POPPS ‘B’ IN WINNING MOOD AGAIN
For the home match against this team in October, POPPS ‘B’ registered an historic first win. However, we did have the experienced John Taylor subbing, so we knew that things might be different this time. In addition, we would be playing away. Perhaps Sowerby had a strange table only playable by regular users. 

Or we might be intimidated by a large crowd of locals giving their side vocal support. For some of us, going up to Sowerby would be unchartered territory. Would our cars be still there after the match? Were we in danger of being kidnapped by local dissidents? All this could affect the composure and confidence of our team: Terry W, John M & Robin.

In the event, our team registered a 9-0 win, but not before one or two distractions. Terry spent half an hour driving round the village trying to find the venue and arrived a little frazzled. He eventually had to ask some locals where the club was. They looked at him with a degree of menace, but eventually decided that the owner of such a scruffy tracksuit was not worth mugging. We all found the expensive German table unfamiliar after the centre’s tables. It seemed too short. In addition, Sowerby seemed able to use the hot air coming from the heaters to influence the direction of their shots. 

John Mitchell kicked off against Andy Garnett and after a tentative start when Andy caught up to 9-10, John held it together to win 11-9.  John was more assertive in G2 and won 11-5.  G3 was again shaky and Andy placed some shots out of reach for John, still not back at his mobile best. Level at 10 each, John eventually edged to 13-11.  Robin then played Martin Grace. Both struggled with each other’s serve and spent the match learning how to deal with them.  Robin  won the first two 11-7, but allowed Martin back in with 11-7 & 11-9.,  The decider was therefore quite tentative, but Robin played with care to make it safe at 11-4.

By this time a trembling Terry had arrived and West Yorkshire Police were asked to call off the search. A number of people in this area had been attacked by mutant zombies, so they were worried until we reported his arrival.  Liz played with confidence to win G1 11-4 as Terry blinked in the bright lights of the clubroom, but he started to get his act together to move to 11-6. Liz led at first in G3 as Terry started to adjust to the table, but he managed to win 11-5.  He began to stamp his authority on the set in G4 with better attacks and flicks and finished it at 11-4,at which point, Liz let out a very loud ‘Rubbish’, presumably a comment on her own playing, although I think most of us would have noticed a solid improvement since our earlier match.

Martin met John in G4 and a pattern of edginess developed with John matching one good smash with a poor one, but he did enough to win 11-6.  In G2, the tension resulted in John talking to himself and demonstrating some colourful language. Martin executed an outrageous fluke at 5-5 while John at one time called himself a ‘jughead’. However, the jughead prevailed in the end at 11-9.  John found himself out of position at times in G3, but Martin served off the table to give him a point. John had another fluke and slowly inched ahead to win 11-9.

Andy, who appears to be sponsored by the Paradise Shirt Co, at South Beach, executed some very aggressive forehand smashes, but was not consistent enough to match Terry as he  moved to 11-7 in G1. In G2, Terry managed some effective smashes while Andy squandered a serve, so Terry won 11-6.  A good Terry back hand flick in G3 was followed by a failed one. Andy managed a couple of very useful forehands, but his stamina flagged to allow Terry to win 11-7.

The first game between Robin and Liz was close as Robin had to recover from 8-10, but in G2 he settled into his game to win 11-7. His occasional side spin serve started to have effect in G6 and he finished at 11-6 to take the set with a good smash.

By this time POPPS had won the match and could perhaps afford to open up their game. Terry took on Martin, a game frequently interrupted by Liz shrieking like a demented hyena, but the players held their concentration as Terry cruised to 11-3 in G1, although Terry was heard to growl loudly when he missed a shot. It makes you believe that Table Tennis might make quite a good radio sport. G2 was stressful as Martin levelled at 9-9, but Terry calmed down to win 11-9. He thought he’d won the set and shook hands with Martin, but there was one more game to play. Martin led initially, the game levelled at 8 each but Terry put a couple of smashes together to win 11-9.  Set 8 saw Liz against John, who told a couple of dodgy Irish jokes during the warm-up. John imposed his authority on this game as his mobility improved and he won 11-2, 11-3 and 11-6.

In the final set, Andy met Robin, and although the match had been won, pride was at stake with the need to avoid bottom spot (which can be very painful) in the averages.   Robin won the first 2 games 11-6 and 11-6, trying to keep things steady, but saw that Andy had a dangerous forehand smash which could be quite effective.  It worked well in G3 which he won 11-8. However, the smash was inconsistent and led to some points being lost. G4 was close at first, but Robin held it together to win 11-5.

So, Popps registered another rare win in a match, as usual, played in good spirits with plenty of humour.  The key now is to sustain that improvement against more experienced opponents.

In a match of fluctuating fortunes Terry A excelled with a flawless exhibition of immaculate control (or was it conception?). The hard hitting Tradesmen banged not only the ball but their heads too trying to find a way past his superb defence.

He started the match off well with a 3-0 win against their No 1 Joshua. But Peter Mc and Derek G could not capitalise on this fine start, both loosing, and so the match score is now 2-1 against.

