MANOR Park Pumas moved into second place in the Brewin Dolphin Securities sponsored Malvern Table Tennis League Division Two, with a hard fought win over fellow promotion-chasers YMCA Vulcans.

Dave Hallam was man of the match with three wins out of three and was ably supported by Dave Steen and Jon Dyke with two wins apiece. For the visitors Nick Price won two plus the doubles with Ray Holroyd. The best game saw Nick beat Jon 11-7, 11-13, 14-12, 5-11, 11-7.

In Pumas match with Crackpots E, Dave Hallam was replaced by Tom Palmer (making his first appearance of the season). The home team made a flying start, racing to a 5-0 lead, but Crackpots fought back to almost snatch a draw. Jon Duke won all his singles whilst Dave Steen won two and Tom one. For Crackpots, Colin Dolding was successful in two singles and James Palmer once and together they continued their impressive run of doubles victories.

Manor Park Juniors strengthened their position at the top of the table with a win over Poolbrook Juniors, although the scoreline flattered them slightly with several games being won by only two or three points. Dave Smith was back to winning ways winning all his singles in straight sets. Ben Salisbury also won three and Jack Higgs two. Anthony Wiseman was the only visiting player to win a singles, but he and Graham Collier extended their 100 per cent record in the doubles.

Poolbrook bounced back to winning ways when they entertained CSSC Trojans. Two games went to five sets and a further four were decided in the fourth. Anthony Wiseman won all three singles and again the doubles with Graham Collier. Tom James won two.

Trojans fared no better in their match with Pumas. Ian and Kevin won one each. Dave Hallam and Jon Dyke each gained three victories and the doubles and Dave Steen one. Five consecutive games went to a fifth set with Pumas winning four of them. The tightest game saw Dave Hallam come from two sets down to beat Ian 13-15, 3-11, 18-16, 11-8, 11-9.

The match between Bromyard and Broadheath swung first one way and then the other before ending in a draw. At the half way stage Bromyard led 4-1 but then Broadheath battled back to lead 5-4. The final game of the night was between the two previously unbeaten players with John Hunt proving just too strong for Pete Roberts and thus earning a draw for the home team. The key result came in the doubles where Pete partnered Roger Bates to victory against John and his partner Derek Craddock, 12-10 in the final set.

Colin Dolding was again in inspirational form for Crackpots E against Ledbury Exhaust. He won all three singles and the doubles with James Palmer, but although Nick Gilbert also won one, they were unable to gain a much needed victory, as two wins apiece for Stewart Moss and John Meredith and one for Ray Cooke earned Ledbury a deserved draw.

RESULTS: Manor Park Pumas 6, Crackpots E 4; Poolbrook Juniors 6, CSSC Trojans 4; Bromyard Logics 5, Broadheath Belters 5; CSSC Trojans 2, Manor Park Pumas 8; Manor Park Pumas 7, YMCA Vulcans 3; Crackpots E 5, Ledbury Exhaust 5; Manor Park Pumas 8, Poolbrook Juniors 2.

SIX sets needed more than three games to decide the winner when Nomads played X-Police in their Division Three fixture but the result was the same as the first half.

Malcolm Dalley, Don James and Ralph cook each won a set for X-Police and Geoff Davies won three, Tony Hughes two and Adrian Fray one for Nomads.

When Nomads played Crackpots two sets went to a fourth game and another three to a fifth. Ted Cates and Stephen Lindner both won two and the doubles for Crackpots with Alan Forsdike taking one. Geoff Davies and Tony Hughes won two each for Nomads. The set of the evening was between Ted and Geoff. Ted was 0-5 down in the fifth game and came back to win 9-11.

Dukes Way Dynamos managed to win a point from both their recent matches. Collette James and Ian Sage winning one each against Allsorts and Collette two and Ian one against the Abbey College.

RESULTS: CSSC Nomads 7, X-Police 3; Crackpots B 6, CSSC Nomads 4; Poolbrook Allsorts 8, Dukes Way Dynamos 2; Dukes Way Dynamos 3, Abbey College 7.