Sdttl Reports for Week 26
Premier Division Week 26
As we move into the business end of the season the top three sides were in no mood to let up and unlike the Barclays Premier League in football the Division has a familiar look at the top. There were impressive wins for Rawreth A, Thorpe Bay A and Hullbridge A over Hadleigh Forum, Thorpe Bay B and Castle Point A respectively. The only dropped point by the top 3 was in the Thorpe Bay derby which finished 8-1 with Gurj Bhambra picking up the sole B team win over A team captain John Poysden.
Elsewhere this week Rayleigh Mill secured a good 7-2 win over Warehouse A courtesy of a Minda Sinkus hatrick and two wins a piece from Colin Chatfield and Steve Sawyer, both of whom were denied maximum points by Kim Shead. In another derby this week Rawreth C overcame Rawreth D 7-2, the ever improving Justin Jeffrey beating seasoned campaigners Mike Hayes and Colin Barham. The final game also featured a Rawreth side, the B Team, who were in fine form as they dispatched Lentern B 8-1. A good win for Paul Churn over Dave Calleja for the consolation Duncan Taylor
Division 1 – Week 26
Hockley A returned to action and made light work of Warehouse B, winning 7-2. Matt Stringer proved to be the thorn in the Warehouse side taking all 3 games, backed up by Tim Pang and Alan Tideswill with 2 apiece. Harry Small playing up for Warehouse did very well taking a game from Tim Pang. Hockley are now 3 points clear with a game in hand.
Customs A continue to push but a close 5-4 win over a determined Hadleigh Forum C team has moved them further away. Roy Thomas with his inevitable 3 points took the honours in the match, although Russell Bright and Mark Everard with two each for Forum put up stubborn resistance.
Hadleigh Forum B move up into third place in the table with a 6-3 win and a good all-round team performance against Lentern D. Dave Woolmer reports “After 7 games, Lentern were facing a damaging, heavy defeat but Peter Pond, with a very close 5 set win over Tony Jacks and then Peter Lucraft, coming back from 0-6 and then 3-8 in the 5th set to beat Dave Woolmer, earned what could prove to be vital points for Lentern as the season draws to a climax.”
Hullbridge C returned to winning ways with a 6-3 win over a two man Canvey A. Matt Rolfe, playing up from Division 2 beat both Canvey players with Andy Seaman adding one but Bill Smith not troubling the scorers. Forfeits made up the other points. Ray Wilson put on a solid performance to take two points for Canvey.
Rawreth E went down for the second week running, this time 5-4 to relegation-threatened Hockley B. Father and Son, Liam and Dennis Squirrell, scored all the points for Hockley, with Liam getting a full 3. Colin Clements put up most resistance with two for the Rawreth side.
Lentern E scored a 6-3 win over Invicta A, despite Neil Daines winning all 3 for Invicta. Ray Farmer, Brian Spencer and Mark Jupe all scored two each to set up the win for Lentern.
Finally, Lentern C eased their relegation worries with a 6-3 win over bottom club, Runnymede, who look set to drop back down at the first time of asking. Mike Grout with 3 and Chris Crooks with 2 did the main damage with a solid response from Tony Millward to score two for Runnymede Barrie Delf
Division 2 Week 26
Leaders Hullbridge D suffered a shock defeat this week, going down 6 – 3 at home to Basildon Hospital. Stalwart Matt Rolfe was again undefeated, but two wins apiece from Basildon’s Kevin Smart, Dean Baker and Mike Smith led to only Hullbridge’s second reversal of the season.
Castle Point B took advantage of Hullbridge’s slip up to take over the top spot (if only, temporarily, as Hullbridge have a game in hand) thanks to an 8 – 1 thumping of Wakering. Tony Ayliffe and Keith Neville were again undefeated, whilst the visitors’ Stewart Mill’s’ single victory spared his team’s blushes.
Third place Canvey B had a comfortable 7 – 2 win over their Canvey C team, with Des Duffield unbeaten. The C team’s junior, Archie Blackburn, deserves a special mention for beating both his Dad, Lee McGonagle, and the very experienced Talbot Wiseman 11 - 9 in the 5th in both matches.
Warehouse C were comfortable 6 – 3 winners when they entertained Rawreth G. Improving youngster Harry Small was unbeaten, with James Spencer chipping in with two wins. Likewise, Aaron Crisp managed two wins for the visitors.
At the wrong end of the table, Warehouse D overcame home side Hockey C 6 – 3, to aid their survival hopes. Their two stars were Tamas Mezo and Steve Bottom who both recorded hat tricks.
Fellow strugglers Castle Point C did not fare so well, going down 5 – 4 at Rawreth F. David Barnes’ treble gave him the player-of-the-match award, with Jan Thorpe taking Rawreth’s other points. Richard Riebold put in a captain’s performance, winning two of Castle’s three points David Barnes
Division 3 Week 26
A major upset has narrowed the title race to three teams this week as Hullbridge G crashed to a shock 8-1 defeat to Hockley D. Coupled with a defeat the previous week to their F team 6-3 this leaves them in 4th place 1 point behind Hullbridge F but having played two games more. The F team also had two games with contrasting fortunes for, having won their derby match, they then had to take on Canvey D who inflicted only their second defeat of the season 5-4, exactly the same score as when they met in the first half of the season. Canvey had beaten Hockley F 6-3 previously and now sit 8 points clear of Invicta B who have a game in hand and were without a match this week. Canvey have 122 pts, Invicta B 114pts and Hullbridge F 108.
Match of the Week was definitely Canvey’s 5-4 win at Hullbridge. Neither side were able to open up a winning lead on the night and it went to the final game when, with scores at 4-4, Harry Keys avenged his defeat in the previous encounter beating Paul Ogden in straight sets to win the match for Canvey. Having also chalked up a hat trick against Hockley his improvement through the season is there for all to see and he gets my vote for Player of the Week.
Team of the Week, however, goes to Hockley D for their crushing win against Hullbridge. David Chenery, playing up from the F team, was man of the match with his hat trick, and was well supported by fellow hat trick man David Cross and a brace from Phil Pond. Tony Molisso got the consolation point for Hullbridge.
There was a big win to for Invicta C who beat a 2 man Customs B side 8-1. Two wins for both Keith Baxter and Dave Youngman in a match in which the first 4 games all went to 5 sets with Invicta coming out on top each time! Jon Gould got the other point for Invicta but Dave gets the man of the match award Paul Strutt
