DERWENT Table Tennis Club will be taking on the country's elite next season after sealing the First Division North title and gaining promotion to the Premier League.

In what turned out to be a dramatic weekend of action Riccall-based Derwent started in pole position one point ahead of rivals Ormesby and with a game in hand. With the clubs scheduled to play in the last match Derwent's players knew that victory in their first three matches would be enough to take the championship.

Derwent were boosted by the late inclusion to the squad of number one player Dave Godbold who was expected to be unavailable.

First up were Yorkshire rivals Dewsbury and one victory each from Godbold, Richard Smith and Simon Noutch, plus a maximum two from captain Andrew Horsfield, helped Derwent to a 5-3 victory for valuable two points.

With Ormesby not having a match in this round of matches Derwent moved into a vital three-point lead.

Ormesby then crushed Dewsbury, while Derwent were involved in a titanic struggle with host club Grantham. Things were looking up when Derwent raced into a 3-1 lead with hard-fought victories for Godbold, Horsfield and Noutch.

Grantham pulled themselves back into the match when number one Michael George beat Godbold. A nervous Horsfield then went down in a gruelling five-set battle to Alex Green and the pressure was really on with the scores tied at 3-3.

A large Ormesby contingent stayed behind after their own match to cheer on Grantham but were silenced when Smith beat Steve Davis to give Derwent a vital 4-3 lead.

The deciding encounter was between Derwent's least experienced player, 15-year-old Simon Noutch and the experienced Mark Donague for Grantham. The Derwent youngster produced the best table tennis to win four sets and maintain his club's three-point gap at the top of the table.

Ormesby recorded a quick victory in their next match to keep up the pressure, but Derwent proved too strong for Norwich. Two wins each for Smith and Noutch and single victories for Godbold and Horsfield completed an excellent 6-2 victory which saw the Yorkshire club crowned champions.

The final match against second placed Ormesby was a an anti-climax and Derwent crashed 6-2 despite good victories for Horsfield and Godbold against higher -anked opponents.

Derwent second team were also in action over the weekend and they consolidated their position in the top half of Division Two North with victories over Oakbank (7-1), Potteries (6-2) and Uxbridge (6-2). The only defeat was a 7-1 loss against second-placed Humpty's Club (Nottingham).

The outstanding player for Derwent was Steve Horsfield winning seven out of his eight matches. He was backed up by Chris Nicholls, Richard Moss and Mick Wilcockson.

Updated: 10:00 Wednesday, March 19, 2003