Southend & District Table Tennis League 2014-5 Winter Season
Weeks 19-20 REPORT
Weeks Commencing 25th January & 1st February 2015
Premier Division - DRS Duncan Taylor duncan.taylor@essexcc.gov.uk
Week 19. Ben Warner returned to the Rawreth C team this week and led them to a 7-2 victory over Hullbridge C. The two Hullbridge wins came from Graham Hurry and Maxine Abbott over Reece Seddon and Ben Matthews respectively. Rawreth C were also in action against a strong Runnymede team of Kevin Caldon, Stuart Gibbs and Dave Bowles with two impressive wins for Warner over Gibbs and Bowles as consolation in a 7-2 defeat for the Rawreth side. There was a ding-dong battle at Selborne Road this week as Lentern A hosted Rayleigh Mill. A Duncan Taylor maximum and a five set win for Steve Maltby over Paul Brown left the score at 4-4 to leave the respective Captains, Brown and Rayleigh’s Rob Harris to battle it out for the win. Again Brown played well and it was nip and tuck all the way before Harris edged out the Lentern man for the second 5-4 win for the Millers in two weeks. Another close game saw Thorpe Bay B make up for their 5-4 defeat last week by beating Castle Point by the same score with a good team effort. At one stage it looked like a drubbing for Castle Point but they rallied to win the last three games to make it a respectable score. At the Warehouse this week there was a closer encounter than the scoreline suggests as Rawreth B beat Warehouse 8-1. The match included an excellent win for Kim Shead over Keith Adams, and four games went the distance, with Keith Phillips squeaking home 12-10 in the fifth against both Martin Turner and Kim. A man of the match display from Dave Bassett saw Hadleigh Forum just fall short in a 4-5 defeat to Hullbridge B. Wins over Ian Rattray, Glen Johnson and Matt Rolfe coupled with a win for Neil Barker over Rolfe was not quite enough to take the spoils. Finally this week, an update on the leaders and a routine win for a Rawreth A side of Lee Prentice, Charles Sweeney and Adam Brewer over Hullbridge C. The 9-0 victory strengthens Rawreth’s position at the top of this season’s premier division table.
Week 20. Fred Dove was in good form and led Hullbridge B to a 6-3 win over Rawreth C. Fred’s three wins along with two from Ian Rattray and one from Matt Rolfe were enough to see them past the Rawreth side for whom there were wins from Ben Matthews and Dave Colwill. Two wins each for Gurj Bhambra, Kieran Skeggs and Richard Stubbington for Thorpe Bay B secured a 6-3 victory over Rawreth B. Captain for the night Keith Phillips salvaged three points for Rawreth with a hardworking performance. There was a closely contested match when the title challengers Rawreth A and Thorpe Bay A met this week. The game was played in a great spirit, with some excellent table tennis and a Tony Halling hat trick leading Rawreth A to a narrow 5-4 victory. Sam Hume continued his good form in the Southend Premier division as he contributed to a 9-0 whitewash of Rawreth D by his Runnymede A side. Not a great night for Rayleigh Mill as they went down 8-1 to Hadleigh Forum. The one blot on the Forum's John Tendler, Dave Bassett and Neil Barker was a win for Colin Chatfield over Barker.In the final match of the week Castle Point beat Lentern 5-4thanks to three wins from Steve Tilson and two from Simon Jacob who played very well to beat Charlie Bates and Lewis Ewers Duncan
Division 1 - DRS - Barrie Delf bdelf@castlepoint.gov.uk
Week 19. Lentern B moved further ahead this week with a 7-2 win over Hockley A, and seem to have the first position for the taking having opened up a 12 point gap. An impressive maximum for Paul Churn with two each from Gus Heath and John Lott ensured the victory, with the only resistance being put up by young Liam Squirrell, who won the two points for Hockley including an impressive victory over Gus Heath. Liam was unable to handle the quickfire play of Paul however, losing the game 11-7, 8-11, 10-12, 9-11. Hadleigh Forum B have settled back into second place after losing ground from a recent set of indifferent results. This week they overcame the experienced Lentern E team 6-3 thanks to an unbeaten night from Dave Woolmer and 2 from Tony Jacks. Lentern’s three win spell was broken despite stubborn resistance from Brian Spencer who only lost to Dave and Mike Worship’s funny rubber only able to account for Anton in this encounter. In the final result received this week, Hadleigh Forum C closed the gap on Lentern C with a 6-3 win. Russell Bright’s good season form continued with a hat-trick with support with 2 from Mark Everard, Chris Crooks preventing the whitewash. Dave Thomas added the final point with a good win over Chris Crooks. Les Tayler and Mike Grout were also only able to add one each to the Lentern score with victories over Dave Thomas.
