FRANK MITCHELL TROPHY 2011-12

ROUND THREE

to be played week commencing 27 February 2012

Home Team	Div	Night	h/c	score		Away Team	Div	h/c	score	winner
Brill B	3	Mon			V	Sports D	1
Ridgeway B	1	Mon			V	Haddenham A	P
Tring C	1	Thurs			V	Risborough B	3
Sports E	1	Tues			V	Quainton C	3

RIDGEWAY EDGE INTO NEXT ROUND

27/1/12

The second round of the Frank Mitchell Trophy saw some close encounters, none more so than Division One's Ridgeway B battle against Bucks CC A from Division Two. Bucks enjoyed a 100 point start and stayed in front until the eighth game, mainly due to a sterling performance from Paul Rickard who defeated Eric Dutton 21-15, 21-19 in the seventh game. This left David Bradbury defending a 14 point lead going into the last game against Brian Redrup. Unfortunately for David, Brian proved too strong in the first leg winning 21 – 6, then appearing to cruise over the line giving Ridgeway a win by 4 points.

In other matches Haddenham A from the Premier Division beat Rivets B by 15 points after clawing back a 245 point handicap. Mark Bevan, Martin Taylor and Jake Davis worked hard but couldn't do enough to beat these strong favourites for the cup. Perhaps Sports D can prove the exception having beaten off the challenge of Tring E for whom James Darraugh and Will Shackleton showed some good form and also inexperience to remain firm in handicap encounters. Sports won by 15 points having pulled back a 190 point handicap.

Sports E will have a say in matters following their win at Bucks CC D, despite Gerry Saunders win in two legs against Tim Sallis. In the first leg Gerry was 12 – 18 down but won the next 9 points. Roger Mason and Nick Cresswell looked formidable opposition and wound in the 135 points handicap winning by 16 points.

Brill B ended Elmhurst's cup run winning by 16 points despite Joe Gerrans' best efforts. Neil Turton was Brill's star and with Maurice Hawes' support they proved just too strong.

In the local derby matches Quainton C overwhelmed their Division One B Team by the eighth game with Paul Unwin winning comfortably against Neil Mack. Risborough B beat their A Team by 44 points where David Stevens was their star and Tring C trounced their A Team by 62 points. David Mosley beat Colin Sturges and Gordon Whitehead kept level with Bill Higgins who also lost a leg to Roger Shelton.

ROUND TWO

played week commencing 23 Jan 2012

Home Team			h/c	score		Away Team		h/c	score	winner
Rivets B	2	wed	245	363	V	Haddenham A	P	0	378	Haddenham A
Tring C	1	Thur	120	417	V	Tring A	P	0	355	Tring C
Risborough B	3	Tue	120	374	V	Risborough A	2	0	330	Risborough B
Ridgeway B	1	Mon	0	360	V	Bucks CC A	2	100	356	Ridgeway B
Brill B	3	Mon	0	327	V	Elmhurst	3	25	311	Brill B
Tring E	3	Tue	190	363	V	Sports D	1	0	378	Sports D
Quainton B****	1	Wed	0	324	V	Quainton C	3	215	409	Quainton C
Bucks CC D	2	Wed	135	355	V	Sports E	1	0	371	Sports E

****Quainton C won after 8 legs

HADDENHAM A & TRING A OVERCOME HANDICAPS

Haddenham A and Tring A were the only two Premier Division teams to savour success in the first round of The Frank Mitchell Handicap competition. Haddenham did not crack under the strain of giving Bucks CC F a 300 point start, winning by 17 points, despite the best efforts of Stuart Brewer, Pete Eggleton and Robin Vizard. Tring A defended a handicap of 160 points against Bucks CC C winning by 48 points much to the chagrin of Martin Gillett, a finalist in previous years with this team.

The closest match in this round was between Sports D and Haddenham E where Lianne Fisher could not prevent Mum, Joan, from taking 20 points off her. Haddenham started with 250 points and progressed nicely, Tony Tobin providing acrobatics to help fight for every point. Luckily he came away unscathed much to everyone's relief leaving Joan needing just 22 points from the last game against Paul O'Connell. Paul negotiated a strategy foreign to his nature because in the second leg he was 4-1 down after Joan's serves. He decided on a steady game with occasional hitting to restrict her to 9 points in that leg thus winning the match for Sports by 5 points.

Elsewhere there were successes for most clubs with special mention for Jake Davis of Rivets B who fended off Haddenham B and Joe Gerrans of Elmhurst who had a strong win against Bucks CC B. Fine performances from Rose Luscombe and Dad, Mark, could not dent the start of 175 points enjoyed by Quainton C. Paul Unwin starred for Quainton with good support from Ally Ginger. Risborough B won the confrontation with their C Team and now have to face their A Team in the next round. David Stevens, Wes Fraser and Barry Palmer were too strong for Barbara Willcocks, Harry Cockton and John Hayward winning by 12 points having conceded 70 at the start. There are two other “derby” matches in round two, Quainton C will play their B Team and Tring C will face their A Team.

