NJ’s (home)A: Ross Barnes, B: Charlie Cliffe, C: Josh Gee
POPPs B (away) X: Derek Greenwood, Y: Joan Bottomley, Z: Tom Sunderland
After the Popps ‘A’ team’s recent chaotic visit to Northowram, we were relieved to find only two tables occupying the playing area as opposed to the previous three. The ‘B’ team was reduced further by the diary secretary of Terry Wassall, leaving this stressed-out academic slavering behind a large glass of Merlot on his very own sofa instead of battling it out with the Northowram ‘youth club’ – more muffin than boffin you could say! Tom, doing his round as the ‘B’ team gauleiter, happen-stanced his limping way into the Northowram arena without bat or pumps, protesting his inability & unfitness to play. But Joan was there, and bleeding heavily from the nose as Tom resisted her overtures, she squeezed out her not inconsiderable charm into bucket after bucket, her final coup de grace being the offer to Tom to play with her equipment – sometimes known as a paddle! Because of Tom’s late & unexpected arrival, together with the ‘rivers of blood’, Derek, on generous loan from the ‘A’ team, had already played his three sets by the time the other two were pronounced ‘fit to play’. His first set against Ross tested his uncompetitive recent past & lack of any kind of practice, well past the limit, although Derek did manage to squeeze into a final fifth game before he shuffled off his mortal coil. Charlie proved a slightly easier nut to crack as Derek changed up a gear & took on a Stig-like pose at the end of the table. Derek’s victory in three games was close but ultimately assured, not least due to the respect shown to him, in every way, by Charlie – well played, young man! Against Josh, Derek simply wafted Josh away as if he were merely an irritating insect come in from the cold. Charlie & Joan enjoyed a somewhat cliff-hanging five game set with Charlie finding the focus to close the match. Good performance overall from Joan though. Ross took on Tom in a curiously one-sided set in which Tom found little to be happy about. The set of the night was certainly Josh against Joan. Having seriously squandered his games & sets against Derek, Josh got his act together against Joan, finding a focus & accuracy missing from his game so far. Joan responded, but tiring at crucial points & allowing her confidence to evaporate occasionally, she succumbed to Josh over 5 games. Josh had less luck against Tom, with Tom catching his form using Derek’s bat, enabling him to speedily waft Josh away. Ross’s well organised all-round game was too much for Joan & he completed a relatively easy 3 game victory. In a tight set, Tom eventually succumbed in three close games to Charlie’s superior mobility & continued impressive shot range.
A dis-jointed but accomplished evening of table-tennis with Northowram Juniors winning 6-3, leaving much for Popps ‘B’ to think about, like when is Joan going to get a new & faster bat, when will Tom tell his doctor that his medication is rubbish & does not win him table-tennis matches, when will Terry W. send his diary secretary for re-education to the gulag & when will loanee Derek earn his fee & win three games out of three? Well done, Juniors, a deserved win for you!
1: AvX 6-11/8-11/13-11/11-5/9-11. (A)
2: BvY 11-8/9-11/2-11/11-5/13-11. (H)
3: CvZ 7-11/8-11/7-11. (A)
4: BvX 5-11/10-12/10-12. (A)
5: AvZ 11-1/11-3/11-7. (H)
6: CvY 9-11/6-11/11-7/11-8/13-11. (H)
7: BvZ 12-10/13-11/12-10. (H)
8: CvX 11-0/11-3/11-6. (H)
9: AvY 11-8/11-4/11-7.(H)