BOTTOM side Tigers secured their second win for the season with a win over Dodgers while Croppos won the battle of the top two sides, narrowly defeating Lions to hold top spot.

Division one

Panthers 13 (45) def

Gladiators 8 (37)

Panthers continued their charge up the ladder with another convincing victory over the now bottom Gladiators. The writing was on the wall for Gladiators from the opening game as Panthers won four of the first six singles and then a further five in the second round.

Gladiators showed signs of turning it around through the doubles but it was too little too late as Panthers closed it out down the straight to leave them safely in third spot.

Best: Panthers: Daniel Challinger; Gladiators: Brenton Stagg.

Croppos 11 (43) def Lions 10 (42)

In the battle of the top two sides Croppos showed why they are top of the ladder with a tight win over second placed Lions.

Croppos got the jump on Lions in the first round of singles to open up a lead of two, before Lions responded in the best possible way to turn the deficit of two into a lead of two before the doubles.

The topsy-turvy contest continued when Croppos won all three doubles to retake the lead.

With the first three wins of the final round, Croppos sealed the night before Lions bought some respectability back on the scoreboard with three late wins of their own.

Best: Croppos: Rhys Popovic; Lions: Simon Strycharski.

Tigers 12 (38) def Dodgers 9 (39)

Tigers scored their second win of the year against the Dodgers, who couldn’t win the close matches when it counted.

Even through the first two rounds of singles, the difference between the two sides came in the doubles as Tigers secured all three, all in five sets.

Dodgers needed some quick early wins to get themselves back in the contest, but it wasn’t to be as Tigers again won two five set matches to finish the night off.

Best: Tigers: Tom Holland, Ryan Harris and Sue Barnett; Dodgers: Darren Atkins, Peter Southam and Leanne Spearen.

Division two

Panthers 11 (43) def

Gladiators 10 (37)

Top of the table Panthers narrowly defeated fourth-placed Gladiators in a very tight and entertaining night of table tennis.

Gladiators had the better start with four wins from Riki Popovic, Tai Wheadon and Gabby Popovic coming from two sets down to defeat Cheryl King in five sets.

For Panthers, Vic Ellul won a tight match in five sets.

Panthers combined the better in the doubles, taking two after the second round came out all square, but Gladiators remained ahead by one, leaving just the final round to play.

Each team claimed two wins, leaving the last two matches to decide the night but Panthers wrapped it up in straight sets.

Best: Panthers: Vic Ellul and Andy Sampson; Gladiators: Lyndon Giles and Liam Kurovec.

Croppos 13 (42) def Lions 8 (29)

Third-placed Croppos began well through Ann Starke, Malcolm Algie, Joseph Gulino and Lisa Fletcher, while for Lions, Ernie Bauer and Judi Lee scored good wins.

Matches were shared evenly in the following round but Croppos added to their lead of three with two doubles wins.

Mikey Gulino closed the gap for Lions with a tight five-set win over Lisa Fletcher but from there, Croppos stormed home with four wins without reply to seal victory to leave Lions without a win so far.

Best: Croppos: Joseph Gulino and Malcolm Algie; Lions: Tim Klau and Ernie Bauer.

Tigers 15 (54) def

Dodgers 6 (32)

Fifth-placed Dodgers suffered a huge loss to the strong outfit of Tigers, who remain second on the ladder.

Tigers ran away with it from the beginning with five wins to a solitary one by Matt Forrest.

Tigers’ Liam Kurovec scored an impressive win over Dodgers’ Peter Forrest and Jack Henderson continues to improve with a quality win over Kathy Ritter, as did Taisha Sutton over her opponent Dave Shelton in five close sets.

Tigers picked up two doubles, which gave them victory, but kept the pressure on, boosting their percentage along the way.

Lance Barnett completed a good night, winning his third single in the final match of the night.

Best: Tigers: Lance Barnett and Greg Wilson; Dodgers: Matt Forrest.