ROUND ONE

played week commencing 12 December 2011.

Home Team			h/c	score		Away Team		h/c	score	winner
Quainton B	1	Wed	0	375	V	Brill A	2	150	351	Quainton B
Bucks CC D	2	Wed	260	419	V	Bierton A	P	0	378	Bucks CC D
Bucks CC A	2	Thu	0	372	V	Sports G	3	120	340	Bucks CC A
Haddenham A	P	Mon	0	378	V	Bucks CC F	3	300	361	Haddenham A
Rivets A	2	Wed	85	332	V	Sports E	1	0	363	Sports E
Sports D	1	Wed	0	378	V	Haddenham E	3	250	373	Sports D
Sports A	P	Thu	0	concede	V	Tring E	3	260		Tring E
Elmhurst	3	Fri	100	444	V	Bucks CC B	2	0	281	Elmhurst
Tring D	1	Tues	0	363	V	Quainton C	3	175	438	Quainton C
Sports H	3	Mon	215	355	V	Tring C	1	0	378	Tring C
Tring A	P	Wed	0	367	V	Bucks CC C	2	160	319	Tring A
Brill B	3	Mon	190	397	V	Haddenham D	1	0	371	Brill B
Bellingdon	P	Tues	0	concede	V	Risborough A	2	170		Risborough A
Ridgeway B	1	Mon	0		V	Sports F	2	105	concede	Ridgeway B
Haddenham B	P	Wed	0	356	V	Rivets B	2	215	428	Rivets B
Risborough B	3	Tues	0	338	V	Risborough C	3	70	326	Risborough B

PRELIMINARY ROUND

played week commencing 31 October 2011

Home Team	Div		hcap	score		away team	Div	hcap	score	winner
Haddenham C	1	Tu	0	346	V	Rivets A	2	140	414	Rivets A
Bucks CC F	3	Thu	285	401	V	Ridgeway A	P	0	378	Bucks F
Quainton C	3	Mon	280		V	Sports B(conceded)	P	0		Quainton C
Sports E	1	tues	90	400	V	Sports C	1	0	334	Sports E
Sports F	2	Wed	100	403	V	Bierton B	1	0	363	Sports F
Bucks CC E	2	Tues	0	352	V	Sports G	3	100	376	Sports G

SPORTS KNOCK OUT CHAMPS

9/11/11

Bucks CC E, last season's winners of Aylesbury's Table Tennis team handicap competition, were eliminated in this season's preliminary round. Sports G from Division Three were granted a lead of 100 points which proved too difficult for the Bucks Team. They have up and coming youngster, Matt Bradbury, in their ranks who teamed up with veterans, Tony Greenham and Vic Davies but lost by 24 points to Derek Marlow, Phil Blind and Frank Hardy. The Sports team will face Bucks CC A in the first round.

Sports are also represented in the first round by their F Team who beat Bierton B by 40 points. John Willcocks competed well for them against all his opponents and took legs off Graham Butcher, Mark Binder and Jock Campbell (see below). Sports will visit Ridgeway B in the next round. Also in the pack of qualifiers are Sports E who, with a start of 90 points, saw off the challenge of Sports C. Nick Cresswell and Clive Westbury showed tenacity and determination to succeed.

The difference of 140 points between Haddenham C from Division One and Rivets A from Division Two fired up the Rivets trio of Alan Harling, Steve Everest and Keith Creser who never looked likely to lose. They remained 68 points ahead at the end despite the best efforts from Cynthia Kunschke, Lee Mallick and James Mott. Rivets will now relish meeting Sports E in the first round.

Ridgeway A's match with Bucks CC F is to be played on 11 November and Sports B conceded their match with Quainton C.

PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR FIRST ROUND DRAW

report 2011 Final

BUCKS TEAMS BATTLE FOR TROPHY

Two Bucks County Council Table Tennis Teams recently contested The Frank Mitchell Handicap Trophy Final at Elmhurst Community Centre. Both teams have competed strongly throughout the season, the E Team finishing fourth in Division Two and the G Team third in Division Three. Their respective paths to the Final have been smooth and the 90 point advantage awarded to the G Team would provide a fair test.

Bucks E included Martin Gillett in their line up, a member of the losing Bucks CC C Team from last year. He joined Ken Hill and Rob Perry to face the resilience of Brian Whitehead, Vic Davies and Tony Greenham who needed to achieve 16 points in each leg if they were to take the Trophy.

