Not since the 2000-2001 season when Embassy won the title by a single point from Lothersdale 'A' has there been such a closely fought race for the Keighley & District Table Tennis League Division One Championship.

League Champions and current leaders Nemesis 'A' now ho ld a slender three point lead over second placed Embassy 'A' following their shock first defeat of the season at home to their main title rivals.

Things looked to be going well for Nemesis when Mark Land put them two points up with a wins over Carl White, John Stones and Tony Boyd. But Embassy fought back to produce their best performance of the season with Geoff Grange beating Land, John Stones and Steve Taylor. Nemesis struggled to respond with Steve Taylor, a double finalist at the Keighley Tournament the previous weekend, having a particularly wretched time. His defeat by Grange was compounded by failures against Boyd and White. The only further point won by Nemesis was a win for Land against Boyd as Embassy punished the League leaders further with wins for White against Stones and Boyd and in the doubles against Land and Stones to crown a superb 7-3 victory for the Bingley tea .

Lothersdale 'A' in third spot, although trailing the leaders by 12 points, are still not out of contention and secured an 8-2 win away to Ukrainians. David Adams took the plaudits for Lothersdale with his treble including the defeat of Jerry Harkawy 8-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-2. Keith Wilkinson added two more with wins against Harkawy and Stef Szczur, but slipped up to Peter Holbrook who did well to inflict only the third defeat of the season on a player almost 30 percentage points higher up the averages. Further points for Lothersdale came from Bob Davis with wins against Harkawy and Szczur and from Adams and Wilkinson who got the better of Holbrook and Harkawy in the doubles.

At the other end of the table, Lothersdale 'B' succumbed 7-3 away to mid-table Nelson Nomads, leaving themselves six points clear of bottom spot but having played one match more than basement boys Airedale Terriers. Michael Wrigley was outstanding for the Nomads with a max that included the defeat of Martin Connolly 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4. Peter Wood picked up a couple, including a win against Richard Foster, and Ian Beecroft added to Nelson's tally with a win against Peter Midgley 5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8. For Lothersdale, Foster got the better of Beecroft 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 and Connolly grabbed a couple against Wood and Beecroft before Wood and Wrigley teamed up in the doubles to earn another point for the home team with the defeat of Midgley and Foster.

Although the excitement at the top of Division One is reaching fever pitch, nothing can match the extraordinary events of the week in Division Two where the teams in second and third places took on League leaders Lothersdale 'C'. Firstly, the Dalesmen entertained Nemesis 'B' in a clash of the top two. The visitors put out their strongest team, featuring the previously undefeated Dave Manogue - who promptly lost all three, losing to Richard Crookes, Andrew Lambe and Martin Mulligan. Clearly, Lothersdale were concentrating on the top Nemesis player and were unprepared for the counter punch of veteran Peter Worger who, playing his best table tennis of the season, wrested the initiative back for his team with wins over Crookes, Lambe and Mulligan. A Craig Priestley brace against Lambe and Mulligan 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 4-11, 11-1 and a win in the doubles for Worger and Priestley against Lambe and Mulligan gave the visitors a dramatic 6-4 away victory and plunged Lothersdale to their first defeat of the season.

Undeterred by this set back Lothersdale entertained third placed Embassy 'C' later in the week and emerged 6-4 winners in a match that saw an unprecedented seven of the ten rubbers going to five. The trend was set from the off when Derek Briggs just got the better of Lothersdale's Andrew Lambe 11-9, 13-11, 6-11, 8-11, 11-3. Lambe turned the tables on Allan Jeffrey to sneak it 9-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6; Richard Crookes defeated Briggs 6-11, 11-3, 11-3, 4-11, 11-7 and Nick Kaye 11-5, 11-6, 4-11, 7-11, 11-4 on his way to a splendid full house and Martin Mulligan lost to Briggs 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 and Kaye 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5 as the match reached fever pitch.

The only rubber to be concluded in three was the contest between Lambe and Kaye where Lambe, obviously irked by his unlucky defeat at the hands of Briggs, smashed the Embassy player off the table 11-5, 11-5, 11-6. A final flourish from Briggs and Kaye to snatch the doubles 11-6, 11-8, 11-13, 5-11, 11-7 against Lambe and Mulligan ended the match on a high for the visitors, but with a win for the hosts.

The result left Nemesis 'B' with a three point advantage over Lothersdale 'C' at the top of the table with both teams having four remaining fixtures. The next match up for Nemesis 'B' is Embassy 'C' away!

Results

Division One: Nelson Nomads 7, Lothersdale 'B' 3; Nemesis 'A' 3, Embassy 'A' 7; Ukrainians 2, Lothersdale 'A' 8.

Division Two: Embassy 'C' 9, Ilkley Road 'B' 1; Embassy 'C' 8, Johnson & Johnson 2; Ilkley Road 'A' 8, Johnson & Johnson 2; Lothersdale 'C' 4, Nemesis 'B' 6; Lothersdale 'C' 6, Embassy 'C' 4; Nemesis 'B' 9, Johnson & Johnson 1; Wilsden 6, Cononley Sports 4.

Division Three: Fast Bats 2, Skipton 8; Haworth Hawks 4, South Craven 6; Ilkley Road 'C' 5, Crossflatts 'B' 5; South Craven 0, Denholme 10.