5th Report - Winter League
PREMIER DIVISION Reports from Duncan Taylor
WEEK 11 Report
Three results from the Premier Division this week to bring you and the first two resulted in 7-2 wins for Rayleigh Mill and Brand Identity A. In a somewhat surprising scoreline the Millers overcame title hopefuls Rawreth A who were without a few of their regular players but were still able to field a strong team of Liam Squirrell, Mike Hayes and Kim Shead. Hayes was unlucky to come out of the evening empty handed as he came out on the wrong side of two tight battles with Eric Green and Bruce Kettle. Green and Kettle picked up two wins each, both losing out to Squirrell who in turn was unable to get the better of Duncan Taylor who recorded 3 wins.
Brand Identity overcame Hockley B by the same scoreline but the main news in this one was the return of Chris Jacob to the Southend League, a league he has played in since 1970. This may be Chris’s last game in the league and what better way to do that than playing, as Chris did, with his two sons David and Simon. All 3 Jacobs beat Keith Abbott but only Simon was able to defeat the in-form Dave Colwill who registered the two wins for Hockley.
The final game of the week was more straight forward as league leaders Thorpe Bay A beat Hockley A 9-0. John Poysden, Ian Wall and Paul Sayer all won 3 but Hockley’s Dan Patynski will feel particularly unfortunate as he went down in 5 close games to both Sayer and Wall with the latter finishing 15-13 in the decider.
Division 1 reports from David Barnes
Week 13 Report
Invicta A’s lack of strength in depth was again highlighted this week with only two regular players available for their away match at Hadleigh Forum B. Whilst they still managed to win, the narrow margin of their 5 - 4 victory leaves the door open for their rivals for the top spot. POM Steve Marr was unbeaten and Tony Ayliffe got two victories. Tony Jacks was Forum’s star, winning two. However, he was pushed all the way by Invicta’s stand-in player.
Stanford Le Hope A seized the opportunity to move above Invicta to the top of the table (yet only by one point) with an emphatic 7 - 2 home win over Rawreth Megazone C. POM Derrick Pearson and Russell Bright were both unbeaten, but Rawreth were unfortunate to lose Garry Hartgrove through injury in his very first contest of the evening. Team mates Trevor Ward and Gary McCarthy won one each.
Third placed Brand Identity B made up ground on the leaders by virtue of an 8 - 1 home win over Rawreth Megazone’s D team. However, they greatly benefited from two no-shows for their opponents. The match went ahead as one of the visitors was said to be on their way. Unfortunately, they never arrived. This must have been particularly galling for the one Rawreth player who did make it - Caroline Cole - as she had travelled back from France on the day of the match. Still, she had the satisfaction of beating Brand’s John Lott to ensure her visit wasn’t entirely wasted.
After a couple of postponements, Lentern made up for lost time with a 7 - 2 home win over bottom of the table Hadleigh Forum C. The visitors (like Rawreth Megazone C) were unlucky to lose David Thomas through injury in his first encounter of the evening. Paul Sims was Lentern’s POM and Wayne Farmer was also unbeaten. Mark Everard got both Forum’s successes.
The clash between Canvey A and Mapledene was a very close run affair, with no less than five rubbers going to five sets. The usually dependable Ray Wilson slipped up against Dawn Baldry, losing 11 - 6 in the fifth set. However, Peter Cray took over responsibility for his side, winning all his contests and taking a well-deserved POM honour. Dawn was Mapledene’s star player with two victories whilst Andy Seaman and Anthon Ranjit-Singh got one each, leaving the home side 5 - 4 winners.
Hockley C entertained RESSC a little too generously. Their visitors went away with an 8 - 1 victory, thanks to hat tricks from both Bob Skews and John Holland. Brian Bissenden saved the hosts from ignominy by overcoming Alan Dadswell
Week 12 Report
This week, leaders Invicta A could only field two regular players for their home match against Canvey A. With no help from their stand-in player, Tony Ayliffe and Lee Marson nonetheless did a fine job in both returning maximums to give them a 6 - 3 victory.
Top spot rivals Stanford Le Hope A had no such problems, comprehensively overcoming lowly Hadleigh Forum 8 - 1 away. POM Russell Bright and Peter Weatherall were both unbeaten, whilst Mark Everard overcame Dave Hancox to save Forum’s blushes. Stanford have now closed the gap on Invicta to just one point.
