C & W Printing Red Sox versus Carpet One Tall Timbers: Rod Denley is having a great comp without a loss so far and he was playing Keith Morris who was trying to stop Denley’s march. This was a very even match at first and Denley was confident and once on the colours Morris took control potting most of them and putting Denley in a couple of snookers. Denley could not recover and Morris won 61–30. Jeff Stait and Maurie Smith had a good tussle that was worth watching. Morris was on song as he kept potting the black after a red numerous times and Stait try as he might could not get a colour after sinking plenty of reds. Stait tried hard with no luck and Smith was all over him for a good win 81–46. John Lyons had to give Michael McCosker 21 start and if McCosker was anywhere near form it was going to be a difficult task. As it turned out McCosker did play a steady game and Lyons could not get into his groove as McCosker won 72–49. Aaron Engeler was looking to cook something up for Lightning Leon Rust in their game that turned out to be a ripper. Rust was his usual self rushing around the table and his game was a bit hit and miss and Engeler started out slowly. Once on the colours Engeler came alive and made a lot of ground to finally overcome Rust 52–36. Garry Nolan had to come from a fair way behind in his game against Lawrence Creasy and nearly pulled off a good win. Creasy played well most of the game and Nolan was a bit scratchy and he needed 3 snookers at the end to even get a sniff. Nolan did get a snooker on the blue of which Creasy missed 3 times giving Nolan 15 points and Nolan was back in the game. Nolan missed the pink and Creasy potted to go on to win 59–49. Two ex-Outlaws teammates played when Shannon Baer and Frank Wawn played in a good game. Wawn moved ahead early and then Baer scored a 20 break which put him in front and it was close between these two for most of the match. Wawn potted the last three balls for an 18 break to win 58–33. The players of the match were Maurie Smith and Aaron Engeler.

Lithgow Valley Storage Helmets versus Exceltech Industrial Electronics Outlaws: Brett Bradley has only had one loss and he was playing the veteran Michael Andrews who is undefeated. A good game by both players that went a bit slow only due to the cautious shots offered by them. In the end Brett Bradley won 68–58. Tom Drury played Leo Keeley and both players were coming off losses so this had the hallmarks of a good game. Keeley started out well but this did not last long as Drury had one of finest games in a long time. Drury played well as he powered on to win 78–33. Ian Miles had a healthy 43 point start in his game against Justin Nelson who has lost his last two games both on the black ball. Miles was solid and Nelson looked the goods especially when he scored a 41 break eliminating the start Miles had. That was all Nelson had as Miles was far too good as he won 80–54. Dianne Stait plated Peter Warner and both of these players has thus far have won two games with one loss. Stait has been playing well and consistently and Warner just another day at the office playing his grinding type play mixed with good shots. Warner was doing his best though Stait was countering everything he threw at her and she outlasted Warner 72–40. Dallas Thurlow with 29 start more than backed himself against Geoff Horton who was playing his third comp game in ten years. Thurlow started out well and then hit a wall as Horton stared with sinking a couple of blacks to kick off. As the game got longer Horton came into his own as he surged to a 62–46 win. Mal Hewitt played Harry Wright and both have a 50 per cent win/loss record and both being the elder statesman of their teams and still have all the skills. They both played to their best though Wright was keeping and staying ahead and Hewitt decided to play to keep the aggregate point as Wright finally won 69–52. The players of the match were Tom Drury and Geoff Horton. 

Williams and Sons Butchery Pockets versus Hunter Mining Methods Miscues: Trystan Ford making his first 2017 appearance was up against Jack Bilby. Bilby has improved in a short time and he was a lot better against Ford who was struggling. Bilby just about had the game won but Ford fell over the line with the black 51–48. Todd Bates played Dennis Goodwin who is used to putting the slipper into some one out of form. This was a low scoring game that did not reach the heights that it could have and once the last ball fell Goodwin made best of a bad situation 45–39. The sadly out of form Luke Morris has finally broken off his shackles when he played the inform Ritchie Bilby. Bilby had 16 start which Morris soon caught when he scored a 14 break and he was not going to be headed as he was back to his best. Bilby did not do much wrong it was that Morris was too good 62–38. Shane Eagle and Matt Tattersall put on a show that was worth the admission price. Both are playing with confidence and this game was no different as they both traded shot for shot and in the long run Tattersall played the better game to win 58–31. Brett Holt has been out of sorts over the previous two competitions and 2017 he has settled down to playing some good snooker and in his game against Garry Bender he had to play well as Bender was undefeated. This was a very good and close game as both showed why they are in form. It was that close that Bender thought he had the win only to see Holt pot the black to win 66–60 to inflict Benders first loss. The game of the night went to Michael Wellings and Brian Nightingale as the score was even when the black was sunk for the first time. Wellings had to chase down 26 points and Nightingale was making it difficult by potting well himself. Wellings did catch Nightingale and due to the even score the black had to be respotted. It was Wellings who sunk the black to scrape home 72–65. The players of the match were Luke Morris and Matt Tattersall.

