Two of the teams from the New Milton Table Tennis Club have booked their places in the Semi-Finals of the Annual Bournemouth & District Times & Directory Handicap Plate competition. The D team had the easier passage as Bmth Sports P conceded the match as they were unable to put out a team.

The G team (Simon Golding, Clive Pitts & Simon Daish) who normally play in Div 3 in the league booked their place in the semis with a 7-2 victory over the Premier’s Merton B at the Grange. The fixture should have been played at Merton’s venue in Southbourne, but when the team arrived in good time there were two other matches taking place so there was no room for them. G team non-playing captain Bev Scott-Johns sportingly suggested that the match be played at Milton’s venue the Grange so both teams quickly decamped to Somerford. The farce continued as Milton were gifted three games because Merton were a player short, so Milton only had to win two to go through. Golding (pictured below) and Pitts duly obliged by beating Merton’s Tom Stride, and Merton conceded the last two games which were academic.

In the other Plate match played at the Grange, the K team (Stuart Burton, Andrew Stainton & Richard Clampin) lost 4-5 to Bmth Sports C. The Kays who normally ply their trade in Div 5 went 0-4 down against Div 1’s Bmth Sports, but captain Burton kept Milton’s hopes alive by winning the fifth game against Bourne’s Greg McLaughlin. Clampin and Stainton then won their next matches to make it 3-4, but Clampin lost very narrowly (20-21 in the third set) to ex Milton player Alan Gordon who won all three. It was all over, but Burton gave a glimpse of what might have been as he got the better of Andy Hartnell in the ninth and final end.

The club eagerly awaits the next draw to see if the Gees and Dees will be pitched against each other in the semi-finals.

In the club’s only league match last week, the D team (Terry Jenvey, Chris Pusey & Norma Millward) lost against Bmth Sports E for the second time in Div 2, this time by the higher margin of 2-8 away at Chapel Gate. Captain Jenvey reported that the scoreline did not reflect the match as two of the defeats came at deuce in the fifth set, so Milton were unlucky not to have come away with a point.