Easter week got off to a cracking start in the Southend Division 1 when Hockley A met Invicta A. Four games went the distance and one went to four sets but the match was decided on the results of the singles with Hockley winning four of the six on offer and, as a bonus, two out of the three doubles.

The first singles of the night set the tone as Hockley’s William Evesham took on Invicta’s Steve Marr with Evesham extending Marr to five sets before finally conceding 11/5 in the fifth and final set. An egg-cellent  performance by young Evesham this, against seasoned campaigner Marr. Another five set match followed with Hockley’s Dave Colwill fighting back from 2-1 down to get the better of Paul Sims. Sanjay Saptarshi then stepped up to add another point to Hockley’s tally against Tony Ayliffe, and later adding a second singles win, also in straight sets, against Sims. Evesham picked up a singles win against Ayliffe but Colwill couldn’t repeat his win as he went down in another five set match against Marr. This left Hockley as 6-3 winners with their second successive win. No Easter eggs as a prize unfortunately just points!

Basildon B picked up their second win of the season beating Matchpoint A away 6-3. Andy Seaman was their star performer winning all his games and he was backed up by a singles win each from Peter Hilton and Tony Molisso. Hannah Harbour was the bright spot for Matchpoint beating Hilton and Molisso and combining with Sarah Ball to win their doubles against Hilton and Molisso coming back from 2-1 down.

Canvey A just lost their opening game of the season 5-4 but were able to bounce back when they played Hockley B running out 7-2 winners. No doubt about the player of the match, Andrew Murray brushed aside all before him baffling everyone with his variety of serves and he won all his games in straight sets except in one of the doubles which went to four. Canvey raced into a 5-0 lead before Hockley grabbed their first point when Paul Strutt got the better of Jo Hills in four close sets but they won another two before Strutt and Paul Ogden beat Hills and Lee Mcgonagle in five sets 11/6 6/11 10/12 11/8 8/11. Mcgonagle won both his singles against Strutt and Amar Al-Soufi and Hills also got the better of Ogden in straight sets.

Player of the Week – Sanjay Saptarshi

Team of the Week – Hockley A

Report by Paul Strutt