Brand Identity B continued their recent good form with a healthy 6 - 3 win away to RESSC. Barrie Delf took the POM award with a hat trick. Adam Jackman added two wins and Mike Grout one. Skipper Bob Skews was the home side’s best player with two victories and Richard Gill one.
Hadleigh Forum B recorded a very comfortable 8 - 1 win away to two-man Rawreth Megazone D. Adi Kamma overcame Dave Woolmer to give the home side an air of respectability. However, both POM Paul Fawell and Mick Tappenden were unbeaten for Forum.
Rawreth Megazone C added to Hockley C’s woes. Three wins from the POM Garry Hartgrove, two from Caroline Cole (playing up) and one from Colin Clements gave Rawreth a 6 - 3 home win. David Chenery got two victories and Brian Bissenden one for Hockley C who remain stuck towards the wrong end of the table.
Lentern have had another match postponed this week. This time they were unable to find any players to fulfil their fixture away to Mapledene.
Week 11 Report
This week Invicta A put their collective noses slightly ahead of their title rival Stanford A thanks to an impressive 8 - 1 demolition of third place Lentern. Steve Marr and Lee Marson were unbeaten, whilst Wayne Farmer overcame the home side’s Tony Ayliffe 10 - 12 in the fifth set of the last contest of the evening to gain Lentern’s only point.
Stanford had a close encounter away to Mapledene. A hat trick from POM Ian Sangster and two from Peter Weatherall got them over the line 5 - 4. Anthon Ranjit-Singh got two for the home side, and Lin Roff and Andy Seaman one each.
In a bottom of the table clash between Hadleigh Forum C and Hockley C, Hockley’s recent improvement continued as they overcame their hosts 8 - 1. Eamonn Hall was POM with three wins, a feat emulated by team mate David Chenery. Satwant Gill saved Forum’s blushes by overcoming Brian Bissenden in five sets.
Adam Jackman was Brand Identity B’s POM for an unbeaten performance in his side’s 6 - 3 home win over Hadleigh Forum B. Barrie Delf added two more and Mick Grout the other one. Forum’s Dave Woolmer, Paul Fawell and Mick Tappenden each won one.
Veteran John Holland’s recent run of good form continued as he again took the POM award for a maximum in RESSC’s 6 - 3 home defeat of Rawreth Megazone C. Teammate Richard Gill got a brace and Bob Skews one. Cleon Fernandes claimed two, and Gary McCarthy one, for the visitors.
Rawreth Megazone’s D team went down by the same 6 - 3 score as their C team when they entertained Canvey A. Yet again Ray Wilson was Canvey’s main man, winning all his three. However, it was a team effort, with Peter Cray winning two and Joanna Hills one. Jake Nelson was the home side’s best player, winning two, whilst Colin Barham got their other victory.
Division 2 Reports from Paul Strutt
Week 13 report
Top met bottom in Division 2 of the Southend Table Tennis League but there was no Christmas cheer for bottom club Basildon B who fell to a 9-0 defeat compounded by the fact they only had two players. Victors Matchpoint A did receive a small present from their own B team however, who took two points from second placed Basildon A giving the A team a five point lead at the top of the table as we enter the Christmas break. Elsewhere the chasing pack of Stanford B and Wakering both chalked up wins against Invicta B and Rawreth Megazone E respectively, whilst the clash between Runnymede and Canvey B turned out to be the closest match of the week ending 5-4 in favour of the Islanders.
Matchpoint’s A demolition of Basildon B was pretty clinical with only two matches going beyond three sets, closest of which was Lucy Elliot’s five set defeat of Jenne Seibolt taking the decider 11/8 after Seibolt had recovered a two set deficit. Harry Sawford and James Elliot made up the winning team.
Rivals Basildon A beat Matchpoint B 7-2 and the most resistance came from Stephen Heard who beat Szymon Jarka and Arun Joy and pushed Les Hoey hard going down 11/6, 11/13, 10/12, 12/14. His first defeat this season. Otherwise the Basildon boys were too strong for Roger Sherman and Debbie O’neill.
