RAILWAY Institute Ladies suffered a rare defeat when they went down 5-4 at home to the University Students in division one of York Badminton League, writes Paul Hobman.

Katie Marchbank and Eleanor Ramsden were the student match-winners with three wins, including the vital 12 and 4 over the Institute's best pairing of Nicola Coggins and Sandra Pauw.

The Institute Ladies redeemed themselves a few days later with a 6-3 away win over Selby/Drax. Ros Ellis and Nicky Milsted topscored with three wins for 90-30.

Market Weighton Ladies beat division two newcomers Selby Jubilee 5-4 at the Weighton Sports Centre. Linda McDonagh and Laura Durston won the match for the East Yorkshire-based club with three wins for 104-51.

Selby/Drax lost 8-1 at home to York RI in men's division one. Tim Jarvis and Pete Crosland took the best Institute return with three wins for 90-29, while Steve Parr and David Hearn took the home consolation with a 10 and 10 over Sam Gardner and Dave Bloomfield.

Drax 'B' scored a narrow 5-4 home win over Tadcaster in men's two. Adam Prescott and Andrew Dunning made the Drax difference with three straight wins for 90-47.

Shepherds kept up their domination with a 9-0 away win over Knavesmire. Roger Martin and Paul Nichol topscored with three straight wins for a total of 90-34.

Fulfordgate opened their account in men's three with a 6-3 away success over Shepherds 'B', Andrew Johnson and Matt Hobman were the visitors' match-winners with three wins for 107-72.

University Students 'A' kept on the winning trail in mixed one after a 7-2 away win over Clifton 'A'. Manik Chakravarti and Katie Marchbank took the student honours with three straight wins for 94-67.

Clifton 'A' had earlier scraped a 5-4 win over their 'B' team club-mates. K Mori and Shelagh Barker swung the match in the final rubber with a 12 and 7 win over M Walker and Ronnie Davison.

In mixed three, RI Tuesday/Thursday 'A' scored a 6-3 home win over YUSC 'A'. Andy Brown and Rachel Adamson took the match honours with three wins for 106-68.

Middlethorpe travelled to Tadcaster 86 'B' in Mixed Five and went down 3-6 after several close games.

Updated: 11:07 Thursday, January 06, 2005