SDTTL - 2017/8 Week 19
Premier Division
Bruce Kettle was on fire this week as he recorded a maximum and a man of the match display against Thorpe Bay B. He recorded wins against Richard Stubbington, Gurj Bhambra and Liam Squirrel and with a win a piece from Mike Hayes and Babul McLeod, both over Bhambra, meant a 5-4 win for Rawreth.
There was an 8-1 win for Rayleigh Mill over Hadleigh Forum A with Minda Sinkus and Duncan Taylor unbeaten and Steve Maltby picking up wins against Neil Barker and John Tendler. Maltby couldn’t get the better of Dave Bassett though and Bassett was unlucky not to add to his tally on the night losing out in five sets to Taylor and Sinkus.
There was a convincing 9-0 win for Lentern A over Brand Identity A this week as Lentern welcomed back Charlie Bates to their starting line-up. Bates was unbeaten as was Django Fung and Ian Wall also impressed with three wins over Simon Jacob, Barrie Delf (pictured here) and Ian Rattray. There was a similar result as last years’ Champions Hullbridge A saw off the challenge of Hockley A, not having it all their own way with three of the nine games going the distance.
As it was last week the other leading contenders in the Premier Division were in no mood to give any point away as Thorpe Bay A And Rawreth A both recorded 9-0 wins over Stanford le Hope and Warehouse A respectably.
Duncan Taylor DRS Premier Division
1st Division
Hullbridge E still lead the table despite some post-xmas nerves, losing 5-4 in a close match with the experienced Customs A side.
Roy Thomas sparkled for Customs with a maximum on the night although Reece Harris-Griffiths did take him all the way losing 11-4 in the fifth end. With one each for Brain Rackham and Dave Morgan, the customs men saw themselves over the finish line. Dan Zeffie won two for the Hullbridge team with Adam Jackman adding the final point. Hullbridge were 5-2 down with two games to play, so did well to gain the extra points to make the score reasonable and keep their title aspirations alive while Customs move up to 4th in the table.
Lentern B took full advantage of the Hullbridge slip-up to get a great 6-3 win over Hullbridge C and close the gap on the leaders. John Lott returned to winning ways being unbeaten on the night and was backed up by Martin Archie with two wins and Paul Sims with one. Penholder, Mike Johnston scored two on the night losing a close game to John Lott 12-10 in the fifth end of the last game of the night. Sid Dorn scored tehg only other win for Hullbridge with Lin Roff unusually unable to add any points.
Warehouse B move into 3rd position with back to back wins, this time taking the spoils, 6-3 against Brand Identity B. Mark Rudland led the way with 3 for Warehouse with Tony Wright chipping in with two points and Berti Makolli with one, neither could overcome the stalwart defense of Mick Grout who scored two for Brand. Sean McNabb scored a great 3-0 win over Berti, but David Jacob was unable to affect the scoreline despite taking Berti to 5 ends, leaving Brand in trouble at the wrong end of the table.
Canvey A returned to action and a good 6-3 win over improving club, Hockley B. A good all round team performance saw Terry Giddens, Ray Wilson and Harry Keys all score two wins. Dave Colwill was the thorn in Canvey’s side and he won all three of his games but was unable to gain any support from Dennis Squirrell or Joe Locke to take them to victory, although both were involved in close 5 setters.
Invicta A won their first game in 3 weeks to lift them from near the bottom in a convincing 6-3 win over close rivals Rawreth C. Steve Marr showed a bit of last season’s form winning three for Invicta, with Michael Piper adding two and Tony Ayliffe one for their overall 6 points. Garry Hartgrove performed well for Rawreth adding two points but with only one other point from Colin Clements were unable to push for the victory.
Finally, two teams near the bottom met with Hadleigh Forum C winning a close game 5-4 against Lentern C, but adding some much-needed points to both teams. Charles Yeung proved too strong for any of the Lentern players, although his third win was a conceded game from Peter Pond who injured himself part way through his second game, which was also conceded against Graham Farmer. Mark Everard added the final point for Hadleigh, beating Peter when he was at full fitness. Chris Crooks and Pat White won two each for the Lentern side, who may well have won the match if not for Peter’s injury
Barrie Delf DRS Division 1
Division 2
They say all good things must end and, sad to report, this is true of the last remaining unbeaten run in the division. Just when we thought, having gone through the whole of the first half of the season without losing a game, Rawreth D’s Sam Thompson was invincible, he promptly loses – not once, but twice in one evening. Things didn’t start well for Sam on his team’s visit to Basildon Hospital. In the very first match, he succumbed to wily Kevin Smart, losing in four sets. Then, in the penultimate match of the evening, Chudi Ukpaka took Sam to five sets, eventually overcoming him 11 – 8 in the fifth.
