Fulford Road WMC 'A' team, hoping to finish in second place in division one of Focus Fireplaces York and District Table Tennis League, had two matches to try to close the gap on York RI 'B'.

They found Bootham Conservative Club 'B' a hard nut to crack before they ran out 7-3 winners. John Farmery was unbeaten for Fulford and Martin Medlar played well to win two for Bootham.

Against INL 'A', Fulford Road went 2-0 down but managed a 6-4 win. Alfie Potter played well for INL, winning all three.

Despite three wins from Mick Wadsworth, a two-man Bootham CC 'A' went down 6-4 to Coneysthorpe 'A', who should preserve their division one status.

Division two leaders York RI 'C' beat INL 'C' 7-3, Tim Smith and Chris Tiffany each winning three for RI. The three points gained by INL 'C' takes them within two points of York RI 'D', who drew 5-5 with Nestl Rowntree 'B'. It was a fitting result to a good game with several games being decided at the end or the third game.

Game five saw John Elliott overcome Jill Schofield 20-22 21-14 22-20, while in game six Dave Robinson beat Graham Hood 22-24 21-15 21-19.

Ed Wardman's three wins helped Fulford Road WMC 'B' to a 7-3 win over Bootham CC 'C', who may have edged to safety.

Nestl Rowntree 'A' beat BT 'A' 6-4. Keith Webster was on top form for Nestl, winning all three. BT 'A' are among one of four teams who could be relegated.

Poppleton 'C' now need only six points from their last game to win division three. They had an 8-2 win against two-man Bootham Conservative Club 'D'.

Bootham need a big win in their last match to avoid relegation as they could only field two players against Poppleton 'E', though Bob Plant played well to win all three.

Eddie Prest won three for Coneysthorpe 'C' as they managed a 5-5 draw with Terry's, who now look assured of safety.

It is tight at the top of division four with any one of four teams still in with a chance of winning the title.

Leaders Norwich Union 'A' had a 9-1 victory over York RI 'H' with Adrian Church and John McDonald each scoring three wins.

INL 'D' beat Poppleton 'F' 10-0 to move into second place. Nestl Rowntree 'C' beat York RI 'I' 8-2, with Peter Thompson and Richard Falkingham each winning three, and moved into third place.

Richard Leafe was unbeaten for York RI 'G' in their 5-5 draw with Nestl Rowntree 'C'.

Alan Mozley won all three for Poppleton 'F' as Poppleton managed a 5-5 draw with Norwich Union 'B'. Will Alexandra played well to win two matches for Poppleton.

Updated: 11:17 Friday, March 29, 2002