 SDTTL Season 2022-3 Reports: Week 18
Premier Division
Hockley is a hard place to go these days and get a result, but Thorpe Bay B made their task impossible by having to forfeit 3 games as they only could field 2 players against Hockley A. Kieran Skeggs did record two wins against Ian Wall and Tim Pang and Richard Stubbington also managed a win against Pang. Neither could get the better of Hockley number 1 Andy Cunningham and so this resulted in a 6-3 win for Hockley. A great ding dong derby between Rawreth A and Rawreth C this week which saw a tight 5-4 win for the C team. Bruce Kettle and Babul McLeod winning two against George Reeves and Charles Sweeny and Reeves having to concede his third game against Eric Green. It did mean that we saw the Man of the Match on the losing side as Liam Squirrell was in good form winning all of his games for the A team. This slip by Rawreth A gave Thorpe Bay A a chance to move even further clear at the top of the division and that is indeed what they did with a 9-0 win over bottom side Hadleigh Forum A. Paul Sayer, Paul Whatton and John Poysden winning all their matches without dropping a single leg. To finish this week another really close game to report on as Rawreth B just sneaked past a two-man Irons Aside 5-4. Dave Bowles picking up two wins against Arron Chandler and Dan Zeffie and Richard Brown beating Chandler and Peter Barrett. All of the games were really hard-fought battles and this shows from the scorecard where 5 of the 6 games played on the night went to a deciding 5th leg. Duncan Taylor DRS Premier Division Division 1
It was certainly a week for 5-4 score lines, with four of the five matches played ending up with that result. In a top of the table clash, second place Lentern took a slight advantage over leaders Brand Identity B with a 5-4 away win. Barrie Delf turned in another one of those Player of the Match maximums he is renowned for. However, it was not enough, as the visitors Gus Heath and Paul Sims managed two wins apiece and Ian Cranstone added another. Mike Grout got Brand’s other victory. Lentern are now only four points behind. Hockley B are in third place behind Lentern and five points behind them but, crucially, have played two games less. This week they were involved in a ‘derby’ match ‘away’ to Hockley C. The rankings just about stood up as the B team won 5-4. Daniel Patynski was again their hero with a POM maximum performance, ably assisted by Keith Abbott and Dennis Squirrell with one victory each. Tarun Goel was the C team’s hero with two victories, whilst Harry Sawford and Aaryan Vatsa got one single win each. Invicta A came a cropper against lowly Stanford A. Despite a hat trick from their Steve Marr, two wins each for Saad Abdullah and Ian Sangster, together with one success from Dave Hancox gave Sanford a 5-4 away victory. Lee Marson got Invicta’s other success. A special mention should be made for Invicta’s Trish Winter, playing two divisions higher, who put in a brave performance at short notice. The last 5-4 result this week involved Hadleigh Forum B’s home match against two-man Rawreth E. Rawreth’s Garry Hartgrove was unbeaten and Gary McCarthy got another, but it was not quite enough, as the home side’s Tony Jacks, Anthon Ranjit-Singh and Mike Tappenden took the match by the narrowest of margins. The exception to the 5-4 results involved Rawreth D’s visit to Mapledene. The Rawreth club seem to have a shortage of available players this season, as this was another case of there only being two players to represent their club. Young Amber Sturgeon and Charlie Kauders Boothby will have hopefully learnt some useful pointers from a very experienced Mapledene side of Dawn Baldry, Lin Roff and Steve Woodley who were comfortable 9-0 winners. David Barnes Drs Div 1 Division 2
RESSC’s march to the title continued in impressive style this week as they beat second placed Hadleigh Forum C 7-2 to open up a 17 point lead at the top of the Division 2 table. This is, in no small part, due to the form of Bob Skews who remains unbeaten in the nine matches he has played this season. Another hat trick against Hadleigh although he was pushed all the way by Tony Mace who came back from two sets down before losing 11/7 in the fifth. No problems otherwise for RESSC with Richard Gill actually taking the POTM award with his hat trick and a single win for Ron Coutts. David Thomas and Mark Everard got a point each for Hadleigh. Canvey B stay third after an 8-1 demolition of Selbourne, Tony Westwell and Kevin Walsingham both recording maximums and Des Duffield picking up a brace. Ross Letham got Selbourne’s consolation point and came close to a second taking Kevin all the way to a fifth set before going down 11/9 in the decider. Ross led 2-1 at one stage. With Wakering without a game this week Runnymede have taken advantage beating Stanford B 7-2 and moving into second place. Surprisingly no game went beyond four sets in this encounter the match honours going to Dmitry Kisil for his hat trick with two wins each for Phil Digby and Tony Millward. Mark Downey and Robert Salvage got a point each for Stanford. Player of the Week – Richard Gill Team of the Week - RESSC Paul Strutt Drs Div 2 Division 3
The top 3 in the Division were all in action this week. Third placed Invicta B came out on top in the local derby against the Invicta C, winning 6-3. This was a fine team performance, led by POM Steve Lennox with a maximum, ably supported by Michael Keeble with two wins and Sarah Ball who picked up the other point. Keith Baxter was the best on the night for Invicta C winning two of his sides points to add to the point won by Trisha Winter. Second placed MegaZone were also 6-3 winners over Hockley E. Richard Kidd was their standout player with a straight sets hat-trick to add to a brace from Jaspreet Singh and a single win for Mike Webb. For Hockley’ there was a win each for Ben Cook and Ellis Marley, but a blank night for Keith Denyer, although he came close to beating Jaspreet in the tightest game of the night, eventually falling 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 12-14. The long-time League leaders, Hockley D, were involved in the closest match of the week, a narrow 5-4 win over a Mark Farley inspired Stanford C side. Mark’s unbeaten performance included good wins over the consistent Jeremy Giffin and Ronald Rogerson who both recorded two wins on the night. Hockley’s other point came from Tony Molisso with a victory over Jack Diver. The 5-4 scoreline could easily have been reversed however as Randy Santiago came within a whisker of beating Ron but fell short at 12-10 in the final leg. Dave Woolmer Drs Div 3 | 
