SDTTL - 2017/8 - Week 10 Reports
- Premier Division
An excellent night’s table tennis saw two of Essex's top players clash for the 2nd time in a few days. It was Matt Spero for Rawreth B who achieved something no one else has managed this season in the Southend League, as he prevailed over Hullbridge A’s Kevin Caldon in a very exciting five-setter. Matt picked up his hat-trick on the night while Bruce Kettle also beat Dave Bowles. Caldon and Reece Seddon picked up two wins each in a narrow 5-4 victory for the ‘Bridge.
There was an equally enthralling match as a two man Rayleigh Mill side took on Thorpe Bay A and managed to win four of the six games on the night, to only go down by a narrow 5-4 margin. Minda Sinkus continued his good form by beating Paul Whatton and Paul Sayer, and only lost in five close games to Joe Kennedy. Duncan Taylor chipped in with the other wins with hard fought victories over Sayer and Kennedy, while losing out to Whatton in five games. To show how tight this match was, the first three games of the evening were decided in five ends, with each of the matches going the way of the player who had initially gone two sets to love down. Thorpe Bay captain, John Poysden, who was in attendance, commented on the number of outstanding rallies in this well-matched encounter.
Elsewhere, Lentern A beat Hadleigh Forum B 9-0 in a very one-sided affair. Apart from the first game in which Lentern’s Debby Auvache got the better of Forum’s David Woolmer in a close five-setter, the eight remaining games were all won convincingly in straight sets by the home side.
It was a familiar story for Stanford-le-Hope with only Rahul Sharma ‘troubling the scorers’ as they went down 7-2 to Brand Identity A. Sharma picked up wins against Barrie Delf and Chris Jacob but was unable to get the better of man of the match Simon Jacob.
There was a win apiece for Hockley A’s Matt Stringer, Steve Woodley and Harry Small against Hullbridge B this week, but no one in the Hockley side could get the better of Glenn Johnson or Gary Young who teamed up to ensure a 6-3 win for the Hullbridge side.
Duncan Taylor DRS
- Division 1
Lentern B continue to lead the Division by one point following their 7-2 win over Brand Identity B. Martin Archie continued his good form with an unbeaten night, with no game going over 4 sets. John Lott and Brian Spencer ably backed him up with two each in a good all round team performance. David Jacob had a good 5 set win over John Lott and Mike Grout a 4 set win over Brian to give Brand their points. Sean McNabb was unlucky to come away empty-handed, losing 11-4 in the 5th set against Brian. The loss keeps Brand Identity in the bottom three and looking nervously down at the two teams below them who have a game in hand and are steadily making ground.
The young team from Hullbridge E jumped back in to 2nd spot with a good 8-1 win over a strong Hadleigh Forum C team. Adam Jackman and Dan Zeffie came away unbeaten and Reece Harris-Griffiths added two for the Hullbridge team. Russell Bright score the consolation for Hadleigh and was unlucky in his other two games which ended in close 5 set matches. Unusually, Charles Yeung and Mark Everard were unable to make any impact in the match and they remain comfortably in mid-table.
Canvey A are in clear 3rd place but made heavy going in a 5-4 win over bottom club Lentern C. Another strong performance from Harry Keys saw him take the POTM and three points with Peter Cray and Phil Puckey adding one each for the overall team victory. Pat White played well for Lentern to win 2 matches, but Dave Kirston and Chris Crooks could only manage one win each to leave them short and at the bottom of the table.
Hockley C are in 4th position but lost some ground on those above after losing 5-4 to Warehouse B. Mark Rudland played well to take all 3 points for Warehouse with a point each for Berti Makolli and Tony Millward. Joe Lock and Dan Patynski played well to score two wins each over Berti and Tony for the Hockley 4 points. Alex Barnetson unusually was unable to make any impact on the game.
It was a similar position for Hullbridge C who lost their match by the same score, 5-4, to Rawreth C who pit in a good team performance to take their win. Sam Thompson and Garry Hartgrove scored two each for Rawreth with John Blackman adding the final point. Mike Johnston was unlucky to end up on the losing side, winning all 3 of his matches, but with only a good win from Dan Zeffie over John Blackman to add to the points tally they fell short.
