Challenge Cup
Match report - by Dave Murphy
MK Kempstonians met runners-up from last year MK Likely Lads in the second week matches of the Milton Keynes Table Tennis League Challenge Cup competition. Kempstonians had an advantage of 60 points, which meant the Lads had to win 21-18 or better in each game.
John Simms played Neil Riddy first and lost 14-21, 19-21 to see Riddy gain three points ahead of schedule. Dave Murphy kept the pressure on Kempstonians when he beat Matthew Simms (pictured right) 21-15, 21-12 to be a total of 12 points ahead of schedule.
Paul Tompkins faced up and coming junior Daniel Andersson and was totally humiliated by the youngster when he lost 11-21, 13-21 to see the Lads plummet back down to earth and lose all the points they earned. Riddy and Murphy beat the Simms 21-17, 21-17 to get two points back.
Matthew Simms couldn't get close enough to Riddy and lost 15-21, 15-21 and his Dad couldn't do any better as he lost to Tompkins 18-21, 14-21.
Andersson had a fantastic match against Murphy and started off like a demon. Andersson was in front all the way and had four game points to seal it. Murphy came back and rescued the first 23-21. After his disappointment, Andersson dropped his head a little and couldn't perform as well and lost 14-21.
Tompkins earned an extra four points for his team when he beat Simms junior 21-13, 21-19.
In the ninth match Riddy was faced against the same Andersson who almost beat Murphy in the first. The difference was Andersson was trailing against Riddy and came back to deuce, but Riddy managed to win 23-21. The second game wasn't as close, but still saw Andersson play some great shots but lost 16-21 to see Riddy lose some valuable points.
The tenth match was John Simms against Dave Murphy. Murphy had to beat Simms 21-13, 21-14 to win the match by a point and he did not get off to the best of starts. Trying to get used to the style of Simms took some time, but he won the first 21-15. The second game meant Murphy had to win 21-12, which was a very tall order, but not mission impossible. Murphy got off to a good start and played very positive, but Simms played well enough and prevented Murphy reaching the score needed and could only win 21-14 to the the Lads lose by one point 399-398.