Barbara Chabior put on a virtuoso performance for Invicta B against high flying Stanford B picking up just her second hat trick of the season with excellent wins against Rob Salvage, John Handscombe and Mark Downey. Unfortunately team mates Sarah Ball and Mike Keeble were unable to provide sufficient support and they slipped to a 6-3 defeat.
Another player recording a second hat trick of the season was Wakering’s Paul England who, together with son Zac England, led their team to a 7-2 win over Rawreth Megazone E. Dad outshone son on this occasion not dropping a set all night whereas Amar Al-Soufi and Jonathan Allen both took the younger England to five sets. Either way England rules! Andrew Deadman got the other point for Wakering.
The final game of the week played out by Runnymede and Canvey B turned out to be a real Christmas cracker as the home side, 1-0 and 2-1 up, then went 3-2 and 4-3 down before forcing a last game play off. There were three five set matches and the star performer for the second time this week turned out to be a player on the losing side, Andrew Humphris. His closest match was against Tony Westwell coming back from two sets down then winning the last three 11/8. 11/6, 11/7. Steve Wisbey got Runnymede’s other point whilst for the Islanders Des Duffield and Kevin Walsingham both won two and Tony Westwell, one. Walsingham got the crucial final game beating Wisbey.
Week 12 report
A tiny gap has emerged at the top of Division 2 this week as Basildon A slipped to a surprise 6-3 defeat at the hands of Stanford B and there is now a three point gap between them and leaders Matchpoint A who also won 6-3 against Canvey B.
Basildon were unable to field their strongest team and had to call on Andy Roff from their B team alongside Stephen Walters and stalwart Les Hoey. Unfortunately it was only Hoey who carried the Basildon flag winning all his matches whilst Roff and Walters both fell to a strong Stanford side of Rob Salvage, John Handscombe and Mark Downey. Walters came within a game of picking up an extra point but after fighting back to 2-2 against Handscombe he succumbed 11/9 in the decider.
Matchpoint A came up against the revitalised Canvey B who have been inspired by Andrew Murray in recent weeks but they weren’t strong enough for the league leaders who had their own inspirational leader in Evie Knaapen. Any hopes of an upset by Canvey disappeared in double quick time as Knaapen dismissed Murray in three sets and Matchpoint then rushed to a 5-0 lead. The Islanders finally fought back as Murray, Tony Westwell and Kevin Walsingham all picked up points with wins against Jeremy Giffin and Lucy Elliott. Giffin can feel a little aggrieved at getting just one win as two of his games went to five sets and his match against Murray became something of a marathon losing the last two sets 15/13, 20/18.
Matchpoint B look to have added more strength to their basically young squad with the addition of Stephen Heard. With one hat trick already under his belt in his debut match he notched up another one in his side’s 7-2 win against Runnymede this time winning a perfect nine sets. That included defeat of the always difficult Dmitri Kisil plus Steve Wisbey and Andrew Humphris. Jack Riley and Alexander Deacon lent their support to Heard with two wins apiece both falling to defeat against Kisil. Matchpoint stay fifth in the table.
One place higher Wakering maintained their position winning 7-2 away at Basildon B with Zac England leading the way with a hat trick supported by two wins from Paul England and Stewart Mills. Andy Roff, playing his second game of the week, picked up another point beating Mills in the last game of the evening, and Ross Letham got Basilsdon’s other point coming back from 2-1 down to beat England senior 12/10 in the fifth. He also pushed Mills all the way to five sets but this time it was the Wakering man who took the decider by the same score.
Invicta B have only won one game this season, their first match against Hockley D 7-2, and despite a long, hard fought game featuring five, five set matches, they never really came close to repeating that feat, the home team getting revenge emerging victorious 6-3. Hockley had their own problems with the late withdrawal of Ben Cook and had to call on Keith Denyer from their E team to fill the gap. Whilst he didn’t win a game he did extend Sarah Ball and Mike Keeble to five sets and helped inspire two maximums from Tony Molisso and Paul Strutt to give Hockley the win. There couldn’t have been more of a contrast between these two performances as Molisso won his games losing just two sets (his first maximum of the season) whereas all of Strutt’s games went the distance. Strutt certainly did it the hard way coming back from 2-1 down against Keeble, 2-0 down against Ball and then conceding a 2-0 lead against Barbara Chabior before winning the final set 11/9. This was Hockley’s third win in four games and eases any fear of being dragged into the relegation battle. Invicta stay ninth in the table.
