledge and John Scowcroft, who had seven points start, ran out comfortable winners by 65 points against Nomads B’s Holden, Haslam, and Howarth.

All three teams in contention for the top spot in Division Two won this week.

Top team Grubba Fans only fielded two players in their 6-3 victory over Hilton C.

Second-placed Nomads B scraped home 5-4 against BEN A thanks to a Brett Haslam treble, while Coburg, who are third, took maximum points against Meadow Hill A.

Hilton junior Matthew Field has been selected to train with the England under-13 squad at Lilleshall under the direction of ex-England legend Desmond Douglas.

This follows his success in recent tournaments, with wins at Blackpool, Grantham and Burton-On-Trent.