SDTTL WL 24/25 - 3rd REPORT
SDTTL WL 24/25 - 3rd REPORTDivision 1 Reports from David Barnes
Week 8
With previous leaders Canvey A not having a game this week, Basildon A took over the top of the table spot this week thanks to a 5 – 4 away win at two-man Hadleigh Forum B. Les Hoey was again unbeaten, so took the Player of the Match prize. Dave Woolmer and Mick Tappenden both won two victories for the home side.
Matchpoint A moved up the table with a 6 -3 home win against Hadleigh Forum C. Harry Sawford took the POM award. However, colleague Alex Deacon was also undefeated. Forum shared their points with Dave Thomas, Graham Farmer and Mark Everard each recording one win.
There was a second win of the season for Wakering. Visitors Brand Identity B could only muster two players. Callum Turner was again the home side’s star, winning both his games, whilst Brand’s Mick Grout and Dale Gutteridge got two wins apiece.
Week 9
Some contrasting fortunes this week, two of the three fixtures finished 9 – 0, and the third 8 – 1.
Basildon A consolidated their top of the table spot, thanks to hat tricks from Les Hoey, Arun Joy and Rob Burton in a 9 – 0 drubbing of visiting Wakering. The home side were far too strong and didn’t drop a single set all night.
Canvey A had a dramatic fall from grace, going down 8 – 1 at Rawreth Megazone C and sliding to fourth place in the table. Rawreth’s unbeaten Paul Brown took the Player of the Match award, although Garry Hartgrove was also unbeaten. Canvey’s only success came in the first rubber of the match when Bob Skew overcame Gary McCarthy. Joanna Hills was unfortunate to lose two of her three contests in the fifth set.
In the Hadleigh Forum ‘derby’, the ‘visiting’ B team overcame their ‘hosts’, the C team, 9 – 0. Tony Jack’s unbeaten threesome gave him the POM award, but both Mick Tappenden and Dave Woolmer were similarly successful. However, there were a couple of close ‘what could have been’ moments for the C team. Dave Thomas lost 9 – 11 to Tony in the fifth set and Graham Farmer lost 8 – 11 in the fifth to Mick.
Week 10
With leaders Basildon A not playing this week, Matchpoint A closed the gap between the sides with a convincing 7 - 2 win against visiting Rawreth Megazone C. Stephen Heard was the Matchpoint’s star with an unbeaten hat trick. Team mates Dan Stewart and Debbie O’Neil won two each. However, neither could overcome Garry Hartgrove who bagged both the visitors’ points.
After a spell playing up for his A team in the Premiership (and making a useful contribution there) Adam Jackman returned to playing for Brand Identity B this week. He made an instant impact by winning all his contests in a 6 - 3 victory at home to Mapledene. Team mate Mick Grout won two and Dale Gutteridge won one. For Mapledene, Lin Roff had one success and Charles Yeung recorded two.
Week 11
Brand Identity’s Adam Jackman’s return from Premier League duties has again upset the Division 1 equilibrium. This week his team were away at leaders Basildon A. Adam recorded an unbeaten maximum to lead his side to an impressive 7 - 2 victory. His hat trick included a first defeat of the season for the home side’s Arun Joy. Team mates Michael Grout and Dale Gutteridge each added two wins, whilst Arun was responsible for both Basildon’s successes.
In a close fought match, Rawreth Megazone C overcame their visitors Hadleigh Forum B 6 - 3. Paul Brown was again Rawreth’s star, taking the POM prize with an unbeaten evening. Gary McCarthy added two and Trevor Ward one win. The Forum team of Dave Woolmer, Tony Jacks and Mick Tappenden each managed one victory. Mick was particularly unfortunate to be on the losing side of a five-set encounter with Trevor by 15 - 13 in the fifth.
Week 12
Brand Identity B are not far behind the leading bunch. Their 5 - 4 win at Hadleigh Forum C sees them move on to 43 points. Forum’s Mark Everard will consider himself unlucky to finish on the losing side, despite his maximum POM performance. However, two wins each for Spud Saunders and Mick Grout, together with a single from Dale Gutteridge saw the visitors to victory. David Thomas got Forum’s other win.
