Early season table toppers Nemesis 'A' have had to postpone a couple of matches recently allowing Lothersdale 'A' and Embassy 'A' to put themselves firmly in the title frame.

There was no doubting the match of the week, and probably the season so far, was the clash at Lothersdale. Embassy struggled to raise a team and had Neil Foley and Palminder Sandhu from the 'B' team in their ranks, but top player Gareth Wiles showed the way with a superb max.

The defeat of Bob Davis 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 was followed by wins over David Adams 13-11, 2-11, 11-3, 11-8 and Keith Wilkinson 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 to take the 18 year old's tally for the season so far to 12 from 12. Wilkinson hit back for Lothersdale with a couple of tremendous performances against Foley (11-9, 11-4, 11-6) and Sandhu (11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6). A win for David Adams 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 against Sandhu, plus Davis' gritty defeat of Foley 13-11, 9-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9, put the home team in the driving seat. However, both Foley and Sandhu did what was required of them with wins for Foley 13-11, 11-7, 11-9 against Adams and for Sandhu 11-4, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8 against Davis leaving Lothersdale needing a win in the doubles to square the match. The win was duly delivered by the pairing of Adams and Wilkinson who got the better of Wiles and Foley 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 to leave honours even from a classic encounter.

Earlier in the week, previous leaders and champions Nemesis 'A' had dropped their first sets of the season away to Embassy 'B'. Steve Taylor and John Stones produced the usual goods for the visitors with three each that included Taylor's defeat of Neil Foley 12-10, 10-12, 11-4, 11-5 and Stones' win against Geoff Bartlett 11-2, 11-6, 11-8. But John Lister couldn't match his team mates; his only win of the evening, against Bartlett, was sandwiched between defeats at the hands of Foley 11-9, 11-9, 11-3 and Sandhu 1-11, 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8. All this was a precursor to a remarkable doubles game between the Embassy pair Foley and Sandhu and the previously undefeated Nemesis partnership of Taylor and Stones which, thanks to an outstanding performance by the Embassy boys, added another point to their tally with a victory 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 12-14, 14-12 to leave the final score 7-3 in favour of the visitors.

Rod Robertson came in for Peter Holbrook in Ukrainians away fixture against Airedale Terriers and promptly stamped his quality on the proceedings with an excellent treble. Firstly, Paul Beck's challenge was locked up 11-2, 11-8, 11-8, then it was Tom Lacey's turn to be sent down 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 before Stuart Myers was brought to book 18-16, 9-11, 12-10, 11-1. The Terriers rallied through Beck who earned a couple against Stef Szczur 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 11-7 and Jerry Harkawy 11-6, 11-5, 13-11. Myers and Lacey added to the tally with wins against Harkawy and Szczur respectively, but a win for Szczur and Robertson in the doubles gave the Ukies victory by 6-4 and condemned the Terriers to their seventh straight loss of the season.

In Division Two, the basement battle between Ilkley Road 'B' and Johnson & Johnson ended inconclusively following their encounter at Riddlesden. John Pullen took his tally for the season to 13 from 18 with a treble that included the defeat of Chris Dunn 11-3, 11-5, 13-15, 11-5. Derek Stanforth finished the scoring for the visitors with top class wins against Dunn 12-14, 10-8, 11-9, 11-8 and Karl McIntyre 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8. However, the Roaders hit back through Nick Emblem who got the better of Stanforth 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 and Tony Bugeja 11-9, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3. Further wins for Ilkley Road by McIntyre and Dunn, both against Bugeja, left them requiring a win in the doubles to secure a draw. This was delivered by Dunn and McIntyre who got the better of Bugeja and Pullen 12-10, 11-5, 11-9.

Determination and a belief in their own ability are the foundation stones on which Haworth Hawks have built an impressive start to the season in Division Three. Having finished last season with 61 points from 16 matches, the fledgling Hawks have racked up an impressive 43 points from 8 so far this time. This week it was Denholme who fell prey to the Haworth team with chief tormentor Nathan Hogg earning his best return of the season so far with three wins that take his tally to 11 from 18. Prior to defeats of Ady Powis 13-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4 and Dave Ellis 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-9, Hogg triumphed 12-10, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10 against the visitor's top player, Paul Whittaker, who was running second only to Ryan Foulds in the averages with 89 per cent. Andy Bray gave good support with a couple against Powis and Ellis 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 16-14 and Steve Cole chipped in with a win against Powis before Bray and Hogg wrapped up the doubles 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 against Ellis and Whittaker to earn the Hawks a fine 7-3 win.

Fastbats entertained Embsay who finished on the wrong side of a 6-4 score line despite racing into an early 3-1 lead with wins for Russell Findley 11-8, 11-4, 11-4 against Alan Pearson, Trevor Wilkinson 11-9, 11-7, 13-11 against Matthew Binks and another for Findley, this time 12-14, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6, 15-13 against Banks. From this point on, however, the remaining 6 rubbers all went Fastbats way with the exception of Findley's maximum-clinching win against Nathan Carr. In fact it was Carr who started the fight back with the defeat of Norman Hunt before also getting the better of Wilkinson 11-8, 15-13, 11-7. Pearson matched his team mate with wins against the same players and then Binks triumphed 11-6, 5-11, 10-12, 13-11, 11-5 against Hunt to put Fastbats in control, wrapping up a 6-4 win with the doubles for Binks and Carr 4-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-3 against Findley and Wilkinson.

Results

Division One: Airedale Terriers 4, Ukrainians 6; Embassy 'B' 3, Nemesis 'A' 7; Lothersdale 'A' 5, Embassy 'A' 5.

Division Two: Ilkley Road 'B' 5, Johnson & Johnson 5; Johnson & Johnson 2, Crossflatts 'A' 8.

Division Three: Embsay 4, St Wilf's 6; Fastbats 6, Embsay 4; Haworth Hawks 7, Denholme 3; St Wilf's 0, Fastbats 10.