Enter Terry with another 3-0 against their No 3 Matthew. Score now 2-2.

Derek then lost a tight game against No 2 Sam so we then went behind again 3-2.

Peter came on and started getting his attack going to beat their No 3 Matthew and level the match to 3-3.

Again Derek , playing much better, had a very close game against their No 1, but finished 2nd and so Tradesmen are back in the lead 4-3.

However tenacious Terry returns to show us how it should be done with a 3rd 3-0 making the match score 4-4.

All depends on the last game but Peter keeps it together to give the Big Hitter, No1 Joshua, a run for his money. I’d like to say he smashed him off the table (well, I did, did’nt I?) and manages to get the win and Popps A gain a hard fought victory.

We then adjourned to the “Olde Shears” for a well earned pint to find they have a new manager, the last one presumably finished for having too many tins of mushy peas on his shelves instead of profit.

POPPS B: John Mitchell, Terry Wassall and Alan Partington
Tradesmen 2: Marcus Reynolds, Sam Clayton and Matt Knapton

Our first sight of the opposition was a bit disconcerting. The Tradesmen’s team looked more like the sort of group you would find knocking on your door in shorts during  ’Bob a job’ week. It is only a slight exaggeration to say their combined ages where only just enough allow them to drink legally in a pub. By contrast the combined age of the POPPS team was about 190 years. But surely the guile and experience that comes with age would overcome the undoubted advantages of speed and mobility the youngsters would have? Well, no, they didn’t. In fact the youthful team looked every bit like an England Junior TT squad on a diet of E numbers and Sunny Delight while knocking up and carried on in much the same vein in the match. It looked like POPPS were in for a bit of a hammering.

John played against Marcus in the first set, probably their best player by a whisker (not that he had one). In the first game John was bamboozled by Marcus’ serve putting return after return into the net and losing quickly and efficiently 4 – 11. Marcus’ serves were varied but mainly heavy back spin with occasional side. All the Trademens’ serves adopted the current fashion of throwing the ball high in the air in order to prolong the receiver’s apprehension of what devilish swervery was to come. This seemed to mesmerise John to begin with but in the second game he began to return the serve better and a variety of well placed backhand flicks and aggressive blocks got him to 10 all before losing 10 -12. The third was equally promising for a while but was lost 8 -11. 

Then Terry played Sam Clayton. Sam was probably the youngest of the team and certainly the shortest. It was a little disconcerting viewing him at the other end of the table with not much more than his head, shoulders and bat showing. In this, but no other respect, he reminded me of Kilroy in the famous ‘Kilroy was here’ cartoons of the 1940s and 50s. Make no mistake, Sam is going to be a formidable player before long, especially when he grows a foot or two. Terry lost 9-11, 8-11 and 6-11 and there was every sign that Sam could have played better if he had needed to. Sam’s serve was less reliable than Marcus’s and quite a few went into the net. This, combined with a few of Terry’s extravagant smashes coming off, much to his and Sam’s surprise, made the score more flattering than it perhaps should have been. The third set was Alan against Matt, with Alan losing 4-11, 8-11 and 6-11.  Alan played well whenever a rally developed but Matt’s consistant top spin drives usually forced an error with the ball being played back too long.

All the Tradesmen team members were clearly very good and well coached players and it would be difficult to pick between them. I guess they probably played in the correct order with Marcus at No.1, Sam at No.2 and Matt at No. 3 but there wasn’t much in it and in any case it would be difficult to tell as none of them were called on to play to their maximums. Matt seemed to play a little more conservatively than the other two but he was also the oldest and probably took a little more pity on us than the younger tyros. Did he see worrying intimations of his own future staring back from the other end of the table?

Once these opening 3 sets were over POPPS began to fair a little better – partly because we began to return serve more consistently and find our shots and partly no doubt because the Tradesmen new they had the measure of us and took their collective foot off the accelerator. Terry took a game off Marcus losing 7-11, 11-8, 8-11 and6-11. Terry won the second game fairly convincingly as Marcus made some uncharacteristic errors and Terry began to get the tricky serve back more consistently. He also had a chance, or so he thought, in the 3rd game getting to 8-8. But the 4th game told the true story when Marcus put his game together at 6-6 and took the winning game without losing another point. John also took a game off Matt, losing 4-11, 4-11, 11-4 and 7-11. Matt seemed to lose concentration at times but probably never felt he couldn’t turn it on if he had too. John was at his most successful when he was able to block Matt’s top spin just after the bounce with a closed bat and directing the return sharply to gaps in Matt’s defense. Less successful where his attempts at top spin drives and smashes. Alan’s set against Sam started well and he won some excellent rallies, again by persistent blocking, to hold his own for a while in the first game, losing eventually 7-11. But Sam then tightened up his serve and concentration to win the next two comfortably, 4-11 and 0-11.

