Hankey toils to make mark

THE return of former Lancashire No.1 Mark Hankey, back after several years in retirement, couldn’t prevent Hyde YMCA from going down 8-2 against reigning champions and league leaders Glodwick in the first division of the Oldham Table Tennis League.

Mark and Lionel Royle did manage to beat Kamal Hussain but couldn’t get to grips with undefeated Andy Jackson and Graham Young.

There was a tremendous game at Grotton where the A team beat Hollinwood B 9-1. Apart from Shaun Ellis’s trio of straight-game wins, every match went to a deciding set with no fewer than 18 games going to deuce.

Steve Oliver with a magnificent treble took most advantage of this, while Andy Kaye won Hollinwood’s consolation.

Plenty of games also went to a decider in the Saddleworth CC A match at home to BAE A. Paul Cicchelli was undefeated and Duncan Hadfield won two as Saddleworth won 7-3, Tony Bates winning two for the visitors.

Hollinwood A won 8-2 at BAE’s B team despite two good wins for Eddie Kalinowski. Ian Quinn was undefeated for Hollinwood with good support from an in-form Colin Boardman and George Jones.

Werneth B had a close match against Honeywell A and just came out on top 6-4. There were two wins for Rob Carter and Gary Skinner for Werneth while Gary Newton won two for Honeywell.

There was also a 6-4 win for Werneth’s A team away to Rosehill. Daryl Meredith won his customary three, all in straight games, with support from his father Stuart winning two. All Rosehill’s players contributed with two good wins for Richard Sarre and one apiece for Dave Pegg and Phil Ashworth.

Honeywell B won 8-2 at home to Werneth C with Dave Buckley and Steve Barber both winning three.

Coldhurst A and Pennine shared the honours at Coldhurst in the second division. Glen Chadwick was again undefeated for Pennine while Paul Howarth and Simon King won two each for Coldhurst.

League leaders Unison A went down 6-4 at home to Werneth D with tremendous trebles for Mick Pellowe and Richard Hinchcliffe.

Hyde YMCA B team whitewashed Honeywell D to move into second position, with the Honeywell team being unfortunate to lose three matches deuce in the fifth.

Saddleworth CC B prevailed 7-3 against Gilders Tackle in the third division. An in-form Chris Brazewell won three and Alex Griffiths two for the cricketers, evergreen Gerry Lees repying with two.

Oldham Deaf A team retained their lead at the top of the division with a 9-1 win at home to Coldhurst C with trebles for Pete Dawson and Ian Cockcroft.

Unison C kept up the pressure with a 10-0 win at Honeywell E thanks to Mike O’Gara, Jim Bollard and Frank Sheldon.

In the fourth division, Our Lady’s C team beat their B team 6-4 with James Chappell, celebrating his under-11s win at the Lancashire trials by winning three, supported by Paige Allman, runner-up in the under-15 girls trials event.

Oldham Deaf B continued their march at the top of the table with a 10-0 demolition of Coldhurst E, Prakash Bhojani, Mike Briggs and Alan Cockcroft being the successful team.