JUST a handful of matches were played in the South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League this week as teams catch up with earlier postponed fixtures, writes Tony Halse.

With all places already confirmed in the First Division, the two Newton Abbot sides were just fighting for bragging rights as NA Eagles defeated NA Condors 8-2 in the final league fixture of the season. Both Mark Burridge and Bryan Birkbeck were undefeated for the NA Eagles, who finished a creditable fourth in an extremely tough division.

The big match in Division Two is next week, when the top two, Brixham Trawlers and Dawlish Aces, battle it out for the title. NA Raptors and Torbay Academy 2, both in the bottom half of the table, were looking to move up a place as they took on each other at the Academy. A Sven Gandev maximum helped the Torbay Academy to a 7-3 win. 

Taverners completed their Third Division campaign with a comprehensive 10-0 victory over Dawlish Renegades, which gives them a 10-point advantage at the top of the table over their close rivals, Torre Vikings, who still have one match to play. The Taverners – Martin Dilkes, Geoff Read and Colin Harrop – did not let up on their quest to take the title and achieved the whitewash victory, dropping just two games.

The NA Vultures’ youngsters put up a good fight in their final Fourth Division match against club colleagues NA Ospreys, whose Ken Ramsden was unbeaten. The Vultures were hoping to snatch a draw with a win in the final doubles but lost out 13-11 in the fifth, going down 6-4.

Table tennis
Ken Ramsden and Rob Ferguson of NA Ospreys take on James Kitchen and Fin Humphreys of NA Vultures. (Contributed)

Brixham Sharks have made it to the final of both Team Handicap Cup competitions. Already in the Singles Cup final, they progressed to the Doubles Cup final with a convincing 21-7 victory over NA Condors. Clive Banham, Issy Brown and Chris Harper got in front in the third set and won all the remaining sets for a comfortable victory. They meet NA Harriers in the Doubles Cup final and NA Parrots in the Singles Cup final.

Results: Division One: NA Condors 8 (M Burridge 3, Birkbeck 3, Broad 1, Dbls), NA Eagles 2 (McIvor 1, Parkins 1, Malin 0).

Division Two: Torbay Academy (2) 7 (Gandev 3, Mitranescu 2, Cregan 1, Dbls), NA Raptors 3 (Hine 1, Darch 1, Moffatt 1).

Division Three: Dawlish Renegades 0 (Cooper 0, Girling 0, Chadwick 0), Taverners 10 (Dilkes 3, Read 3, Harrop 3, Dbls).

Division Four: NA Ospreys 6 (Ramsden 3, Ferguson 1, Dulling 1, Dbls), NA Vultures 4 (J Kitchen 2, Humphreys 2, Gilbert 0).

Cup results: Doubles Cup semi-final: NA Condors lost 7-21 to Brixham Sharks.