Embassy 'A' continue to dominate the Keighley & District Table Tennis League First Division with another fine win, this time 10-0 at home to Lothersdale 'B'. The Champions were in fine fettle with consistent performances from Peter Kirby, Andrew Crabtree and Neil Foley well to the fore. Richard Crookes was the best performer for Lothersdale, only just falling to Crabtree 21-13, 19-21, 23-21. Embassy's Kirby was so on top of his game that only Peter Midgley edged into double figures against him in a 21-10, 21-11 defeat.

Embassy 'B' suffered a set back with a 6-4 defeat at resurgent Oakbank. Katie Lightowler's performance, that included two exasperating defeats by Carl White 17-21, 21-16, 21-13 and Keith Lee 21-15, 11-21, 21-9, merited more than a solitary 21-19, 21-8 success against Peter Kitching. Tom Lister also defeated Kitching 19-21, 21-17, 21-15, but Gareth Wiles was the star man for the victors, his full house including revenge for defeat in the Keighley Championship Singles Final with a 21-14, 16-21, 21-13 win against Lee. A 14-21, 21-14, 21-18 win in the doubles for Lightowler and Wiles against White and Lee helped their team to within 2 points of their second placed opponents with a match in hand.

In Division Two, Michael Mitchell remains undefeated for the season following a good performance in Cononley Sports' home match with Oakworth. His max included the 21-16, 16-21, 21-16 defeat of Steve Smith as his team earned a hard fought 8-2 success. Following a surprise defeat by Jason Proctor 21-12, 8-21, 21-15, Stuart Maude picked up his game to defeat Smith 10-21, 21-18, 21-16 and Andy Carr 21-12, 21-13. Eric Hudson weighed in with wins against Proctor 21-8, 21-16 and Carr 21-14, 21-14 before teaming up with Mitchell and earning a 21-12, 21-14 victory against Proctor and Carr in the doubles.

Ilkley Road 'A' maintained their promotion push with a 10-0 home win against Embassy 'C'. However, with six rubbers requiring deciders it could so easily have been very different indeed. Only Roy Towler with three straight wins avoided the nail-biting as he took his tally for the season to 13 from 15 with some scintillating table tennis. Steve Barton had to work hard with his three victories all coming in the third game, 21-13 against Hughie Chambers, 21-15 against Jack Parkman and 21-9 against Badie Jacobs. Geoff Bartlett was also made to struggle by Chambers and Jacobs before earning victories in the third on both occasions.

Lothersdale 'C' were in no mood to do any favours for visiting strugglers St Peter's who were brought back to earth with a bang after last week's heroics against Cononley Sports. Another good win looked likely when Tony Richardson got the better of Lothersdale's Jack Anderson 21-16, 21-14 in the first, but this proved to be the spur to the home team's charge as both Richard Crookes and Martin Mulligan went on to earn full houses in a 9-1 victory. Richard Foster just failed against Mulligan 15-21, 21-19, 22-20, but Richardson's sole success turned out to be as good as it got for St Peter's on the night.

Wilsden and Stockbridge Spartans put on an absorbing show with both teams requiring the points for very different reasons. One place off the bottom, the Spartans have already taken up their perennially precarious position, whereas Wilsden, currently occupying second spot, could be poised for greater things. Adam Broadbent earned a max for Wilsden, although it was a close call against Ray Wallace 21-14, 23-25, 21-10. Wallace went on to earn a couple for the Spartans with defeats of Dave Broadbent 21-16, 21-13 and George Fletcher 17-21, 21-16, 21-13 and with wins for Ryan Foulds and Abid Hussain against Dave it looked likely that the Spartans would avoid defeat for the first time this it season. However, a 21-17, 23-21 win for Adam and Fletcher against Hussain and Foulds in the doubles ensured a 6-4 victory for Wilsden.

After six matches in Division Three, Ilkley Road 'B' have only dropped seven points and look dead certs for promotion. A 10-0 away win at Haworth 'B' for the Riddlesden lads, combined with a draw between Crossflatts 'A' and Ilkley Road 'C', the teams in second and third spot, sees them stretch their lead to 14 points. For Haworth, Ronnie Farrar worked hard, taking both Rob Mclean and Nick Emblem to three as did Tom Hagyard, also against Emblem, but these were only minor blips for the visitors in an overwhelmingly convincing victory.

Johnson & Johnson, the only team with a realistic chance of catching the run-away leaders, earned an 8-2 victory at home to St Wilf's 'A'. Although a convincing win, the Gargrave team could have done with the full ten points if they are to catch Ilkley Road, being 30 points behind with three matches in hand. John Pullen continued his unbeaten run with an easy treble, but both Tony Bugeja and Alan Ripley were defeated by Debabrata Deb 21-13, 21-11 and 21-16, 21-10 respectively.

The hard work of coach Chris Dunn at this summer's Ilkley Road Table Tennis Coaching Scheme is already beginning to bear fruit with Edward Jagger becoming the first junior who attended the Scheme to play in the League. Following his debut for South Craven last week, he earned his first victories in this week's away match at St Wilf's 'B' with a 22-20, 21-10 defeat of David Anderson being followed by wins against Doreen Anderson 21-7, 21-16 and Alex Brough 21-7, 21-18 as his team earned their first win of the season.

RESULTS:-Division One-Embassy 'A' 10, Lothersdale 'B' 0; Oakbank 6, Embassy 'B' 4; Ukrainians 3, Embassy 'A' 7. Division Two-Cononley Sports 8, Oakworth 2; Ilkley Road 'A' 10, Embassy 'C' 0; Lothersdale 'C' 9, St Peter's 1; Stockbridge Spartans 2, Lothersdale 'C' 8; Wilsden 6, Stockbridge Spartans 4. Division Three-Crossflatts 'A' 5, Ilkley Road 'C' 5; Crossflatts 'B' 3, Haworth 'B' 7; Haworth 'B' 0, Ilkley Road 'B' 10; Johnson & Johnson 8, St Wilf's 'A' 2; St Wilf's 'B' 2, South Craven 8.