Uncannily the New Milton Table Tennis Club came up with an identical set of results in the Bournemouth and District league for the third week in a row; six wins, three defeats and one draw. John Parkhouse has finally managed to translate his formidable practice-night form across to the league to come up with his first hat-trick since January.

Parkie’s triumph came in Div 4 as he helped his H team to an excellent 8-2 victory over second-placed Breamore Batniks in their own back yard. Bobo Liang matched his treble but Danny Williams won just the one so the doubles were needed for maximum points. Parkhouse was not to be denied as he teamed with fourth man Andrew Daish to take the honours.

Down in Div 5, the J team did very well to hold the table-topping Ringwood C to a hard-earned draw at Mudeford Wood. 16 year old Luke Gurton and Keith Kensley won two each, captain Malcolm Douglas could only manage one win this week, but at least they all managed to beat ex-Miltonian Richard Barrett. The doubles would have brought victory but it wasn’t to be as Gurton and Kensley lost in three straight sets, albeit two of which went to deuce.

Also in Div 5, the K team (Lucy & Michael Craddock and Jack Fisher) lost 0-10 for the fourth week in a row and remain at the bottom of the league. All three youngsters are showing great promise however, and are thoroughly enjoying their table tennis and their time will come.

At the opposite end of the league in the Premier, the A team (Steve Hemmings, Brian Bickell and Brian Vibert) came up with their best result of the campaign as they dealt out a 10-0 thrashing to Kinson A. Captain Vibert came up with his second hat-trick in two weeks and namesake Bickell was pleased to bag his first treble of the campaign.

Div 1 saw the B team (Julie Smillie, Shaun Newcomb and Zoltan Karib-Barath) take a stumble after three wins on the trot as they lost 3-7 away to second-placed Bournemouth Sports H. The Milton trio all managed to beat Bourne’s ever-smiling Charlie Chang so at least they came away from Chapel Gate with a point and a grin.

Also in Div 1, the C team managed to gain ground on the B team as the C’s beat struggling Bournemouth Sports G by 9-1 at Mudeford Wood. Gerard Redman and Jacob Tse recorded their first hat-tricks of the season, but the treble continues to evade Max De Kent who had to be content with two wins. Once again, captain James Lewis played as fourth man and joined Tse to win the doubles.

Div 2 saw the D team come up with a 9-1 victory of their own as they mauled basement boys Nimrod A in their own back yard at Portchester School. Captain Terry Jenvey, Roy Hobbs and Bob Fagan won all of their singles so it was down to the doubles for the clean sheet. However, the Nimrod pairing showed great spirit despite their individual defeats and beat Hobbs and Fagan by 11-9 in the fifth end to avoid the whitewash.

There was a surprise result in Div 3 as the second from bottom E team (Simon Golding, Max Doohan and Clive Pitts) beat their third placed F team (Ian Linney, Svet Ignatov and Frank Handy) 6-4 in their derby at Mudeford Wood. Golding came up with his first hat-trick of the campaign without dropping so much as a single set, Doohan only lost to Handy who dropped a rare game, but Pitts drew a rare blank. The F team had the chance to level things off through the doubles but Golding and Doohan disposed of Linney and Handy in three straight sets.

Also in Div 3, the G team (Matthew & Simon Daish and Lewis Reading) came up with a tremendous 6-4 away victory over table toppers Lynwood C. The brothers Daish bagged a brace apiece, Reading added one more to the tally and then the Daishes won the doubles to secure the win.