Player of the Week – Tony Molisso
Team of the Week – Matchpoint B
Week 11 report
There were four close games in Division 2 this week two of which were decided in the final game of the evening and the others both finished 6-3 in favour of the top two sides Matchpoint A and Basildon A. This left Matchpoint top of the table by virtue only because of their unbeaten record.
Leaders Matchpoint had to overcome their own B team to keep their position at the top of the table and it was James Elliot who led the way with a hat trick supported by two wins for Harry Sawford and one for Lucy Elliot. Alexander Deacon did the best for the B team with two wins and Jack Riley got the other point. It was close up to the final two games of the evening when, leading 4-3, the A team pulled away to clinch victory.
Rivals Basildon A, without big hitters Les Hoey and Szymon Jarka, still managed to keep the pressure on Matchpoint by beating Invicta B 6-3. Their other top player, Arun Joy, led the way with a hat trick and a brace from Robert Platt and a single win for Stephen Walters gave them the win. Barbara Chabior kept her fine record in the league this season by winning two games and Sarah Ball got the other point.
In the first of the two 5-4 results the revitalised Canvey B team just edged out promotion hopefuls Wakering inspired, as they have been over the last five games, by Andrew Murray. It was a strange match in that despite the closeness of the result the individual games were remarkably quick only the final game going the full five sets. Canvey led 2-0 and 4-2 before Wakering levelled the scores and it was left to Murray to take on Stewart Mills to decide the match. Mills did well to fight back from 1-0 and 2-1 down but ran out of steam in the decider losing 11/1. Des Duffield and Tony Westwell got a point each for Canvey whilst father and son duo Paul and Zac England got a brace each for Wakering. Despite their recent run Canvey stay sixth in the table Wakering are fourth.
The final match featured two teams looking at the bottom of the table rather than the top as Hockley D took on Rawreth Megazone E. Unlike the previous match this was a long, hard fought game with the home side fighting back from 3-1 and 4-3 down to take it to the deciding game. Four matches went to five sets and in the evening’s longest game the third set lasted an incredible 10 minutes on it’s own. Possibly not surprising as two resolute defenders, Richard Kidd and Paul Strutt, battled it out. That levelled the match at 4-4 and it was left to Hockley’s Ben Cook and Rawreth’s Graham Back to decide the overall winner. Despite losing the first set Cook came out on top to give Hockley only their second win of the season. Paul Strutt finished with a hat trick and Cook had two wins for Hockley whilst Kidd won a brace and Back and Amar Al-Soufi took a point each for Rawreth.
Team of the Week – Canvey B
Player of the Week – Andrew Murray
DIVISION 3 Reports from Dave Woolmer
Week 13 Report
The clash between the ‘C’ teams of Stanford and Invicta opened proceedings in the last round of fixtures before the Christmas break. Trisha Winter turned in an unbeaten performance for Invicta and, with a couple of wins by Keith Baxter and one by David Youngman, they came away with a 6/3 win. Randy Santiago recorded two wins for Stanford and James Parker added the extra point.
Stanford ‘D’ were only able to muster two players for their trip to play Rawreth Meggazone ‘F’. This was not a problem for Martin Winter and Vaughan Chambers who were both unbeaten on the night and Stanford headed back up the A13 with a vital 6/3 win to maintain their challenge at the top of the table.
Hockley ‘E’ were also 6/3 winners in their match against the juniors of Hockley ‘F’. John George led the way for them with a hat-trick and the POTM honours. Keith Denyer chipped in with two wins and Ben Brown scored their other point. For the ‘F’ team, Elliot Brackenbury had good wins over Keith and Ben, with Kris Chankov also getting the better of Ben.
League leaders Matchpoint ‘C’ made the journey to Westcliff to take on Hadleigh Forum ‘D’ and, thanks to maximums from Roger Sherman and Max Mayo plus a brace from Richard Sloman, they were comprehensive 8/1 winners. Forum’s only point on the night came courtesy of Douglas Brown who beat Richard in 4 sets.
Finally, Canvey ‘C’ travelled to Rayleigh for their match against Evolve only to discover that the fixture had been cancelled because the venue was not available. After a discussion between the team captains, it was agreed that Canvey should be awarded the 9 points.