After two legs the gap still stood at 90 points but Martin reduced the deficit to 85 points despite losing the second leg 21 – 20 to Vic. Ken reduced it still further after his defeat of Brian, but the match started to go away from the E Team from then on. Vic Davies was the G Team's strongest player with a crucial win in the fifth game against Rob, then beating Ken 41 to 38 points over two legs. This inspired Brian to beat Martin in two sets whilst Tony finished off the evening with a 21 – 16 win over Rob. Congratulations to the G Team, led by the ever enthusiastic Brian Whitehead, who won by 73 points, with commiserations to Martin for finishing on the losing side for the second year in succession.

Home team	Div	H'cap	score		Visitors	Div	H'cap	score	winner
Bucks CC E	2	0	336	v	Bucks CC G	3	90	409	Bucks CC G

SEMI FINALS

played Wednesday 16 March at Elmhurst Community Centre

Home team	Div	H'cap	score		Visitors	Div	H'cap	score	winner
Haddenham E	3	145	325	v	Bucks CC E	2	0	361	Bucks CC E
Bucks CC G	3	0	336	v	Risborough B	3	25	297	Bucks CC G

This year's Frank Mitchell table tennis competition final will be between two Bucks County Council teams on 4 April at Elmhurst Community Centre. In the semi finals Bucks CC E from Division Two overcame a handicap deficit of 145 points to stop the progress of Third Division side, Haddenham E. Paul Furness was Haddenham's best player on the night but in the last rubber Martin Gillett comprehensively beat him to put his team through by 36 points. This will be the second year in succession that Martin will have played in the final. He was on the losing side last year against Bierton but will hope for better things against his compatriots from Bucks CC G.

Lead by the indomitable Club Secretary, Brian Whitehead, the G Team allowed Risborough B 25 points and overhauled them by the end of game 5. Being strong Division Three teams, nothing was certain, however. In game 6 Vic Davies played a superb first leg against Dave Stevens, winning 21 – 10. He kept in touch through leg two and his team mate, Tony Greenham, reinforced his team's lead restricting Barry Palmer to 17 points over two legs. This left Dave Stevens too much to do in the last game against Brian, whose team won by 39 points.

ROUND THREE

played week commencing 24 January 2011

Home team	Div	H'cap	score		Visitors	Div	H'cap	score	winner
Haddenham E	2	260	399	v	Ridgeway	1	0	373	Haddenham E
Bucks CC E	2	260	417	v	Sports A	P	0	378	Bucks CC E
Bucks CC G	3	110	431	v	Tring B	2	0	322	Bucks CC G
Risborough B	3	300		v	Haddenham A	P	0		Risborough B

Bucks Teams to the fore

Division Two and Three teams overcame their higher ranked opposition in round three. Most impressive was the defeat of Sports A by Bucks CC E from Division Two. Martin Gillett was the man of the match but Ken Hill was equally impressive taking 27 points off Dave Wackrill. Needing to make 7 points in each game to add to their 260 point advantage, they progressed well with only Nick Hansell able to make the necessary restrictions. Bucks won by 39 points. Risborough B outpointed Haddenham A who had a mountain to climb with the 300 point disadvantage. This was made much worse when David Stevens took 25 points off Andy Misseldine in the first game. Then Barry Palmer managed to steal 8 points off son Darren. Risborough won by 16 points and will play Bucks CC G in the semi finals. With Roger Shelton and Gordon Whitehead unavailable Tring B were forced to field 12 year old Robert Dunsford from Tring F in their match with Bucks CC G. Rob gave a good account of himself playing with intelligence and good attacking shots so that Tring B gained the advantage on the table by one point but they were unable to address the handicap, losing by 89 points overall. Haddenham E upheld their club by outwitting a strong Ridgeway team by 26 points and will now face Bucks CC E in the semi finals.

ROUND TWO played week commencing December 6th 2010

Home team	Div	H'cap	Score		Visitors	Div	H'cap	Score	Winner
Bierton	P	0	concede	v	Haddenham E	3	285	w/o	Hadd E
Ridgeway	1	0	378	v	Elmhurst Juniors	3	265	372	Ridgeway
Bucks CC E	2	165	427	v	Sports C	P	0	362	Bucks CC E
Haddenham D	1	160	371	v	Sports A	P	0	376	Sports A
Risborough A	2	0	329	v	Bucks CC G	3	90	378	Bucks CC G
Tring B	2	0	371	v	Elmhurst A	3	125	318	Tring B
Bellingdon	P	0	368	v	Risborough B	3	260	436	Risboro B
Rivets	2	240	353	v	Haddenham A	P	0	378	Hadd A

RIDGEWAY LOOK GOOD

Last year's Frank Mitchell winners, Bierton Sports, had to concede their match against Haddenham E, leaving the way clear for a new team to claim the handicap trophy this season. Haddenham E will now face Ridgeway who narrowly defeated Elmhurst Juniors by 6 points, conceding a handicap of 265 points. With Kevin Doyle in their ranks, Ridgeway will be a force to be reckoned with. Kevin was a key player against Elmhurst, conceding only 30 points all evening. Will Shackleton was Elmhurst's best player taking 46 points off Kevin, Brian Redrup and Jeff Amor. Ben Elliott could not close the gap in the last crucial leg against Brian, losing 21 – 2.

