WINTER LEAGUE 16-17 WEEK 23 REPORT

Sdttl 2016/7 Season Week 23 Reports

Premier Division   Two results to report this week for Rawreth B. In the first, on a night of high quality Table Tennis, a very strong Hullbridge B side just edged their Rawreth equivalent B team 5-4. With so many games going to either 4 or 5 sets it was clear that either team could have ended up as the eventual winners. The second was a good night for Rawreth B they beat Rayleigh Mill 8-1. The Millers only success coming when Colin Chatfield beat Mike Hayes. That man Matt Spero was at it again. Earlier in the season he had problems when his bat broke, this time around he was having problems trying to glue new rubbers on. He still managed to win his 3, and 1 of those 3 was with one of his team mate’s bat However the MoM award goes to Bruce Kettle who picked up 3 wins but 2 of which went to 5 sets, showing his never say die attitude.

Elsewhere there were big wins for the top three sides starting with Rawreth A who ran out 8-1 winners over Hadleigh Forum A, the consolation win is worth a mention though as it was a good win for Hamish Innes over County Vets player Kevin Read. Rawreth A’s title rivals went one better and both won 9-0. Thorpe Bay A over Hockley A and Hullbridge A over a two man Customs A side.

Attention moves away from the league next week as players focus on the Southend 2017 Annual Closed Championships, but when we return it will be a thrilling end to the season in the Premier Division with only one point separating the top three sides with Thorpe Bay A and Hullbridge A now installed as joint favourites but I’m sure Rawreth A will still have a say in matters.

Duncan Taylor, Premier Div. DRS

Division 1    Hadleigh Forum B kept their 45 point lead at the top this week but not without a scare in a narrow win 5-4 over Hockley B.  Dave Colwill was unbeaten for the Hockley team and was unlucky to end up on the losing side with only Dennis Squirrell adding a further point. Two each for Gus Heath and Dave Woolmer and one for Mick Tappenden saw the team home, leaving it to Gus in the 9th game with the scores standing at 4-4.

Invicta A were unable to take advantage and won by the same score, 5-4, against Lentern D. In this game Peter Lucraft for Lentern put in a POTM performance to take three points but Sue Body was only able to add one more with Dave Kirston pointless on the night. Steve Marr and Michael Piper took two games each and Neil Daines added the final point, with Steve Marr again winning in the 9th end with the match tied at 4-4.

Rawreth C missed their chance to leapfrog Invicta and are still a point behind with games in hand. A hard fought 5-4 win over Warehouse B have kept them in contention for the runners-up spot despite a fine hat trick for Martin West from the Warehouse team. Gary McCarthy and John Blackman added two each (3 of these games went to 11-9 in the fifth set) and Colin Clements added the important extra point, leaving Tony Wright with one point and Micky Baker without a win for Warehouse.

Lentern C put in a good allround team performance this week to win 6-3 against the much improved Hullbridge D in a match where no-one was unbeaten. Wayne Farmer, Martin Archie & Pat White each scored two for Lentern with Matt Rolfe scoring two for the home team. Ben Matthews added an extra point but that was all that they could get from the game and moves them to within two points of Rawreth C who have a game in hand.

Hadleigh Forum C came up against bottom club Castle Point B and showed no mercy in a 7-2 win in their up and down season. Charles Yeung and Mark Everard were unbeaten for Hadleigh with Graham Farmer adding an extra point. Tony Ayliffe and Keith Neville were the point scorers for Castle point with Martin Roberts unable to make any impression on the match.

Finally, Lentern B returned to form with a good 6-3 win over Canvey A who seem to be slipping away after a good first half of the season when they were not out of the top two places. John Lott with three and Steve Appleby with two inflicted maximum damage on Canvey and with Paul Sims adding one, it was left for Terry Giddens to score two and Phil Puckey with one for Canvey to save their blushes.

