With just over three weeks of the season to go things are really hotting up in the Southend Premier Division title race as the top two collided in a star studded Wednesday evening in Daws Heath. It was current champions Thorpe Bay A that edged the night with a 5-4 victory against Rawreth B with some of the individual games as tight as the overall score suggests. Two matches went the distance and finished 12-10 in the final game and both went to Thorpe Bay A, Mark Stones over Keith Adams and Ian Wall over Dan Zeffie and so it is easy to see how the overall score could have easily gone the other way. Ian Wall receives the player of the match award as he picked up wins against Gary Young and Adams to go with his win over Zeffie, a great night’s work for the Great Wall of Daws Heath.
Elsewhere Rayleigh Mill consolidated their solid season by beating Hadleigh Forum 6-3, three wins each for Ben Warner and Colin Chatfield with the Hadleigh Forum trio of Berti Makolli, Martin Turner and Neal Barker picking up a win each against Steve Maltby while Rawreth A eased to a comfortable 8-1 win over Hockley A who were only able to field two players, a decent consolation win mind for Dan Patynski over Charles Sweeney.
One late result from last week worth noting and that was a good 5-4 win for Basildon A over Hockley A, good wins for Les Hoey and Lee Marson over Tarun Goel in that one.
Report by Duncan Taylor
It was a case of “what might have been” for Rawreth C when they visited league leaders Hockley B. Despite only having two players (Michael Rigg and Gary McCarthy) the visitors narrowly lost 5 – 4. Had they had a third player things could have been so different. No player was unbeaten on the night, with Michael and Gary claiming two victories apiece. Closest match of the evening was Hockley’s Keith Abbott overcoming Gary 13 – 11 in the fifth set.
Second-placed Hockley C outclassed their opponents Hadleigh Forum B with a most emphatic 9 – 0 victory. James Evesham, Elliott Brackenbury and POM Tim Pang were all too strong for Forum. Anthon Ranjit-Singh pushed James to five sets, but the visitors offered little other resistance.
Veteran Hadleigh Forum C captain Graham Farmer did his best to help his side overcome guests Canvey A with a win over Peter Cray and a particularly well fought victory over Ray Wilson 11 – 9 in the fifth set. However, a hat trick from Bob Skews, a pair from Ray and one for Peter gave Canvey a comfortable 6 – 3 win. Mark Everard got the home side’s other point.
Lin Roff was the star for Mapledene in their 5 – 4 away win at Stanford Le Hope B. Lin managed three wins without dropping a single set all night. Both Bill Smith and Andy Seaman played supporting roles, winning one contest each. Apart from Lin’s matches, there were some close encounters, with three matches going to five sets. Tina Hutchinson won two for the home side and John Handscombe and Mark Downey winning one each.
Report by David Barnes
The top four clubs were all in action this week and whilst it was business as usual for three of them Hockley D were undone by the revitalised Runnymede side who won 6-3.
Leaders Wakering B went to Matchpoint C and came away with a 6-3 win. Regular starters Callum Turner and Michael Grout both chalked up hat tricks (Grout didn’t lose a set) but Andrew Deadman, who hadn’t played since October, found the going a bit too hard losing his three games. Matchpoint sit two places above bottom place five points ahead of Hockley E who have a game in hand.
Canvey B stay in second place after beating Stanford C 6-3. Trevor Hayes recorded a perfect hat trick and he was supported by two wins for Kevin Walsingham and one for Tony Westwell. Vaughan Chambers got two wins for Stanford, one a hard fought five set match against Westwell coming back from two sets down, with Chris Crooks providing the other point. Canvey are three points clear of Matchpoint B who have a game in hand.
Matchpoint’s 7-2 win at Invicta was enough to reduce the deficit to Canvey by one point and it was their star player Hannah Harbour returning yet another hat trick who led the way. Colin Barham weighed in with a brace as did Samuel Morgan. Invicta had to fight hard for their two points John Blackman beating Barham in five sets having been 2-1 down and Trisha Winter repeating that format beating Morgan in another lengthy five setter 11/13 15/13 6/11 16/14 11/8.
Runnymede chalked up their seventh win in eight matches in beating Hockley D 6-3 and put a great big dent in Hockley’s promotion hopes. They now sit nine points behind third placed Matchpoint B.
Tony Millward has been the man behind Runnymede’s upturn in form and he chalked up another perfect hat trick and was backed up by Steve Wisbey with a brace and Steve McQuillan with a point. There was a point each for the Hockley trio of Paul Strutt, Paul Ogden and Howard Collins whose match against Wisbey was the best of the night. After exchanging the first two sets Wisbey went 2-1 up with an 11/9 win before Collins fought back winning the next two sets 11/9 13/11. Runnymede now sit comfortably in mid table.
Team of the Week – Runnymede
Player of the Week – Tony Millward
Report by Paul Strutt
Firstly, congratulations must go to Invicta ‘C’ who have clinched the Division 3 title following a 5/4 victory over Canvey ‘C’. With two games still to play, their points total of 121 puts them out of reach of their closest challengers. Well done to Mike Keeble and his team.
Steve Lennox led the way for Invicta in this match with an unbeaten performance, and he was well supported by Mike, who grabbed a double. For Canvey, Che Martin got a couple of wins, with Scott Giddens and Alex Carruthers chipping in with a win apiece. This was a first taste of league action for young Alex, and it couldn’t have started better for him, as he won his first game in straight sets. Things got more difficult for him after that but, overall, he acquitted himself well, and he is certainly a bright prospect for the future.
With the title winners decided, attention turns to the battle for the runners-up spot. Hockley ‘F’ have held this position for much of the season, but they are now coming under severe pressure from the young Evolve ‘A’ side.
With Hockley not involved in this round of matches, Evolve took full advantage to close the gap between the two teams to just 4 points. This week their opponents were Hadleigh Forum ‘D’ and, with Miles Bygrave and Edward Feeley unbeaten on the night, and Sasha Syderenko adding a double, an 8/1 victory was the outcome. Forum skipper Jean Catley was the sole point winner for her team.
The match between two junior teams, Hockley ‘G’ and Evolve ‘B’ proved to be a rather one-sided affair. The Hockley trio of Kris Chankov, George Higgins and Perry Lazell all went home with hat-tricks under their belts, with Kris taking the POTM honours for his flawless maximum.
Stanford ‘D’ entertained Matchpoint ‘D’ and, once again, the outcome was a convincing win for the home side. Martin Winter was again in fine form, and his hat-trick and that of Andrew Jessop were the basis of his team’s 8/1 win. Cooper Hill was the only winner on the night for Matchpoint with a win over Karen Kempster.
Report by David Woolmer
