Southend & DTTL 2017-8 Week 31 Report
Premier Division Following their defeat to Rayleigh Mill last week and the fact that they were facing one of their early season title rivals this week in Rawreth A, many could have considered that Hullbridge A’s mission to retain the title they won last year had hit the buffers. But Hullbridge A are a resilient side and they were having none of that as we saw by their quite remarkable 9-0 win against Rawreth. Kevin Caldon was unbeaten which some might of expected but Sam Hume and Reece Seddon also played extremely well to register the whitewash against Kevin Read, Charles Sweeny and Zayd Mauthoor. The closest game of the night and in fact the only one going to 5 ends was Seddon’s 11-7 in the fifth win over Kevin Read. The result of the Thorpe bay A and Hullbridge A game scheduled for next week could go a long way to deciding the destination of the title this year,
There was another heavy defeat for the bottom team Hadleigh Forum B this week. There was plenty of fight and effort from Forum but, ultimately, the greater premier division experience of their opponents, Rayleigh Mill won the day. A 9-0 scoreline, but a most enjoyable evening nevertheless.
Warehouse A had a good win this week against Hullbridge B, 6 games to 3. Gary Young was unbeaten for Hullbridge and there was some entertaining play from Daniel Young and Dick Wyman who was unlucky not to win a game in his comeback match after his knee operation. Two wins a piece from Kim Shead, Martin West and Martin Turner taking the spoils for Warehouse.
Finally this week Lentern A were just too strong for Stanford le Hope although Rahul Sharma was able to bag two wins for the home side to continue his good form this year, Keith Adams taking the hat trick of wins and the man of the match award in this one.
Duncan Taylor DRS
Division 1 Warehouse B suffered their first defeat since December when losing 6-3 to fellow title-chasers, Lentern B. Despite this, they still lead the table by 3 points, although Lentern and Hullbridge do have games in hand. For the Lentern team it was an all-round team performance with Martin Archie, John Lott and Peter Cranmer all scoring two points each. None of the Lentern team were able to beat Mark Rudland who scored all three points for Warehouse. Lentern are now in 3rd position in the table.
Canvey A remain in 2nd position 3 points behind, Hullbridge E are in 4th, 11 points behind but with two games in hand, Hullbridge C are in 5th, twelve points behind the leaders and finally Customs A are in 6th. All were without a game this week.
Hockley C move into equal 6th with an identical record, despite losing 7-2 to a much improved Rawreth C team. Trevor Ward and Garry Hartgrove scored maximums for Rawreth with Colin Clements adding the final point which leaves them in 9th and safe in mid-table. Dan Patynski and Josh Copeland scored the points for Hockley.
Brand Identity B are much improved of late also and won 5-4 against Invicta A. In a mtach where no-one was unbeaten, Mick Grout and David Jacob scored two for Brand, as did Steve Marr and Neil Daines for Invicta. It was left to Sean McNabb to earn the extra point with a victory over ex-Brand player Tony Ayliffe, to take the win for Brand Identity. Both teams look safe for another season in the Division 1.
Finally, Hockley B took the honours against Lentern C to come away 6-3 winners and keep them above Lentern and Hadleigh Forum C and probably safe for another year. Dennis Squirrell scored his first hat trick of the season and was supported by Alex Barnetson, playing up, winning two and Keith Abbott with one. Each of the Lentern team scored a point with perhaps the best result being a 15-13, 5th set win for Sue Body over Alex.
This leaves Hadleigh Forum C bottom of the table by one point with only one game left to play against Brand Identity.
Barrie Delf DRS
Division 2
Congratulations must go to champions RESSC. With two games left, they are twenty points ahead of their nearest rivals – an unassailable position. They have led for most of the season, and two of their players (Mike Worship and Rob Skews) have averages over 85%.
This week they overcame Rawreth E 7 – 2, and Mike was again undefeated. In a really enjoyable evening against strong opposition for the Rawreth E team, Noah Unstead played in the higher division for the first time. Also in the Rawreth team was young George Davis. The visiting juniors were complemented on their attacking style of play and service. However, it is the more experienced Rawreth player, Andy Deadman, who deserves a special mention, gaining both his side’s victories. In the last match of the evening he overcame Rob 11-9 in the fifth set.
