SDTTL Summer League 23: 2nd REPORT

DIVISION 1

Week 6

Basildon clubs continue to dominate in Division 1 of the Southend Summer League with Basildon TTC topping the table and Northlands sitting just behind in second. Northlands are in the stronger position however just four points behind but with two games in hand on their rivals. Having already beaten Basildon 8-1 earlier in the season the title looks theirs to lose.

They certainly showed no sign of losing against RESSC as they demolished the home side 9-0 dropping just three sets all night. Two of those did come in a close fought doubles match between Richard Gill and Ron Coutts of RESSC and Peter Barrett and James Elliot where the home side did hold a 2-1 advantage, before losing the next two sets 11/5 11/7. Keith Adams made up the winning Northlands team.

Basildon chalked up another big win beating Hockley 8-1 Les Hoey, Colin Chatfield and Robert Kemp generally proving too strong for the Hockley boys but there was an excellent consolation point for them won by Joseph Odegbami who won a five set thriller against Les. Joseph won two close first sets but then lost the next two 11/7 11/3 before finding his form again to win the decider 11/8. The Hockley pairing of Stuart Adshead and David Chenery then went the full five sets against Robert and Colin eventually losing 11/5 in the decider after holding a 2-1 lead. Closest game of the night however was an epic battle between Stuart and Robert. First blood to Stuart 11/7 quickly equalised 11/6 by Robert. A titanic third set finished 18/16 to Stuart but Robert fought back to win both the final sets 12/10 and take the match.

Invicta sit in fourth place after a 7-2 win against Canvey. Lee Marson was POTM beating Peter Cray and Tony Westwell in the singles and winning both his doubles as well. Tony Ayliffe and Barbara Chabior made up the winning team whilst Peter Cray and Lee Mcgonagle got a point each for Canvey. Closest game of the night turned out to be the final game, the doubles between Tony and Barbara for Invicta and Lee and Peter for Canvey. The Canvey boys twice fought back from being a set down to take it to a deciding fifth where Tony and Barbara ran out 11/7 winners.

Week 7

With the top two teams in the division without a game this week the stage was clear for some of the chasing teams to make an impact and close the gap at the top.

Third placed Brand Identity must have been hoping for a good win against Invicta but found themselves in a see saw battle not settled until the final game of the evening. They certainly had the edge in the singles winning four out of the six on offer thanks to Steve Muth and David Jacob, both unbeaten, but Invicta won two out of the three doubles to keep them in the match until the final game. Invicta actually led 4-3 with two games to go but Steve Muth levelled things up to take it to the final doubles and Invicta must have been hopeful going into it. Tony Ayliffe and Lee Marson lined up for Invicta against Steve Muth and David Jacob but their hope of pulling off a shock win disappeared quickly as Steve and David ran out 11/9 11/5 11/7 winners to give Brand a 5-4 victory.

Hockley pulled off the biggest win of the week storming to a 9-0 whitewash of Stanford which keeps them in fifth place but now level on points with Invicta albeit they have played a game more. High points for Stanford were hard to find their best performance coming in the doubles between Mark Downey and John Handscombe for Stanford and Harry Sawford and Stuart Adshead for Hockley. Stanford held a 2-1 advantage at one stage before the Hockley boys turned up the heat and won the last two sets 11/6 11/8. Other than that Joseph Odegbami claimed the POTM award for his straight set singles wins against Chris Crooks and John Handscombe plus two doubles wins dropping just one set. Stanford stay seventh in the table.

RESSC finally won their first match of the season and lifted themselves off the bottom of the table with a hard fought 6-3 win at Hadleigh Forum. Four games went to five sets but the key to the win was in the doubles all won by RESSC. This must have been frustrating for Forum’s Tony Jacks who won both his singles and took the POTM award but still finished on the losing side. John Holland, John Tendler and Tarun Goel made up the winning team whilst Dave Bassett got Forum’s other point beating John Tendler.

Week 8

Northlands have returned to the top of Division 1 after chalking up two 9-0 wins and now sit 7 points clear of Basildon and still with a game in hand. Their large squad of top ranked players continue to carry all before them and it is now just a question of how many individual games they might lose as they certainly won’t lose any matches on this form!

