The big news this week is that we have a new name at the top of the Premier Division table and that is Rawreth B. Two big wins against their nearest rivals in week 7 and 8 of the season puts them now firmly in the title contender category. Whether they can stay there or not will depend on them remaining as consistent as they have been to date but currently they show no signs of letting up. In week 7 they comprehensively beat their A team 8-1 with the two Dan’s, Zeffie and Young taking a hatrick of wins and Keith Adams chipping in with two, just Chris Penrose recording any success for the A side with a 4 set win over Adams.
Fresh from that impressive victory Rawreth B then took on the current champions Thorpe Bay A and they were similarly dispatched by the same Rawreth B players 7-2. As we know Thorpe Bay A hardly ever lose any matches so this was quite the seismic event. Dan Young was again in great form and took his three singles with Dan Zeffie and Adams taking two apiece losing to Mark Stones and John Poysden respectively. It has been a great start to the season for Paul Brown’s side but as we know we can never write off Thorpe Bay A whose consistency over a full season is always impressive. We will watch with interest as to how the rest of the season unfolds.
To round up the other matches from week 8, Brand Identify recording a huge 9-0 win over Stanford, Hockley A consigned Rawreth A to their second defeat in two weeks with Sanjay Saptarshi the star with his three wins
There were also wins for Basildon A, 5-4 over a two man Invicta A side with Arun Joy taking the player of the match honours and a much needed win for Hadleigh Forum 6-3 over Rayleigh Mill despite a hatrick of wins for the Mill’s Duncan Taylor, two wins each for Martin Turner, Berti Makolli and Dave Bassett in this one.
Report by Duncan Taylor
This week saw Hadleigh Forum C record their first victory of the season in Division 1, overcoming fellow strugglers Basildon B 5 – 4 at home. This welcome success came courtesy of two wins each for Todd Barker and Tony Mace. Mark Everard added one more. The visitors’ Kieran Wood could have done no more, taking a hat trick and the player of the match award. Tony Molisso worked hard for only one victory, with two of his three rubbers going to five sets. His match with Mark was finally settled 11/9 in the fifth set.
In another close contest Canvey A got the better of their visitors Mapledene by a similar 5 – 4 scoreline. Their skipper Ray Wilson was again their star, winning all his matches. Team mate Bob Skews pitched in with two successes. Victory for the home side was only settled in the very last contest of the evening when Bob narrowly overcame John Tendler in four sets. Lin Roff was Mapledene’s best player, taking two wins whilst John and Dawn Baldry collected one each.
Hockley C came a-cropper when they entertained Rawreth C. The away side were able to close the gap in the table between themselves and their hosts to only six points, thanks to a 5 – 4 away win. Will Evesham was player of the match for Hockley with an unbeaten triple, yet still ended up on the losing side. Two wins each for Rawreth’s Adi Kamma and James Grimston, together with a single from Gary McCarthy, gave the match up to the visitors. Elliot Brackenbury got Hockley’s other score.
This week’s 5 – 4 scoreline was continued when Wakering A took on Hadleigh Forum C. From being 4 – 1 down, visiting Forum drew level at 4 – 4 going into the last match-up. Unfortunately, though, they were up against unbeaten Callum Turner. Yet again Callum won all his matches. Martin Shaughnessy added his side’s other two wins. Anthon Ranjit-Singh won two and Michael Tappenden and Tony Jacks one each for Forum.
Report by David Barnes
Four games this week, four away wins, smallest margin 7-2 and, not surprisingly, the winning teams all sit in the top five positions in Division 2.
Starting at the top league high fliers Wakering finished the week with a 7-2 win at Runnymede. This match saw the clash of two unbeaten players in Tony Millward of Runnymede and Callum Turner of Wakering but any thoughts of a closely fought encounter soon disappeared as Turner strolled to a straight set victory 11/8 11/4 11/8. Millward did win his other two games against Paul England in straight sets, and then Mick Grout 11/7 in the fifth but Runnymede stay one but bottom and Wakering take over at the top.
Stanford C sit third in the table after a 7-2 win at Matchpoint C. This was probably made easier as the home side had to call up Tina Cook and Cooper Hill from their D team to partner regular member Samuel Morgan. Unfortunately they found the step up too tough and Stanford’s Vaughan Chambers and Randy and Jake Santiago conceded only one set against them. Morgan, however, provided stiffer opposition as he beat team Santiago before finding player of the match Chambers a step too far.
Matchpoint B have, potentially, one of the strongest squads in this league but, surprisingly, have already lost twice this season. This week however their team of John Lott, Hannah Harbour and Colin Barham made short work of bottom of the table Basildon C winning 8-1 with only two matches going beyond four sets. Dave Walton got the consolation point for Basildon beating Barham.
Biggest winners of the week were Hockley D who showed no mercy to their clubmates Hockley E winning 9-0. Brian Bissenden emerged as POTM dropping just one set all night, Paul Ogden and Howard Collins gave him full support albeit Collins twice found himself 2-1 down to Richard Coulon and then Amar Al-Soufi before clinching five set wins. Al-Soufi was edged out in another five set match sticking with Ogden until he conceded 11/8 in the fifth. E team captain Richard Kidd was unable to play but will surely be plotting revenge when the teams meet in the return.
Player of the Week – Callum Turner
Team of the Week – Hockley D
Report by Paul Strutt
Another week, and another big win for Invicta ‘C’, who maintained their position at the top of the leaderboard in Division 3 with an 8/1 away win at Wakering ‘C’. Alwine Jarvis won Wakering’s only point on the night with, what she says, was her first ever win over Mike Keeble. Steve Lennox struck a flawless maximum for Invicta to take the POTM plaudits. Sarah Ball was also unbeaten.
Hockley ‘F’ have emerged as Invicta’s closest rivals, and they sit in second place, just 4 points adrift, although they have played a game more. These two teams meet in a week’s time in what promises to be a close encounter. This week’s match saw Hockley record a 7/2 win over Canvey ‘C’. Ross Collins recorded a perfect hat-trick, with Robert Garlick also notching a treble. Graham Gregory added the extra.
A young Evolve ‘A’ side had an excellent 6/3 win away at Stanford ‘D’ and, as a result, have climbed to fourth place in the league, just 4 points behind their opponents, having played a game less. Two wins each for the trio of Teddy Kent, Harley Dowding and Nova Narayanan, but none of them were able to get the better of Stanford’s Martin Winter.
Hadleigh Forum ‘D’ were short of a player when they went to Hockley to take on the junior ‘G’ team, and they duly paid the price, as the home team recorded a 6/3 win. Perry Lazell was the Player of the Match, his two wins included an excellent 4-set win over the experienced Douglas Brown. Yohann Aupont won Hockley’s other point on the table with a hard fought, 11-9 in the 5th win against Sineh Bali.
Report by Dave Woolmer