The competition for the runner-up spot is hotting up, with only one point currently separating second place Stanford le Hope B from third place Rawreth D.
Stanford travelled to bottom side Runnymede and came away with a 7 – 2 win. Adrian Armstrong and Aaron Chandler, playing up from Division 3, were their star players, winning all their matches. Aaron has an enviable 73% average from the five matches where he has played up. Dmitri Kisil and Barbara Shead won one each for Runnymede.
Rawreth D had a comfortable home night against Canvey C, with the visitors’ imperious Andrew Murray the only obstacle they couldn’t overcome. Yet another hat trick from him ensured a 6 – 3 home win. Sam Thompson, Colin Barham, and Bradley Nunn won two each for Rawreth.
Canvey B are in the mix too, but lost a chance to get closer to the top three, losing 7 – 2 at home to Hockley D. Harry Sawford and Paul Strutt both gained hat tricks, with James Spencer adding one win. Player of the Match was Harry who overcame a two set deficit against Lee McGonagle to storm back and take the next three sets including a 13-11 win in fifth. Joanna Hills and Des Duffield got one apiece for the Islanders.
Young Harrison Sadler and Will Skelt were both too strong for Invicta B. Both recorded maximums, whilst Invicta’s Barrie Murphy, Andy Humphris and David Barnes each won one for the visitors.
David Barnes DRS
Division 3 A
Title chasers Hadleigh Forum could only muster a two man team and consequently went down to a 7-2 defeat to league leaders Warehouse C who are now nine points clear of Canvey D with Hadleigh Forum third.
Satwant Gill did his best to frustrate the leaders beating Jonathan Allen and Ro Brett but was denied his hat trick by Dave Walton who, having led 2-0, recovered to win the final set 11/9. Jean Catley almost picked up another point for Hadleigh as she came back from 2-0 down against Ro, but Ro held on winning 11/8 in the final set. This was Forum’s first defeat of the season.
Surprise result of the week was Stanford Le Hope’s 6-3 away win at Canvey D where 20 year old Aaron Chandler landed the perfect hat trick, not dropping a set, beating the experienced team of Talbot Wiseman, Gordon Johnstone and Ray Baker. He was backed up by a brace from Tony Papasifakis and one from Peter Handscombe. Four games went to five sets three of which were played by Peter going down to Ray and Gordon, but picking up an excellent win against Talbot. Tony overcame Gordon in the other. All three for Canvey picked up a point.
In the final match Hockley E ran out convincing winners against Hullbridge H 7-2. The ever improving Gary Linzell led the way with a maximum but had excellent support from Kevin Blythe and Philip Pond who both won two each. The result was virtually decided after four games three of which went to five sets, and Hockley won all of them. Kevin twice raced into 2-0 leads against Bill Hoy and Lewis Ritchie only to be taken to a decider which he edged 14/12 and 11/7 respectively. Gary also had to fight for his five set win against Tony Molisso coming back from two sets down to win 11/9 in the fifth. Hullbridge were further hampered by an injury to Lewis which meant he had to forfeit his game against Gary. Tony got both their points.
Division 3 B
Just two games to report on here but both involved the top two sides Hockley F and Customs B.
Hockley managed to draw clear of Customs by two points after crushing Warehouse D 8-1. There were maximums for Paul Henlen and David Cross and two good points for 9 year old Aaryan Vatsa whilst Steve Chaffey registered the consolation point for Warehouse. Aaryan showed plenty of fighting spirit to fight off the challenge of Joe Bennet in five sets but, having led 2-1 against Steve he lost the crucial fourth set 21/10 and then the fifth 11/6.
Customs might have expected an easier match against Rochford but had to concede three points as Oliver George, Mike Richardson and John George all managed to beat Alex Clark but were unable to test Mark Rose and Amar Al Soufi. This division looks to be heading for an exciting finish as the last scheduled match sets Customs against Hockley in what could be the title decider.
Player of the Week Aaron Chandler
Team of the Week Stanford Le Hope C
Paul Strutt DRS
