IN division one of the Malvern Table Tennis League, Manor Park Cavaliers are once again the champions following their 8-2 win over Ledbury Merlins.

Joe Higgs and Mike Keeley were unbeaten on the night.

It is their third title in four years but this season they did not remain unbeaten. Their winning streak of 27 consecutive victories over the last season and a half came to an end in late January when they were beaten 6-4 by Magpies.

The battle for the runners-up spot is between the Magpies and Grosvenor Eagles. Magpies are eight points ahead of Eagles but they have three games in hand.

In Magpies' last two games they have beaten Ledbury Lions 8-2 and drawn 5-5 with Express 25. Against Lions, Mark Jones and Mike Harris were both unbeaten, including the doubles, but in the game against Express, Steve Humphrys came in for Mike but neither of them could stop Dave Woodyatt, who won his three singles. He beat Mark 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8 and became only the third person this season to beat him in the league.

Manor Park Juniors have had a successful season and they consolidated their mid-table position with a 7-3 win over Manor Park Pumas. Alan Salisbury and Jack Higgs were both unbeaten and the latter teamed up with Ben Salisbury to win a close doubles 11-9 in the fifth.

The battle at the bottom of the table is between the two Ledbury teams, Lions and Merlins. Merlins claimed a point against Cavaliers with Nigel Foreshew and Mike Wheatley both beating Trevor Simmons. Lions had a 5-5 draw with bottom-of-the-table Manor Park Pumas. Dave Saer won his three singles for Lions but Pumas battled back from 3-0 down to take a share of the spoils. Jon Dyke won twice with Dave Hallam and Nick Price one each and Dyke and Hallam winning the doubles. Lions win over Gordon Stables came courtesy of the scoreline 2-11, 11-9, 11-1, 0-11, 12-10.

Lions and Merlins have still to play each other this season so their fate has yet to be decided.

RESULTS: Manor Park Cavaliers 8, Ledbury Merlins 2; Ledbury Lions 5, Manor Park Pumas 5; Manor Park Express 25 5, Magpies 5; Manor Park Cavaliers 8, Manor Park Express 25 2; Manor Park Pumas 3, Manor Park Juniors 7; Magpies 8, Ledbury Lions 2.

TWO consecutive maximum points have confirmed Wombats as champions of division two.

Both their opponents will feel aggrieved to go home pointless. Three of the games with Ledbury Exhaust went to a fifth set and another two were decided in the fourth. Only Stewart Moss was able to record a victory for the hosts, coming from behind to win 8-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9 against Steve Glazzard.

Tony Birch and Steve Baker each won three, a feat which Tony repeated against Manor Park Travellers. Dave Williams replaced Steve Baker and again won all three singles plus the doubles with Tony. Once more the match was closer than the score-line with Martin Snee particularly unlucky to lose to Dave 11-8 in the fifth set and also lose in the deciding set of the doubles when partnering Bob Atyeo. Ken Hipwell was the only winner for Travellers, with a victory over Steve Glazzard.

Poolbrook Juniors have moved into a very strong second place. Mark Griffiths has been in superb form since winning the divisional singles' title at the league championships. He has won 11 of his last 12 singles, including all three against Vulcans and two against Broadheath.

Graham Collier went one better winning all six of his games and Matt Lang gained three wins for Vulcans. Chris Hughes saved the whitewash with a five set victory over Matt and both he and Ray Holroyd were unlucky in previous five set games. Two wins for in-form David Elliott and one for Brett Brining earned a point for Bellters.

A win and a draw helped Crackpots E move away from the relegation zone. Colin Dolding was again impressive, picking up six wins. A win apiece for Dave Backhurst and Tony Hughes gained a point for CSSC Nomads in their confrontation.

Game of the night saw Dave Steen (3) overcome Dave Backhurst 12-10 in the fifth set. The match with Ledbury Exhaust was tight all the way through with Crackpots taking the final two games to earn a draw. Stewart Moss and John Meredith each won twice and Ray Cooke once for the visitors. Bromyard Logics were without John Hunt for the visit of Broadheath and two wins for Richard Owens were not enough to save them in this relegation battle. Dave Elliott won three and was well supported by Pete Roberts and Brett Brining, with two wins each for Bellters.

RESULTS: Broadheath Bellters 3, Poolbrook Juniors 7; Ledbury Exhaust 1, Wombats 9; CSSC Nomads 2, Crackpots E 8; Bromyard Logics 2, Broadheath Bellters 8; Poolbrook Juniors 9, YMCA Vulcans 1; Crackpots E 5, Ledbury Exhaust 5; Wombats 9, Manor Park Travellers 1; CSSC Nomads 0, Poolbrook Juniors 10.

WITH Uckinghall catching up on a match plus playing their ordinary fixture and gaining ten points from the two, they have put themselves in top position in division three.

They cannot be reached by any other team so they are guaranteed promotion next season.

With another four points from their last match of the season, Maulers are in second place, but they are unlikely to stay there because each of the Crackpots teams have a match in hand and are fairly certain to pick up points from them.

Another team to be catching up on their matches is Abbeydowne. They got six points from their four evenings with Bill Lucas and Roy Holland being the best players.

RESULTS: Manor Park Maulers 10, Manor Park Allsorts 0; Uckinghall 9, Abbeydowne 1; Dukes Way Dynamos 3, Abbeydowne 7; Abbeydowne 2, Manor Park Crackpots 8; Abbeydowne 2, Uckinghall 8.