Week 5 Reports
Premier Division
Rawreth A hit the heights in more than one way this week as they recorded an astonishing 9-0 victory over the 16/17 Champs Hullbridge A and in doing so went to the top of the table. New signing Minda Sinkus led the way with three wins but equally impressive were Sinkus’s teammates Kevin Read and Zayd Mauthoor who were also unbeaten for the Rawreth side.
Thorpe Bay A sent a timely reminder that they will be not letting Rawreth A get away from them as they also recorded a 9-0 whitewash against Stanford le Hope A, Mark Stones, Paul Whatton and John Poysden combining for the win.
Rayleigh Mill moved up to the dizzy heights of 4th with a 6-3 win over Hockley A. There were two wins a piece for Peter Radford, Colin Chatfield and Steve Sawyer but none of the Millers could get the better of Chris Ballard who continues to impress in his first season in Southend.
The final game this week saw a very close result as Hullbridge B overcame Brand Identity 5-4. Debby Auvache and Glenn Johnson won two each while Daniel Zeffie ensured the win by beating Barrie Delf 11-9 in the 5th game.
A story away from the Southend league this week but involving a Southend player comes in the form of a victory at the Vetts Midland Masters in Wolverhampton. Lots of Southend players were taking part and our congratulations must go to Kevin Caldon (pictured) who won his first national over 60s title. The first of many we hope.
Duncan Taylor DRS Premier Division
1st Division
Hockley B continue to lead the table by a point after this weeks’ 5-4 win over Rawreth C. Things did not go all the way of the Hockley team with Garry Hartgrove winning all of his three matches for Rawreth, inflicting the first defeat of the season for Dave Colwill. Dave and Alex Barnetson scored two each with Josh Copeland coming from 2-1 down and adding the final winning point, taking a close 5 setter against Colin Clements. Chris Aukett scored the other point for Rawreth and was unlucky to lose to Dave Colwill again in 5 sets having led 2-1. This leaves Rawreth C in 6th position.
Hadleigh Forum B kept up the chase with a strong team performance in their 6-3 win over Lentern B. Mick Tappenden scored a great first hat- trick for the season and was supported by Dave Woolmer with two and John Tendler with one point. Pat White was in good form for the home team scoring two and only losing to fellow old codger Mick. Peter Lucraft scored the final point for Hadleigh with an excellent 3-0 win over John. This leaves Lentern B near the bottom of the table.
Lentern A closed the gap a little with a 7-2 win over Brand Identity B and also have a game in hand over the two teams above them. Gus Heath, playing up from the B team, was unbeaten on the night and was backed up with two wins each for Peter Cranmer and Martin Archie. Mike Grout was the thorn in the side scoring the two points for Brand, with Dave Jacob and Sean McNabb unable to make any headway, leaving them in the bottom half of the table.
Hullbridge D B put in a convincing performance with a 8-1 win over Hockley C. Captain Andy Seaman led from the front with a POTM performance taking all three points and was matched by Lin Roff. Aged Experienced Bill Smith was able to win two matches with young Dan Patynski taking the win, and the sole point for Hockley against him, 10-12 in the fifth set. This leaves Hockley in mid-table.
Invicta A did themselves a favour by winning a close match 5-4 against Canvey A. Steve Marr upset the formbook by taking all three points with Tony Ayliffe and Mike Piper adding a point each for an allround team performance. In a match where everyone scored, Peter Cray rediscovered some old form taking two, with Andy Murray and Terry Giddens scoring two each.
Hullbridge E had a good 8-1 win over Rawreth D. James Goddard and POTM, Will Skelt scored maximums with Harrison Sadler adding two points. Andy Nunn picked up the consolation for Rawreth. This leaves Rawreth at the bottom of the table pushing Hullbridge up to lower half.