Pointscore: Jiggers & Miscues 18, Tall Timbers 16, Helmets 15, Pockets 14, Red Sox & Outlaws 12

Regal: J.Glencorse, G.Bender, I.Bulkeley, R.Bilby, D.Stait, M.Tattersall, S.Eagle, B.Bradley

Players were welcomed back after the Christmas school holidays break on February 9, where Bandits played Spinners in Round 1 of the Ladies’ A Grade Tennis Competition. It was a very tight match from the outset, with the new teams being very evenly matched. The first three sets were hard fought and finished in a 5-4 win, two wins to Bandits and one to Spinners. Bandits’ Sandy Cox and Debbie Williams then had a solid 7-2 set over Spinners’ Kerry Higlett and Jill Young, which was duly reversed by Spinners’ Kristy Aylott and Carolyn Andison over Debbie Williams and Jill Young. The final set sealed the win for Spinners when Kristy Aylott and Kerry Higlett were too strong on the day for Debbie Williams and Sandy Cox, winning 6-3. Spinners were winners with a three set 28 games result against Bandits’ three sets, 26 games. Best for Spinners was Kristy Aylott and Sandy Cox played well all day for Bandits.

Volleys met Bandits in Round two last Thursday. The first set brought a close 5-4 win to Bandits, however they followed this up with three decisive sets against Volleys, winning 6-3, 7-2 and 7-2. Sandy Cox and Carolyn Andison played very well together against Margie Lowe and Robyn Patterson in the first of these 7-2 wins, with Carolyn Andison again featuring in the second, where she put away a number of winning shots with teammate Debbie Williams against Julie Grant and Robyn Patterson.

Volleys had their only set win of the day in the fifth, when Julie Grant and Margie Lowe narrowly overcame Debbie Williams and Sandy Cox in a 5-4 result. Bandits were well ahead by this stage and also won the last set 5-4, giving them a 5 set, 35 games to Volleys one set, 20 games. Carolyn Andison was the standout player for Bandits, while Julie Grant played valiantly all day for Volleys.

Thank you to Robyn Pattinson for filling in for Volleys. This week Volleys play Spinners and Bandits have the Bye. Duty Club team is Spinners

Emuz are the only unbeaten team remaining after Round 3 of the Lithgow Table Tennis Association Winter Competition played at the Old Trades Hall. The doubles rubbers proved vital in both matches, with the winning sides being those that had the better combinations.

Equal leaders Emuz looked in deep trouble when Charolais won the first three rubbers all 2-1 and tacked on a 2-0 win in the fourth to hold a commanding 8-3 advantage. Emuz finally found their feet and a 6-1 run saw the match evenly poised at 9-all. At the completion of the singles rubbers Emuz had hit the front for the first time with a slender one game lead, 12-11. Emuz snatched a tight 2-1 victory in the first doubles to go further ahead at 14-12 which meant Charolais had to win the second 2-0 to force a tie. Emuz would not be denied though, and took it 2-0 themselves to run out 16-12 victors.

Eric Joyce turned in a 5-2 result for Emuz, just pipping Riza Wiradi (5-3) for best record, while Linda Kappos struggled to a 2-6 record. Winning both doubles by a combined four games to one got Emuz through.

Mal Jefferies finished at 4-3 for Charolais. Dave Mays went the distance in each of his three singles rubbers to record 5-4 while Sean Jenkins was below his best at 2-5.

The other match saw equal competition leaders Loopers taking on Spinners. Spinners had the best of the opening exchanges to hold leads of 4-1, 6-3 and 8-5. However, a 6-1 Loopers run to close out the singles saw them hit the front at 11-9 with only the two doubles left. Spinners regrouped just in time, stopping the Loopers' surge with a 2-0 win in the first doubles to tie the match up 11-all. This left the second doubles to decide the winner. The teams split the first two games before Spinners squeezed out a dramatic twelve points to ten win in the third game to snatch the victory and hand Loopers their first loss, 13-12.

Megan Kappos (5-2) led the way for Spinners with good support coming from Leon Rust with 4-3. Sharnie Roberts was desperately unlucky to finish 0-6, with five of her six singles games reaching 10-all, but she was unable to convert any of them into wins. However, she played her part in the final doubles, with a 12-10 win in the deciding game. Victory in both doubles by a 4-1 margin proved the difference.

For Loopers, Peter Jaccoud had best figures with 5-3, while Mark McAulay went 4-2 and Michael Wood was down on form at 2-4. Grippers had the bye. Pointscore: Emuz 12, Loopers 9, Spinners 8, Grippers 7, Charolais 3.