Barrie Delf, Div 1 DRS

Division 2    Leaders Hullbridge E returned to their imperious best with an emphatic 9 – 0 win over visitors Wakering. Yet again, Daniel Zeffie, James Goddard and Reece Harris-Griffiths were a class above the opposition.

Maximums from Stuart Adshead and Joe Lock gave second place Hockley C an 8 – 1 home win over Warehouse C. James Spencer got the consolation point for the visitors.

Surprise result of the week was aspiring Canvey B’s 8 – 1 home defeat to Rawreth D. Only the home side’s Tony Westwell was able to make an impression on the scorecard, just sneaking a win 11 – 8 in the fifth against Rawreth’s Dave Barnes. However, hat tricks from Dave’s team mates Colin Braham and Sam Thompson made the win a formality.

RESSC were successful on their trip to Castle Point C, thanks to an unbeaten evening by Bob Skews and two victories from Ron Coutts. Skipper David Jacob got two wins for the home side and Sean McNabb and Mark Sayce one each, in a 4 – 5 away win.

Runnymede’s all-lady team were found wanting for their visit to Basildon Hospital. Maximums from Kevin Smart, Jay Shivapujimath and Chudi Ukpaka gave the home side a comfortable 9 – 0 victory.

Rawreth E had a comfortable 7 – 2 win at lowly Invicta B, thanks to an Andy Deadman hat trick. Botond Mezo chipped in with two wins. A special mention should be made of eleven year old Keanan Ford who won two games for the visitors on his debut in this division.

David Barnes, Division 2 DRS

Division 3   Warehouse D had to fight long and hard to overcome Hockley E 6-3 with no less than five matches going to five sets. Tamas Mezo proved unbeatable on the night and he was backed up by two wins for Phil Mardle and one for Ro Brett. The rapidly improving Gary Linzell picked up a brace and young Harry Sawford, playing up from the F team, won one. Roger Sherman missed out. Gary had to work really hard for his wins going to five sets in all his matches where he came back from 2-1 down to beat Ro and 2-0 down to beat Phil. He was also 2-0 down against Tamas but this proved one step too far. Harry’s win against Ro was also in five sets so there were no easy wins for Hockley!

Canvey D went to Hullbridge H and came away with a 7-2 win thanks to a hat trick for Tom Jarvis and two wins each for Geoff Banthorpe and Steve Parker. A great performance though by Harrison Sadler who picked up the scalps of Geoff and Steve both by three sets to one. Both impressive wins.

Customs B, who could only field a two man team the previous week, found fortune in their favour as opponents Hullbridge G found themselves similarly depleted and lost 6-3. Mark Rose made the difference on the night winning two thrilling five setters against Tony Molisso and Bill Hoy. He came back from 2-1 down against Tony winning 11-7, 11-8 in the final sets and edged out Bill 11-6 after leading 2-1.

Hockley F must have thought they were on their way to a routine 9-0 win against Rochford LTC as they stormed into a 6-0 lead but wins for debutant Toby Hill over Claire Stringer and John George over Keith Denyer provided a sting in the tail and two very welcome points for Rochford. Ben Cook was the man of the match winning all three games for the loss of one set.

Another team reduced to two players were Hullbridge F and when faced with a team like second placed Stanford Le Hope B you know you are going to be in for a hard night. So it proved as Stanford romped home 8-1 with Hullbridge saving the best until last as Bob Singleton-Smith overcame Peter Handscombe. John Handscombe and Adrian Armstrong made up the winning team.

Champions elect Hockley D chose to rotate their squad for the visit of Warehouse E but it made no difference to the result as they completed a 9-0 whitewash not conceding a set all night. Brian Parker, Jim Nariel and Jason Stringer made up the team.

Player of the WeekHarrison Sadler – for his impressive wins against Canvey

Team of the WeekRochford LTC – still fighting at the bottom of the table

Paul Strutt, Div 3 DRS





Author: via Southend Table Tennis League
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