Sdttl 2016/7 Season Week 16 Reports
Premier Division We have just passed the half way stage of the season and already the race to the premier division title is proving to be a dramatic affair. Thorpe Bay A, who are heavily involved in that race, won a tight match against Rawreth B 6-3, their team of Paul Whatton, Paul Sayer and Mark Stones all winning two. However the 'fly in the ointment' was that man again, Matt (man of the match) Spero. He did not have it all his own way though and in what was probably the match of the night beat Paul Sayer in five close sets.
Next this week was a 6-3 win for Rayleigh Mill over Thorpe Bay B based on three wins a piece for Peter Radford and Duncan Taylor, although that does not tell the whole story. There was a great battle second game of the night when Gurj Bhambra, with his new reverse backhand rubber, showed excellent form in taking the first two sets from Duncan Taylor. The next three games saw some great rallies with Taylor just coming through 11-7 in the 5th game. Equally, Rob Harris was unlucky not to register another win for the Millers as his high-quality game with Richard Stubbington could have gone either way, the Thorpe Bay man taking the game 11-8 in the 5th end.
There was a close game when Castle Point A travelled to meet Hullbridge B resulting in a 5-4 win for the away side. Two wins each for Simon Jacob and Richard Jackman and one from Chris Jacob was enough to take the victory despite a hat-trick for Ben Warner of Hullbridge.
And in the final game of the week there was another tight game with Lentern A, led by Terry Guymer with three wins, beating Hadleigh Forum A 5-4. It was a close fought match which had the rare occurrence of every player winning at least one match on the night.
Duncan Taylor, Premier Div. DRS
Division 1 Hadleigh Forum B extended their lead at the top of the table to 34 points after a convincing 9-0 win over bottom club Castle Point B and showed the strength in depth of their team. Mick Tappenden, Gus Heath and Tony Jacks all scored a maximum for Forum, although Castle Point did push them with five of the games going to 5 sets, Martin Roberts particularly unlucky with all of his games going the full distance. This was also the first occasion that Mick Grout was pointless in a match. It is unlikely now that anyone will catch them to take the title.
However, the remaining places are very close and Invicta A remain in 2nd spot despite losing 5-4 to Warehouse B. Michael Piper and Neil Daines scored two apiece with Steve Marr unable to add to the score despite being POTM last week. Berti Makolli scored a maximum for Warehouse with Tony Wright and Micky Baker adding their wins over Steve to make up the winning score.
Canvey A in 3rd spot also went down 5-4 to Hockley B. Ray Wilson and Terry Giddens scored two each for Canvey, but with Dave Colwill and Dennis Squirrell also scoring two each for Hockley, and with the scores tied at 4-4, Keith Abbott’s win over Phil Puckey proved to be the winning game for Hockley.
Rawreth C have closed the gap to 1 point over Canvey, but have a game in hand. This week they were able to win 7-2 against a two man team from Hadleigh Forum C. Chris Nunn was unbeaten in only his second game this year and was backed up by Gary McCarthy and John Blackman with two each. Tony Mace scored two for the visitors but was unable to beat Chris.
Hullbridge D come next and won 6-3 against Lentern B to record their 7th loss in a row. Matt Rolfe and Ben Matthews did the damage scoring 3 each, with all of the Lentern team contributing 1 game each. Jo Hills was unlucky for Hullbridge with two of her games going to 5 sets.
In the final match this week, Hullbridge C won 5-4 against Lentern D, in a match where both teams were eager for points. In a match where no-one was unbeaten, Andy Seaman and Bill Smith, returning from injury, scored two each for Hullbridge along with Sue Body and Peter Pond for Lentern. Jo Hills, playing up from the D side, earned the extra win, and victory for Hullbridge, over Chris Crooks.
Barrie Delf, Div 1 DRS
Division 2 The cold snap during the latter part of the week took its toll of the fixtures with two matches being postponed because of the snow.
Leaders Hullbridge E kept up their momentum with an 8 – 1 win away to bottom side Castle Point D. There was a maximum for Hullbridge’s James Goddard and another man-of-the-match performance from his team mate Adam Jackman. The home side’s Jenne Seibolt deserves special mention for overcoming Dan Zeffie in a close five-setter and giving the score line an air of respectability.