The final 3 sets followed much the same pattern. Terry, having lost the first 2 games to Matt 8-11 and 6-11, managed to win the third 11-6. But despite running Matt close for most of the 4th game, lost it 9-11. This was probably the closest POPPS came to winning a set.  John’s final set was lost 4-11, 2-11 and 4-11 with Marcus seemingly winning points at will, getting just about everything back with interest. Alan’s final set against Sam produced again some excellent rallies and he managed to run Sam close in the 3rd game which he eventually lost 12-14, having lost the first 2 games 7-11 and 5-11.

It is difficult to take many positives from this game. The the lads clearly have the potential, given their age and current standard of play, to go on to play in higher divisions of the Halifax League and, who knows, beyond. But even if they cannot be a benchmark for the more stately POPPS B team members, we also have a fair bit of room for improvement and no doubt we will. The best that can be said is that POPPS B managed to win more games this time having lost to Tradesmen 2 last October by the same overall score. Small comfort!

Good to be back in action after the break, particularly with a win! We need a few 9 – 0′s however to be back in contention for promotion.

Derek’s arthritus robbed us of a couple of points in this match but he will be back to normal as soon as the weather improves I am sure.

Northowram Edge to 5-4 Win

Teams
Northowram Martyn Halliday, Josh Gee, Robert Gee
Popps ‘B’ Terry Wassall, John Mitchell, Robin Thomas

Fighting their way through a cold wintry night, Popps entered the cold wintry room to see the walls covered with toddlers’ paintings and a set of rules: Be kind, share, don’t swear, play, don’t fight, be polite, good manners. I can report that these rules were followed by the adults and that the room warmed up: perfect surroundings apart from a strangely feline smell and a floor more suited to strictly come skating. However, the match was played in good spirits with a hot cup of tea and a Jacob’s biscuit available from our hosts, something you don’t get at the HXTTC.

Set 1 saw Martyn against Terry. He started well to win 13-11, but Martyn fought back to win 11-9. A couple of good forehand smashes took Terry to 11-9 in G3, but Martyn’s spin service confused Terry in G4, to take it to a decider. It was level most of the way, but Terry missed a couple of smashes as Martyn moved to an 11-8 win, to win the set 3-2.

John Mitchell then came on to play young Josh, a rapidly improving player. Josh had some good forehand attacks, but could not prevent the experienced John from moving to 11-9. John’s continuing lack of mobility showed as Josh pushed him to 13-11, but John’s back hand flick worked to good effect to tie up G3 at 11-7.

The experienced Robert Gee then took on Robin and despite some good attacking shots and the occasional effective serve from Robin, Robert’s steadiness took him to 11-5, 11-8 and 11-6. One sensed that Robert had plenty in reserve if needed.

Back now to Terry who faced Josh. It was close in G1 with Josh having some good returns. However, Terry edged ahead to win 11-8 and 11-8. Josh lost some concentration in G3, to go down 11-3.

Set 5 brought Martyn and Robin together. Surprisingly, Robin won the first game 11-8 with some searing back hand flicks. When he has worked out how to do them again, he will try to incorporate them into his game. That is a problem with TT. Things sometimes work very well, but you don’t know how you did it. Like some other things in life. Martyn pulled things together with more steady play and reeled off 11-3, 11-5 and 11-7 to take the set.

John was now back to the table against Robert. At this point the low-tech scoring display started to fall apart and advanced origami skills were utilised to string together this card board and wire contraption. Robert shot into a lead and despite a fight-back by John, he cruised to 11-6. John started better in G2 and things were level at 7-7. By this time John was talking to himself and a phone call was made to the men in white coats. It worked for a while as John fought back to 9-10, but then Robert executed an outrageous fluke to take the game 11-9. Robert then shot to a 6-1 lead. John tried to get back but Robert was on a roll to move to ll-4, to take the set.

Set 7 brought Robin and Josh together. Conscious that it might be his only chance for a win, Robin played safely to win 11-2, 11-8 and 11-7.Josh executed some effective forehand smashes, but Robin held it together. However, Josh must have a good future if he continues to play, and demonstrated improvement since our last encounter with him However, it appears that football is his first love as he started to kick a ball around the room once the match was over. When he is a football millionaire living in Prestbury, we will be able to say that we once beat him at table tennis.

John Mitchell then played Martyn in the best set of the night. Martin took the first game 11-5, but John immediately struck back to win 11-7 after a better start. John’s backhand proved unreliable in G3 and Martyn won 11-9. With snow clouds looming outside, would be get snowed in, to live off a few chocolate biscuits? John moved ahead in G4, to win 11-6 with the decider to play. John moved to a 5-0 start, but Martyn clawed his way back to 9-8, only to allow John to win 11-8 and the set 3-2.

Set 9 saw Terry and Robert playing on the alternative table with a yellow ball. I don’t think that made any difference and Robert moved to 11-7, 11-5 and 11-5. Terry executed some spectacular smashes and at one time Robert’s serve missed the table, but his steadier game overall meant that the result was not in doubt.

Northowram MPM therefore won the encounter 5-4 and the people got home before the snows fell.

RT