We are into the fifth week of the Southend and District Summer League and already it’s not too hard to see who are likely to be the winners in Division 1. Northlands sit top having played and won three games, dropped just one point, and are two points clear of second placed Basildon who have played a game more.
The Northlands team is packed full of Premier Division talent being able to call on the likes of Kevin Read, Keith Adams, Gurjit Bhambra and Deborah Auvache, all top 40 ranked players. They have already beaten closest rivals Basildon 8-1 and that point was in the doubles so all their players boast 100% records in singles at the present time.
Basildon, having played the top team, have also played Brand Identity currently sitting third, and fared much better winning 6-3 with Ian Wall picking up two good wins beating the Jacob brothers Simon and David.
There is already a seven point gap between third and fourth where we find Hockley A and, a point behind them but with a game in hand, are Invicta A. Based on rankings it looks like Invicta have the stronger line up but it will be interesting to see how Sid Dorn performs for Hockley who returns to league action after some time, and they also feature Joseph Odegbami who is making his Southend league debut this season. Good to see young Harry Sawford showing improving form having won 5 of his 6 singles matches so far.
Hadleigh Forum haven’t made the best of starts but are full of experienced Div 1/Prem players like Dave Bassett, Anton Ranjit-Singh and Tony Jacks, and these three saw them to a first win of the season 6-3 against Hockley this week.
At the bottom of the table at the moment are Stanford and RESSC who may struggle to make an impact featuring players more used to Div 2 level. RESSC have enjoyed two highly successful seasons in the lower divisions but it will be interesting to see how this team of really experienced players will do against the top Premier players in this league.
In Division 1 Wakering are one of three unbeaten teams, and top the table at this stage, albeit that they have played more games than their closest rivals. The backbone of the side is the trio of Stew Mills, Paul England and Zac England. These three performed well in the recent winter league and their good form has clearly continued.
Hockley ‘B’ occupy second place, 6 points off the top having played a game less. With Paul Strutt and Ben Cook currently unbeaten in singles, and good experience at this level in their squad, they seem sure to be challenging for the title at the end of the season.
The third unbeaten team is Basildon ‘B’ who have games in hand on both the top two, although they have 15 points to make up. Another experienced squad includes Szymon Jarka who has only been beaten once in singles, and that defeat came against a tough Premier League opponent. Of the other 6 players who have turned out for Basildon, 3 of them remain unbeaten.
Runnymede are in fourth position and could yet challenge the top sides, but only if their quality players, Tony Millward and Dmitry Kisil, turn out together on a regular basis.
Of the other teams, Invicta ‘B’ seem likely to finish in the top half of the table. They have 2 players new to our league, Barbara Chabior and Martin Shaughnessy, who have both shown good form, Barbara is unbeaten and Martin has won 6 of his 8 singles.
Hadleigh Forum ‘B’ occupy the mid table position. They have a largely inexperienced squad but the experience and quality of Neal Barker has ensured that they have stayed away from the lower reaches of the division.
The remaining 5 teams are separated by only 4 points and have won only 3 matches between them.
Although winless, Megazone have picked up seful points in every match so far. Jonathan Allen is their leading player to date, and with a number experienced players to back him up, their first win is surely not far away.
Stanford ‘B’ and Invicta ‘C’ are locked together on 11 points after 5 games matches played. Stanford were the winners when these 2 sides met earlier in the season, and they have picked up good points in 2 other matches, but have also suffered two 9-0 defeats.
Trisha Winter is the leading player so far for Invicta ‘C’ with 5 wins from her 8 singles, but she will need some support from the rest of the squad if they are to move up the table.
Hockley ‘C’ are on 9 points but have played a game less than the 3 teams above them. Their sole win came against a Hadleigh Forum side who were without Neal Barker, but they have only managed to pick up 3 points in their other matches.
Canvey ‘B’ are bottom of the table and lost their first 4 matches, gaining only 2 points. However, they have recently added Jo Hills to their squad and this paid immediate dividends as she was player of the match when they defeated Invicta ‘C’ to record their only win to date.
Reports provided by Paul Strutt (Div 1) and David Woolmer (Div 2).