RESSC fielded a strong side for the visit of Warehouse C. Rob Skews was their star performer, winning all his games, whilst veteran Stan Dyson and Dave Newton contributed two apiece in a 7 – 2 victory. Jonathan Allen and James Spencer each recorded a win for the visitors.
Hockey C’s team consisting of Stuart Adshead, Josh Copeland and Martin Scarfe were far too strong for their hosts Canvey C, ending up comfortable 9 – 0 winners.
Rawreth D snatched a 5 – 4 away win at Runnymede. There were no maximums. However, experienced Colin Barham and Ken Field both won two for Rawreth and the improving Barbara Shead and Barry Edgar got two each for the home side.
David Barnes, Div 2 DRS
Division 3 Third placed Warehouse D and fourth placed Canvey D continue to chase the coat tails of promotion favorites Hockley D and Stanford Le Hope D winning against Rawreth Juniors and Hockley D respectively this week.
The Warehouse men had a comprehensive 8-1 win against Rawreth F with Ryan Williams the lone winner for Rawreth against Ro Brett. Otherwise Tamas Mezo and Simon Lisner were too strong for the youngsters with only one other game going beyond three sets.
The Islanders had a harder fight against Hockley winning 6-3 despite being 2-1 down early on. Geoff Banthorpe saw them home with a hat trick backed up by two from Gordon Johnstone and one from Tom Jarvis. The shy and retiring Laurie Witte got two for Hockley whilst Phil Pond got one and was unlucky not to beat Geoff taking him to five sets before falling 11-3 in the fifth.
Canvey are now 19 points behind second placed Stanford and 7 behind Warehouse. Warehouse are 12 behind Stanford.
Warehouse E did their best to slow down Stanford’s march to promotion but after holding them to 2-2 after the early games Stanford showed their class to win the next five games and ease to victory. John Hanscombe and Dan Harris both scored hat tricks whilst young Nathan Jones got the one. Les Carroll and Steve Chaffey picked up the points for Warehouse.
Warehouse E were also in action the day before this game and, with a completely different team, picked up something of a surprise win against mid-table Invicta C winning 6-3. Graham Back was the star of the show starting the evening with a great fight back from 2-0 down against Jon Gould. The first four sets were tight going 11-8 12-10 9-11 10-12, before Graham ran away with the fifth 11-3. There were, in fact, quite a few close games with Invicta’s Rob West coming back from 2-1 down against Joe Bennett to win 11-8 in the fifth and Rob was involved in another five setter against Mike Webb this time losing 11-6 in the decider. The match score stayed close reaching 3-3 before Mike’s win and the last two matches also went the way of the Warehousemen to complete the victory. A good win for Graham’s team and one that should give them hope to avoid a finish in the bottom two.
The ‘in house’ derby between Hullbridge H and G resulted in a much closer game than might have been expected as young William Skelt emerged the star of the evening playing some amazing shots and winning all his matches. Biggest win was undoubtedly against David Booroff who, although not having played since the end of November, still boasted an average of over 90%. Whilst he could claim to being a bit rusty William showed no mercy in beating him in straight sets. The G team led 3-1 early on but thanks to William and a solo win for Toby Zeffie they fought back to 4-4 until Bill Hoy saw the G team home in the final game. Bill and David both won two matches and Lewis Ritchie weighed in with one.
In the other ‘in house’ derby of the week lowly Hockley F took on their table topping teammates in the D team and gave them a bit of a scare. From 3-0 and 4-1 down they fought back to lose 6-3 which was a good performance on the night. New signing Peter Searle won two games and is beginning to make an impression for the F team sparking the come back with a five set win against Jason Stringer which he clinched 14-12 in the fifth. Claire Stringer then very nearly made it almost closer but saw a 2-1 lead against Brian Parker whittle away, Brian winning 11-7 in the fifth. There was a very good win for young Alex Summers against Jason in four sets which should give him a lot of confidence for the future. Dan Patynski was the top man for the D team with a hat trick and Brian finished with a brace and Jason with one.
Team of the Week – Warehouse E for their surprise win over Invicta C
Player of the Week – difficult choice this week so it goes jointly to William Skelt and Graham Back
Paul Strutt, Div 3 DRS
