WEEK 22 REPORT WINTER LEAGUE 17-18

Week 22

·        Premier Division

The battle between the Premier Division's basement clubs ended in a narrow victory for Hadleigh Forum 'B' over Stanford 'A', in a match where nobody was unbeaten and all players made a contribution.  The match was also notable for the fact that two of the participants recorded their first wins of the season.  Firstly, Dave Woolmer overcame Chris Hancox and then, not to be outdone, Chris got the better of Anthon Ranjit Singh in a seesaw game, winning 14/12 in the final end.

At the other end of the table Thorpe Bay B and Hullbridge A continued their relentless destruction of all who stand in their way. Thorpe Bay beat Hadleigh Forum A 9-0 without dropping a set, while Hullbridge A only dropped two sets in their victory over Warehouse by the same scoreline.

There was, however, a much tighter tussle in mid-table where Brand Identity A got the better of Rayleigh Mill 5-4, despite a man of the match performance by the Millers’ Colin Chatfield, who won all his games on the night against Richard Jackman, Barrie Delf and Simon Jacob. Rob Harris recorded the other Miller win over Delf, while Steve Sawyer was unlucky not to add to the tally, as he went down in five close ends to both Jacob and Delf.

Duncan Taylor DRS

 

·        Division 1

The lead has swapped places this week with Lentern B taking 1st spot by 1 point following their 8-1 victory over Hockley B. The experienced heads of John Lott and Essex over 70’s champion, Peter Cranmer, scored three each to assure the Lentern victory. Both beat the Hockley star player, Dave Colwill, who scored Hockley’s consolation point against Brian Spencer, who still added two to the Lentern total. This has resulted in Hockley dropping to the bottom of the table 3 points adrift of the next team.

Hullbridge E have dropped into second spot, after leading the table since late November 2017 but did halt a run of three losses after winning 6-3 against Hockley C, in what was a bad night for the Hockley club. In an all-round team performance, Adam Jackman, Dan Zeffie and Reece Harris-Griffiths all scored two each, but no-one was able to overcome Hockley’s Alex Barnetson who scored all 3 points for Hockley. Hullbridge raced into a 3-1 lead in the match, but then the final games all went to 5 sets, which the youngsters from Hullbridge edged 3-2 to take the overall win in a closely contested match.

Customs A have been steadily climbing the table and are now in 3rd position, after winning their 5th game in a row by 6-3 against Brand Identity B, to leave themselves 5 points from the top. Roy Thomas and Brian Rackham were the men on form taking three each for the Customs men. Brand’s team of Mike Grout, Sean McNabb and David Jacob all won a game against the luckless Dave Morgan for the much-needed points.

Hullbridge C won their 3rd game in a row to ease into 4th and keep themselves in contention, with an 8-1 win over Hadleigh Forum C who are finding things tough with a shortage of squad players. Young Will Skelt played up from Hullbridge F team and had a night to remember taking all three points against more experienced players. With Mike Johnston also unbeaten on the night and Andy Seaman adding two the Hullbridge team added a convincing win to their title hopes. Graham Farmer did manage to avoid the whitewash for Hadleigh with a victory in the Captain’s game against Andy Seaman. Hadleigh now find themselves 3rd from bottom and in some trouble.

A strong Canvey A team won convincingly 7-2 against Invicta A who only have one victory in 2018 and are not showing the form from last year, finding themselves in some trouble near the foot of the table. Ray Wilson returned to winning ways with an unbeaten hat trick and was ably supported by two each from Peter Cray and Terry Giddens. Steve Marr added the two points for Invicta.

Warehouse B eased into a 6-3 win against Lentern C to win their 4th match in a row. No one player was unbeaten on the night, but Tony Millward, Tony Wright and Mark Rudland all scored two each for Warehouse to take the victory. Mark Jupe played well to take two for Lentern but only Sue Body could add a further point for the Lentern score, who are now in second from bottom and chasing the teams above.

There are no games scheduled for next week as it is the Southend Closed, so good luck to everyone taking part.

Barrie Delf DRS

 

·        Division 2

Another week and another win for leaders RESSC. They are now five points clear of their nearest rivals with two games in hand. PoM Mike Worship and Ron Coutts both recorded maximums in an 8 – 1 home victory over bottom side Runnymede. Dimitry Kisil, making a late debut for the visitors, got his side’s consolation point.

Rawreth D brought in Caroline Cole for her season’s debut also for the visit of Canvey B. Rawreth’s Olivia Jones played very well throughout the evening taking Canvey’s Joanne Hills to the fifth set and was unlucky to lose. Sam Thompson returned to his winning ways for Rawreth, with a hat trick, although he was pushed close by both Des Duffield and Tony Westwell.

However, it was a team effort from Canvey that gave them a 5 – 4 away win, thanks to two wins for Joanne and Des, with one from Tony.

Second place Stanford Le Hope B visited Rawreth E’s young team at the Warehouse Centre and came away with a 6 – 3 win - thanks mostly to three victories for Arron Chandler. However, their talented hosts made them work very hard for their win. 10-year-old George Davis gained two impressive victories, only losing out narrowly to Aaron in the fifth set. John Handscombe won two and Mark Farley one for the visitors, whilst Botond Mezo scored the home side’s other success.

In an enjoyable match, Invicta B managed to throw away a 4 – 2 lead, to end up losing 5 – 4 to visiting Basildon Hospital. A strong revival from Mike Smith and Kevin Smart got the visitors back to 4 – 4, where it was all down to the final rubber between Mike Keeble and Gill Smith. Despite losing the first set, Gill got the win to give the tie to the Medics. David Barnes and Barrie Murphy won two each for Invicta.

Canvey C’s home match against Hockley D was a close contest between two evenly matched teams. A hat trick from the home side’s Andrew Murray, with two wins for 14-year-old Ryan Williams, paved the way for a close 5 - 4 win. For Hockley, James Spencer got two good wins with backing from Paul Strutt and Brian Bissenden, but all three could not match man of the match Andrew.

David Barnes DRS

 

·        Division 3

No Report Week 22, as there was a free week for this Division.

Paul Strutt DRS

Author: via Southend Table Tennis League
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