courtesy of Nick Howard

Kings outlast Kingpins in ‘edgy’ affair.

The Greenleys Kings of Howard, Sparrow and Wood travelled to the mecca of table tennis to face off against the rule breaking Kingpins of Allison, Purcell and chief rule breaker, Sarah Hudson.

Lots of talk before the match was around the ball being used. With such a difference in how each ball plays (despite them being ITTF approved), it raises the question of whether the league should adopt a standard across divisions? Personally, I think they should, but that discussion is for another day.

Howard and Purcell kicked things off, with a very close 3 setter (all 3 going the distance). Purcell much improved from previous meetings, but couldn’t quite get over the line in any of the sets (despite a 7-1 lead in the second).

Sparrow and Allison followed, with Guy coming roaring back from a 2-0 deficit to level at 2-2. Unfortunately for the Kings, that’s where the comeback ended, and the wily Mackem dominated the 5th to seal the win.

Two of the top women’s players in the county took over from here, with Wood having never lost to Hudson in the past (I believe).

That all looked like changing very quickly, as Hudson stormed into a 2-0 lead. Despite Jordan pulling one back, Hudson closed out the victory with a fine performance.

Purcell and Allison took on Howard and Sparrow in the doubles in what proved to be a vital match.

In a yo-yo’ing affair, the Kings took the first, before squandering a big lead in the second. Kingpins took a 10-0 lead before Allison took pity and offering them a solitary point - You don’t get many freebies from a Yorkshireman, so you take them when you can.

Despite losing 11-1, the Kings took control of the next 2 sets to close out a well fought 3-2 victory.

Howard and Allison resumed their rivalry in the 5th match of the evening, and it was one that also went the distance.

In a back and forth match, the two captains were tightly locked in a tough match - All the way to 10-10 in the 5th.

If you are wondering where the “edginess” came from in the headline - Don’t worry, there were no handbags or name calling…..

It was Dave Allison serving at 11-10 up in the 5th, and hitting the edge…… Disgusting behaviour, that wasn’t helped by a running knee slide across the entire hall in celebration*

*Some facts may be exaggerated for dramatic effect……

After that titanic tussle, Jordan swept aside Mark in 3 comfortable sets, whilst Guy had a battle on his hands to defeat Sarah in 3 very close sets.

Dave and Jordan finished off their 3 for the night, with a routine 3-1 victory for Allison, which continues his fine form for the season.

Nick lost the first to a fired up Sarah, before managing to dig himself out of a hole to win 3-1.

Going into the final match, Kings were 5-4 up, with just Sparrow and Purcell to play.

It’s not been Mark's greatest season, but he rose to the occasion for 4 and a half sets against Guy.

Unfortunately, the last half of the 5th set got away from him, and Guy turned on the style to round out a 6-4 victory for the Kings.

Final Score

Kingpins 4 - 6 Kings