Hockley A team’s usual players weren’t available this week but rather than be a problem for captain Dan Patinsky it gave him a chance to call up two of the fastest improving juniors in the league. William Evesham and Elliott Brackenbury were playing Division 3 two seasons ago and having already risen to Division 1 this year it was great to see how they would fair in the Premier Division and they didn’t disappoint. William started slowly by losing his first match to Andrew Murray but then the two Hockley players didn’t look back, winning their other 5 matches between them and helping Hockley to a comfortable 8-1 win over Invicta A. Surely they will be regular Premier Division players next season.
Another 8-1 result came in the form of a Rawreth B victory over Basildon A. A great win for Arun Joy over Gary Young for Basildon’s consolation win in a match where the individual scores show it to have been a much tighter affair than the overall scoreline suggests. Three wins a piece in this one from Dan Zeffie and Arron Chandler.
The final game to report on this week is a 6-3 win for Brand Identity over Matchpoint A. Hat-tricks for Dave Jacob and Steve Muth but the fact that Brand Identity had only two players has helped Matchpoint out with three useful points.
Report by Duncan Taylor
With last week’s leaders in Division 1 Hockley C, not having a fixture this week, club mates Hockley B took the opportunity to leapfrog them to the top position, thanks to an emphatic 9 – 0 roasting of the home side at Basildon B. Joe Odegbami was again Hockley’s player of the match. However, his unbeaten performance was matched by team mates David Colwill and Stuart Adshead. Basildon’s Dale Gutteridge and Chudi Ukpaka both came close against Stuart, but the Hockley man prevailed in the fifth set both times.
Hadleigh Forum B’s veteran Tony Jacks had a night to remember against visitors Stanford Le Hope B, going the whole match without losing a single set. Such a feat deservedly gives him the POM award. Tony was assisted by Mick Tappenden who got two wins and Dave Woolmer with one, giving the home side a 6 – 3 victory. Adrian Armstrong won two for Stanford and Dave Hancox one more.
Hosts Mapledene were too strong for Hadleigh Forum C. There were maximums for both Mick Johnston and Dawn Baldry, whilst colleague John Tendler added two in a comprehensive 8 – 1 victory. Rising star Todd Barker had a notable success for Forum in overcoming John in a close contest.
Third placed Rawreth C kept in touch of the Hockley teams with a hard-fought 6 – 3 home win over Wakering A. The victory was a collective effort with all three of the home side’s team of Adi Kamma, James Grimston and Colin Clements winning twice. Barbara Chabior was again Wakering’s best player, taking two wins, whilst her team mate Martin Shaughnessy overcame James in a thrilling five-setter for the other Wakering success.
Report by David Barnes
Four games and four home wins this week in Division2 and some pretty convincing wins at that. Stanford C started the week beating Runnymede 6-3 then Wakering hammered Hockley E 8-1, Canvey B beat Matchpoint C 8-1 and Hockley D rounded the week off whitewashing Invicta B 9-0.
Stanford’s win could have matched those other results if it wasn’t for Tony Millward who recorded the perfect hat trick for Runnymede, but unfortunately his teammates Heather Stiles and Steve McQuillan were easily outgunned by the home team of Mike Trendell, Chris Crooks and Peter Moxham. Nine matches and not one went beyond three sets!
Wakering fielded their top strike force of Callum Turner and Mike Grout against Hockley E and they were duly rewarded as both players weighed in with perfect hat tricks. Stewart Mills found it slightly harder going but got the better of Amar Al-Soufi and John George both in four sets before succumbing in a five set battle with Richard Kidd 11/4 in the decider having led 2-1 at one stage.
Canvey B’s big win came courtesy of the experienced trio of Kevin Walsingham, Tony Westwell and Trevor Hayes with Hayes recording a perfect hat trick. Matchpoint, however, did not go down without a fight and came close to increasing their solitary point. Richard Sloman got their consolation beating Westwell in straight sets and Samuel Morgan came close twice to adding to that losing in five sets to Walsingham and Westwell.
Hockley D’s win has lifted them up four places into fourth place and gives them a third successive victory. It wasn’t as straight forward as it sounded though as six games went to four sets after the first match of the night had gone to five, Paul Ogden beating Andrew St. John 11/7 in the decider. St.John also came close to extending his match against Brian Bissenden to five sets, having lost the first two he won the third 13/11 but was just edged out 16/14 in the fourth. Paul Strutt was the other Hockley player recording a hat trick and the Invicta players can feel slightly aggrieved as Hockley had more than their fair share of nets and edges on the night.
Player of the Week – Tony Millward
Team of the Week – Hockley D
Report by Paul Strutt
Invicta C maintained their unbeaten run in Division 3 with a crushing 9-0 win over Evolve B. However, the youngsters were up against it from the start as they were only a two-man team. The League leader’s victory was completed in double quick time with the loss of only one set.
There was a similar scoreline when Canvey C welcomed Wakering C to their offshore haven. The Canvey trio of Ray Baker, Chong Shing Lam and player of the match, Steve Kemp, proved to be too strong for their visitors, who have introduced several new players to the League this season.
Hockley F have climbed to second place in the table following a comprehensive 8/1 win over Matchpoint D. Maximums here for Gary Beck and Robert Garlick, but Cooper Hill prevented the whitewash with a straight sets win over Ivan Arabadzhiev.
Stanford D were another team that were a player short when they travelled to Hockley to take on their young G team. Kris Chankov got the home team off to a good start with a narrow, 13/11 in the 5th, win over Karen Kempster. This proved, however, to be their only win on the table, as Karen and Andrew Jessop won the remaining games for Stanford to earn their team a 5-4 win.
