Not knowing the Handicap allowance till the end of the match made it quite exciting.

Peter Mc Started the battle with a hard attacking effort against David Blackburn.Davids retrieving from 20′ back was amazing and eventually won him the game 42-30 — still a satisfactory start for Popps.

John T. had a similar result against Brian Chapman going down at 42-29.

Terry A. then revealed himself (!) and had an easy win against Steve Caufield 42-24.

Peter lost 41-32 to Brian C but then Terry came on against Dave B in what was to be the Match of the Season. In a 3 hour Epic and after 24832 strokes Terry finished up the victor at 42-39, a fantastic performance by both players.
The aggregate score at this stage was Suma 188 Popps 175 — Popps seemingly in a strong position.

Popps continued in a similar vein over the last 4 sets — Terry completing his 100% record against this high flying Div 2 opposition, with Peter and John doing their best in the other games.

Popps thought the match was theirs with a mere 53 points deficit.
However when the ballot box was opened and showed only a 45 point allowance, Suma came out victors by the narrow margin of 8 points !!

We have to congratulate Suma on the way they stuck at it, particularly David when he had to win by a big margin to clinch the match.
So the singles season comes to an end and our gradual improvement unfortunately came to the attention of the handicapping committee just too early ! We can’t hide our light under the bushel forever !

Well done all who have played in the Popps A team this season, those who played tonight, also Derek and Alan who have made equal contributions.
And a special mention to Terry Allington who must be undoubtedly be Halifax’s emerging “Star of the Season”

P.Mc

Popps A 420 Panthers B 375

Our top doubles partnership, Terry Allington and John did not get off to their usual good start, only managing 15-42 in the first game. We feared the worst against the First Division team who had Robert Wood, James Foster and Matthew Stevens playing for them.

With Peter Mc suffering from tennis elbow (bad !), John with gastro enteritus (really spelt “the sh—s)and lack of sleep (volunteers wanted to do the washing) Terry had to be in top form to carry the others. He did not relish the task (particularly with his fine sense of smell) but nevertheless he took up the challenge inspiring both Peter and John to greater heights.

We actually won 3 games and had the match tied up before the last sets, winning by an impressive 45 points.

p.mc.

Tuesday November 24, 2009.
This team finished above Popps last year and currently are one place above us.  A win could take us above them, but would we be able to demonstrate some consistency against these experienced campaigners?  We arrived ready to play at 7.15 and waited for our opponents to turn up. They eventfully arrived at 7.30, having claimed to have fought through storms and floods to get here. In fact they arrived with one player stuffing herself with chocolate bars while the remainder sucked lollypops for most of the evening, hence the sticky ball, something to be avoided in all situations.

Terry Wassall kicked off well with a win against Derek Williamson.  It took 4 games, Terry winning the first with some good smashes and G2 with better play. However, in G3, Derek took one back with consistent play and the odd fluke. Terry had to focus well to win G4, but he did so, with some well-aimed smashes and a generally safe approach. Terry won 11-5, 11-7, 9-11 and 11-4.

Alan then appeared against Sue Allen. He took time to settle and tried to play safe, but Sue bamboozled him with her service and her successful attacking shots. Alan played better in G3, taking her to 13-15, purely by playing steady returns, but she prevailed to win 3-0.

Your team secretary then took on Rose Tipton. Players from Old Town Hounds like to make themselves out to be shepherds eking out a living in the high pastures of the Pennines, but in reality they are solidly middle class financial advisers and systems analysts.  Robin could not deal with her serve which in fact turned out to be illegal and has been banned by the international court of justice in The Hague.  She also executed some good (legal) forehand smashes and Robin lost 11-8, 11-6 and 11-3, by which time he was hitting anything that moved. At one point, she removed her track suit top to reveal a Persil-white aertex shirt. This is of course illegal and our John Taylor would have called in the TT police. However, it was the sensuous removal of the track suit top which finally killed off RT’s concentration as she waltzed to a 3-0 victory.

It was then Alan’s turn to meet Derek Williamson. He played well in the first game while Derek was executing some wild, angry smashes and at 11-7, things looked good for us, but Derek got his game together and with the help of a good back hand flick moved to 11-6.  Alan could not sustain his form and Derek used his flick to good effect to win the remaining two games to 4.

Then came the set of the match between Terry and Rose Tipton.  Initially, he did not cope with that serve, did not settle down and lost 6-11.  Despite one shot which hit the roof, Terry pulled away to win G2 11-8 and achieved the same score in G3 after a balanced game and one lucky fluke.  In G4, Terry needed to keep cool, but Rose was creeping ahead to 11-7 and a final game beckoned.  Using his short serve worked well, followed up by a smash to Rose’s back hand and Terry eventually succeeded at 11-5.

