The Magnificent Seven - London Progress on top again
23rd April 2005by Steve Kerns
The listing was posted by English Table Tennis Association
The final weekend's play in the British League Premier division saw the all-conquering London Progress I squad of Terry Young, Jason Sugrue, Marco Essomba, Darren Blake and Leeroy Pye secure a magnificent seventh consecutive title at their superb home venue at Southall College, Middlesex. They eventually finished two points clear of Harvey Barnets I with Ormesby I one further point adrift.
The vital Saturday morning match between Progress and Ormesby couldn't have started better for Ormesby as a sharp-looking Bryn Drinkhall produced a terrific performance to beat Terry Young 11-9 in the fifth end. However, with Bryn's brother Paul deciding to defend his title at the Junior National Championships (what a decision to have to make !!) Ormesby were unable to maintain their challenge and Progress eventually ran out 6-2 winners. The clash between Danny Reed and "old-hand" Marco Essomba, a veteran of all seven Progress triumphs turned out to be a high-light as England no. eight Junior Reed fought tenaciously all the way. It was only after sealing victory at 11-9 in the fifth end of a pulsating encounter that Marco showed how much it meant to him, he raised his fist in triumph with a rare display of emotion. Home-bred talent Jason Sugrue is "Progress through and through" and he played a Captain's innings here as he scored a vital 3-1 win over Craig Bryant and it was fitting that he beat Steve Bailey 3-0 to secure the Progress victory. However, Jason's splendid performance still wasn't enough to earn him the Player-of-the-Match Award. That went to Bryn Drinkhall who beat Essomba 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 with a second superb display. It is easy to forget Darren Blake in such a strong Progress team. But in his second successful spell at the Club he has proved to be the model of consistency. He avenged his first half of the season defeat with an epic win over Steve Bailey, this time sneaking home 12-10, 11-13, 12-14, 11-5, 11-8 and for good measure he also saw off Danny Reed 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 12-14, 11-8.
With Progress making short-work of a depleted Seasiders team by an 8-0 scoreline on the Saturday afternoon they must have retired in the evening in a delighted mood, confident that the title was theirs for the taking barring complete disaster. Harvey Barnets had been held to draw by an inspired BATTS Team Peniel side in a match where John Holland scored two excellent wins; 3-1 over Szabolcs Szentkiralyvolgyi and 3-0 against Gergely Urban. Ormesby fared even worse, losing 5-3 against a Darlington team who you would not have believed were bottom of the table going into the weekend's fixtures. The mighty Carl Prean won twice, and Richie Venner, Michael Marsden and Mark Smith all won once as Darlington raced into a 5-1 lead.
London Progress produced a workmanlike performance as they disposed of BATTS Team Peniel I 6-2 on the Sunday morning to secure the title. Marco Essomba and Darren Blake both stayed undefeated. John Holland continued where he had left off on the Saturday by scoring superb wins over Jason Sugrue (11-6, 11-7, 11-5) and Terry Young (2-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-9); arguably the best individual performance of the whole weekend. Progress were Champions and perhaps this showed in their final encounter as they lost 6-2 to Harvey Barnets I, who were bolstered by the inclusion of Tim Yarnall in their line-up, another player who had been taking part in the Junior National Championships the day before. The ever improving Yarnall impressed by beating Jason Sugrue 3-1 and Darren Blake 3-2 whilst ace-defender Szabolcs also made his mark as he beat both Leeroy Pye and Marco Essomba 3-1. Of the Progress players Marco fared best and his 3-2 win over Gergely Urban represented his best display of the season.
Seasiders were never going to survive the intense battle to avoid relegation when they turned up a player short and they were unable to add to their points total. Joining them in an automatic relegation position are JAGS I who fought like Tigers but were only able to add points to their total when they beat Seasiders 5-3 in the last round of matches. The writing was on the wall for JAGS when they lost 7-1 to Darlington on the Saturday morning. Lorestas Trumpauskas scored a magnificent 3-1 victory over Carl Prean but that was to be their lot, as Richie Venner, Mark Smith and Michael Marsden all picked up doubles. JAGS were unable to match Ellenborough either as Gareth Herbert and Jon Nilsson both won twice to ensure that Ellenborough won 6-2. And a Sunday morning match against Ormesby offered little respite as Ormesby raced home 7-1. Only Jerome Jonah's excellent 3-1 victory over Steve Bailey prevented Ormesby completing the whitewash.
Steve Kerns - British League Press Officer
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