This weeks compiler , Peter Florence :
Gareth Hepworth was in superb form as his Shottery B team held high flying Colebridge Pasties to a draw. He notched a treble, which included inflicting the first defeat of the campaign upon Rod Lewis, and also shared doubles success with Steve Smith. However Hepworth had to put aside loss of the opener before defeating Michael Bere in the only game to go the full distance. Smith added the team's crucial fifth point, while Lewis and Bere earned braces for Pasties with Bob Brown also getting on the card.
Pasties slip up would have been welcome news for their rivals who all enjoyed convincing victories.
Shottery A were most decisive inflicting the whitewash upon Ashorne with Gary Stewart, Stephen Foster and Rob Poole all untroubled.
Stratford A came away from JLM Kingfishers with a 9-1 win after trebles from Pete Barrow and Richard Grover. Alex Boyd added a brace, but narrowly lost out in the fifth set to Jim Clarke who thereby gained Kingfishers' sole consolation. However Boyd subsequently partnered Grover to doubles success in the only other clash to go down to the wire.
John Price led the way with an unbeaten performance for Snitterfield in their 8-2 win over Blazing Paddles who could only field two players. Both Paddles' points came from captain Nello Mauri who, in the closest contest of the evening, lost the opener against Phil Paine but went on to earn victory after winning the next three sets all at deuce. Paine gained some recompense by claiming his other singles game before adding the doubles with Price.
Veterans recorded their first victory of the campaign with a 9-1 win at Stratford D. Neil Mudie and Mark Kingham both posted trebles with David Higgins adding a brace, although he was unable to get the better of Ian Nash who thereby ensured the hosts didn't finish empty-handed. However the result didn't reflect the endeavor displayed by Stratford's young players Ollie Rowlands and Harry Nash who have made huge strides in their first season of competitive table tennis.
Stratford B lost by the narrowest of margins at Tanworth Taipans. Jason Rainey notched a treble for Tanworth with Mick Welsh producing a brace and Tim Lawrence their important sixth score. Kevin Taylor won two for the visitors while Rob Bartkowski added another. The two Stratford players also triumphed in the doubles but did so the hard way by recovering from a two set deficit to claim the decider 13-11.
It was another 6-4 finish when Colebridge Bulldogs entertained Henley. The visitors got off to a perfect start with Nigel Payne playing his three games in succession and coming through in each. However his team were only able to add one more success with Peter Quince overcoming an early disadvantage to get the better of John Swinburne. With the match standing at 5-4 the final outcome hinged upon the clash between Quince and his former teammate Andy Rowland. In the only contest to go the full distance Rowland took the honours 11-7 in the fifth set. He and Chris Welsh both finished with braces, while Swinburne added their other singles as well as successfully partnering Dean Hicks in the doubles.
