Thorpe Bay A cemented their place at the top of the Premier division with a thumping 9-0 win over Stanford A who were without their talisman Mitchell Jones. Rawreth B kept up the pressure on Thorpe Bay A by recording an 8-1 win of their own against Hockley A with Keith Adams and recently crowned Chelmsford league champ, Dan Young going undefeated. Hockley picked up their point with a good win for Joseph Odegbami over Kim Shead.
There was a ding dong battle between Thorpe Bay B and Rawreth A this week with the Rawreth side just coming out on top in a 5-4 win. Despite winning the match none of the Rawreth trio could get the better of the player of the match Kieran Skeggs.
Rayleigh Mill stumbled this week and went down 7-2 to Brand Identity. Ben Warner picking up two wins against Steve Muth and Simon Jacob but could not get the better of Richard Jackman who recorded an impressive hatrick against the Millers.
And in the final game of the week Invicta recorded a much needed 8-1 victory over Matchpoint A. Matchpoint started the evening well with a good win for Alex Deacon over Tony Ayliffe but this is as good as it got for them as they went down 8-1 with Paul Sims and Steve Marr both coming away with maximum wins.
Report by Duncan Taylor
Hadleigh Forum B may be a little off the pace in fourth place in the division. However, when it comes to friendliness and hospitality, they are miles ahead of everyone else. This week their visitors Canvey A were treated (as are all visiting teams) to tea and chocolate biscuits and, since everyone knew each other and had been rivals over many seasons, the match was played in a great spirit. In fact, Forum’s hospitality went a little too far, with them succumbing to Canvey 5 – 4. In a match with many close-fought encounters, Bob Skews was unbeaten and took the Player of the Match prize.
Rawreth C put out a strong side when Stanford Le Hope B called on them. Paul Brown was unbeaten and yet again their star, although Trevor Collin was also unbeaten. Dave Hancox overcame the home side’s Colin Clements for Stanford’s only victory in an 8 – 1 drubbing by Rawreth.
Leaders Hockley B easily overcame luckless Hadleigh Forum C in a 9 – 0 whitewash. It was a one-sided affair with Hockley’s Joe Odegbami, Keith Abbott and David Colwill all undefeated.
The dominance of the two Hockley clubs in this division was underlined by their second-placed C team recording an emphatic 8 – 1 away win at lowly Basildon B. Mind you, the home side could be forgiven for thinking their chances were looking good as, in the first contest of the evening, their Stephen Walters overcame Tim Pang in five sets. Unfortunately, though, it was all downhill from there on. Elliot Brackenbury and James Evesham both recoded hat tricks and Tim won his other two rubbers.
Report by David Barnes
No doubt about the game of the week in Division 2 which saw Stanford C lock horns with Hockley E. Mid table Stanford would have been favourites to win this against relegation threatened Hockley and, in the end, they did 6-3, but only after a marathon contest. No less than seven of the nine games went to five sets which is the most I can remember in all the years I’ve been reporting. Randy Santiago was the Player of the Match with a maximum but all three of his wins went the distance as did Jake Santiago’s two wins. Chris Crooks provided the other point. For Hockley Richard Kidd claimed two wins including a superb comeback from two sets down against Crooks and Richard Coulon got the other point for Hockley. All his games, like Randy Santiago’s, went to five sets.
Closest match of the week and the biggest surprise was the clash between Canvey B and Runnymede. Bar week one Canvey have been in the top four all season whereas Runnymede had been in the bottom three until a recent run of four wins has seen them rise to sixth position. That run continued as they edged a nip and tuck game 5-4 Tony Millward beating Trevor Hayes to clinch the match in the final game of the evening. That win completed Millward’s hat trick and a win each from Wisbey and Barrie Edgar completed the win. Des Duffield and Trevor Hayes got two wins each for Canvey.
This surprise defeat left the door open for Hockley D to narrow the gap between them and they did it in style beating Basildon C 9-0. It wasn’t entirely straightforward as Victor Galben took both Paul Strutt and Brian Bissenden to five sets and four other matches went to four. Paul Ogden made up the winning trio and took the Player of the Match award.
It was business as usual for Wakering B as they also ran out 9-0 winners against Invicta B and now sit 15 points clear of Canvey at the top of the league. The bookmakers have stopped taking bets on where they might finish! Regulars Callum Turner, Michael Grout and Paul England took the honours.
Team of the Week – Runnymede
Player of the Week – Randy Santiago
Report by Paul Strutt
Four matches this week in Division 3 and all resulted in convincing home wins for the home teams.
Longtime League leaders Invicta ‘C’ kicked things off at the start of the week with a 9/0 whitewash over Hadleigh Forum ‘D’. Sarah Ball was the POTM here with a perfect maximum, well supported by her wingmen, Harry Venables and Steve Lennox. For Hadleigh, Douglas Brown took Harry and Steve deep into deciding sets, before eventually succumbing, but that was as good as it got for his team.
Invicta now lead the table by 29 points and seem destined to be crowned champions come the end of the season. Second placed Hockley ‘F’ have a game in hand, but seemingly have too much ground to make up.
The other three matches all ended up as 7/2 wins for the hosts.
Canvey ‘B’ welcomed the youngsters of Evolve ‘B’ to their Island home, but despite a couple of good wins for Jonah Omigie, the home side, led by an unbeaten Scott Giddens, prevailed. Steve was backed up by teammates Andy O’Rawe and John Saunders, who both recorded two wins. After the match, the Canvey captain, Ray Baker, was fulsome in his praise for the young players from Evolve. He remarked on how polite they were and that they were a credit to their parents and their club.
Deepak Nanda is enjoying a good first season in our league and his second, successive hat-trick for Wakering ‘C’ was the basis of his side’s win over Hockley ‘F’. Joanna Gaudini, also new to the league, added two wins, as did Alwine Jarvis. Ross Collins provided the main resistance for Hockley, with a double.
Evolve ‘A’ are making a strong bid for a top two finish, and now lie in third place, only four points behind Hockley ‘F’. This follows a good win over Matchpoint ‘D’. Teddy Kent led the way for them with an unbeaten performance, winning all his games in straight sets, without conceding more than 6 points in any of them. Harley Dowding and Edward Feeley contributed two wins each, but both lost out to Matchpoint’s David McHattie.
Report by David Woolmer