Robin had some good rallies with Sue and executed one or two attacks, but overall her game was too steady and she ran out 11-5, 11-6 & 11-4 as Robin’s enthusiasm for prolonging the agony finally petered away.

Alan then took on the shimmering white top of Rose. He stumbled as he blinked in the glare, like a startled rabbit in front of a BMW on a dark Pennine night and Rose motored ahead to 11-5. She executed a powerful back hand flick and a well-placed oblique shot to the right of Alan’s forehand and won G2 11-4.  A similar pattern was observed in G3, with Alan not dealing with the serve. He pushed back in mid-game, but Rose eased to 11-5 to take the encounter.

Robin failed to deal with Derek’s tricky serve, got some smashes in, but went out as Derek won 11-5, 11-4 & 11-5.

Terry had hopes of keeping his 100% record in the final set against Sue. He tried to balance his attacks with some steady defence, but Sue smashed her way to 11-8 in G1.  His tactics were more effective in G2 and the game was level at 9-9.  However, Sue kept her nerve with a couple of winners, the final one accompanied by a major foot-stamp. This woke us all up, but stamping, whilst illegal in Rugby Union, is ok in TT it seems. In G3, Terry tried hard to keep on terms, producing some good attacking shots to level at 5-5.  But Sue steadied her game, this time without stamping on anyone and cruised to 11-6.

As usual, the match, won 7-2 by Hounds, was played with good humour and enthusiasm and our opponents climbed on to their tractor and rumbled back through the flooded valley to the barren slopes of the Pennines with another win under their belts. Tomorrow, Rose’s shirt will tipped into the Hotpoint twin-tub be soaked in Persil again, ready for another dazzling success.

The match got off to a late start as the POPPs team, playing away, had taken the venue details from the Handbook which was incorrect. After a number of phone calls and, in Terry Wassall’s case, a stop at the Hare and Hounds pub and Old Town Cricket Club for directions, we all found our way to the chapel where the match duly took place. It was all rather hurried and our reporter was not able to make any notes for this record but  the facts are roughly as follows:  we were hammered. Terry W played at number 1 (as he was first to arrive and at least got a bit of a warm up). He took a game off each of the Hare’s numbers 2 and 3 but lost to their number 3 (who turned out to be a well known table tennis coach in the Yorkshire area!)  0-3. David Mitchell  also won a couple of games over the evening but hasn’t  really get into his stride yet after a long layoff and injury. However, he is gradually getting there and will undoubtedly be more of a force in the second half of the season.

In many ways the POPPs star of the evening was new member Joan in her first ever competitive match. She lost all 3 of her set, like the rest of the team, but improved noticeably as the evening went on. Her basic blocking game was greatly aided by a level of mobility that was quite alien to the normal POPPs B style of play and, as her confidence grew and she put a little more pace and aggression into her more attacking shots, she began to win some points very convincingly. She will undoubtedly become a valuable addition to the B team over the rest of the season. She had benefited of course by watching the other B team players and working out that she had to do something else! So we lost 0 - 9 but against a very good team that will undoubtedly finish very high in the division this year.

There is no doubt the B team are struggling this year and it is easy to become somewhat demoralised. However, given that the better POPPs players are in an A team this year, and last year most of our matches had at least 2 of what are now A team players in the team, the B team is doing pretty much as well as last year. If we keep trying to  learn and keep a positive and constructive attitude, there is no reason why we shouldn’t improve over the season and have a really good run at it next season. In many ways the B team is starting from scratch this year with 2 new players and the 2 players from last year who had played the least number of matches.

Now we know why this team is called ‘G’. Two of their members are from the Gee dynasty, although on this occasion, the legendary Barbara Gee was missing.

From the Popps point of view, we knew we would put in an improved performance with the knowledge that Terry Allington would be playing for us, as we had run out of subs for the ‘B’ team.

In match one against John Wasilewski, Terry A started in his usual patient and steady way, moving smoothly to 11-4. John tried to play Terry at his own game, but lost ground with a couple of failed serves, to lose again 11-4. There were some long rallies in G3, but John had a tendency to over hit and Terry won 11-2.

Terry Wassall then took on Robert Gee. After an excellent first smash, he missed few more against the steadier Robert, who moved smoothly to 11-5. Terry tried to slow things down in G2, but was not connecting and lost 11-2. Robert’s spin serve started to trouble Terry in G3, his percentage of effective attacks reduced and Robert cruised to 11-6.

Probably the youngest member of the Gee tribe appeared in the 3^rd match, where his relative inexperience allowed Robin Thomas to surge to a rare win, 11-4, 11-3 and 11-8. Josh Gee improved in the last game and executed some effective forehand shots. He played with high concentration and good spirit, but Robin was able to vary his serve to good effect to ensure control  the encounter.