Division 2 Reports from Paul Strutt
Week 9 report
Stanford B now sit an impressive twenty points clear at the top of Division 2 after a crushing 9-0 victory against Invicta B. The Stanford boys are sweeping all before them this season but all credit to Invicta who put up a strong fight despite the unflattering scoreline. Four matches went the distance with Trish Winter twice missing out against Rob Salvage and Mark Downey whilst Mike Keeble also took Downey the distance and John Blackman fully extended Russell Bright. Invicta have now slipped to one but bottom of the table one point ahead of Matchpoint C but with a game in hand.
Bottom side Matchpoint C went down 6-3 away at Hockley D who have now won their last three games and have moved up to fifth in the table. Their win came courtesy of hat tricks from Hannah Harbour and Elliot Brackenbury with Harbour not dropping a set. Brackenbury had to work a lot harder overcoming a 2-1 deficit to beat Zach Samuels and then going to another five sets before edging out Roger Sherman in the decider. Samuels, Sherman and Ollie Milchard all got the better of Graham Gregory.
Runnymede had an exciting 5-4 win against Stanford C coming back from 4-3 down to clinch victory in the final game. Andrew Humphris beat Peter Moxham in straight sets. Star of the show, however, was Tony Millward who claimed his fourth POTM award of the season. Basically, if Tony plays, Runnymede win! Humphris also got the better of Mark Farley to make it a brace but couldn’t get the better of Vaughan Chambers. All the Stanford boys got the better of Heather Stiles.
Unfortunately, the match between Canvey B and Hockley C had to be postponed.
Team of the Week – Hockley D
Player of the Week – Hannah Harbour
Week 10 report
All the top teams were in action this week with the biggest clash coming between top of the table Stanford B and third placed Canvey B. Stanford won 6-3 but it was a battling performance from Canvey who had to call up Ray Baker from their C team to make up the side. Having Trevor Hayes in your team means you’re always going to be in with a chance of points and he picked up two wins on the night beating Mark Downey and John Handscombe and spare a thought for Des Duffield who went the distance in all his games but only came away with one win against Handscombe. For Stanford, it was the unbeaten Adrian Armstrong who led the way maintaining his 100% record despite being pushed to five sets by Duffield. Mark Downey weighed in with two wins and Handscombe got the other point. Stanford lead by 15 points at the top.
Canvey’s loss meant they dropped down to fourth place in the league as Hockley C took the opportunity to leapfrog, them beating Rawreth Megazone B 7-2. Mike Worship recorded another hat trick, despite being taken to five sets by Steve McQuillan, and he was supported by braces from Paul Ogden and Paul Strutt. Both these two fell foul however, of the always awkward Richard Kidd. Graham Back made up the Rawreth team.
Invicta B fell to their fifth defeat in a row succumbing 8-1 to second in the table Matchpoint B who showed their potential for the future fielding three teenagers in Max Mayo, Alex Bowden and Ollie Milchard. Only two games went the distance and both of them featured Invicta’s John Blackman who secured an impressive win against Bowden coming back from two sets down to win 7/11 8/11 11/9 12/10 12/10. Unfortunately he then fell to defeat against Mayo who won 13/11 7/11 11/8 9/11 14/12. This defeat leaves Invicta bottom of the table.
Milchard found himself in action again later in the week as he captained his own Matchpoint C team against Stanford C and he picked up two important wins beating Chris Crooks in four sets and Martin Winter 12/10 in a deciding fifth set. He was beaten, however, by POTM Vaughan Chambers who was himself extended to five sets by Zach Samuels. Two wins for Winter and a single for Crooks gave Stanford a 6-3 win Samuels getting Matchpoint’s third point beating Alwine Jarvis.
Player of the Week – Ollie Milchard
Team of the Week – Matchpoint B
Week 11 report
With the exception of Canvey B the top four teams all lost points in some hard fought matches this week. The Islanders didn’t have any problems as they cruised past Invicta B 8-1 but Stanford B were held to a 6-3 win at Rawreth Megazone, Hockley C just edged their own D team 5-4 and Matchpoint B did the same against Runnymede.
Canvey’s scoreline might have been closer as three matches went to five sets but only Steve Lennox managed to convert one into a win for Invicta as Tony Westwell edged out Sarah Ball and Kevin Walsingham got the better of Mike Keeble. Three wins each then for Westwell and Trevor Hayes and a brace for Walsingham which keeps Canvey in fourth place.
