Robilliard springs a big surprise on Stubbington

Tuesday 22nd December 2009, 2:29PM GMT.

Liam Robilliard ended Matt Stubbington’s 100% record in the top division. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0191587)

PANTHERS A made huge strides towards their first table tennis league title with a vital 7-3 victory over title rivals and defending champions Lions A.

The victory came at the end of the second round of First Division matches and leaves them four points clear at the top of the table.

Both sides were in good form leading up to the encounter and each posted comfortable victories in their other three matches.

The youthful Cenkos Panthers A side, consisting of brothers Adam and Olly Langlois and Matthew Stubbington, started the second round in emphatic fashion by producing an excellent 10-0 whitewash of third-placed Whistlers B.

They followed that up with another dominant victory, this time 9-1 over Whistlers A, the solitary win coming in the form of a nice five-game doubles victory for Mark Pipet and Martyn Gaudion over Stubbington and Adam Langlois.

Their final league match leading up to the big clash ended as another 10-0 whitewash, this time with Specsavers the recipients of the drubbing.

Lions A also made a good start to the second round with a comfortable 9-1 victory over Whistlers B, the consolation victory coming from Dawn Morgan, who posted an impressive straight games victory over the ever improving Liam Robilliard.