Rayleigh Mill picked up another win in week 5 of the Southend Premier Division season with new signing Liam Squirrell again leading the way with three 3-0 wins against Brand Identity. Colin Chatfield had to work harder for his three wins, the closest of his matches ending 11-5 in the 5th end with Richard Jackman. Jackman, Dave Jacob and Adam Jackman all managed to beat Steve Maltby giving us a 6-3 win to the Millers.
A clash between two of the bottom 4 clubs as the league stands in week 5 saw Invicta host Matchpoint. It was the home side who came out on top due in the main to a player of the match performance from Tony Ayliffe. His three wins along with two from Steve Marr and one from Malcolm Henstock saw Invicta win 6-3, Stephen Heard the strongest performer for Matchpoint with two wins, the other Matchpoint win coming from Alex Deacon.
Another 6-3 win but this time for away side as Hadleigh Forum visited Basildon A. Martin Turner in fine form with three wins for Forum ably supported by Neal Barker with two wins and Berti Makolli with a win over Charles Yeung.
Hockley A went down 8-1 to Rawreth B this week but the match was much closer than the scoreline suggests with Kim Shead coming out on the right side of two 11-9 in the 5th matches against Dan Patynski and Sanjay Saptarshi and there was and even closer win for Dan Zeffie who in the last game of the night beat Tarun Goel 12-10 in the fifth end. Player of the match was Daniel Young who stood out with 3 solid wins for Rawreth.
And finally this week, a routine win for Thorpe Bay A this week as they overcame Stanford A by a scoreline of 8-1. Hattricks for Kieran Skeggs and Ian Wall with the only blot on their copybook being a 5 set win for Josh Freeman over Chris Ballard.
Report by Duncan Taylor
What a difference a week can make! Last week Hockley B could only field one player and lost 9 – 0. This week they managed to find a full team and thumped struggling Hadleigh Forum C by the same score. Joe Odegbami took the player of the match award, but team mates Stuart Adshead and David Colwill were also unbeaten in a one-sided away win.
Hockley’s other team in this division, Hockley C, who took over top spot in the table last week, entertained Basildon B. Despite a few close contests, the hosts won comfortably 8 – 1. Stalwart Tim Pang was unbeaten, as was Stephanie Haddrell who overcame two of her opponents in the final set of their matches. Jenne Seibolt got the only victory for the visitors when he defeated James Evesham. The victory keeps Hockley C top.
Hadleigh Forum’s veteran Tony Jacks took the POM trophy for his hat trick in their 7 – 2 away win at Canvey A. Mind you, it was a hard fight, with tight wins in the fifth set of two of his three match-ups. Team mates David Woolmer and Anthon Ranjit-Singh both won two – David losing to Bob Skews and Anthon to Peter Cray.
Trevor Collin made his debut for Rawreth C when they visited Stanford Le Hope B. He was taken all the way in his matches against another debutant, the home side’s Mike Trendell, and by veteran Adrian Armstrong. Despite this, Trevor’s unbeaten performance gave him the POM prize. Team mates Gary McCarthy and Colin Clements took two wins each, whilst Adrian and Mike recorded one victory apiece for the home side, as Rawreth took the match 7 – 2.
Report by David Barnes
Wakering B made it four wins on the trot and sit top of the table after a 6-3 away win against Invicta B. Any team hoping for promotion must have strength in depth and although without their number one player this week, Callum Turner, they are fortunate to have the experienced Mick Grout in their squad, a more than adequate replacement. He won all his games albeit he was pushed all the way by Trisha Winter who won the first two sets before conceding 11/7 11/7 11/6. Paul England weighed in with two more wins for Wakering but fell in five sets to John Blackman. Andrew Deadman got Wakering’s other point beating Keith Baxter but lost in five to Winter to give Invicta their third point.
Stanford C chalked up their third win in succession as they moved past Invicta into third place after beating Hockley E 6-3. Vaughan Chambers is the man in form for Stanford recording his second maximum of the season and not dropping a set in the process. Randy Santiago got two wins including a hard fought five set win against Neal Klyman and Jake Santiago got the other point coming close to recording a double but losing in five sets to Richard Coulon. Amar Al-Soufi got two points for Hockley with wins against both Santiago’s.
A two man Basildon C lost their fifth successive match in succession losing 8-1 at home to Hockley D. Michael Elemide got their consolation point beating Howard Collins but Hockley’s Paul Ogden and Brian Bissenden were rarely troubled as they won both their games against Elemide and Victor Galben. Galben almost grabbed a second win but lost in five sets to Collins 11/9 in the decider.
Report by Paul Strutt
League leaders, Invicta ‘C’ kept up their unbeaten record with a 6/3 victory against Hadleigh Forum ‘D’. Sarah Ball took the plaudits here with a fine maximum, and she received good support from teammates Steve Lennox, who notched a double and skipper Mike Keeble who added a single win. Jan Thorpe was the best on the night for Forum with two wins.
Hockley ‘F’ have moved into second place after a resounding 8/1 win over Wakering ‘C’. Hat-tricks here for Ross Collins and Gary Beck, and a brace for Graham Gregory. The closest game of the match saw Nigel Strike earn Wakering’s only point, but he had to do it the hard way. After losing the first two sets to Graham, he recovered well to take the next three 12/10, 11/9, 11/9.
Differing fortunes this week for the Evolve junior teams. The ‘A’ team visited Matchpoint ‘D’ and emerged with a 7/2 win. Teddy Kent was the deserved POTM with a quick fire maximum, but he received excellent support from teammates Harley Dowding and Sasha Syderenko, who both recorded two wins. For Matchpoint, there was a win apiece for Cooper Hill and David McHattie.
It was the same scoreline in the match between Evolve ‘B’ and Canvey ‘C’, but it was the Islanders who came out on top on this occasion. Chong Shing Lam and Che Martin went unbeaten on the night with David Coverley adding the extra. Ehsan Khan and Jonah Omigie with a win each for Evolve.
Report by Dave Woolmer