WINTER LEAGUE 16-17 WEEK 27 REPORT

Southend & DTTL 2016/7 Week 26 Report

• Premier Division   Rawreth B beat Lentern A 6-3 and effectively ended any hope they had of closing the gap on the ‘big 3’ and competing for the league. However it has still been a tremendous performance by Lentern to push the 'usual' top 3 this season with their own top team being able of beating anyone on their night. Last night Keith Adams was unplayable winning his 3 and picking up the MoM. Eric Green, Bruce Kettle and Babul McLeod all winning 2 for the away team

There was a very competitive night with Stanford- le-hope playing genuine premier standard table tennis to win some hard fought games against Warehouse A – all players wining at least one game leading to a 5-4 for the Stanford side

Less competitive were the 9-0 whitewashes for Hadleigh Forum and Thorpe Bay A over Customs A & Castle Point A respectively

The final game this week saw Rayleigh Mill beat Hockley 5-4 with 3 wins for the in-form Minda Sinkus. Sinkus was backed up by Colin Chatfield who recorded 2 wins but there were notable wins for Harry Small over Rob Harris and Colin Chatfield for the Hockley side.

Duncan Taylor DRS

Division 1    Hadleigh Forum B continued their relentless march on at the top of the table with an 8-1 win over Lentern B. Dave Woolmer and Anthon Ranjit-Singh both scored maximums for the Forum team, with the consolation point being scored for John Lott over Mick Tappenden. The result could however, have been a lot closer with 4 of the matches going to a fifth set and only one match being won in 3. Lentern B have done enough to retain their League One status for next year.

Rawreth C continue with their indifferent form going down 5-4 to Lentern D, who have also probably done enough to retain their place in Division 1 next year. In a match where no-one was unbeaten, Peter Lucraft and Peter Pond scored two each for Lentern, while Gary McCarthy scored two for Rawreth. Everyone else contributed a point leaving Lentern to win the match, although it could have gone either way with 5 matches going to the fifth set, including the 9th deciding match, when it was tied at 4-4.

Rawreth C retain second place by two points with two games to go, including next week’s crucial game against Invicta which may decide the runner-up spot. Warehouse may also have some say in the final standings but face two difficult matches to finish.

Warehouse B pushed themselves into 3rd spot by a point with a hard-earned 5-4 win over bottom-club Castle Point B, who have shown a marked improvement over recent weeks. It needed a maximum from Martin West with two from Tony Wright to give the Warehouse team their win. Micky Baker was unable to make any impression on the game and Mick Grout scored two for the Castle Point team. This was an unusual match in that both teams each had Mick (y), Martin and Tony who played each other at some stage.

Canvey A have slipped in previous weeks from being in runners-up spot but came away with a 5-4 win over Lentern C. Ray Wilson was back to his best, unbeaten on the night with support from Peter Cray and Phil Puckey with one each. Brian Spencer and Martin Archie both scored two for the Lentern team but Wayne Farmer was unable to add to the team tally.

Finally, Hadleigh Forum C’s return to form helped them to a 6-3 win over Hockley B. Russell Bright was on top form with three wins including a classic match against Dave Colwill, won 11-8 in the fifth after being 2-1 down in sets. Charles Yeung added two for the Hadleigh team with Dave Colwill adding two for Hockley.

Barrie Delf DRS

Division 2    Two teams this week could only muster two players. However, each had different fortunes. Firstly, two-player Rawreth D entertained Invicta B. Sam Thompson was on top form, winning all his games and Andy Deadman two, to give them a 5 – 4 win.

Basildon Hospital were also a player short for their visit to Canvey B. Despite a hat trick from the reliable Kevin Smart, Canvey came out 6 – 3 winners.

A 6 – 3 home win for Wakering over Canvey C was not that remarkable in that young Harry Keys was again undefeated. However, it was a surprise that none of his team mates were able to match his exploits. Zac England, Cliff Noakes and Stewart Mills all won two as Wakering succeeded 6 – 3.

A Stuart Adshead maximum led Hockey C to a comfortable 7 – 2 success over visitors Castle Point C. Stuart was supported by Martin Scarfe and Brian Bissenden with two wins each. David Jacob got both Castle points.

Warehouse C pulled clear of the wrong end of the table with a 9 – 0 trouncing of Castle Point D. Three wins each from James Spencer, Graham Back and POM Andy Humphries demolished their visitors.

A Ron Coutts hat trick was the catalyst in RESSC’s 5 – 4 win over Rawreth E. Andy Deadman got two for the visitors, denying the in-form Rob Skews’ a maximum.

David Barnes DRS

• Division 3    Massive congratulations go this week to Rochford LTC who, after 23 successive defeats in their first season in the League, finally notched up their first win 7-2 against Warehouse E. Perhaps they were inspired by Stanford’s nomination of John George as man of the match last week but whatever the reason they fully deserved their victory. John and David Jenkins both emerged with first ever hat tricks and there was also a first ever win for Oliver George. Mike W Webb and Edward Philcox got the points for Warehouse.

At the other end of the table Hockley D moved to within 3 points of the title as they eclipsed Rawreth F 8-1. Alex Barnetson and Dan Patynski both picked up hat tricks and there was a brace for David Cross but there was also a good performance from 9 year old George Davies who took a set off Alex and then beat David in straight sets.

Second in the table Stanford matched that result defeating Hockley F by the same score. Hockley didn’t go down without a fight though as Peter Searle took Dan Harris all the way in the opening match losing 11-6 in the fifth and took sets off Adrian Armstrong and Mark Farley. Harry Sawford went one better getting their consolation point by beating Mark in four sets.

Geoff Banthorpe of Canvey D and Richard Kidd of Customs B must have come close to setting a record for the longest game as they battled it out for an hour in the opening match of the evening before Richard emerged as the winner in four sets. Customs then doubled their lead as Mark Rose overcame Tom Jarvis in five hard fought sets winning 12-10 in the decider. Dreams of an upset were, however, soon scuppered as Canvey fought back to take the next 5 games to turn the match in their favour, and finished 6-3 winners. Geoff, Tom and Steve Parker all won two games whilst Richard did likewise for the Taxmen and Mark picked up a point.

The youngsters of Hullbridge H continue to impress as they pushed Warehouse D all the way going down 5-4 to a Dave Walton inspired Warehouse team. Dave picked up a hat trick and a brace from Conrad Gomes clinched the win but there were two good wins for William Skelt and a point each for Toby Zeffie and Harrison Sadler.

Closest match of the week however was the mid table clash between Invicta C and Hockley E which went to the final match of the evening before Hockley emerged as winners. Whilst the match see-sawed throughout the evening no less than four matches went to five sets, the first two and the last two, and Hockley won all of them! Gary Linzell started it against John Golding coming back from two sets down to win 11-6 in the fifth and then Andrew Strutt did exactly the same, coming from two sets down against Jon Gould to win 11-4 in the fifth. The ever improving Gary went to five sets again against Dave Youngman to bring the scores level at 4-4 and then Andrew played a true captain’s innings against John to win the match He raced into a two set lead, saw John fight back to 2-2, but then remained calm enough to edge the game 11-9 in the fifth. Definitely a chip off the old block! Gary finished with a hat trick and a brace for Andrew whilst Dave picked up two wins for Invicta and a point each for John and Jon.

No problem in choosing Team of the Week – Rochford LTC

Or Player of the Week – John George

Paul Strutt DRS

Author: via Southend Table Tennis League
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