There was some consolation for Rawreth though, Colin Barham turned in a player of the match performance, scoring a damage-limiting maximum, to leave his side on the wrong end of a 5 – 4 defeat, that could have been worse. As it stands, the outcome keeps them still in contention at the top of the table. The medics’ Chudi and Kevin ended the evening with two wins and teammate Errol Anderson one.
In a top half clash, Adrian Armstrong made only his fifth appearance of the season for Stanford Le Hope B, but he greatly influenced the outcome of their home tie against Wakering, by winning all his three. He was assisted by John Handscombe, who also scored a hat trick, and Martin Winter who recorded two successes. Stewart Mills’ single win saved the visitors’ blushes.
The Canvey B team comprising of Des Duffield, Tony Westwell and Lee McGonagle were far too strong for visitors Runnymede, each recording hat tricks. This was despite the fixture list giving Canvey a ‘rest’ for seven weeks all through December and into half of January. The efforts of Tina Hutchinson, Barbara Shead and Anne Addlington ensured a better standard of table tennis than the result suggests.
A first hat trick of the season saw Harry Sawford lead Hockley D to an important win over Hullbridge F. In need of points, they triumphed 6 - 3 against their young opponents for whom Harrison Sadler did best, winning two, with one win for Toby Zeffie. Veteran Paul Strutt weighed in with a brace and Brian Bissenden one for Hockley.
There was a close match in the fixture Rawreth E versus Canvey C. A late night at Rayleigh’s Megacentre was guaranteed with only one of the nine rubbers being settled in straight sets, and five going to the full five sets. The match was only settled 5 -4 in Rawreth’s favour in the last game of the evening, with Keanan Ford beating Canvey’s Simon Baker 11 - 9 in the fifth. George Davis and Botond Mezo both scored two wins for the home team, with Stuart Curham and Geoff Banthorpe weighing in with a brace apiece for Canvey C.
Division 3
Rawreth G have been moving up the table in recent weeks and although losing 6-3 to Hockley E they now stand at a season high 12th position. Robert Bates picked up two good wins against Kevin Blythe and a five set win over Jason Stringer who led 2-0 at one stage. Thomas Bailey got their other point with another five set win against Jason winning the final set 16-14. Peter Pond was the main man for Hockley winning all his matches without dropping a set with Kevin winning two and Jason one.
Rawreth H did not fare so well though losing 8-1 against Hullbridge G but they did lose the services of Alice Cole after she had only played one game. Sue Reece. MOTM Ann Lane and Bob Shingleton-Smith were too strong overall for the youngsters but Charlie Kauders-Boothby picked up an excellent consolation win against Bob winning 11-6 in the fifth set having been 2-1 down.
At the other end of the table Canvey D put Hullbridge I to the sword winning 9-0. Talbot Wiseman, Gordon Johnstone and Steve Parker maintaining their third placed position just one point behind Brand Identity but with a game in hand. Ben Hoskins almost claimed a consolation point for Hullbridge leading 2-1 against Gordon he succumbed in the last two sets 13-11, 11-8.
Warehouse C are fourth, five points behind Canvey, after a 6-3 win against Rawreth F. Tamas Mezo was the MOTM with three wins with Conrad Gomes, a brace, and one for Graham Back. Bradley Nunn did best for the visitors winning two and there was one win for our esteemed chairman Ken Field.
After defeat last week against Hockley E, Brand Identity got back to winning ways crushing Invicta C 8-1. Invicta were without some of their ‘big guns’ on the night and the home team of John Beddow, Colin Smith and Richard Reibold were far too strong for Invicta’s Jon Gould, Dave Youngman and Robert West. MOTM Richard, and John, both won three with two for Colin, whilst Dave got the consolation for Invicta.
Customs B chalked up a 6-3 win against Hockley F who actually took the lead in this match after Dave Cross came back from 2-1 down to beat Richard Kidd in five hard sets. After that though Mark Rose was in fine form winning all three games and only dropping one set. Richard won two and Alex Clark one for Customs whilst Dave got two and Graham Gregory one for Hockley.
Stanford Le Hope C had an easy 9-0 win against Warehouse D Aaron Chandler (MOTM) Vaughan Chambers and Mark Downey making up the team. Not even the experienced head of Graham Back could make an impression although he did lead Vaughan 2-0 at one stage before losing in five sets. Joe Bennet and Edward Philcox made up the Warehouse team.
Player of the Week Tamas Mezo
Team of the Week Stanford Le Hope C
