County Trials took place on 6/7 September 2008 at Preston for U11’s, U13’s, U15’s & U18s and were well attended. Thanks to Stan Clarke for organising and running the Trials and also to a number of helpers.

The Regional Trials were held at Halton Table Tennis Centre on 29/30 November 2008 for U11’s, U13’s & U15’s. In addition to the five nominations from each County in the Region, the Trials were also opened up to Local League and Premier Clubs, as the purpose of the event had been expanded to “Talent Identification”. This effectively meant that County nominations were totally unnecessary, since the Regional Trials just became a talent identification tournament open to anyone who wanted to attend.

For the season 2008-2009, seven teams were once again entered into the County Championships, one cadet, two junior, one senior, two veterans and one over 60’s.

As of last season, the 2nd Veterans team has been organised and captained by Barry Crook and the Over 60’s, which was self funded, was organised and captained by Ron Bennett.

In the County Championships, the Cadets team, in Division 1A, played on both 13th December and 10th January, winning 5 matches and losing 2 matches. The 1st round matches was captained by Paul Brandwood, although he was unable to do the 2nd round of matches. The team came 4th in the final league table.

The two Junior teams both played in the same division, 2A, on two separate Saturdays and were captained by Dave Graham. The 1st team won 4, drew 2 and lost 2, finishing 4th in final league table, whilst the 2nd team won 1, drew 1 and lost 6, finishing bottom of the division and will be relegated next season.

The Seniors in Division 1A played all their fixtures in one weekend at Draycott and Long Eaton, finishing 3rd in the division, winning 4, drawing 1 and losing 2 matches.

The Veterans 1st team, Division 1A, played over 2 weekends resulting in 5 wins and 2 draws and finished runners-up. It is likely that the team will be promoted, as the team which finished top, already have a team in the Premier Division. Congratulations to the team which was captained by Chris Ford on both weekends.

The Veterans 2nd team, Division 3A, finished in 5th place, winning 2, drawing 1 and losing 4 matches.
The Over 60’s team, Division 1A, finished in 6th place, winning 2 and losing 5 matches.

The Match Secretary thanks all those who captained the various teams for their efforts, along with parents who have helped with travel arrangements for the cadet and junior teams.

County Badges have been presented to:
Cadets: Craig Scarisbrick, Jonny Cummins, Danny Woods, Danielle Eden, Rebecca McGrath and Weronika Szleszynska
Juniors: Alex Tyson and Luke McCall
Senior: Yeng Kho
Over 60’s: Bill Ingham

RESULTS

Cadets:
Lancashire v Shropshire won 7-3
Lancashire v Cheshire lost 1-9
Lancashire v Leicestershire won 7-3
Lancashire v Cleveland lost 4-6
Lancashire v Cambridgeshire won 8-2
Lancashire v Cambridgeshire 2 won 10-0
Lancashire v Lincolnshire lost 3-7
Lancashire v Suffolk won 7-3
Lancashire v Norfolk lost 4-6

Junior:
Lancashire 1 v Cheshire 2 lost 3-7
Lancashire 1 v Cleveland drew 5-5
Lancashire 1 v Lancashire 2 won 6-4
Lancashire 1 v Yorkshire 2 lost 4-6
Lancashire 1 v Lincolnshire 2 drew 5-5
Lancashire 1 v Derbyshire 2 won 7-3
Lancashire 1 v Norfolk won 8-2
Lancashire 1 v Leicestershire won 7-3
Lancashire 2 v Cheshire 2 lost 2-8
Lancashire 2 v Yorkshire 2 lost 1-9
Lancashire 2 v Lancashire 1 lost 4-6
Lancashire 2 v Lincolnshire 2 won 6-4
Lancashire 2 v Derbyshire 2 lost 2-8
Lancashire 2 v Norfork drew 5-5
Lancashire 2 v Cleveland lost 2-8

Seniors:
Lancashire v Leicestershire won 6-4
Lancashire v South Yorkshire lost 4-6
Lancashire v Derbyshire 2 won 8-2
Lancashire v Warwickshire won 9-1
Lancashire v Yorkshire drew 5-5
Lancashire v Cleveland lost 1-9
Lancashire v Northumberland won 8-2

Veterans:
Lancashire 1 v Norfolk won 7-3
Lancashire 1 v Cheshire 2 drew 5-5
Lancashire 1 v Essex 2 won 9-1
Lancashire 1 v Hertfordshire won 9-1
Lancashire 1 v Yorkshire 2 drew 5-5
Lancashire 1 v Essex 3 won 6-4
Lancashire 1 v Yorkshire 3 won 7-3
Lancashire 2 v Northants 2 won 7-3
Lancashire 2 v Yorkshire 4 lost 3-7
Lancashire 2 v Cleveland lost 4-6
Lancashire 2 v Worcestershire 3 won 9-1
Lancashire 2 v Warwickshire drew 5-5
Lancashire 2 v South Yorkshire lost 3-7
Lancashire 2 v Durham lost 4-6

Over 60’s:
Lancashire v Cheshire lost 4-6
Lancashire v Cheshire 2 won 10-0
Lancashire v Lincolnshire lost 0-10
Lancashire v Warwickshire lost 4-6
Lancashire v Worcestershire lost 1-9
Lancashire v Yorkshire lost 4-6
Lancashire v Yorkshire 2 won 6-4