The New Milton Table Tennis Club had a reasonable return in the Bournemouth and District Table Tennis league as they won 4, drew 2 and lost 4. There were some star performances again but Julie Smillie’s first hat-trick of the campaign couldn’t have come at a better time to help out her struggling B team.

Div 1 saw the third from bottom B team (Julie Smillie, Zoltan Karib-Barath and Shaun Newcomb) ease their relegation worries as they beat basement boys Bournemouth Sports G 7-3 for the second time. Smillie (pronounced “Smiley”) played a blinder to come up with her first hat-trick of the campaign, Karib-Barath bagged a brace and Newcomb added one more to the scorecard.

Div 1 also saw the C team (James Lewis, Jacob Tse and Max De Kment) do their club mates a favour with a 6-4 victory over second from bottom Broadstone A. Tse came up with his second hat-trick in a row, but De Kment and captain Lewis had to settle for one apiece this week. Victory was secured as Lewis and De Kment won the doubles over four sets.

Up in the Premier, the A team had to call on two reserves as they faced Lynwood A who were similarly afflicted down at the Winton YMCA. It ended up a 5-5 draw with a hat-trick from Brian Vibert and two from Alan Gordon who was playing up from Div 1. James Lewis, also playing up from Div 1 was unlucky not to add at least one more to the tally as all of his games went to five sets, but without reward. Milton still could have nicked it at the end, but unfortunately Vibert and Gordon just lost the doubles over five hard-fought sets.

In Div 2, the D team (Terry Jenvey, Roy Hobbs and Bob Fagan) lost 2-8 for the second time to leaders Broadstone B, this time at Mudeford Wood. Hobbs and Fagan won one each and it looked as though Milton could salvage a point as they won the first set of the doubles. That proved a false dawn however as they went on to lose the next three sets.

Div 3 saw the E team remain unbeaten over seven weeks as they beat bottom-dwellers Shamrock A by 7-3. Simon Golding came up with his second hat-trick in two weeks but Clive Pitts was deprived of his second consecutive treble as he lost to Shamrock’s Dave Read 9-11 in an enthralling five-setter. Teenager Max Doohan chipped in with the one win and helped Golding to win the doubles.

Milton’s other two teams in Div 3 didn’t fare quite so well. The F team (Sylvia Smith, Frank Handy and stand-in Peter Daish) lost 4-6 to leaders Ringwood B despite an excellent hat-trick from Handy. Captain Smith had a bit of an off-night but 13 year old Daish playing up from Div 4 was a delight as he added one more to the tally. After the match, Smith said “Peter stepped in at the last minute due to illness. He played with excellence and great maturity in spite of his tender years.”

The G team (Malcolm Nash, Lewis Reading and Eddie Tompkins) came away empty handed from Southbourne as they were beaten 2-8 by Merton F. Reading and Tompkins won one each and Milton only just missed out on a point as Tompkins lost 11-13 to Merton’s Andrew King.

In Div 4, the H team drew 5-5 with the struggling Bournemouth Sports N at Chapel Gate. Dan Williams and Bobo Jiang bagged a brace apiece and Andrew Daish added one more to the reckoning. The doubles were needed for victory and again it looked promising as fourth-man Peter Daish and Jiang took the first set, but they lost the next three so had to settle for the draw.

Div 5 saw the J team (Malcolm Douglas, Sam Watkins and Geoff Biggs) continue their winning run by beating Bournemouth Sports S 8-2 in their own back yard. Captain Douglas led from the front with a hat-trick but Watkins and Biggs fell victim to Bourne’s Maggie White. The maximum points were secured as Douglas and Watkins won the doubles in a very high scoring match of four sets.

Also in Div 5, the K team featuring Sue Wootton-Freeman, Richard Ursell and Jack Fisher lost 1-9 to the high-flying Bournemouth Sports R at the Arnewood School. Ursell spared the blushes as he beat Bourne’s Rob Griffiths.