Sunderland and District - In the first round of the Alex Brook Trophy late changes had to be made to the team representing Sunderland, which consisted of Bernie Morris, Bob Read of Silksworth CC 'A' and Allan Thompson of Seaburn Dene NC.

In these competitions the first team to five sets, wins the particular match, and the remaining sets are not played out, so as to keep the actual competition time down to a minimum. In the first match against Northumbria we lost 25 with both

Bernie Morris and Allan Thompson winning the sets for Sunderland. Against a strong team from Hull they lost the first five sets to lose this match 0-5. Against Doncaster we

won 5-1 with Allan Thompson and Bob Reed each winning their two sets, and Bernie Morris completing the victory with his single set win. Hull and Northumbria proceed to the next stage of the competition.

Silksworth CC A dropped a valuable league point when they could only provide two players against Southern Stewart and Walker and only managed a 6-4 victory with Kevin Wilson winning all three singles plus the doubles with Beenie Morris who won two of his three singles before losing against Michael Grimes 21-10, 19-21, 16-21. Southern Stewart and Walker then beat West CA A by 6-4 with Michael Grimes taking two sets plus the doubles with Maurice Cheek who had a good match in also winning all three singles to ensure a narrow victory. West CA A therefore gained another valuable league point as they fight the relegation drop with Mark Shingler winning two sets and one each from Doug Lawrence and Frank Booth.

P W D L F A Pts

Silkworth CC B 14 12 2 0 111 29 51

Silksworth C 14 11 0 3 99 41 42

Silksworth A 14 9 2 3 99 52 40

S Stewart Walker 14 7 2 5 75 65 32

Boldon CA A 14 7 1 6 77 63 31

West CA A 14 3 1 10 43 97 16

Ryhope IM 14 2 1 11 42 98 10

St John TTC A 14 0 1 13 25 115 2

Seburn Dene NC increased their victory over Redby CA A, at the top of Division Two by an 8-2 sets victory

with Norman Polley and Allan Thompson not for the first time this season each taking all three singles and Linda Spensley winning one of her singles plus the doubles with Norman Polley.

P W D L F A Pts

Seaham D NC 11 10 1 0 91 18 41

West CA B 12 6 2 4 56 64 25

Silksworth Com 10 6 2 2 54 46 25

St Gabriels A 11 4 3 4 5258 22

Redby CA A 12 2 3 7 49 71 17

St John TTC B 12 2 3 7 49 71 15

St Gabriels B 12 1 4 7 48 71 14

Outstanding fixtures: St Gabriels A v Silksworth Comrades due w/e October 15, 2001; Silksworth Comrades v Seaburn Dene NC due January 14, 2002.

Division Three

The third division have completed two-thirds of their league programme and no matches are outstanding.

P W D L F A Pts

St John TTC C 1 9 2 1 93 27 41

Boldon CA B 12 10 2 0 82 38 41

Redby CA B 12 8 2 2 80 40 35

St John TTC D 12 5 1 6 55 65 23

St John TTC E 12 2 1 9 47 73 11

St John TTC F 12 2 0 10 36 84 10

Redby CA C 12 2 0 10 27 93 7

Handicap competition

Individual singles

Second round

Neil Herrington (Silksworth CC B (scratch) beat David Kerr (Redby CA B) (plus 14) 19-21, 21-17, 21-16, 22-20 Brian Taylor (St Gabriel's A) (scratch) beat Jonathan Meldrum (St John TTC F) 21-19, 21-13, 21-16.

Syd Gooding (St Gabriel's A) (plus 11) beat Ken Bowman (Boldon CA A) (scratch) 21-11, 21-16, 18-21, 21-15

St John TTC E (David Winterbottom three sets, Susan Grimes two sets and Simon Moran one set) beat Ryhope IM (Brian Bateman, Stuart Anderson, and Gavin Bestford each winning one set) 6-3.

St John TTC C (Colin Bryce one set, Philip Dixon two sets and Hugh Bevan two sets) beat West CA A (Mark Shingler and Frank Booth each with two sets) 5-4.

Silksworth CC B ( David Robson two sets, Neil Herrington one set and Chris Blake two sets) beat Redby CA C Anthony Barella one set, Graeme Barella two sets, and Daniel Heptinstall one set) 5-4.

Silksworth Comrades (George McClurkin three sets, Geoff Eltringham two sets and Kaye Dixon two sets) beat St John TTC F (David Unsworth and Jonathan Meldrum one set each) 7-2.