They started their week with a rearranged match at Hockley where Kim Shead, Dan Zeffie and Peter Barrett did the honours. David Chenery came closest for the home side leading 2-1 at one stage against Dan Zeffie before Dan stepped up a gear winning the last two games 11/5 11/5.

Two days later they were in action again against Invicta, Kim partnered this time by Paul Brown and James Elliott but no game went beyond four sets.

Second placed Basildon kept up their winning ways with a 7-2 win at RESSC. Tarun Goel and John Tendler got the points for the home side both getting the better of Garry Hartgrove and RESSC almost got a third point in the final doubles of the evening when John Holland and Tarun took on Ian Wall and Garry. Ian and Garry took the first two sets only to see a strong fight back ending in a decisive fifth set. Needless to say Ian and Garry took it 11/6. Les Hoey was POTM winning both his singles. Basildon are 21 points ahead of Brand Identity in third place who have no less then three games in hand.

Final game of the week saw Canvey take on Stanford and the away team travelled home with a 7-2 victory the match actually being level at 2-2 at one stage. Des Duffield and Kevin Walsingham got the Islanders off to a good start beating Peter Weatherall and Mark Downey in a closely fought five set match coming back from two sets down to win the last three 12/10, 13/11, 12/10. Two singles wins for Peter and Robert Salvage put Stanford in front only for Des to level things up with a straight set win against Mark. After that though it was all plain sailing for Stanford winning the next four games and then claiming the final doubles as Tony Westwell had to withdraw due to a back injury – fortunately not serious. Canvey stay bottom after this with just four points won from the four games played so far.

DIVISION 2

We are just about at the halfway point of the Division 2 season in the Southend Summer League.

Wakering are one of three unbeaten teams, and top the table at this stage, albeit that they have played more games than their closest rivals.  The backbone of the side is the trio of Stew Mills, Paul England and Zac England.  These three performed well in the recent winter league and their good form has clearly continued.

Hockley ‘B’ occupy second place, 6 points off the top having played a game less.  With Paul Strutt and Ben Cook currently unbeaten in singles, and good experience at this level in their squad, they seem sure to be challenging for the title at the end of the season.

The third unbeaten team is Basildon ‘B’ who have games in hand on both the top two, although they have 15 points to make up.  Another experienced squad includes Szymon Jarka who has only been beaten once in singles, and that defeat came against a tough Premier League opponent.  Of the other 6 players who have turned out for Basildon, 3 of them remain unbeaten.

Runnymede are in fourth position and could yet challenge the top sides, but only if their quality players, Tony Millward and Dmitry Kisil, turn out together on a regular basis.

Of the other teams, Invicta ‘B’ seem likely to finish in the top half of the table.  They have 2 players new to our league, Barbara Chabior and Martin Shaughnessy, who have both shown good form, Barbara is unbeaten and Martin has won 6 of his 8 singles.

Hadleigh Forum ‘B’ occupy the mid table position.  They have a largely inexperienced squad but the experience and quality of Neal Barker has ensured that they have stayed away from the lower reaches of the division. 

The remaining 5 teams are separated by only 4 points and have won only 3 matches between them.

Although winless, Megazone have picked up seful points in every match so far.  Jonathan Allen is their leading player to date, and with a number experienced players to back him up, their first win is surely not far away.

Stanford ‘B’ and Invicta ‘C’ are locked together on 11 points after 5 games matches played. Stanford were the winners when these 2 sides met earlier in the season, and they have picked up good points in 2 other matches, but have also suffered two 9-0 defeats.

Trisha Winter is the leading player so far for Invicta ‘C’ with 5 wins from her 8 singles, but she will need some support from the rest of the squad if they are to move up the table.

Hockley ‘C’ are on 9 points but have played a game less than the 3 teams above them.  Their sole win came against a Hadleigh Forum side who were without Neal Barker, but they have only managed to pick up 3 points in their other matches.

Canvey ‘B’ are bottom of the table and lost their first 4 matches, gaining only 2 points. However, they have recently added Jo Hills to their squad and this paid immediate dividends as she was player of the match when they defeated Invicta ‘C’  to record their only win to date.