Stanford B would have had a far easier victory at Rawreth Megazone if they hadn’t come up against Gus Heath this week. He chalked up another perfect hat trick beating Rob Salvage, Mark Downey and Adrian Armstrong. Rawreth almost added another point but in the final game, and the only one to go the distance, Downey staged a remarkable comeback against Amar Al-Soufi to win 12/10 11/4 2/11 1/11 7/11. Stanford extend their lead at the top to 13 points.
Hockley C were pushed all the way by their own D team and found themselves 4-3 down at one stage before Brian Bissenden and Mike Worship won the last two games to give them the bragging rights at Hockley. Bissenden took the POTM award with a maximum plus two wins for Worship but Neal Klyman fought hard but got no reward on the night. There was a single win each for youngsters William Evesham and Elliot Brackenbury but a brace for Hannah Harbour who had an excellent five set win against the veteran Worship coming back from 2-1 down to win a really close match 11/6 8/11 9/11 13/11 11/9. Hockley C stay second.
Match of the week was at Matchpoint B where they produced a dramatic turnaround to save themselves from a shock defeat against Runnymede, coming back from 4-1 down to win 5-4. With the unbeaten Tony Millward in their side Runnymede were always going to be difficult to beat and they started in fine form Millward and Andy Humphries both winning their opening two games with Alex Bowden beating Anne Adlington in reply. Things then started to go dramatically wrong for Runnymede as Max Mayo beat Adlington and Bowden beat Humphries before Mayo then pulled off the biggest shock beating Millward in four sets to level the scores. Fittingly the deciding game then went to five sets and it was a victory for youth as Lotte Mills beat Adlington 11/7 in the decider. Matchpoint B stay second.
Team of the Week – Matchpoint B
Player of the Week – Gus Heath
Week 12
Hockley D’s Hannah Harbour hit successive hat tricks, both against the two Stanford sides, to give her an outstanding Player of the Week award. Firstly she moved up to Hockley’s C team to help them overwhelm Stanford C 9-0 and then she led her own D team to a surprise 5-4 victory against runaway leaders Stanford B, inflicting on them their first defeat of the season.
Paul Strutt and Brian Bissenden were Hannah’s team mates in the match against Stanford C and it was pretty straight forward as they dropped only three sets all night. Needless to say Hannah didn’t drop any. Vaughan Chambers ,Chris Crooks and Peter Moxon made up the Stanford team. The win moves Hockley up to second place behind Stanford B.
Hannah’s second appearance of the week was a lot more eventful. Hockley had to make a last minute change to their team having to call up Keith Denyer from their E team due to a late withdrawal. Stanford B, unbeaten and top of the table at the start of the evening, arrived without their top performers this season Rob Salvage and Adrian Armstrong but with the unbeaten Russell Bright. The Stanford team of Bright, Mark Downey and John Handscombe proved too strong for Denyer which meant it was down to Hannah and young William Evesham to fly the Hockley flag and they flew it almost perfectly. Harbour’s first and toughest match of the evening came against Downey and after winning the first two sets Harbour found herself pulled back to 2-2 before she clinched the final set 11/8. She followed this by defeating Bright in four sets and then Handscombe in three, and wins for Evesham against Handscombe and Downey, another five set match, meant Hockley had a winning 5-2 lead. Stanford took the final two matches Bright beating Evesham in four sets and Downey beating Denyer in three. Stanford stay top and have a healthy 17 point lead although Hockley C have a game in hand.
Second placed Matchpoint B took on fourth placed Canvey B and a closely fought match went down to the final match of the evening after the Islanders fought back from 4-1 down to level the scores at 4-4. The deciding match fell to John Lott of Matchpoint taking on Trevor Hayes, both unbeaten on the night, but it turned out pretty one sided as Lott won in straight sets to clinch the match for the home team. Max Mayo and Oliver Milchard added a point each for Matchpoint, Milchard coming from two sets down to beat Des Duffield and Mayo beating Tony Westwell in straight sets. Canvey’s points came from Hayes two wins and one each from Duffield and Westwell.
In the bottom half of the table Rawreth Megazone kept themselves clear of any relegation issues by beating Invicta B 6-3 who now sit one but bottom of the table. Gus Heath was in form, as usual, claiming a maximum and he was supported by Richard Kidd with two wins and Amar Al-Soufi with one. Match of the night was Steve Lennox’s marathon defeat of Kidd with the closest of scorelines 9/11 10/12 12/10 12/10 12/14. Lennox also beat Al-Soufi as did Mike Keeble who came back from two sets down to claim his win.