Sports A managed a 5 point win at Haddenham D who were awarded a handicap of 160 points. Going into the last game with a slender 3 point lead, Martin Taylor did his utmost for Haddenham against Chris Haines, winning the second rubber 21 – 20. Nick Hansell had done the damage for Sports earlier with three crushing wins, even though Mark Penn had brought his team into contention in the seventh game losing 40 – 41 over two legs to Russell Fincher. Sports will play Bucks CC E who won easily against Sports C, Martin Gillett and Rob Perry each winning a leg and starring in this match.

In the second half of the draw, Bucks CC G defeated Risborough A by 49 points whilst their next opponents, Tring B, overcame Elmhurst A. Top Premier Team, Haddenham A, managed a 25 point win against Rivets who benefited from a start of 240 points. Steve Everest kept Rivets in the match taking 47 points, but the skill of Andy Misseldine, Darren Palmer and Mark Scott proved to be too much. Haddenham will now visit Risborough B following their 68 point win at Bellingdon. David Stevens starred for Risborough taking a leg off Keith Slipper and Phil Tyler.

ROUND ONE

BIERTON START DEFENCE

11/11/10

Last year's champions, Bierton Sports, scraped through in the first round of the Frank Mitchell Table Tennis Trophy against Phil Blind, Derek Marlow and Frank Hardy who were representing Aylesbury Sports F. The handicap advantage of 240 points was almost too much for Michael Wilkins, Steve Allen and man of the match, Alan Cherry, who only conceded 27 points all evening. Bierton will face Haddenham E in the second round after they used their 125 point advantage to good effect against last year's semi finalists, Tring D, winning by 37 points.

Martin Gillett, a finalist last year with Bucks CC C, is still in this year's competition helping Bucks CC E overcome Premier side, Haddenham B, by 25 points. Rob Perry for Bucks managed a crucial win 21 – 17 in the last game against Brian McMullen. Bucks now play another Premier Team, Sports C in the next round.

Risborough B had Dave Stevens to thank for taking a leg, 21-20, in the last game against Quainton's Jim Styles to give them a win by 17 points to join their A Team in round two. The B Team face a difficult task at Bellingdon who squeaked past Sports D despite a spirited performance from Pete Edwards who took a leg off Keith Slipper. Risborough A face the redoubtable Bucks CC G who overcame Tring E in the last round.

Both Elmhurst teams survived the first round with the juniors, Maggie and Ricky Wong and Will Shackleton, winning by the skin of their teeth against Roger Mott, Lee mallick and Cynthia Kunschke of Haddenham C. Will was the mainstay with 80 points on the evening. The A team, meanwhile, won their match emphatically at Brill at the end of leg 8 by 74 points.

Feared protagonists, Haddenham A, beat the 270 point advantage awarded to Bucks CC F with the important win 21 – 1, 21 – 9 from Andy Misseldine in leg 8 against Paul Hartnell. Haddenham will next play Rivets who had a resounding 141 point win against Premier Team, Bucks CC A, with a 210 point advantage.

Home team	Div	H'cap	Score		Visitors	Div	H'cap	Score	Winner
Bierton tues	Prem	0	378	v	Sports F	Two	240	375	Bierton
Haddenham E Tues	Three	125	379	v	Tring D	Two	0	342	Haddenham E
Bucks CC C Mon	One	65	322	v	Ridgeway	One	0	356	Ridgeway
Elmhurst juns Fri	Three	205	393	v	Haddenham C	One	0	378	Elmhurst Juniors
Haddenham Bweds	Prem	0	374	v	Bucks CC E	Two	195	399	Bucks CC E
Sports C tues	Prem	0	318	v	Tring A	One	15	241**	Sports C
Haddenham D mon	One	0	356	v	Tring C	Two	40	264	Haddenham D
Quainton C mon	Three	290	361	v	Sports A	Prem	0	378	Sports A
Risborough A tues	Two	0	365	v	Sports E	Two	55	225**	Risborough A
Bucks CC G tues	Three	15	379	v	Tring E	Three	0	289	Bucks CC G
Sports G mon	Three	140		v	Tring B	Two	0		Tring B
Brill mon	Three	0	300	v	Elmhurst A	Three	95	374*	Elmhurst A
Quainton B weds	One	0	366	v	Risborough B	Three	185	383	Risborough B
Bellingdon tues	Prem	0	373	v	Sports D	One	130	368	Bellingdon
Bucks CC F weds	Two	270	366	v	Haddenham A	Prem	0	378	Haddenham A
Rivets weds	Two	210	470	v	Bucks CC A	Prem	0	329	Rivets

