WEEK 4 REPORT
Sdttl Winter League 2021-22
Premier Division
It was a busy week for Chris Ballard as he turned out twice in the Premier Division of the Southend & District Table Tennis League. On Monday he contributed two wins for Hullbridge B v Brand Identity A but it wasn’t enough to help his team to the win as a Richard Jackman hattrick and a win a piece for Adam Jackman and David Jacob saw Brand Identity over the line by the smallest of margins 5-4. Arron Chandler with the other two wins for Hullbridge.
Ballard was back in action on Wednesday, this time for Hullbridge A and again he contributed a useful 2 wins as did his teammates Liam Squirrell and Harry Keys against Rayleigh Mill. Their efforts leading to a 6-3 win with the Mill’s Duncan Taylor replying with three wins of his own. The Taylor/Squirrell battle was as tight as ever and of course went the customary 5 legs with some entertaining defence v attack rallies.
The final game of the week was a lot more straight forward as Thorpe Bay A recorded their second whitewash of the season as Mark Stones, Paul Sayer, and man of the match Joe Kennedy all recorded maximums as they beat Rawreth B 9-0.
Duncan Taylor, Premier Division DRS
Division 1
Hockley B continued their winning ways with a 6 – 3 away victory at Ashingdon. Despite an unbeaten performance from the home side’s Sid Dorn, a team performance from Hockley, with two wins each for Dennis Squirrell, Josh Copeland and Keith Abbott, saw them cruise to success.
Brand Identity B were gifted a 9 – 0 win as, for various reasons, including a case of Covid, home side Rawreth D weren’t able to field a team, so conceded.
Mapledene returned to winning ways when they visited Hockley D. Andy Seaman’s maximum meant he took the POM award. However, he was ably supported by Steve Woodley and Charles Yeung, who both chipped in with two wins apiece. Aaryan Vatsa was Hockley’s star player, winning both his team’s successes in a 7 – 2 win for Mapledene.
Hadleigh Forum B were too strong for visitors Invicta A. Despite two wins for Invicta’s Tony Ayliffe, the home side came out 7 – 2 winners. Tony Jacks was Forum’s star (and POM) but was made to work hard for his victory over David Barnes.
Canvey A put in a strong performance when hosting Hadleigh Forum C. Terry Giddens, Ray Wilson and Andy Murray were all unbeaten in a 9 – 0 drubbing of the Forum contingent.
The match between Lentern B and Rawreth C was particularly noteworthy for the first defeat this season for Gus Heath. Rawreth’s Justin Jeffery overcame Gus in a 5-set marathon. Despite this reversal, a maximum from Ian Cranstone and two each from Gus and Peter Lucraft ensured a 7 – 2 victory for Lentern. Justin also won another to take two victories on the night.
David Barnes, Division 1 DRS
Division 2
There were five big winners in Division 2 this week RESSC and Stanford B both gaining maximum points with 9-0 wins whilst Wakering, Runnymede C and Canvey B weren’t far behind all winning 8-1. Not surprisingly all five teams are in the top six of the division.
Stanford B put Customs to the sword Saad Abdullah, Robert Salvage and Chris Crooks racking up the points and only dropping two sets all night. RESSC came up against a fairly inexperienced Stanford C team but had to overcome some slightly sterner resistance in the shape of Steve King who took Richard Gill to five sets and Bob Skews to four. Kevin Smart made up the team not losing a set.
Wakering maintained their position at the top of the table beating Stanford D where every game ended in three sets. Zac and Paul England both claimed hat tricks with Pete Sarfas succumbing to Mark Downey.
Runnymede C chalked up their third win on the trot to move into third place with an 8-1 win against Hockley F. Tina Hutchinson and Steve Wisbey scored maximums with Jim Nariel claiming two but just losing out to Hermann Maier in the last game of the night going down in five high scoring sets 11/13 11/8 14/16 14/12 8/11
Canvey B’s win against Invicta B was a lot closer than the score suggests with four matches going the distance. Daniel Kellard and Tony Westwell both secured hat tricks whilst Kevin Walsingham just missed out as Mike Keeble came back from 2-1 down also in the last game of the night to secure a consolation point for Invicta. Dave Barnes was unlucky losing two of his matches in five sets.
Canvey C occupy fourth spot in the league after a 6-3 win against Invicta C. Whilst Lewis Pattle took the POTM award teammate Archie Blackburn chalked up his eleventh win in twelve matches to top the averages in this division. Invicta’s Victor Wei, Trisha Winter and Brendan Raja all proved too strong for Simon Piggott.
In the closest match of the week settled in the last game of the evening, Hockley E, thanks to hat trick hero Ollie George, beat Hadleigh Forum D 5-4. Only one game went beyond three sets. Andrew Strutt and Ben Brown got the additional points for Hockley whilst Tony Mace and David Thomas shared Hadleigh’s four.
Team of the Week – Canvey C
Player of the Week – Archie Blackburn
Paul Strutt, Division 1 DRS
