Stratford Herald Week Beginning December 9th

A floppy disk from Peter Florence , transcribed : 

Pete Barrow recorded a treble without the loss of a set as Stratford A defeated Tanworth Taipans 9-1. However Taipans  can consider themselves unlucky as five of the remaining encounters went the full distance with four going the way of Stratford. Richard Grover acquired a two set lead over Jason Rainey before being taken to a decider where he narrowly edged home 14-12. Grover went to the wire again with Tom Shortley and earned another close victory with a 12-10 finish. All three of Kannan Nithi's games were settled at the final hurdle, but he had to put aside two set deficits against both Shortley and Mick Welsh before claiming the points. The match was standing at 9-0 when Rainey, in another marathon contest, finally made the breakthrough against Nithi to earn Taipans' sole consolation.

 

On the adjoining table Stratford B assisted their senior team's title challenge by taking two games from high-flying Colebridge Pasties. Debbie Barrow took the visitors' captain Mahroof Hussain to a decider only to lose out, but subsequently defeated Mike Credland 13-11 in the last of their five sets. Credland was also unable to get the better of Kevin Taylor, but the hosts couldn't prevent maximums from Rod Lewis and Hussain who also combined to claim the doubles. 

 

Stratford C captain Rob Bartkowski produced a treble as his team gained their first league victory at Veterans. That result looked unlikely when they trailed 4-2 at the break, but the visitors turned the tide to win the final four games. Peter Florence added a brace and partnered Bartkowski in the decisive doubles. The Stratford club continued their policy of giving opportunities to promising young players with Daniel Shevket producing a fine performance to show he will soon be ready for regular competitive table tennis. Neil Mudie won two for Veterans, with David Higgins and Peter Rodwell also getting on the card.

Alison Stewart was on top form as Snitterfield overcame JLM Kingfishers 9-1. She recorded a treble, with the highlight a five set encounter against Piotr Penczkowski, before securing the doubles with Clive Irwin who also put in a perfect performance. Phil Paine added a brace but, in another game to go to the wire, he narrowly lost out to Jim Clarke who thereby prevented the whitewash. 

 

It also finished 9-1 when Shottery A entertained their stablemates Blazing Paddles. Gary Stewart and Rob Poole were untroubled, with Stephen Foster earning a further two points although he had no answer to the resilient defending of Paddles' captain Nello Mauri. 

Henley were represented by just Peter Quince and Dave Hatcher when they took on Stratford D but their decades of experience enabled them to finish comfortable 7-3 winners, although Quince was made to work hard before claiming victory over Ian Nash in the only game to go the full distance.    

 

Shottery B gave a debut to Jake Crawshaw when they entertained Tanworth Taipans. He marked the occassion with a treble which was also achieved by Gareth Hepworth, although both were taken to a decider by Jason Rainey. The pair subsequently added the doubles, with their other score earned by Tony Remes in another contest to go to the wire. Rainey and Mick Welsh chalked up the visitors' two successes.
Crawshaw produced another three wins when Shottery B travelled to Colebridge Bulldogs. However his team were hampered by only having two players, and Bulldogs ran out 7-3 winners due to the efforts of Bob Brown, Andy Rowland and Chris Welsh.
Author: via Stratford-upon-Avon Table Tennis League
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