NEWTON Abbot Eagles closed the gap to eight points at the top of the South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League first division, despite losing to Halwell A.

NA Buzzards hold on to the top spot with the Eagles moving into the runners-up spot thanks to an excellent maximum from Paul Davey as they lost out to Halwell A 6-4.

A fine maximum from Nicholas Shipley was not enough for the bottom side, Brixham Trawlers, to beat club colleagues Brixham Sharks as his three points were all the Trawlers managed as they lost out, 3-7.

Grove Guerrillas lead the second division following an 8-2 victory over Torbay Academy 2, Colin Butterworth with another maximum for the Grove.

Two maximums from Dawlish Aces’ David Davies helped the Dawlish outfit to two 6-4 victories, firstly over Brixham Pirates and later in the week over NA Falcons. Mark Smith and Rod Sugden were unbeaten as Halwell B defeated bottom side Taverners 8-2.

Brixham Gulls are the new leaders of the third division following their comfortable 9-1 victory over NA Harriers, both Issy Brown and Kevin Ayling were unbeaten for the Gulls. The Gulls in action twice in the week had earlier defeated Dawlish Renegades 8-2 thanks to another maximum from Issy Brown.

NA Kestrels moved up the table with a 7-3 victory at Torbay Academy 3, Rob Williams with a maximum for the Kestrels. NA Kites got their season going with their first victory, 9-1, at the expense of Torbay Academy 5, Nick and James Kitchen were both unbeaten for the Kites.

Another Lewis Lavery maximum helped his Torre Spartans side to a 7-3 victory over NA Merlins and lead the fourth division by five points. NA Ospreys in the runners-up spot also won 7-3 against Torbay Academy 6, but they could not beat Gustav Adamczak who collected all of the points for Academy 6.

NA Vultures picked up their first win of the season at Brixham against the Seals 6-4.

There was also one cup handicap singles match played which saw the NA Condors team of Bob Parkins, Curtis Sage and Albie Andrews come from behind to defeat Torbay Academy 5, 20-16.

Division One

Halwell A (Wadling, Mercer, Symons) 6-4 NA Eagles (Davey, Gaston, Broad- Dbls).

Brixham Sharks (Harper, Holmes, Banham- Dbls) 7-3 Brixham Trawlers (N Shipley, S Shipley, Maynard).

Division Two

Dawlish Aces (Davies, Bellham, Sercombe- Dbls) 6-4 Brixham Pirates (Saxby, I Brown, Williamson).

Grove Guerrillas (Butterworth, Gilhespy, Pearson- Dbls) 8-2 Torbay Academy (2) (Ichim, Damanskas, Cregan).

Halwell B (Smith, Sugden, Dunn) 8-2 Taverners (Dilkes, Harrop, Read- Dbls).

NA Falcons (Cyron, Guy, J Kitchen- Dbls) 4-6 Dawlish Aces (Davies, Sercombe, S Grim).

Division Three

NA Harriers (Fabian, Copley, Morgan) 1-9 Brixham Gulls (Ayling, I Brown, Lamden- Dbls).

Brixham Gulls (I Brown, Ayling, Williamson- Dbls) 8-2 Dawlish Renegades (Chadwick, Kashap, S Grim).

NA Kites (J Kitchen, N Kitchen, Humphreys- Dbls) 9-1 Torbay Academy (5) (Neafcy, James, Gibbs).

Torbay Academy (3) (Moretta, Harris, Fowler- Dbls) 3-7 NA Kestrels (Williams, Wakefield, Hathaway).

Division Four

Brixham Seals (W Mulholland, I Mulholland, Gilbert) 4-6 NA Vultures (Andrews, Joachimiak, Jewell- Dbls).

NA Merlins (Raymond, Stratton, Davies) 3-7 Torre Spartans (Lavery, Excell, Glasser- Dbls).

Torbay Academy (6) (G Adamczak, Bhatia, Kawula) 3-7 NA Ospreys (Ramsden, Ferguson, Dulling- Dbls).

CUP COMPETITIONS

Handicap Team Singles

NA Condors beat Torbay Academy (5) 20-16.