Terry Wassall then appeared against John Wasilewski, to create the best balanced match of the night. John won G1 12-10, with some good forehands from Terry and some equally good returns from John. Terry pulled level by 11-8 with a couple of effective smashes. He moved ahead in G3 at 11-9, seeming to connect more with his shots, but in G4, John introduced a tricky spin serve which confused Terry  as John raced ahead to win 11-1.  Finally, John played a steady game to win the decider 11-5.

Terry Allington then met the young Josh Gee, who concentrated hard against the more experienced player. There were some good rallies and Josh delivered a couple of forehand winners, but Terry’s legendary consistency wore him down, to win 11-2, 11-3 and 11-3.

Robin could not handle Robert Gee’s spin, managed to produce one or two winning shots, but gradually lost the motivation to survive against a much better player and went out 11-3, 11-1 and 11-2. Terry W then took on Josh Gee, who scored well, but lost 11-7, 11-5 and 11-4. Terry over-hit some of his shots and Josh demonstrated good mobility. However, all those years of playing table tennis as a bus driver (no—not at the same time as driving a bus) won in the end over the inexperienced, but promising Josh. Robin’s performance against John Wasilewski showed some flair in the second game, where he achieved some winners, but John’s experience, steadiness and use of spin helped him to wins of 11-0, 11-9 and 11-3.

The final match was to be the decider, with the fixture balanced on 4 each.  Terry Allington against Robert Gee turned out to be a fascinating match as both players tried to keep things under control.  Terry played his famous safe game which is hard to deal with at this level. Robert tried to match him, shot for shot, then picking his moment for an attack, In the end, the strategy failed because whichever tactics Robert used, Terry was there, inching ahead remorselessly, to win 11—5,11-8 and 11-4. Towards the end, Robert’s patience deserted him and a couple of missed smashes allowed Terry to creep ahead.

Overall, then an enjoyable match, played with good humour. Terry Allington’s presence in the side gave us a firm foundation which led to our win, whilst the youth of Josh gave us additional opportunities. What other sport would show such a range of ages, from teens to mid 60s? This is one of the virtues of this great game of Table Tennis. You can play as soon as you are old enough to hold a bat and only have to give up when you keep on dropping it.

First our official complaints (not excuses I hasten to add) :–
 
1. They tried to dint our enthusiasm by telling us that they won  last winter Third Division  by a  margin of 30 points. Totally out of order.
2. Their No 2, David, topped Div 3 averages last year and he regularly runs marathons  (fit bugger !).  Surely this cannot be allowed ?
3. Captain Mick, small in physique but big in bed, brought  back fresh from his honeymoon in Cyprus and ready to go.  Foreplay like this should be banned (or he should be quarantined for at least a week on his return.
4. John, our star player complained he had to play against 2 people at the same time (although the scorer was ‘ours’).  A definite legitimate claim.
 
Now the match highlights.
 
1. Peter won his first 2 games against their No.1, Michael in magnificent style (but then managed to turn victory into defeat).
2. John took 1 off the newly wed (game, not woman) even more gloriously.
3. Alan showed great improving style and playing some excellent rallies against their David.
 
They could not match our highlights, but in the end thanks to 9 lucky results ended up just in front.
 
A prize is up for grabs to the first person to guess the actual result. It is the actual match ball, old and flawed just like POPPS.  (Anyone or their friends or relations with any knowledge of TT is banned from entering.

Spartans won 7-2.  POPPs team David, Peter and Terry.  David was the only set winner for POPPs with a win of 3-0 against Spartan’s Steve Hanson and a hard fought 3-2 win over Michael Mullins.

Peter took a game from all 3 players, Michael, Karthik Shetty and Steve. Terry failed to win a single game thus confiming his position as the POPPs no. 3.

Result POPPS 4-5 Tradesmen Team

Peter 1 win, David 2 wins, John 1 win.

A close match which went to the last game in which Peter was unable to get the better of his wiley opponent (Ken, Denise’s husband). Could have gone either way but we couldn’t complain in the end and the learning curve continues to curve.

POPPs (Peter, John Taylor and Terry) faced up to the Evergreens (Mick, Dave and Mark) in confident but deluded mood. To cut to the chase, POPPs lost 9 sets to nil. We had our moments, some good rallies where a passing observer may have briefly assumed a hard fought close match was in progress, and even a few games were won. John took a game off Mark, 11-8. Terry took Mick to 5 games winning 2 of them 11-5 and 13-11. Peter took 2 games from Mark winning them 11-9 and 11-5. John took 2 games from Mick, 11-8 and 11-5. And Peter took 1 game from Dave, 11-8 . Altogether we won 8 games but no sets. 4 of our losing games went to 1 all. But it is hard to pretend we were in with much of a chance. We sometimes come away from a losing match thinking that, all in all, the opposing team were not really that  much better than us and next time it could be different.  I don’t think any of us thought this would be the case with the Evergreens who always seemed to have a couple of extra gears when they needed them.