The team who sit bottom of the table, Matchpoint C, went down 7-2 to Runnymede but it was closer than the score might suggest. Take away Tony Millward’s perfect hat trick and every other game went to four sets and beyond. Ollie Milchard picked up both his sides points beating Steve Wisbey in four and Andy Humphries in a long five set match 7/11 15/13 11/9 15/17 7/11. Humphries and Steve Wisbey both got two wins for Runnymede but spare a thought for Zach Samuels of Matchpoint who took them both to five sets with no reward.
Player of the Week – Hannah Harbour
Team of the Week – Hockley D
Week 13
Promotion hopefuls Canvey B were dealt a blow to their ambitions by Rawreth Megazone D who just pipped them 5-4 in a tight encounter this week. Three matches went the distance and the lead swapped back and forth Canvey going 2-0 down, then leading 3-2, down 4-3 and then levelling at 4-4. Just as well for Rawreth that Gus Heath stepped up to play that final game as he beat Tony Westwell in straight sets, completed a perfect hat trick and took the POTM award to boot. Heath was supported by a win each for Richard Kidd and Amar Al-Soufi whilst Trevor Hayes got a brace for Canvey plus a point each for Westwell and Kevin Walsingham. Canvey stay fourth as a result and Rawreth sixth.
Big winners of the week were league leaders Stanford B who duly swept aside their own C team 8-1. Rob Salvage and Adrian Armstrong were both unbeaten, albeit Armstrong was taken to five sets by Martin Winter and Vaughan Chambers, and Russell Bright picked up a brace but fell to Chris Crooks in another five set match for the C team’s consolation point.
In another inter club match Matchpoint B beat their C team 7-2 with John Lott and Max Mayo recording hat tricks and Samuel Morgan getting the remaining point. Mayo was taken to five sets by Alwine Jarvis and Oliver Milchard and it was they who picked up the C team’s points both beating Morgan. Matchpoint B stay second in the table 19 points behind Stanford.
Hannah Harbour of Hockley D has been in fine form in recent weeks and this continued as she picked up another hat trick against Invicta B. Team mate William Evesham matched this performance with his own maximum and together with a point from Elliot Brackenbury they ran out 7-2 winners. It wasn’t all straight forward as Harbour was taken to five sets by John Blackman and Evesham did likewise extended by Blackman and Mike Keeble. Hockley go fifth nine points behind Canvey whilst Invicta stay one but bottom of the table.
Team of the Week – Rawreth Megazone EPlayer of the Week – Gus Heath
Division 3 Reports from Dave Woolmer
Week 9 Report
Just three matches to report on this week.
Invicta C climbed to second in the table following a 9/0 win away at Matchpoint D. Trisha Winter was the POM here, well supported by her wingmen Brendan Raja and Andrew St John. Blake Stewart came the closest to a win for Matchpoint, going down in 5 sets to Brendan.
Stanford D were also 9/0 winners this week. The Hockley F juniors put up a brave fight, winning a number of sets along the way, but the greater experience of the Stanford trio told eventually. Randy Santiago was the POM after his flawless maximum.
The final match played this week involved another junior team, Evolve, up against Hadleigh Forum D, with Forum emerging as 6/3 winners. Douglas Brown led the way for Hadleigh with an unbeaten performance. However, he was pushed all the way by young Miles Bygrave in the opening match of the evening (a remarkable age difference of over 70 years between these two players). Despite losing the first two sets against his wily and experienced opponent, Miles fought back to take the game to a deciding set, only to come up just short at 9/11 in the end. Perhaps inspired by his performance in his first game, he went on to record straight sets wins over Ivan Arabadzhiev and Sineh Ball. Nova Narayanan added the extra point for Evolve.
The scheduled match between Canvey C and Hockley E did not go ahead as Canvey could not access their venue due to the non-appearance of the caretaker to open up. This match will now be played later in the season.
Week 10 Report
Canvey C notched up their first win of the season when they took on Stanford D. The result a 6/3 win for the Islanders, with Steve Kemp and Che Martin at the forefront, both unbeaten on the night. A win apiece here for the Stanford trio of Andrew Jessop, Karen Kempster and James Parker.
