Stratford Herald Week Beginning January 8th
In the battle of the reigning joint champions Shottery A narrowly defeated Colebridge Pasties. They brought in Craig Witheford who produced a succession of forehand winners to earn a treble with the loss of just one set. Gary Stewart added a brace, and Stephen Foster their decisive sixth point. Sam Henderson drove through the fog from Leicester to play for Pasties and was rewarded with two wins, while Tom Shortley also got on the card. In the only contest of the evening to be settled in the decider the pair were twice at a disadvantage before securing the doubles, but it wasn’t enough to prevent their team from losing out 6-4.
The main beneficiaries of this result were Snitterfield who defeated Ashorne without reply. John Price, Don McAdam and Alison Stewart registered maximums, although Stewart let slip a two set lead against Steve Kay before winning the fifth. Snitterfield have gained the impetus in the title race as they now lead Shottery A by 20 points, but their rivals have two matches in hand.
Trebles from Jack Davis and Steve Cull provided the backbone to JLM Falcons victory at Henley B with Joe Cull partnering Davis to clinch their seventh success. Robert McCluskey, Stuart Latham-Marr and Dave Milton each earned a point for the hosts.
All three Tanworth Taipans players went home from FISSC with braces to give them a 6-4 win. However the result could have been very different had the farmers been able to take advantage of any of the four games to go the full distance. Denis Kynaston lost the first two sets to both Peter Florence and Malcolm Smith before turning the contests around, and the pair also lost out in the deciders to Tim Lawrence and Mick Welsh respectively. Florence gained some consolation by overcoming Welsh, while Lawrence and Kynaston were denied perfect performances by Mark Jones who subsequently secured the doubles in partnership with Florence.
Blazing Paddles won 7-3 at Henley A, although the match was closer than the score suggests with ten sets going to deuce. The pattern of the evening was established in the first game where the visitors took an early lead when Chris Dickens finally overcame Peter Quince 15-13 in the fifth set. Dickens proved the difference between the teams with an unbeaten display, while Wilf Chan added a brace and Dave Fordham their other victory. Only the doubles proved one-sided as Paddles' captain Nello Mauri made a welcome return after injury to claim the contest with Dickens. Geoff Shephard, Peter Quince and Dave Hatcher each recorded a win for the villagers.
Shottery B also enjoyed a 7-3 away victory when they travelled to Veterans. Gareth Hepworth achieved a treble without reply as well successfully partnering Ron Shakesheff in the doubles. Shakesheff notched two wins with Tony Remes earning their other. Brian Marston chalked up a brace for Veterans while, in the only contest to go the full distance, David Wye registered their third score by narrowly defeating Remes.
Author: Mike Evetts via Stratford-upon-Avon Table Tennis League
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