* Elmhurst A match won after 8 games

**Sports E and Tring A both fielded two players only

FRANK MITCHELL TROPHY 2010 / 2011

PRELIMINARY ROUND RESULTS

Home team	Score	H'cap		Visitors	Score	H'cap	Winner
Tring B	W/o		v	Sports B	conceded		Tring B
Ridgeway	344	0	v	Bucks CC B	317	+40	Ridgeway
Quainton A	Conceded		v	Bucks CC C	W/o		Bucks CC C
Bucks CC E	392	+100	v	Bucks CC D	361	0	Bucks CC E

15/10/10

The Frank Mitchell Trophy, started recently with the completion of the preliminary round. Eight teams were drawn to produce winners to go forward into the first round proper which takes place in the week commencing 1 st November.

Bucks CC C Team and Tring B had easy routes through when their Premier Division opponents conceded defeat without playing. Division One teams, Ridgeway and Bucks CC B fought a close match with Bucks receiving a 40 point advantage. Nick Tyler, for Bucks, kept his side ahead with strong wins against Brian Redrup and Jeff Amor, but their compatriot, Kevin Doyle, was the difference between the teams. He defeated Jan Crompton in the seventh game to move his team ahead and Ridgeway took the match by 27 points.

In the other fixture a start of 100 points over their club mates, the D Team, gave Bucks CC E enough to triumph by 31 points. Martin Gillett and Ken Hill gained important wins for the E Team, Martin beating Steve Rycraft and Dave Shapter and Ken taking the vital game against Steve. This was a sad early exit for Steve and team mate Paul Rickard who were runners up in last season's finals to champions, Bierton Sports. Ridgeway will now visit Bucks CC C in the first round, Tring B take on Sports G and Bucks CC E pay a visit to Stoke Mandeville Stadium to play Haddenham B from the Premier Division.

SCORECARD(to download and print)

SCORECARD (To send by email)

FRANK MITCHELL TROPHY 2009 / 2010

FINAL

	Div	H'cap	Score			Div	H'cap	Score	Result
Bierton	P	0	378	v	Bucks CC C	1	230	357	Bierton

at Elmhurst Community Centre on 21 April 2010

BIERTON ARE BEST IN MITCHELL FINAL

Premier Division forerunners, Bierton Sports, have won Aylesbury and District's Frank Mitchell Handicap Trophy after a series of testing challenges in each round. Having overcome a 240 point deficit against Brill in the semi final, they faced the daunting prospect of overhauling a 230 point advantage awarded to their Division One opponents, Bucks CC “C”. Bucks, by contrast, had seen off two Premier Division Teams in the earlier rounds.

Alan Cherry, Michael Wilkins and Craig Brown represented Bierton and needed to restrict the Bucks trio, Paul Rickard, Martin Gillett and Steve Rycraft, to 8 points in each leg to ensure victory. This they managed to do to great effect in the first 4 games to leave them only 100 points behind Bucks.

Captain Martin Gillett then inspired a recovery for Bucks taking 11 points in the second leg against Alan Cherry. His compatriots, Paul and Steve, each reached double figures against Michael Wilkins but Martin could only reach 16 points over two legs against the attack minded Craig Brown.

Bierton had done enough in the early games and moved ahead of Bucks by 1 point at the end of game eight. Paul tried his best to perform a miracle in the last game against Alan but, using his clever bat skills, Alan outmanoeuvred Paul to win 21 – 10, 21 -12 making Bierton the 2009/10 Frank Mitchell Champions.

SEMI FINALS

7 April 2010 at Elmhurst

Home team	Div	H'cap	Score		Visitors	Div	H'cap	Score	Result
Bucks CC C	1	0	329	v	Tring D	2	75	327	Bucks CC C
Bierton	P	0	378	v	Brill	2	240	340	Bierton

BUCKS C AND BIERTON GO THROUGH

At last we know who will meet in the Frank Mitchell Trophy final on 21 April at Elmhurst Community Centre. But nothing was guaranteed for either Bucks CC C or Bierton in their semi final matches this week. Premier Division Bierton had to retrieve 240 points against Brill who had seen off Sports B and Haddenham A from the top division in previous rounds. Bierton fielded arguably the strongest team available from their squad with the Milton Keynes based players Alan Cherry, Craig Brown and Michael Wilkins. Brill from Division Two were represented by the wily John Fitsell and tireless campaigners Charles Wallis and Steve Donlevy and needed to score more than 7 points in each leg to ensure victory. John managed to do this averaging 8 and against Michael Wilkins, in particular, he took 29 points. By then Bierton through Alan Cherry and Craig had pulled back a large amount of the deficit which stood at only 51 points by the sixth game. Alan was Bierton's best player losing only 20 points in the match which Bierton won by 38 points.