Week 20. Lentern B moved further ahead with a good 6-3 win over Canvey A in a match where everyone contributed and no-one was unbeaten. In the end the three players from Lentern, Gus, Steve Appleby and John Lott all contributed two wins for their team while Canvey’s Gavin, Terry and Ray all contributed one. Hadleigh Forum C won a close match 5-4 over Warehouse B despite an unbeaten night for Berti. Mark Everard and Graham Farmer scored two each for the home side with the deciding point being added by Tony Mace. In a second match this week Hadleigh Forum C ended up losing 6-3 to their B side despite having Russell Bright unbeaten. Dave Woolmer, Mick Tappenden and Tony Jacks picking up 2 wins each to secure the victory. This week saw Invicta pick up their first win of 2015, 7-2 against Lentern D. Michael Piper had a good night winning all 3 games and was ably supported by Neil Daines and Dave Barnes. Peter Lucraft picked up the two points for the losers but was unable to beat Michael. One result from last week saw the Lentern D side beat the youngsters from Hullbridge D 6-3. This time Sue Body was unbeaten supported with two from Peter Pond. Zoe Davies picked up two for the Hullbridge side but was unable to beat Sue. Finally, Lentern C lost 7-2 to Customs A Who had Roy Thomas in good form backed up by 2 each from Brian Rackham and Dave Morgan. Les Tayler scored the consolation 2 points for Lentern but was unable to make any impression against Roy Barrie
Division 2 - DRS - David Barnes dbarnes89@btinternet.com
Week 19. Leaders Hockley B were two strong when they visited Warehouse C. In-form Matt Stringer and Paul Strutt both recorded maximums in an 8 – 1 away win. Micky Baker got the consolation point for the home side. Canvey C also recorded an 8 – 1 win – at home to Wakering. Veterans Geoff Banthorpe and Gordon Johnstone both recorded hat tricks, whilst it was down to Cliff Noakes to save Wakering’s blushes. The Castle Point B team emphatically re-stated the form book, when they handed their C team a 9 – 0 thumping. Tony Ayliffe, Martin Roberts and Keith Neville won all their matches. Catching up with outstanding results from earlier weeks, Basildon Hospital recorded an 8 – 1 home win over Castle Point C. Clive Beauchamp and Kevin Smart were unbeaten, whilst the visitors have Richard Riebold to thank for their one point.
Week 20. There was a rare reversal for leaders Hockley B when they visited Rawreth F and lost 7 - 2. Simon Neale was the home side’s hero, winning all his matches, with two each for Caroline Cole and Andy Nunn. Paul Strutt and Neal Klyman won one each. However, this defeat was only a minor hiccough, with normal service being resumed when Hockley entertained Hullbridge F. Paul Strutt and Matt Stringer were undefeated in an 8 – 1 win, whilst Dave Booroff got the visitor’s consolation point. Second place Castle Point B kept up with the leaders, thanks to a 9 – 0 home win against Canvey C. Hat tricks from Martin Roberts, Tony Ayliffe and Keith Neville did the damage. Third place Runnymede are catching up their games in hand and remain very much in contention, thanks to a 9 – 0 win at home to Castle Point C. Tony Coeshall, Phil Digby and Dmitry Kisil were all too strong for their visitors. The youngsters of Rawreth G were too strong for the home team on their trip to Wakering. A maximum from Andrew Deadman and two each from James McDowell and Aaron Crisp gave them a 7 – 2 win. Stewart Mills and Nigel Cook scored once each for Wakering. Andrew was also in winning form to contribute to a morale-boosting 8 – 1 home win for Rawreth G against Warehouse D. He was ably assisted by a maximum from Dave Barnes and two from Aaron Crisp. Tamas Mezo got the visitor’s only score. Kevin Smart was unbeaten in a close 5 – 4 home win to Rawreth F. Mike Smith and Sid Hills won one each. Young Adam Hill won two for the visitors David
DIVISION 3 - DRS Paul Strutt paulstrut@tiscali.co.uk
Week 19. The top 3 teams were all in action this week and all 3 won to ensure no change at the top of the table. Leaders Hockley C ran out 7-2 winners against their D team but it was a close encounter with 4 matches going to 5 sets and 2 going to 4. Brian Bissenden led the way with a hat-trick supported by Jon Knight and Laurie Witte who both won two and Jason Stringer and David Cross picked up a point each for the D team. Hockley E couldn’t do their C team colleagues any favours as they were crushed 8-1 by second placed Invicta B. John Golding and Mike Keeble both scored hat-tricks and Keith Baxter won 2 for Invicta with Brian Parker picking up a consolation for Hockley. Hullbridge G retained third place in the league by coming back from 3-1 down against Canvey D to win 6-3. Daniel Zeffie, Adam Jackman and Kieran Stanley all won 2 while Stuart Curham also got 2 for Canvey with Ray Baker getting the third. This was another close match with four 5 setter’s and hard to pick out one person as the man of the match. Hockley C retain their lead at the top by 1 point with a game in hand over Invicta and both teams must be looking forward to the clash between them in two weeks’ time which could well decide the title. No pressure there then!
Week 20. Only one result received at the time of going to press and that was a match held over from week 18, but what a match it turned out to be! Warehouse E met high flying Invicta B who were looking to continue to put pressure on Hockley C at the top of the table, and would have been hoping for plenty of points from this match. However the game turned out to be really close, Invicta edging home 5-4, with 4 matches going to 5 sets and Warehouse providing the man of the match in Simon Lisner who won all 3 of his matches including the scalp of the evergreen John Golding. Their match went to 5 sets with Simon coming back from a 2-1 deficit to take the last two sets 11-9, 11-9. John and Keith Baxter both scored braces for Invicta and spare a thought for Bradley Atkinson of Warehouse – all his games went to 5 sets and he finally picked up a point in his last match against Mike Keeble conceding a 2 set lead before finally edging home 13-11 in the fifth. This result took Warehouse up to 4th in the League and put Invicta back at the top 4 points clear but having played 2 games more than Hockley. The top two now meet in week 21 with the title at stake and a win for Hockley should prove decisive Paul
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Ken
