IT was top against bottom in Division One of the Bury Table Tennis League this week with the match going the way of the form book.

Ramsbottom A claimed a 10-0 victory over Seedfield A to move further ahead of second-placed Radcliffe, who could only manage an 8-2 win against Carlton Club A.

Dwyer cup finalists Prestwich B and C met in the league, with the C team coming out on top, thanks mainly to Gabriel Wildings' three wins. Burning Desire consolidated their place in the top division with an 8-2 victory over next to bottom Prestwich D, with three wins for both Steve Barber and Brett Haslam.

In the remaining match, Rammy B got the better of Little Lever 6-4 in a close match where all players won at least one match.

Division Two leaders, Coburg managed a 10-0 victory against a weakened Maccabi A who were without Stuart Landes, and are now 13 points clear at the top of the table.

Second-placed Prestwich E only managed to beat Midges A 6-4 despite three wins from Steve Hathaway. The gap to third-placed ELPM A is now 14 points so it’s looking like the promotion spots are decided unless there are a couple of upsets in the final three weeks of the season.

At the other end of the table, Carlton C lost 8-2 to ELPM and are now 13 points adrift at the bottom. The match between Elton Vale and Carlton B ended all square with Dave Holden winning his three. The mid-table match between The Polish Club and Prestwich F ended in a 6-4 victory to The Polish Club with three players winning two matches and three players winning one.

Until this week, Simon King had only lost one match in Division Three and the person who beat him was Phil Wardle of Holmar A, so it was no surprise that Wardle repeated the victory in the return match. The match itself ended in a 6-4 victory to Midges B.

The other players in the mix to win the averages, Chris Sutcliffe and Dave Jackson, also lost a match this week to Carol Mitchell, who managed three wins in ELPMs draw with Carlton Vale.

Prestwich G did their hopes of avoiding relegation no harm with a 7-3 win over Maccabi C, with Paul Hutchinson winning all three. With Barry Warburton missing for BGSOB A their opponents Maccabi D had a comfortable 7-3 win with three wins coming from Zak Cantor.

The battle for the second promotion spot in Division Four is very tight with ELPM C and Shawfield C both winning their matches.

Holmar C could only draw but they have a match in hand of the other two and are only five points behind. John Edge for ELPM and Wayne Ellis for Shawfield won their three matches. OTTC A showed how they have improved over the season with a good 5-5 draw against Holmar B with all their players registering wins. This match was a preview of the Hilton Cup Final which looks like being a close encounter if this match was anything to go by. In the remaining match top of the league Seedfield D extended their big lead at the top of the table, after another 10-0 victory, this time at the expense of Maccabi E. They are now 33 points clear with a match in hand.

Division Five started the second part of the campaign with the top five and the bottom five splitting into two groups all playing each other once again. This initiative is obviously going to provide some close matches if the first week is anything to go by, with only three players failing to register at least one win in the four matches so far played. The best performance came from young Josh Dalton for Seedfield G who beat all three of the older and more experienced heads of Holmar D.