Bucks CC C from Division One had a closer encounter with the Division Two outfit, Tring D who received only 75 points. Mark Luscombe, daughter Rose and Bill Chapman fought hard to protect that advantage against the Bucks trio, Paul Rickard, Steve Rycraft and Martin Gillett. With Tring needing to score 16 points in each leg, Paul dented their aspirations winning the first leg against Bill 21 – 6. Bill managed to reach his target in the second leg and Mark restored the 75 point lead when he beat Steve in the second game. The match then seemed to drift in Tring's favour especially following the21 -14 leg that Bill took off Steve. In fact, with three games to go, Tring still had a lead of 39 points. Paul was to meet Mark, the best player on the night, in the last game and was praying for a healthy lead. His team mates came up trumps and gave him a tenuous 12 point lead which he protected only losing the first leg 21 – 20. Needing 11 points, Paul continued to defend stoutly against Mark's relentless attacking play and scraped through losing the second leg 21 – 12 to give Bucks the match by two points, the slenderest of margins.

Spectators will be welcome at Elmhurst Community Centre on 21 April when the Final between Bucks CC C and Bierton will be played.

CHAMPIONS BEATEN

Sports B, defending champions of the Aylesbury and District Table Tennis Frank Mitchell trophy were well and truly beaten by Brill from Division Two. The Premier Team had to overcome a handicap of 245 points to progress to the semi final stage which meant restricting their opponents to 7 points in each leg.

Tim Cheek was the most successful Sports player keeping Charles Wallis, John Fitsell and Steve Donleavy below the target score with Roger Mason also managing to beat Charles 21 ? 5, 21 ? 6. After Steve had taken 28 points off Roger, the match was effectively put out of Sports' reach when John took one leg off Andrew Eggleton and accumulated 16 points in the second leg.

Brill now meet Premier Team Bierton in one semi final having the scalps of Haddenham A and Sports B already from this division. In the other semi final Division Two Tring D will meet Bucks CC C from Division One.

ROUND THREE

Week commencing 25 January 2010

Home team	Div	H'cap	Score		Visitors	Div	H'cap	Score	Result
Bucks CC A	P	0	375	v	Bucks CC C	1	185	434	Bucks CC C
Sports A	P	0	372	v	Tring D	2	285	458	Tring D
Bierton	P	0	378	v	Tring B	1	200	375	Bierton
Sports B	P	0	335	v	Brill	2	245	408	Brill

ALL TO PLAY FOR

No clear favourites emerged from round three although there was a close encounter between Bierton from the Premier Division and Division One's Tring B who had a 200 point advantage. The Bierton trio of Craig Brown, Allan Cherry and Neil Massa needed to prevent Roger Shelton, Gordon Whitehead and David Mosley accumulating more than 10 points in each leg. With the occasional lapse the Tring players kept up the pressure and Roger Shelton, in particular, increased Tring's chances of victory taking 30 points off Neil Massa in the penultimate game. Needing 23 points in the last game, Gordon came agonisingly close managing just 20 points against Craig. Bierton took the match by a slender margin of 3 points and will next play either Sports B or Brill who have yet to play.

Mark Luscombe led his Division Two Tring D team to victory at top Premier Team, Sports A having a cushion of 285 points. Together with his son, Jamie and Bill Chapman, Mark's team won by a comfortable 86 point margin against Russell Fincher, Nick Hansell and Chris Haines. Tring D now have to visit Bucks CC C from Division One in the semi finals.

The Bucks C Team overcame their club's A Team having a start of 185 points. All the C team's players were strong throughout the evening but Steve Rycraft excelled by winning one leg 21 ? 18 against Tim Wooster. He also gained 34 points in the opening game against Dawn Pearce. Paul Rickard and Martin Gillett were Steve's team mates and Andy Cullen was the third Bucks A Team representative.

The Semi Finals will be played during the week commencing 22 February.

ROUND TWO

Week commencing December 14th 2009

Home team	Div	H'cap	Score		Visitors	Div	H'cap	Score	Result
Haddenham B (at Stadium)	P	50	347	v	Bucks CC A	P	0	360	Bucks CC A
Bellingdon	P	0	358	v	Bucks CC C	1	215	455	Bucks CC C
Quainton B	1	175	355	v	Sports A	P	0	371	Sports A
Bucks CC D	1	0	322	v	Tring D	2	140	422	Tring D
Bucks CC F	2	255	348	v	Bierton	P	0	378	Bierton
Sports F	2	90	349	v	Tring B	1	0	358	Tring B
Tring C	1	115	251	v	Sports B	P	0	378	Sports B
Brill	2	265	379	v	Haddenham A	P	0	378	Brill

REPORT

21/12/09

Round Two of The Frank Mitchell Handicap Trophy saw one of the favourites, Haddenham A from the Premier Division, eliminated in a closely fought contest with Division Two Brill. Having scraped through in Round One on the away team rule in a tied match with Rivets, Brill used their 265 point start to good effect with the outcome lasting until the last point. John Fitsell again stood out for Brill restricting all the Haddenham players. In the last game of the evening Darren Palmer needed to prevent John accumulating 20 points to ensure a win for Haddenham. John won 14 points in the first leg but if he thought it would all go his way, Darren had other ideas. John just managed to take the six points he needed and Brill won by one point. Their reward for this win is an away match to Tring C from Division One or Premier Division Sports B, the last winners of this trophy. Bad weather prevented their match from going ahead.