Finally RESSC scored a first win of the season by 6-3 against Customs A. A patched up RESSC side played against the odds with Kevin Smart scoring a great hat trick including a first loss of the season for Roy Thomas, and was backed up by two from Mike Worship cutting short his convalescence to play, and one from Ron Coutts, who cut short his holiday to make the game. The win lifts them from the bottom of the table. Roy Thomas scored two for Customs with Dave Morgan adding the final point, Brian Rackham was unable to make any impact as the Customs third player.
Barry Delf DRS Division 1
2nd Division
It was quite a notable week for Rawreth’s Botond Mezo. On Tuesday he was unbeaten, taking the Player of the Match award for his Rawreth F side in their home win over Hullbridge F. Assisted by two wins from Harrison Creak and one from Noah Unstead, Rawreth came out 6 – 3 winners. Toby Zeffie got two wins for the visitors.
On the Thursday Botond then played up for Rawreth E for their visit to Invicta B. Although his team didn’t fare so well this time, Botond did get his side’s only victory in an 8 – 1 pasting. His success was at the expense of Neil Daines, making it a pretty impressive feather in his cap. Both Barrie Murphy and Andy Humphris recorded maximums for the home side.
The other Rawreth team in the division, Rawreth G, could have done with some assistance when they entertained Stanford Le Hope B. However, despite being able to only field two players, young George Davis and the experienced Andy Deadman, their 5 – 4 defeat at the hands of the current leaders was a highly creditable outcome. Adrian Armstrong was again Stanford’s star, being unbeaten for the fourth time in four outings.
Canvey B have injury problems and were unable to fulfil their fixture away to Wakering.
Brand Identity C put in an all-round team performance against visitors Runnymede. Two wins each for Jenne Seibolt and Richard Riebold, together with one from John Beddow, meant they edged the match 5 – 4. Barbara Shead was the best performer for Runnymede with two victories, whilst Barry Edgar and Jim Nariel had one each.
The combined forces of Hockley D’s Dave Chenery and Paul Strutt were too much for visiting Warehouse C. Maximums from both players, with one additional win from Brian Bissenden, lead to a 7 – 2 home win. Saurabh Mohal and Conrad Gomes shared Warehouses two wins.
David Barnes DRS Division 2
3rd Division
After one week at the top Canvey D have slipped to second place as they could only field a two man team at Invicta C and slumped to a 6-3 defeat. Gordon Johnstone did best for them with two wins and Ray Baker with one but it was Richard Verrinder of Invicta who was unbeaten on the night with the other point won by Keith Baxter.
The new leaders are Stanford Le Hope C who brushed aside Rawreth H 8-1 with Mark Downey just edging the MOTM award from Peter Moxham whilst Peter Handscombe weighed in with a brace. Jake Nelson got the consolation point for Rawreth on his debut and Harry Watson was unlucky not to add another going down to Peter Handscombe in five sets.
There were good wins for two of the Hockley teams with the Hockley G team just edging out the experienced Hullbridge G side 5-4 thanks to a last gasp 11/8 fifth set win for Alex Summers against Bob Shingleton-Smith. He took the plaudits being 2-1 down at one stage but Paul Henlen was the mainstay of the victory winning all three of his matches. Ann Lane did best for Hullbridge with two wins whilst Bob and Andy Roff won one each. Young Oliver George just missed out coming closest against Bob who he lost to in five sets.
Hockley E also came out on top against Warehouse D with a convincing 7-2 win. Phil Pond was the star winning all his three but with good support from Andrew Strutt and Brian Parker who both won two each. The always reliable Graham Back got both points for Warehouse but they slip to the bottom of the table.
The Hockley team missing out were the Hockley F team who were on the wrong end of a 5-4 result against Hullbridge H. Joey Page won all his three for Hullbridge and there were two wins for Ben Cannon but Katie Tanner found the going a little too tough. Joey was pushed all the way by Alwine Jarvis who was two sets up before eventually losing in five. That result pushes Hullbridge up off the bottom to tenth in the table.
Player of the Week – Paul Henlen
Team of the Week – Hullbridge H
Paul Strutt DRS Division 3
