New Milton Table Tennis Club had their best week in the Bournemouth and District league so far this season as they clocked up seven wins out of ten matches. The defeats came from both extremes of the league as their A and B teams lost heavily in the upper echelons, but at least the K team picked up a welcome point from their defeat in Div 5.

In the Premier, the A team (Steve Hemmings, Brian Vibert and stand-in Alan Gordon) were whitewashed 0-10 for the second time by Bournemouth Sports A who are running away with the title.

Div 1 saw the B team (Malcolm Floyd, Julie Smillie and Shaun Newcomb) lose 2-8 away against Merton B having beaten them 6-4 at home in the first round. Milton were clearly missing star player Zoltan Karib-Barath, but Smillie and Newcomb did very well to beat Merton’s Adam Elcock. A point was riding on the doubles but captain Floyd and Newcomb uncharacteristically never really gelled as they lost in three straight sets.

Also in Div 1, the C team (Alan Gordon, Jacob Tse and James Lewis) leap-frogged over their B team as they beat Lynwood B 8-2 at home. Gordon dropped the only singles and captain Lewis and Tse lost the doubles.

Div 2 saw the D team get back to winning ways as they beat North Bournemouth B by 6-4 for the second time this season. Captain Terry Jenvey led from the front with a superb away hat-trick, Roy Hobbs bagged a brace and Bob Fagan chipped in with the one win.

In Div 3, the E team did the double over Bournemouth Sports L, this time with the more emphatic 8-2 scoreline at Chapel Gate. Simon Golding and Clive Pitts were honours even as they both scored hat-tricks and combined devastatingly to win the doubles in three straight sets. This combined with a win by Bill Page ensured Milton went home with maximum points.

Div 3 also saw the F team (Sylvia Smith, Ian Linney and Frank Handy) do their own double over basement boys Shamrock A with a 7-3 away victory. Handy scored a hat-trick without dropping so much as a single set, captain Smith joined him in a treble but Linney had a bit of an off night as he could only come up with the one win this week. Milton nearly came away with maximum points, but Smith and Handy just lost the doubles 13-15 in an enthralling five-setter.

Also in Div 3, the G team (Malcolm Nash, Eddie Tompkins and Matthew Daish) avenged their first round drubbing at the hands of Broadstone C by beating them 6-4 at the Arnewood School. 11 year old Daish is scoring hat-tricks for fun and captain Nash and Tompkins added one apiece to the tally. Daish and Tompkins then won the doubles to secure the win.

The H team (Peter Daish, Bobo Jiang and John Parkhouse) improved on their first round away draw with Nimrod B in Div 4 by beating them 8-2 at Arnewood. 13 year old Daish matched younger brother Matthew’s treble and Jiang and Parkhouse bagged a brace apiece. Daish then urged on Jiang and Parkhouse as they won the doubles in three straight sets to claim maximum points.

Div 5 saw the J team (Keith Kensley, Geoff Biggs and Sam Watkins) beat struggling Winton YMCA D 7-3 for the second time, this time at Mudeford Wood. Watkins was easily man of the match as he came up with his second treble of the campaign while Biggs and Kensley had to settle for a brace apiece. The doubles were needed for maximum points but it wasn’t to be as Biggs and Watkins lost in three straight sets.

Also in Div 5, the K team (Sibyl Bartlett, Richard Brockbank and Lucy Craddock) improved on their first round home whitewash at the hands of Bournemouth Sports T by only losing 3-7 at Chapel Gate. Bartlett and recent signing Brockbank both beat Bourne’s Charlie Symes, then Brockbank and 14 year old Lucy won the doubles to come away with their hard-earned point.