And so, at the end of the year it is Matchpoint ‘C’ who head the table with 81 points from 12 matches. Stanford ‘D’ occupy second place with 74 points, but they have played one game less. Canvey ‘C’ and Invicta ‘C’ lie in joint third place, both with 70 points from 12 matches played.
The leading players so far are Alex Bowden (Matchpoint ‘C’) with a 100% winning record, 24/24 and Trevor Hayes (Canvey ‘C’) with a 97.22% winning record, 35/36.
Week 12 Report
Stanford ‘D’ maintained their challenge at the top of the table with a comprehensive 9/0 victory over Hadleigh Forum ‘D’. Marttin Winter was the POTM with teammates Andrew Jessop and David Arnett giving good support, although David had to work hard to overcome the challenge of Todd Barker, eventually getting home 11-13, 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 12-10.
The meeting of two of the mid-table teams ended in a 7/2 win for Hockley ‘E’ over Rawreth Meggazone ‘F’. Hat-tricks here for Graham Gregory and John George with Gary Beck adding the extra point with a win over Mike Webb. Ro Brett and Ethan Nunn were the point winners for Meggazone.
Another maximum from Trevor Hayes, his 11th of the season, ensured that Canvey kept in touch with the teams at the top of the league with a 6/3 win over Matchpoint ‘D’. Stephen Parker added a brace and Andy O’Rawe the other point. Young Oliver Milchard was the best on the night for Matchpoint with 2 good wins. Richard Sloman picked up their other point.
Invicta ‘C’ are also title contenders, and they showed no mercy when they took on a young Hockley ‘F’ team. Their 9/0 win was achieved with the loss of only 3 sets. Trisha Winter was the POM with Brendan Raja and David Youngman in equally dominant form. William Evesham provided the most resistance for Hockley, but he was beaten in 5 sets by David and 4 sets by Brendan.
Alex Bowden kept up his perfect record with another unbeaten performance for league leaders Matchpoint ‘C’. Lotte Mills was also unbeaten and Max Mayo won 2 as the juniors from Evolve were dispatched 8/1. Aaron Price won the solitary point for Evolve with a win over Max.
Week 11 Report
Robert Garlick led the way with an unbeaten performance for Rawreth Meggazone ‘F’ as they recorded a 6/3 win over Hadleigh Forum ‘D’. Graham Back added a brace, with Ro Brett winning the extra point with a fifth set win over Sineh Ball. Indeed, it was a case of what might have been for Ro as she narrowly lost in the deciding set to both Douglas Brown and Todd Barker.
Stanford ‘C’ were in action twice this week. In their first outing they travelled offshore for their match against Canvey ‘C’, but, with Trevor Hayes and Steve Kemp in dominant form for their hosts, they returned to the mainland following a 6/3 defeat. A win each here for the Stanford trio of Mark Farley, Randy Santiago and James Parker, but Mark came so close to adding another point. He took the first two sets in his game against Trevor before he was eventually reeled in, losing the last three sets 11/6, 12/10, 13/11.
At the end of the week, it was a two-man Stanford team that took on the young Hockley ‘F’ team. On this occasion, the experience of Mark and Randy told, and they ran out 5/4 winners. Hockley’s only point won on the table came from Elliot Brackenbury with a straight sets win over Randy.
The first Matchpoint ‘derby’ of the season saw their ‘C’ team keep up the pressure on the league leaders, Stanford ‘D’, as they saw off the challenge of the ‘D’ team by a margin of 8/1. Maximums here for Roger Sherman and Lotte Mills. Richard Sloman picked up the consolation point for the ‘D’ team with a win over Alwine Jarvis. No luck on the night for either Oliver Milchard or Blake Stewart, but they were involved in some close games with Oliver going the full distance against both Lotte and Alwine.
As we near the halfway point of the season, Hockley ‘E’ and Invicta ‘C’ are in a group of 3 teams hoping break into the top 2. In their meeting this week, it was Hockley who came out on top. Hannah Harbour was their star with a hat-trick as they were 7/2 winners on the night. Her teammates, Richard Coulson and Ron Rogerson gave good support with two wins each. Keith Baxter was Invicta’s best player with two wins.
