By JUNE UEBERGANG

THE hall was alive with the sound of ping pong balls, when 28 players dressed in their favourite sporting gear came from near and far to take part in this year’s final showdown of the Oxley social table tennis competition.

And as laughter is said to be the best medicine, everyone was well dosed and raring to go from 7pm.

First to tee off, Paul Lawrence paired up with Don (not Trump) to test the mettle of Brian, who returned from ‘back o’ Bourke’ and ‘catch me if you can' Debbie Brunken, in a game where each player brandished their own weapons in full support of their partner in a game of eye-watering magnitude from beginning to end.

While many deep, hard-driven serves and strokes were unreturnable, other were met and negated with pinpoint precision to all points on the table.

Scores see-sawed throughout until one pair made a late surge, slamming their way to victory 21-18.

Adorned as a ‘Saint’ Adam Bosley and ‘Go Pies’ Graham Stephens teamed up to take on ‘Relay for Lifer’ Neil Brock and Kate ‘everywhere’ Cole, in a game where each pair in turn led their opponents on a merry dance in the desperate attempts, and fulfilments, of casting the final blow on every point.

With neither pair showing any signs of lowering their intensity, table edges, net cords, hard drives and slices were all on display in the epic contest.

No final scores were registered, but high-fives and big smiles indicated it was a job well done.

Generational age differences played no part in a great contest when Cheryl and Gary ‘Morse’ Coad challenged the youthful ‘school champion’ Millie Bosley and ‘well-sprung’ Hugh Spring in a game from which all spectators learned a thing or two.

Power and dexterity were all on show with quick thinking, as Cheryl kept her eye on the ball, Gary kept his hand on the wheel, and Millie and Hugh pulled the punches from both sides of the body.

And just as one pair thought they had the game in the bag, the other pulled the rug out from under them, resulting in a tie.

When Simon (Brown) and the ‘pie-man’ William Bonwick joined forces to take on ‘rip-tearers’ Janet Heath and Katie (Perry) Woodberry, it was a ‘foregoner’ there would be no mucking around, and both pairs would fight to the end for each and every point.

With Simon on a roll, and William backing him up to the limit, the girls knew they had the job in front and behind them.

But as is well known ‘winners are grinners’, and this was clearly visible as both pairs left the table grinning from ear to ear.

Always seeing the ‘big picture’, Jason Mullins teamed up with ‘no fooling around’ Clive Brooker to take on ‘the Hawks’ immortals’ Mick and Sharene Gervasoni in a long and lively event from the first point.

With the fellas playing the heavy stuff, Sharene tempered the pace and strength, with her careful and accurate placement of short and wide strokes, resulting in each point taking many strokes to win or lose.

A great game finally ended with a loud ‘whoopee’ and hearty back-slaps.

With the ‘you go bangs’ Lucy and June Uebergang lined up with their respective partners, ‘Smith Street’s flier’ Sue McGregor and Manni ‘games under his belt’ Poulos, everyone knew it would be a game of ‘go out there and get ’em’.

As the girls played their own signature shots, and missed some others, Manni was in control of his deliveries, and the flow of the game from start to finish.

But it was Manni who with Sue by his side, kept his finger on the pulse until finally calling the result a tie.

When ‘Magpie man’ James Cole and ‘fast bowler’ Pete Spring faced ‘cue-ball champ’ Theo Poulos and ‘sports all-rounder’ Neil Spurgeon, everyone knew it would be game on with no holds barred.

From the outset, both pairs worked in unison with neither conceding a point until the ball had bounced twice.

Tough to play, it came as no surprise to see all four players mopping their brows while one pair finally raised the victory flag.

Following the night’s many contests, players and spectators enjoyed a cuppa and supper, to celebrate and reminisce on another successful season, after which Neil Brock presented June Uebergang with an album of copies of the season's weekly reports in the Wangaratta Chronicle.

In closing, June congratulated and thanked everyone for their unending support in many ways throughout the year.

The group will now go into recess until a date to be determined in autumn 2025.

And as was once said, “giving your all for the sake of the team, accepting victory and defeat just the same; it matters not if you win or lose, but how you play the game.”

And we played the game, in every sense of the word.