DIVISION 6 – 20.01.19 – DAY 3
BROMLEY COMMON EXTEND THEIR LEAD
By the third meeting Division 6 had virtually split into two halves. Seven points covered the top three – Bromley Common D on 18, Cleeve Park B on 14 and Halstead C on 11 while only three points covered the lower half – Darenth I on seven, Tandridge on six and Bromley Common E on four.
Round 5
There were three wide margin results recorded in this Round. Leaders Bromley Common D (Terry Edwards/Joy Grohmann) had their work cut out with the Tandridge lads (Alex Wright/Lucas Blyth) where they were taken to four games in the first three sets. Edwards dropped the third 10-12 to Wright and it almost went to five but held on to take the fourth 13-11 while Blyth took the second from Grohmann who pinched the third and then ran away with the fourth. The doubles too went to four games but was taken by Bromley Common D for a winning lead. They then took both the reverse singles in straight games to keep a clean sheet.
Darenth I (Tommy Cowling/Duncan McKay likewise had a full house against Bromley Common E (Michael Elliott/Phil Grohmann) with the loss of just a single game in the doubles.
Halstead C (Mike Sefton/Robin Symonds) made their experience count against Cleeve Park B (Devan Vadukul/Callum Ho) both being able to defend, forcing errors from their young opponents. It was only in the doubles that they managed to outmanoeuvre them. It was a hard-earned point though.
At the halfway stage in the season, Bromley Common D led on 23 with Cleeve Park B and Halstead C now level on 15 points apiece. Darenth I had opened up a six-point gap over Tandridge on six with Bromley Common E still on four.
Round 6
The domestic derby between Bromley Common E (Elliott/Phil Grohmann) and D (Joy Grohmann/Edwards) was suitably competitive but played in a very relaxed fashion resulting in another five points for the D.
The other two matches produced much closer scores.
Tandridge (Blyth/Wright) took on Halstead C who had a change in line up – Dennis Moore replacing Symonds who has recently undergone knee surgery. The opening singles were shared – Sefton recovering from dropping the first game to Blyth while Wright had to go to four to beat Moore. Halstead is very much a club where a lot of doubles are played, and it showed here with a straight games win for them although it was very close. The reverse singles were likewise shared, and both decided in straight games. Blyth beat Moore and while Wright hit some very good shots against Sefton, this was bread and butter for him so it finished as 3-2 to Halstead C.
There was a very keenly contested match between Darenth I (Cowling/McKay) and Cleeve Park B (Ho/Vadukul). No quarter was asked or given. The opening singles were shared – Cowling getting the better of Ho while Vadukul found McKay awkward. Cowling and McKay combined well in the doubles to take it 11-7 in the fourth. Vadukul held a 2-1 lead over Cowling and was within a whisker of being taken to five but fended Cowling off at 13-11 in the fourth. The McKay/Ho set was a very up and down affair as 11-8, 9-11, 11-2, 6-11, 11-4 to Ho would suggest and meant a 3-2 victory for Cleeve Park B.
Bromley Common D now look very strong contenders for the Division 6 title, being ten points clear of Cleeve Park B and Halstead C both on 18. Darenth I are sitting in the middle on 14, well clear of Tandridge on eight and Bromley Common E on four. There is a long way to go yet and many a slip twixt cup and lip. It will be interesting to see how the runners-up race develops.
