The Senior British League got under way this weekend with a number of attacking performances coming from all three venues.

Drumchapel stormed into the season with an 8-0 triumph over promoted Halton. This result was perhaps anticipated by the club but they were not complacent and turned in a dominant display.

The closest Halton came was in the second match, when Kevin Dolder gained a 2-1 lead on Craig Howieson. However, Howieson did not crack under the pressure and refocused to go on to win the deciding fifth.

Six of the other seven matches were settled in three straight, the exception being Howieson’s other clash, when he beat Richard Lightowler in four. Liu Song was man of the match for the hosts, for whom Calum Main and He Zhiwen also won both their matches.

The new home and away set-up for this season certainly benefited Drumchapel with a great turnout of spectators supporting the team.

Batts defeated Cardiff City 7-1 in the Welsh capital, though despite the scoreline, City showed resilience with close scoring in many matches, with three going to four sets and one to five.

Cardiff City were only one point behind Batts at the end of last season and won one and drew one of last season’s fixtures against the Harlow side. Despite that history, the result speaks for itself this time, showing Batts to be determined to cemented themselves in a good position right at the start of the season.

The five-setter saw one of their new signings, Ashley Robinson, notch their only victory of the weekend against Adam Nutland. After losing the first set he went on to win the next two and then the fifth to secure a 3-2 win (10-12, 12-10, 12-10, 4-11, 11-5).

Player-of-the-match Helshan Weerasinghe, Ethan Walsh and Michael Tauber all won two for Batts.

There was a first-day victory too for the powerful Ormesby quartet, overcoming Fusion 7-1.

New signing Danny Reed started the ball rolling, though he had to come from behind to defeat Niall Cameron, winning the second set 13-11 and going on to seal a 3-1 triumph.

Emran Hussain put Fusion’s point on the board with a 3-2 defeat of Michael Marsden (11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9), while Reed, Darius Knight and player-of-the-match Filip Szymanski won two each for Ormesby.

The next match day is September 24th, when both Cardiff and Halton have a chance to bounce back from opening defeats when they meet at Cardiff, Batts host Fusion, while there is an all-Scotland clash between Drumchapel and North Ayrshire.