Table Tennis Roger Fensom set Elsworth I on their way to a 7-3 victory over Ely II by winning three singles and then the doubles with Peter Goatly.

Fensom was supported by two wins from Goatly – losing only to Andrew Maguire – and one from Joe Thorogood who beat Emily Birt. Ely’s other two points came from Maguire and Ashley Rowe who both beat Thorogood.

The Mohans of Ely I were in top form, only one match going beyond three legs, when they beat NCI 10-0.

Martin Freeland gave Soham the perfect start with a solid win against Tracey Sambrook from Impington I.

Helen Arnold produced some consistent attacking play and levelled the match for Impington with a victory over Tony Everitt. Clive Woollard of Soham then looked to have the better of Impington’s Pierre Bernard, leading by two sets to one and taking a 10-2 lead in the fourth set.

Bernard however stuck to his game plan and displayed tremendous determination and consistency to claw his way back winning 10 points in a row to take the set 12-10 before going on to win the deciding set and stake his claim for the comeback of the year.

Freeland put Soham back onto the winning trail by defeating Arnold but Bernard eased Impington back into a 3-2 lead after beating Everitt and then Woollard levelled the match once again with a close five-set victory over Sambrook.

The much anticipated match between Freeland and Bernard lived up to expectations with three of the sets being decided in deuce and Bernard eventually running out as victor, taking the deciding fifth set 11-9 to move Impington 4-3 ahead. The final singles matches saw Everitt and Woollard defeat Sambrook and Arnold respectively to put Soham back into a 5-4 lead. A closely contested doubles saw Freeland and Everitt beat Sambrook and Arnold to give Soham a final 6-4 victory.

Division 2 action saw Impington 2 benefitting from support from below in the shape of Jeff Catlin.

The Ely IV side fielded their top team of Rob Pownall, Neil Abram and Greg Ozog so the Imps needed the extra power. Catlin had two tough scraps against Abram and Pownall losing a leg against each of them. He had a slightly easier time against Ozog though he was taken to deuce in the third and final leg. Mike Johnston managed to overcome Ozog in four legs and was then given a lesson by Abram, who beat him in three. In the final singles match of the evening, Pownall seemed to lose his concentration and touch when he lost in three legs to Johnston. Duncan Taylor and Johnston put up a great show in the doubles against Abram and Pownall taking the game to five legs.

Unfortunately their performance was a little tame in the final leg which they gave up easily to finish the match at 5-5.

At the top of the division, the challenge was presented to Soham Comrades II as David Lam of Fulbourn V kept the match all square at 2-2, overcoming both Bela Szabo and Rob Wallis.

However, try as they might, neither Nick Gatherer nor Andrew Segar could advance the Fulbourn cause as Comrades took control. Nonetheless Lam wasn’t finished and completed a notable maximum just edging the last singles against Kin Choi Chan to make the final score 7-3 to Comrades.

Impington III continued their winning ways when Jeff Catlin and Colin Adams scored singles maximums then combined to take the doubles to give the Imps a 7-3 victory over Soham Comrades III.

Comrades’ Janet Nicholls and Adam Speed both took Adams to five sets but Comrades’ only points on the board came from wins over Ena Catlin.

In the only Division 3 match reported, Haddenham came from 4-0 and 5-2 down to gain a deserved draw against Countess. A very close five-setter saw Countess’ much-improved Tim Atkinson beat Paul Shepherd.