Eleven wins and two losses, the record of both Thorpe Bay A and Rawreth B as we head into the festive break. In the final week before Santa arrives Thorpe Bay A won 9-0 and Rawreth B won 7-2 meaning the difference at the top of the table is that Thorpe Bay lead by a meagre three points and sets us up for a great second half of the season. John Poysden, Ian Wall and Mark Stones were largely untroubled by Matchpoint A dropping just three legs in their match while an unfamiliar looking Rawreth B line up of Jamie Elliott, Kim Shead and Arron Chandler were victorious against Brand Identity. Neil Barker and Martin Turner picking up good wins against Chandler and Shead.

Rayleigh Mill find themselves in third place in the table and their lofty position is mainly due to the unbeaten start to the season for Liam Squirrell. They were without Squirrell this week but still managed an 8-1 win over Invicta A with Duncan Taylor and Colin Chatfield winning their three and Steve Saywer picking up the other two, just coming up short against Steve Marr.

In the battle of the West we saw Stanford really do a number on Basildon A with Mitchell Jones, Vivaan Babbar and Joshua Freeman winning all their games in a 9-0 victory and in the final game of the week Rawreth A beat Brand Identity 7-2. Kevin Read was in good form and his three wins were backed up by three from Eric Green and there was a single win for the mercurial Charles Sweeeny over Richard Jackman.

The two protagonists at the top of the Division 1 table, Hockley B and Hockley C, were both playing at home on the same night this week. I guess it made it easy to see how each other were progressing. As it turned out, both teams finished 8 – 1 winners, so their league positions remain unchanged moving into the New Year. 
Leaders Hockley B spoiled Christmas for their opponents Wakering A. Joe Odegbami and David Colwill were both unbeaten, whilst Stuart Adshead took two, succumbing to Wakering’s Martin Shaughnessy.
Second place Hockley C entertained lowly Hadleigh Forum C. Player of the Match Will Evesham and Elliott Brackenbury had maximums, with Stephanie Haddrell adding two more, losing out to Forum’s Paul Fawell.
Elsewhere, Rawreth C continue to make a strong showing. This time around they overcame visiting Mapledene 7 – 2 thanks to a hat trick from James Grimston and two victories each from Gary McCarthy and David Gatheral. Single wins from the visitor’s Dawn Baldry and Mike Johnston gave them a little seasonal cheer.
Bottom side Basildon B gave themselves an early Christmas present with their first win of the season at home to Stanford Le Hope B. Chudi Ukpaka made a rare appearance for them and rewarded his inclusion with three wins in his side’s 6 – 3 victory. Peter Hilton got two more and Tony Molisso one. Rob Salvage was Stanford’s best player, recording two successes, with Adrian Armstrong getting the other one for the visitors.

No doubt about the match of the week in Division 2 as league leaders and title favourites Wakering took on second placed Matchpoint B. Unbeaten Wakering have swept all before them this season whereas pre – season favourites Matchpoint have got off to a slower start than might be expected and trailed Wakering by five points going into this match. Wakering also have a game in hand. A big chance then for Matchpoint to reduce that deficit and if the occasion wasn’t big enough already, this also saw the clash of two unbeaten players Callum Turner of Wakering and Hannah Harbour of Matchpoint.

A close match would have been forecast for this one and that is how it turned out albeit most of the games were settled in three sets. The early sparring saw the sides locked at 2-2 and then the clash of the unbeaten Turner and Harbour took centre stage. A five set thriller? No, far from it as Harbour demolished Turner in straight sets 11/7 11/8 11/9. She is now the only unbeaten player in the division. This result would have raised Matchpoint’s hopes of victory but instead it prompted another upset as Paul England overcame the always hard to beat John Lott in five sets. With three games left  Matchpoint edged ahead again as Harbour beat Michael Grout but two more wins for Turner and England gave Wakering a 5-4 victory and they now sit six points clear of their rivals plus that game in hand.

Canvey B solidified their position in third with a 6-3 win against Invicta B Trevor Hayes recording a maximum supported by two wins for Des Duffield and one for Kevin Walsingham. Andrew St. John, Trisha Winter and Keith Baxter all picked up a point each for Invcita.

Basildon C recorded their fourth win in six games but they still find themselves bottom of the table after they picked up a surprise 5-4 win at Stanford C. 3-1 down at one stage they fought back to lead 4-3 before the match was decided in the final game of the evening between Basildon’s Michael Elemide and Stanford’s Randy Santiago. Elemide won in straight sets to clinch the win. He and Victor Galben won two games each for Basildon plus one for Dave Walton whilst Vaughan Chambers and Jake Santiago shared the points for Stanford.

Just six points now separate the bottom five teams in the division with, strangely, bottom club Basildon C the in-form team. The team just above them, Hockley E, must be hoping for a similar run of form and they will be encouraged by a nerve jangling 5-4 win against fellow relegation rivals Matchpoint C. The opening six games left the teams level at 3-3 before Matchpoint edged ahead as Richard Sloman completed a POTM performance by beating John George in straight sets. Hockley were not to be denied however as firstly Richard Coulon levelled the match beating Zach Samuels before George Clark became their hero. Called up from their F team he had lost his earlier matches but hit form in this one as he beat Blake Stewart in straight sets. Coulon and George both won two games for Hockley whilst Samuels provided the fourth point for Matchpoint.

Team of the Week – Basildon C

Player of the Week – Hannah Harbour

Another week when only two matches were possible.

Stanford ‘D’ have climbed to third place in Division 3, level on points with second placed Hockley ‘F’, thanks to a 6/3 win over Canvey ‘C’, although Hockley have played two games less.  Another Player of the Match performance from Martin Winter for Stanford, his third in as many weeks, was backed up by Andrew Jessop’s maximum.  For Canvey, there was a win each for Scott Giddens, Andy O’Rawe and Chong Lam.  

Hadleigh Forum ‘D’ were hampered by the lack of a third player when they visited Wakering ‘C’.  Despite the best efforts of Forum’s Jan Thorpe, who dropped only one set on his way to a maximum, the Wakering trio of Kamil Pachalko, Stew Mills and Joanna Gaudini took the remaining games to register a 6/3 win for the home team.

The other two scheduled fixtures this week had to be postponed because the home venues of Hockley ‘G’ and Evolve ‘B’ were not available to them.

Reports by

Duncan Taylor – Premier Division

David Barnes – Division 1

Paul Strutt – Division 2

David Woolmer – Division 3