With a start of 50 points Haddenham B held off the Bucks CC A team until the last game when Brian McMullan faced Andy Cullen with the match poised on level terms at 318 points each. Brian couldn't keep Andy at bay with Bucks winning by 13 points. Bucks will now face their Division One C Team who beat Bellingdon from the Premier Division having a start of 215 points. The Bucks team have been strengthened by the addition of Paul Rickard who managed an impressive win against Keith Slipper. Paul's team mates, Martin Gillett and Steve Rycraft have shown more confidence and they were strong winners against Lee Rogerson, Keith and Bas Mocharrifie.

Sports A blew away Quainton B's advantage of 175 points to progress into the next round. Russell Fincher, Nick Hansell and Chris Haines were too strong for Mick Simmonds, David Styles or Jim Styles although Jim prevented Chris Haines from winning both legs by taking the first one 21 -14. Sports won by 16 points and will meet Tring D in round three. The Tring team had a start of 140 points against Bucks CC D and performances of note from Mark Luscombe, Fred Luscombe and Bill Chapman ensured a win by 100 points over Paul O'Connell, John Willcocks and John Roper.

Roger Hopkins, Roger Shelton and Gordon Whitehead from Tring B braved the weather to visit Sports F and triumphed by 9 points. The result seemed to be going in Sports favour until the seventh game between Roger Hopkins and Frank Hardy. Having received a start of 90 points, the deficit was still 45 at this stage. However, Roger pegged it back to 24 and Roger Shelton further reduced it to 5 with the defeat of Janice Carey. Sports third player, Phil Blind found this hard to defend and Gordon broke the resistance in the first leg 21 ? 10. Tring will visit Premier side Bierton next following their win against Bucks CC F where they overcame a lead of 255 points to win by 30 points. Anna Wharrier, Paul Hartnell and Sue Hinton were made to work hard by Dwayne Brookes, Alan Cherry and Craig Brown.

Good Luck to everyone in the next round.

ROUND ONE

w/c 23/11/09

Home team	score	H'cap		Visitors	Score	H'cap	Winner
Haddenham B (Stadium)	360	0	v	Bucks CC E	330	60	Haddenham B
Sports C	308	10	v	Bucks CC A	349	0	Bucks CC A
Bellingdon	378	0	v	Haddenham D	361	175	Bellingdon
Sports H	313	105	v	Bucks CC C	378	0	Bucks CC C
Sports A	378	0	v	Sports D	336	150	Sports A
Quainton B	378	0	v	Risborough B	309	195	Quainton B
Bucks CC D	376	0	v	Haddenham E	353	145	Bucks CC D
Tring D		250	v	Quainton A	concede	0	Tring D
Bucks CC F	354	45	v	Bucks CC G	319	0	Bucks CC F
Bierton	377	0	v	Bucks CC B	359	165	Bierton
Tring A	252	0	v	Sports F	443	190	Sports F
Tring B (Cricket Club)	378	0	v	Tring F	322	125	Tring B
Tring C	343	10	v	Haddenham C	305	0	Tring C
Sports B	378	0	v	Sports G	345	230	Sports B
Rivets	360	0	v	Brill	360	105	Brill
Haddenham A		0	v	Tring E	concede	300	Haddenham A

Report

30/11/09

Four teams from the first round managed to overcome their higher ranked opponents in addition to Tring D, from Division Two, who won through after Quainton A conceded their match. Of these Sports F were also fortunate in that Tring A could only field two players which effectively lost them the match. The Sports team are hosts to Tring B in the next round whilst Tring D will travel to Bucks CC D from Division One.

Most impressive was the encounter between Division One Rivets and Brill from Division Two who were handed a start of 105 points. John Fitsell was Brill's mainstay beating both Alan Harling and Keith Creser. He lost the first leg to Steve Everest 21 - 16, but restored the position by winning the second leg 21 - 20. Sheila Brown and Steve Donleavy supported John to finish the match level on points. In these situations the away team takes the tie. Brill's success means that they will meet Haddenham A at home in the next round.

Two Bucks CC teams from the second division met in what was a close encounter. The F Team with a start of 45 points needed only 11 to win through, despite the tenacity of the G Team's Brian Whitehead, Tony Greenham and Gene Demagalski. A strong performance on the evening from Helen Riddell and Gerry Saunders saw the F Team win with their reward being a home tie with Bierton from the Premier Division in the second round.