Drs Barrie Delf
• Division 2
Wakering move back to the top of the table by a point, after their close 5-4 win over Hullbridge F. Zac England and Stewart Mills scored two each for the Wakering side, but neither were able to find a way past Will Skelt from Hullbridge who won all 3 of his matches and was unlucky to end up on the losing side. Paul England added the extra point for Wakering to give them victory. Harrison Sadler scored the other point in the match for Hullbridge with a close 5 set win over Paul England.
Canvey C drop to second after losing narrowly to RESSC by 5-4. Andrew Murray continued his great form, having lost only one match this season, with another hat trick of experienced scalps but unfortunately, Steve Robinson could only add one more point for the Canvey side. Mike Worship and Bob Skews added two each without dropping a set, with Dave Newton adding the important fifth point in a close 5 set win over Simon Baker. This keeps RESSC in 4th place in touch of the leaders with a game in hand.
Stanford B are currently holding 3rd spot following a convincing 7-2 win over Canvey B. A strong line up of Martin Winter and John Handscombe (2 points each) and Adrian Armstrong (3 points) proved too much for the Canvey side. Gavin Warner and Des Duffield picked up the consolation points for Canvey who seem to be dropping off the pace of the leaders a little.
In the final match this week, Invicta B picked up a good win and some much-needed points in the 6-3 win over bottom club Runnymede by 6-3. In a match where no-one was unbeaten, a solid team performance for Invicta saw the team of Andy Humphris, Mike Keeble and Barrie murphy all pick up two points whilst Barbara Shead picked up two points for Runnymede. Tina Hutchinson picked up an excellent win over Andy Humphris for her third win this season and against a much higher ranked player in a close 5 setter.
DRS David Barnes
- Division 3
After an indifferent start to the season Invicta C have now notched up their fifth successive win with a narrow 5-4 victory against Rawreth F to put them up to fourth place in the table. Never in front until the last game of the evening it was a good all round team performance with John Golding and Richard Verrinder both winning two games each and Keith Baxter one, John winning the crucial ninth in four close sets against Bradley Nunn. Jan Thorpe remains in imperious form for Rawreth being unbeaten on the night and taking the MOTM award. Bradley got the remaining point for Rawreth.
Hockley E continue to put the pressure on the leaders by chalking up their sixth successive win beating Warehouse D 6-3. It was another all round team performance from Phil Pond, Andrew Strutt and Brian Parker each winning two games, but none could get the better of Graham Back who managed to weave a bit of old ‘Back’ Magic winning all three of his games on the night. Brian came closest to beating Graham coming back from two sets down only to lose 11/9 in the fifth.
Leaders Hadleigh Forum weren’t likely to be troubled by bottom of the table Rochford but they, again, could only put out a two man team and suffered a predictable 9-0 defeat. David Thomas, Tony Mace and Satwant Gill taking the honours.
Canvey D have exactly the same record as Hadleigh with 8 wins and 1 defeat but are currently 12 points adrift. They coasted to a straightforward 8-1 win against Stanford C for whom Tony Papasifakis got the consolation. Steve Parker stepped up for only his second match of the season and just nicked the MOTM award from Talbot Wiseman who remains unbeaten this season. Gordon Johnstone got the other two points.
Hullbridge G are also having player problems only managing to send a two man team to Warehouse C. They subsequently went down 7-2 but not without a fight as three of the remaining six games went to five sets. Warehouse won two of those, Peter Maslanka coming back from 2-1 down against Bob Shingleton-Smith to win 12/10 in the fifth, and he then resisted a Sue Reece comeback from 2-0 down to again win the fifth set 12/10. Conrad Gomes and Ro Brett both picked up a win each whilst Sue Reece won both points for Hullbridge. She had her own five set triumph being 2-1 down against Conrad before winning the fifth 11/7.
Another 9-0 win was recorded by Hullbridge H who overcame Hockley F. Tony Molisso and Brian Farmer were largely untroubled on the night but Bill Hoy was pushed to 5 sets by Graham Gregory winning 11/9 in the fifth, and then found himself two sets down against Alwine Jarvis only to reel off the next three sets 11/9 11/8 11/6. That was a fourth successive win for Hullbridge who climb to a season high fourth position.
Brand Identity C’s result was not available as we went to press but a good win at Rawreth could see them jump above Hockley into second place.
Team of the Week – Invicta C
Player of the Week – Steve Parker
Paul Strutt DRS
