After the welcome ‘flooding’ rains, 25 players flooded into the Oxley hall to pour their everything into the non-stop action at the social table tennis competition last Monday night.

Not wasting a moment, Gary zipped in his 'Coad’ when he partnered ‘hardy man’, Jacob Hardiman to take on ‘Mrs’ Cheryl Coad, and ‘red-hot goer’, Debbie Brunken, in a game of no gimmies, but plenty of ‘gotchas’ from all four players.

Constantly putting their opponents ‘up against the wall’, each tightly gelled pair gave their all, as they landed and handled heavy and accurate deliveries, mixed with ‘sneaky stuff’, to and from all points of the table.

After the long battle, although there were no ‘blood or tears’ there was plenty of sweat, when final scores revealed one pair won a tie-breaker.

‘King of the mountains’, David Harris, was footloose, when he and ‘young flyer’ Zac Williamson, pulled on the boots to tackle ‘fast mover’ Ruth Shalders, and ‘slow off the mark’, June Uebergang, in a game which brought everyone’s best to the table.

While David and Zac used their pace and strengths to their advantage, Ruth was reduced to being a ‘one man/lady band’ as she was forced to carry June through much of the hard times.

After David and Zac got away to an early sizeable lead, Ruth and June had their hands full until the half-way mark of the game, after which Ruth and June narrowed the gap, but it was ‘too late Ethel’, and final scores saw David and Zac take the win with ‘honours’.

From the first ping of the ball, teenage visitor for the evening, Eliza Holm, was in good form, when she, and ‘young ripster’ Ryan Van Der Poel joined forces to give ‘never-stopped’, Harriet Day, and ‘loose limbed’ Olivia Strack, plenty to think about, in a marathon event, where everyone used their bats and brains, as they worked tirelessly to undermine their opponents’ attempts to dictate the terms of the ‘contract’.

A great exhibition of talent and delivery by four young ‘stars of the future’, was on display for what seemed forever, until big smiles, back-slaps, and hugs all round, created the immediate call for a re-play.

The man of ‘Manni’ talents, Poulos, was in good form, when he, and ‘lithe and lively’, Lisa Detlefson, paired up to play ‘LOL’ Lucy Hebergang, and ‘local historian’ Neil Brock, in a ‘happy-go-lucky’ game of serious, hard-fought intent.

With each player displaying their own style and character, in their all-round determination to put their opponents ‘under the hammer’ on every point, it was certainly no game for the faint-hearted.

After a game enjoyed by players and spectators alike, scores remained close throughout, until Manni let fly with a ‘grand slam’ to give him and Lisa a narrow victory.

Keen to see first-hand what her son, Jacob, gets up to each Monday night, Jo Hardiman made her debut performance, when she, and ‘fully wound-up’ Richard Morgan, joined forces to put the ‘hard questions’ to opponents, ‘long time, no see’ Katie Woodberry, and the young bloke with a spring in his step, Jack Spring, in a game that showcased every shot in the book.

Four different game styles, all delivered with one purpose in mind, saw many points taking many strokes to win or lose.

It was fun and games for everyone, before Jack ran a ‘country mile’ to retrieve a very wide drive, and deliver a table-edge skimmer, that saw he and Katie ‘seal the deal’ at 21–18.

When Pete Spring and Ernie Menichelli challenged the ‘keen as mustard’ Lyla Porter, and Steve Van Der Poel, everyone knew they would get their money’s worth of entertainment in every facet of the game.

And their premonitions were ‘right on the money’, as each pair dished up their individual styles and their application with not a ‘thought in the world’ they would be unsuccessful.

So accurate with delivery, and so well handled in defence, the result of forward thinking on every point - after a great performance by every player, one pair registered a narrow victory.

Another social and physical night of action came to a close with everyone enjoying a cuppa and supper, while holding ‘post-mortems’ of games won and lost.

Adults and secondary school students of all ages and abilities are welcome to join the group which meets at the Oxley hall each Monday night, beginning at 7pm.

BYO bat, $2 entry, and a small plate to share.