THE 2002 - 2003 Bury Table Tennis League season reached its half way mark in December and all the players have been taking a well earned break over the Christmas and New year period writes Marlene Faulkner

Looking back over the first half of the season some things don't change and yet there have been one or two surprises.

At the top of Division One, Ramsbottom A are still invincible having dropped only six points out of a possible 110. They have had five maximum wins and beat closest rivals Little Lever 9-1. They have a massive 22 point lead at this stage and it is difficult to see them do anything but pulling further away in the second half of the season.

Little Lever, Cricketers and Ramsbottom B follow Ramsbottom A and then come five teams with only six points separating them. At the bottom of the table the two promotion teams, Ramsbottom D and St Philips A on 32 and 34 points respectively, with YWCA Sports A just above them on 37 points. A couple of victories for these teams could see them in a mid table position.

One of the surprises of the season in Division One, was that Michael Moir who went through the whole of the season and played in every match to remain undefeated has lost two sets in the first half of this one.

He lost one in the first match of the season to Little Lever and the second to Cricketers. He has played in every match and leads the Top Ten Table with 31 wins from Jim Chadwick and Mick Dore both on 27 wins. Only five players have completed in all 11 league matches.

The two relegated teams from last season's Division One -- Mosses B and Carlton Club B are in first and third positions respectively in Division Two separated by Seedfield A, and yet Ramsbottom E who are in fourth place are the only team in this Division to remain unbeaten. The two teams at the bottom Carlton Club C, who were promoted last year, and Prestwich D are 14 and 16 points away from safety and look to have a lot to do to save themselves from relegation. Carlton Club C are the only team in the division still looking for their first win.

Ten players have completed in all league matches in Division Two. Two of these Jeff Ingber of Maccabi and Derek Buckley of Ramsbottom E lead the Top Ten Table on 25 wins each with Derek Poytress just behind on 24.

In Division Three the two relegated teams from last season's second division, Unsworth CC and ELPM A, are in second and third positions in the table separated by just one point, and just behind the leaders Claybank who themselves were promoted from Division Four last year.

Claybank have been able to field their strongest team for most of the season, and it is no surprise that two of the players Graham Daniels and Martin Nicholls feature in the Top Ten. The leader of the Top Ten Table is Chris Sutcliffe from Unsworth CC who has played in every league match and won 25 out of a possible 27 sets. Ten players from Division Three have played in all league matches so far.

Newcomers to the Bury League, YWCA Sports B have found the going tough in this Division and are bottom of the table with Prestwich E, but only a few points from the safety position a couple of wins would bring.

Seedfield B, who were surprisingly relegated last season, have proved much too strong for Division Four and are a massive 25 points ahead at the Top of the table.

Unless something drastic happens in the second half of the season, they seem to be a sure bet for promotion back to Division Three. They are the only unbeaten side in the division and have dropped only 10 points.

Elton Vale B are in second place but Maccabi C in third position could overtake them if they were to win their match in hand. At the bottom of the table the two Holmar teams seem to be struggling.

The B team were promoted at the end of the last season but the A team have been a fourth division team for several seasons. The other promoted side, Maccabi D are a couple of places above the drop zone.

Thirteen players have featured in all nine matches with Julian Nuttall of leaders, Seedfield the only one to have a 100 per cent win record. In joint second place in the Top Ten Table on 22 wins is his team mate Stephen Siddall, so no surprise that the team has such a healthy lead at the top of the division. Also on 22 wins is Bryan Shaw of Elton Vale B.

Prestwich F have gone through the first half of the season undefeated in Division Five, but is it Seedfield D who lead the table by just two points from them having lost just once -- to Prestwich F. Perhaps the difference is that all three players from Seedfield feature highly in the Top Ten Table, whilst, although Peadar McKinstry of Prestwich has a 100 per cent record having played in all nine league matches, the other two players don't feature as highly as the Seedfield three. Nine players in Division Five have played in all league matches so far.

DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pt

Rams A... 11 11 0 0 104 6 104

L Lever... 11 9 0 2 82 28 32

Cricks... 11 9 1 1 73 37 73

Rams B... 11 8 1 2 68 42 68

Prest TTC A... 11 5 1 5 49 61 49

Mosses TTC A... 11 4 2 5 47 63 47

Carl Cl A... 11 3 2 6 46 63 46

Location... 11 3 1 7 45 65 45

Rams C... 11 5 1 5 43 67 43

YWCA Sp A... 11 1 1 9 37 73 37

St Philips A... 11 2 1 8 34 76 34

Rams D... 11 0 1 10 32 78 32

DIVISION TWO

P W D L F A Pt

Mosses TTC B... 10 8 0 2 73 27 73

S'field Meths A... 10 7 2 1 67 33 67

Carl Club B... 10 7 1 2 63 37 63

Rams E... 10 7 3 0 61 39 61

Maccabi A... 10 6 1 3 59 41 59

Prest TTC B... 10 4 2 4 49 51 49

Adelphi... 10 4 0 6 47 53 47

St Philips B... 10 2 3 5 44 56 44

Prest TTC C... 10 2 1 7 39 61 39

Prest TTC D... 10 1 1 8 25 75 25

Carl Club C... 10 0 0 10 23 77 23

DIVISION THREE

P W D L F A Pt

C'bank... 9 8 1 0 62 28 62

Uns CC... 9 8 0 1 59 31 59

ELPM A... 9 5 3 1 58 32 58

El Vale A... 9 6 1 2 51 39 51

BGSOB A... 9 5 0 4 50 40 50

Maccabi B... 9 3 1 5 42 48 42

Red Hall... 9 2 0 7 38 52 38

Carl Club D... 9 2 0 7 33 57 33

Prest TTC E... 9 1 1 7 30 60 30

YWCA Sp B... 9 1 1 7 27 63 27

DIVISION FOUR

P W D L F A Pt

S'field Meths B... 9 9 0 0 80 10 80

Elton Vale B... 9 7 1 1 55 35 55

Maccabi C... 8 6 1 1 50 30 50

ELPM B... 9 5 0 4 48 42 48

BGSOB B... 8 5 0 3 46 34 46

S'field Meths C... 9 1 0 8 37 53 37

Maccabi D... 9 2 1 6 35 55 35

BGSOB C... 9 2 1 6 34 56 34

Holmar A... 9 2 2 5 29 61 29

Holmar B... 9 1 2 6 26 64 26

DIVISION FIVE

P W D L F A Pt

S'field Meths D... 9 7 1 1 69 21 69

Prest TTC F... 9 9 0 0 67 23 67

Elton Vale C... 9 6 2 1 53 27 53

S'field Meths E... 9 4 1 4 50 40 50

Maccabi E... 9 3 2 4 47 43 47

Holmar C... 9 3 1 5 41 49 41

BGSOB D... 9 3 1 5 40 50 40

ELPM D... 9 2 3 4 40 50 40

ELPM C... 9 2 1 6 31 59 31

S'field Meths F... 9 0 0 9 12 78 12