DIVISION 6 – 14.10.18 – DAY 1
HALSTEAD C AND BROMLEY COMMON D JOINT LEADERS
Changes in other Divisions has had a knock on effect and the new Division 6 is somewhat different to last season. Bromley Common have two teams, Cleeve Park have entered a second team, Darenth, Halstead and Tandridge all have one team each. As such the personnel have changed as well although some of the faces are familiar with youngsters moving up from the Junior Development Division.
Round 1
Bromley Common were struggling to get their second team together and signed up Eric Lyus to partner Philip Grohmann for the E. The D was at full strength with their customary pair of Terry Edwards and Philip’s wife Joy. It was certainly a very relaxed match with a nice atmosphere. Although the D collected all five points, some games were very close and Philip took both his opponents to four games.
The Cleeve Park B (Mark Yin/Philip Kmiecik) and Darenth I (Tommy Cowling/Duncan McKay) match was very keenly contested. It began well for Darenth with Cowling beating Yin over three tight games. Kmiecik was taken to four by McKay who was making his table tennis match debut. The doubles could have gone either way with Cleeve Park coming back from 1-2 down to win in five. The scores give a clue as to how close it was 9-11, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10, 11-9. Cleeve Park took both the reverse singles but it wasn’t that straight forward with Cowling taking a game from Kmiecik. However, it was four in the bank for Cleeve Park.
Halstead C (Jo Fooks/Mike Sefton) were given a run for their money by Tandridge (Alex Wright/Evan Moynihan). Both the opening singles went to five games with Wright coming back from 1-2 down against Fooks to take the fourth 11-7 and sneak home 11-9 in the fifth. Moynihan coped well with Sefton’s hard bat taking the second and third games after dropping the first but lost his way in the fourth and fifth. Halstead won the doubles in straight games and Fooks’ win over Moynihan made it a winning lead. Wright also took Sefton to five and led 2-1 but, like Moynihan, got ground down in the fourth and fifth which made it a 4-1 victory for Halstead C.
Bromley Common D led the table on five after Round 1. Cleeve Park B and Halstead C had four apiece, Darenth I and Tandridge one each with Bromley Common E yet to open their account.
Round 2
The closest match in this round came between Bromley Common D (Edwards/Joy Grohmann) and Cleeve Park B (Kmiecik/Yin). Bromley Common E took an early lead winning both the opening singles and the doubles for a commanding lead although the set between Grohmann and Yin was very close 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 tells the story. Cleeve Park B regrouped and won both the reverse singles in four games to keep the score to 2-3.
There was another very close match between Bromley Common E (Lyus/ Philip Grohmann) and Tandridge (Moynihan/Wright) where although Tandridge kept a clean sheet, three sets required a deciding game, one went to four and the doubles only won by a couple of points in each game. The Bromley Common men placed the ball well and got some good angles, Lyus taking Moynihan to five and Grohmann likewise with Wright. Lyus also stretched Wright to the limit and nearly pulled it off, 12-14, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-13 says it all.
The Darenth I players, Cowling and McKay found the Halstead team (Fooks/Sefton) very different to play. Cowling took Fooks to five, making a good recovery to get back on terms but she got a flying start in the fifth and he was unable to claw back the deficit. Sefton is a tough proposition for inexperienced players and both McKay and Cowling struggled to get on terms with him. McKay learnt from watching Cowling play Fooks and worked out what to do in the final set which he won in four, breaking his duck and preventing the whitewash.
At the end of Day 1 Bromley Common D and Halstead C are joint leaders on eight points apiece with Cleeve Park B and Tandridge on six points each. Darenth I are on two while Bromley Common E aren’t off the mark yet. There was plenty of good play on the day from all and lots more still to come.