In the Division One clash Tring C with a 10 point start overcame the 2008 trophy runners up, Haddenham C, with John Richardson, Nick Lane and Andy Templeton all having a strong evening against Lee Mallick, Cynthia Kunschke and John Badmin. Nick played exceptionally well to beat Cynthia and take a leg off Lee. Tring will face 2008 Trophy winners, Sports B who were comfortable winners against their sister team, Sports G, from Division Two.

PRELIMINARY ROUND RESULTS

Home team	Score	H'cap		Visitors	Score	H'cap	Winner
Haddenham D	408	85	v	Ridgeway	341	0	Haddenham D
Quainton C	347	100	v	Rivets	368	0	Rivets
Haddenham B	365	0	v	Risborough A	322	110	Haddenham B
Bucks CC G	368	80	v	Sports E	362	0	Bucks CC G
			v

Eight Teams contested the preliminary round of this season's Frank Mitchell Trophy with Haddenham B from the Premier Division, Haddenham D and Rivets from Division One and Bucks CC G from Division Two going through to the first round proper.

Both Haddenham teams progressed smoothly. The B Team of Chris Hawkes, Brian McMullan and Jon Abungan clawing back 110 points against Risborough A from Division One and going on to win by 43 points, whereas the D team of Martin Taylor, Malcolm Burr and John Cripps only needed to use 18 points of their 85 point advantage to keep Premier Team, Ridgeway at bay. Jon Abungan was outstanding for Haddenham B with Malcolm Burr just eclipsing John Cripps as man of the match for the D Team. Matt Axford was Risborough's best player and Bob Croucher was outstanding for Ridgeway.

Elsewhere Rivets overcame a deficit of 100 points at Quainton C, from Division Two, despite losing the first two games, Ally Ginger beating Alan Harling and brother Matt inflicting a prestigious defeat of Steve Everest. Unfortunately they could not maintain their performances where Rivets' Keith Creser excelled. Rivets ran out winners by 21 points. In the final match Bucks CC Gfrom Division Two started with a lead of 80 points against Sports E and were taken very close winning by 6 points. In the last game James Gibson needed to pull back 21 points for Sports against Brian Whitehead and performed well to beat Brian 21 ? 13, 21 ? 14, but the task was too much for the Division One team.

FRANK MITCHELL TROPHY 2007-8

SPORTS B WIN FINAL!

Aylesbury Sports B from the Aylesbury and District Table Tennis Premier Division faced Haddenham C from Division One in the final of the Frank Trophy at Elmhurst Community Centre last week.

Partisan spectators gathered to see how the premier side represented by Tim Cheek, Bradley Willis and Andrew Eggleton would cope with the handicap of 160 points granted in favour of Roger Mott , John Badmin and Lee Mallick of Haddenham. To win Haddenham needed to acquire 12 points in each leg, but handicap table tennis is never that simple.

Haddenham's strongest player, Lee Mallick, was first up against the wily fox Tim Cheek and his famous long pimples. In spite of his fears, Lee managed to collect 23 points over two nervous legs, with Tim playing a patient game in the second leg to recover from 6 ? 2 down to win 21 ? 10. In the legs that followed, Andrew Eggleton showed fewer nerves than either of his team mates or his opponents, making steady inroads into the handicap. His ability to change from a focused defence to sudden attack was always unsettling to John Badmin and Roger Mott .

After four rubbers, Lee came up against the emerging talent of Bradley Willis and took the first leg 21 - 14 with a mix of good recovery shots and deceptive attacking forehands down the flanks. Following tips from his experienced colleagues, Bradley won the second leg 21 ? 16. The score had see-sawed between the two until Lee reached 16 before Bradley turned the screw to rescue much needed points for his team. The game between Roger and Andy went as expected with Sports reducing the margin to 47 points.

The following game was the key battle of the evening. Bradley was having difficulty breaking John Badmin's resistance until the score in the first leg reached 10 ? 10. At which point Bradley discovered a winning formula, moving his rival around the table with patient top spin attacks. Ultimately winning the leg 21 ? 11, then hammering home the advantage in the second leg 21 ? 3 meant Bradley had very much broken the back of Haddenham's challenge, who were only 19 points ahead. Tim Cheek then kept Roger at bay to take Sports into the lead, the Haddenham captain's attempts to flat hit his way out of trouble were met by Tim's solid defence.

Andrew took the first leg against Lee 21 ? 11 which meant that Sports had effectively won the trophy with one leg to spare.

Spectators showed their appreciation of some fine table tennis but also for the organisers, Brian Whitehead , Jim Styles and David Ballard for their time and effort.

ROUND THREE

Bucks Teams to the fore

Result

Result

PRELIMINARY ROUND RESULTS