Since the end of World War Two the arrival of autumn has been greeted by the start of a new season in the Keighley & District Table Tennis League.

This year, with the League celebrating an unbroken sequence of 60 years, 28 teams will make up the three divisions. New teams Skipton Lawn Tennis Club, Fast Bats and Ilkley Seniors will be competing for the three divisional titles and the two knockout cups on an equal footing with the League's longest standing clubs Ilkley Road, Cononley Sports and South Craven, all with more than 30 years continuous membership.

Proving that a novice doesn't have to defer to seniority, the most successful of these new teams in the first week of the season was Skipton LTC who completely destroyed South Craven 10-0 in Division Three. The father and sons outfit based at Sandylands in Skipton ran away with the spoils, with none doing better than Graeme Davies who, on the way to his treble, outplayed Chris Farnworth 11-6, 11-7, 11-8. In fact, Farnworth was probably South Craven's best player on the evening, only just missing out 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4 to Calum Davies, but with last season's leading player Edward Jagger and Matthew Wiggan again just failing in the doubles 10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8 against Calum and Graeme it was a whitewash win for Harry and his lads.

Fast Bats found the going a little harder away to Denholme in their first ever league match. Paul Whittaker and Dave Ellis both remained undefeated for the hosts, although Ellis had his work cut out to get the better of Nathan Carr 7-11, 11-9, 11-4, 3-11, 11-9. Points for Fast Bats were all earned against the luckless Adrian Powis who went down to Alan Pearson 11-13, 11-3, 5-11, 11-8, 11-4; Tommy Brown 14-12, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7 and Carr 10-12, 14-12, 11-4, 11-4 as the Denholme club ran out 7-3 winners.

In Division Two, promoted Crossflatts 'A' played host to Nemesis 'B' who were relegated from Division One. Dave Manogue was at his supreme best for Nemesis with an undisturbed treble that included the defeat of Mark Webster 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 and his performance was mirrored by team mate Peter Worger who included the defeat of Danny McHugh 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-2 among his scalps. McHugh earned his side's first ever point in Division Two with a well taken 11-4, 6-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-1 win against Les Packer.

Cononley Sports welcomed back a fully fit Michael Mitchell for their home match against Ilkley Road 'B' and celebrated with an 8-2 victory. That man Mitchell notched a max that included the defeat of old sparing partner Steve Fuller 11-7, 7-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-9 in a thriller and Stuart Maude added another three to the Cononley tally that included a win against Chris Dunn 11-4, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5. Points for the visitors came with a win for the battling Fuller, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 8-11, 13-11 against Eric Hudson and a brilliant win for Nick Emblem 11-6, 12-10, 3-11, 11-5 against the same player.

Embassy 'C' earned the lion's share of the spoils at Ilkley Road 'A' where Nick Kaye was the inspiration behind his teams 7-3 victory. Kaye's treble included the defeat of Steve Barton 11-7, 11-5, 11-9. As so often, it was left to Roy Towler to salvage something for Ilkley Road with his couple including a win against Allan Jeffrey 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8.

Many people's promotion favourites Lothersdale 'C' journeyed to Johnson & Johnson and were rewarded with a 7-3 success at Gargrave. However, none of the threesome of Richard Crookes, Jack Webber and Martin Mulligan could get the better of John Pullen who earned all three points for J & J, including the defeat of League President Webber 11-8, 11-5, 11-4.

RESULTS: Division Two: Crossflatts 'A' 1, Nemesis 'B' 9; Cononley Sports 8, Ilkley Road 'B' 2; Ilkley Road 'A' 3, Embassy 'C' 7; Johnson & Johnson 3, Lothersdale 'C' 7. Division Three: Denholme 7, Fast Bats 3; Embsay 0, Ilkley Road 'C' 10; South Craven 0, Skipton 10.