Winning at a Canter (by Ian Tomlin)

With just a few more weeks until the end of the season Ruckinge E are proving too much for the other teams having won all of their fixtures to date and still with a game in hand.

There is an interesting tussle developing between Sportsman C and Sportsman B with the former just one point ahead despite the B Team winning one more fixture but losing one more set than their club mates. In the B vs C fixture Maureen Penny fought back from 2-0 down to beat Alan Brand in a nail-biting 12-10 result, giving C the close fought win.

Challock E, with their experienced line-up of Stedman, Chapman and Elliott have found the going tough lately only managing to pick up two sets in their last three matches, and similarly, Ashford E  unable to score a win in their last three matches.

Ashford D have had a run of good results beating Challock E 9-0, Ashford E 8-1 and Hamstreet B 5-4. Captain Ben Moyles fought a ‘nip-and-tuck’ game against Hamstreet’s experienced David Smith coming from 1-2 down to take it 3-2  to clinch the match. Their run of good form ended later by going down 6-3 to leaders Ruckinge E. 

In Hamstreet B’s match against Sportsman C, new player Tim Woodhouse fought back from 2-0 down to overcome Sportsman’s Alan Yates 11-8, 11-3 and 11-2 providing the 5-4 win for his team.