Southend & District Table Tennis League
Winter League 2013-14 Season
Week 29 - Commencing 7th April 2014
Premier Division
With the bottom two in the top division already decided attention remains on the top of the table where the title is very much up for grabs. Thorpe Bay A completed their fixtures this week with a thumping 9-0 win over Rawreth B. this now puts them 14 points ahead of Rawreth A who dropped two points against Rayleigh Mill in their most recent fixture. The title will be decided once Rawreth A have played their two games in hand against Runnymede A and Lentern A. It will be a tough ask for the Rawreth side to take 15 out of 18 points to take the title but it is a challenge which I am sure they are up for taking on.
Elsewhere in the final week of the season there were wins for Castle Point A over Warehouse A and Rawreth C over Hadleigh Forum A.
Duncan Taylor, Divisional Results Secretary, Premier Division
Division 1
Waiting for the Report
Andy Seabrook, Divisional Results Secretary, 1st Division
Division 2
This week saw the top two in the Division play each other - Hockley B vs. Invicta A. The match was not going to decide the title, which will go to Invicta, but was going to have a huge bearing on whether Hockley would get second place from their nearest rivals Warehouse C. The evening started badly for Hockley losing the first two matches. However, they fought back to take the next six on the trot and set up a 6 - 3 victory. The closest game of the night was the third game as Tony Vassallo fought back from a 2 - 1 deficit against David Barnes to clinch a 3-2 victory and start the run of six consecutive wins. Tony went on to complete his hat-trick with support from Alan Tideswell (2) and Paul Strutt (1) whilst Neil Daines did best for Invicta with 2 wins. Invicta have led the table since the first game of the season and are to be congratulated on winning the title as the reward for a consistent season.
Meanwhile, Warehouse C kept up the pressure on Hockley by overcoming Castle Point 7 – 2 at home. Another hat trick from Tarun Goel and two wins each for Gordon Child and Darren Launder gave them an emphatic win.
In turn, fourth place Canvey C continue to push Warehouse. They came away from their visit to Castle Point C with an 8 – 1 win, thanks to maximums from Peter Cray and Gordon Johnstone. Geoff Banthorpe added two more, whilst Colin Smith saved the home team’s blushes.
Hockley C turned in an impressive 6 – 3 win over RESSC. Returning Josh Copeland, Keith Abbott and Paul Henlen each won two matches. Ron Coutts was unlucky to win all his three for the visitors, and still end up on the losing side.
The youngsters of Hullbridge F have managed to turn their season around after a slow start. This week they recorded a fine 6 – 3 win away to Rawreth D. Despite the home team’s Andy Nunn being undefeated, two wins each for Dan Payne, Zoe Davies and Sam Fullick gave the visitors victory.
In a close game between Basildon Hospital and Runnymede B, Runnymede came out 5 – 4 winners. Dmitry Kisil was their hero, winning all his games. Sid Hills did well to beat Phil Digby for the home side, but Phil won his remaining two games to swing things in Runnymede’s favour.
David Barnes, Divisional Results Secretary, 2nd Division
Division 3
Warehouse D again won by 9-0 against Rwareth E, with the same three as last week all performing well, Phil Mardle, Steve Bottom and Ro Brett, with none of the Nunns able to make any impact.
Three of the results were 6-3 this week. Firstly Invicta B overcame Canvey D with Mike Keeble and John Golding scoring three each.
The second 6-3 went in favour of Rawreth Juniors A against Hockley D, this time Justin Jeffery was the only unbeaten player on the night, supported by Jack Himpfen-Jones with two. Matt Nariel performed well for Hockley, scoring two himself but not able to beat Justin.
The third 6-3 saw two man customs beat Rawreth Juniors B with Mark Rose and Richard Kidd both recording maximums.
Final result of the week saw Hockley E overcome Hullbridge G in a close battle. No-one was unbeaten but with Matt and Jason Stringer scoring two and John Jolley scoring the all important extra point, saw the Hockley Team home. Cory O’Connell and Harry Harwood scored two each for the Hullbridge team.
Barrie Delf, Divisional Results Secretary, 3rd Division