Basildon B continue to forge ahead at the top of the table. Another big win, this time 8/1 at the expense of Invicta C, saw them stretch their lead to 14 points. Skipper Andy Roff with another maximum here, but it was teammate Dave Walton who took the POM honours, winning his three games without dropping a set.
The youngsters of Evolve hosted a (somewhat older) Rawreth Meggazone E team. A fine hat-trick from Ben Berwick, backed up by two wins for Leo Goodey and a single win for Teddy Kent saw them run out 6/3 winners on the night. Graham Back with a brace and Ro Brett with one win were the points scorers for Meggazone.
Matchpoint D are now in third place in the league following a 7/2 victory over Hockley F. Richard Sloman led the way for Matchpoint, with his maximum added to by Samuel Morgan and Cooper Hill with two wins each. For Hockley there was a win each for Kris Chankov and George Higgins. The game of the night saw Cooper come from behind to eventually get the better of George, with the score 8/11, 17/15, 11/7, 9/11, 10/12 in Cooper’s favour
Week 11 Report
The big news of the week was the first win of the season by the junior Hockley F side. George Higgins led the way with a hard-fought maximum, well supported by William Evesham and Amelia Taylor, who achieved her first win of the season. Indeed, it was Amelia who finally secured the 5/4 win over Canvey C. With the match score locked at 4/4, she held her nerve to overcome David Coverley in 4 sets to get her team over the line. Well done Hockley!
Elsewhere, league leaders, Basildon B, maintained their unbeaten run courtesy of a narrow 5/4 win away at Matchpoint B. Richard Sloman was unbeaten for the hosts and Jeff Gritzman added the extra point, but Basildon prevailed with two wins each for Richard Riebold and Anton Kudynuik, and a single win for Michael Elemide.
Second placed, Invicta C, closed the gap at the top to 12 points following their 7/2 win over Hadleigh Forum D. Trisha Winter was the POM here with a straight sets maximum. Skipper Keith Baxter was also unbeaten on the night and David Youngman added the extra.
Hockley E have moved into third place after a 7/2 win over Evolve, with a hat-trick from Gary Beck and two wins each for Keith Denyer and George Clark. Miles Bygrave was the best player on the night for Evolve, with two wins to his name.
Week 12 Report
Another week and another win for league leaders, Basildon C, making it 10 wins on the trot. Dave Walton fired a hat-trick in their latest match against Hadleigh Forum D, well supported by skipper Andy Roff with a double and Ross Letham who chipped in with a single win. 6/3 being the margin of victory. Todd Barker with two wins was the best on the night for Hadleigh.
Second placed Invicta C closed the gap at the top, but by only one point following their 7/2 win over Rawreth Meggazone E. Keith Baxter took the POM honours with a maximum, with his wingmen Brendan Raja and David Barlow adding a brace apiece. For Rawreth there was a win each for Graham Back and Mike Webb.
Canvey C recorded only their second win of the season when they travelled to Hullbridge to take on Matchpoint D. Captain Ray Baker led the way, turning in an unbeaten performance and with Che Martin and Stephen Parker each adding a pair, it was left to Matchpoint’s Richard Sloman to add an air of respectability to the final score with a double of his own.
Finally, a youthful Evolve team found things a bit too hot to handle when they took on Stanford D. whose trio of Randy and Jake Santiago plus Andrew Jessop made no mistakes and a 9/0 whitewash ensued. Mention should be made however of Evolve’s Ben Berwick who pushed both Jake and Andrew to a deciding set before falling short.
Week 13 Report
Table toppers Basildon B weren’t in the mood to let the inconvenience of only having two players threaten their unbeaten record. Their dynamic duo of Andy Roff and Dave Walton were both unbeaten in the match against Rawreth Meggazone E, running out 6/3 winners, with Dave taking the POM after his perfect maximum.
Second placed Invicta C were unable to take advantage of the leaders dropped points as they also recorded a 6/3 win against Hockley E. Trish Winter took the plaudits here with an unbeaten performance, well supported by her teammates Keith Baxter, two wins, and Jonathan Gould with a single win. Ron Rogerson with a brace was the best on the night for Hockley.
Hadleigh Forum D are now one of four teams sharing third place on 50 points following a 6/3 home victory over Matchpoint D. Forum skipper Todd Barker led the way with a hat-trick. The evergreen Douglas Brown chipped in a with a double and Jean Catley added the extra. Samuel Morgan was a two-point winner for Matchpoint, with Blake Stewart also on the score sheet.
