Match Reports - Weeks Fourteen and Fifteen
Division 1
Rudford ‘B’ 5
Rudford ‘C’ 5
Despite Rudford ‘C’ being a player short, they rallied well and clawed there way back from 3-0 down to achieve a share of the spoils.
Lee Bruton and Mel Garlick both won two each and to finish the comeback off they paired up in the doubles and were easy three set winners.
For Rudford ‘B’ the only point scorer was Keith Foord whom defeated both Lee & Mel to claim a brace, but as nobody else contributed, they missed the chance to get only their 2nd win of the campaign.
Highnam ‘A’ 10
Forest Products 0
Highnam blew the opposition out of the water, by absolutely destroying Forest Products albeit they were partly helped by the visitors only fielding two players. Richard Maddrell and Jason Million both beat Rob Freeman & Don Sweeney with only two sets lost between them in the process.
What was a real bonus on the night for Highnam was the performance of their third player James Dance who was playing-up from the second division, who took the step-up in quality in his stride by coming from 2 sets to 1 down against Rob and Don to secure victory over both.
Jason & Richard teamed up in the doubles and won in straight sets to complete the whitewash.
RSV & Friends ‘A’ 5
Rudford ‘A’ 5
Congratulations goes to Rudford ‘A’ for becoming the first team to stop RSV ‘A’ winning a league fixture, after RSV had won their previous nine matches.
This was all thanks to the partnership of Paul Smyth and Ann Barnes who both claimed two scalps each, with Paul beating Yacoob Tilly & Ahmed Bham in five setters, and they also combined superbly in the doubles winning in straight sets to get the draw.
RSV’s Abu Saleh remains undefeated this season though with another maximum here, with a win each for Yacoob and Ahmed.
Rudford ‘C’ 2
RSV & Friends ‘A’ 8
RSV got back on track here after only getting a draw last time out.
Abu Saleh won all three once again losing no sets to take his overall record to 33 out of 33, but this time Yacoob Tilly stepped up to the plate as well by securing a hat trick, although he had to fight very hard to do this. He defeated two of his opponents in five sets (being 2-0 behind in one tie & 2-1 down in another one) and his final opponent in four.
Ahmed Bham also did better than last week with two wins, including seeing off Lee Bruton 15-13 in the fifth after previously leading by two sets to nil.
Rob Deeley won Rudford ‘C’s only singles point and he & Lee did pull back a further point, by winning the doubles 11-9, 12-10, 11-1 vs. Yacoob & Ahmed.
Optimists 7
Highnam ‘A’ 3
A Darren Griffin inspired Optimists picked up a win over Highnam ‘A’, as a result of Darren taking 3 successes without dropping a set. Steve Greening won two beating Jason Million 3-0 & Chris Pigott 3-1, but he went down to Richard Maddrell 3-1. Alan Churchill chipped in with 1, which was well deserved coming from 2 sets behind against Jason, to win 11-6 in the fifth.
For Highnam there were two wins for Richard and a win for Chris.
Darren & Alan teamed up in the doubles to defeat Jason and Richard in straight sets to round off the night on a high for Optimists.
Division 2
Redcliffe College 1
RSV & Friends ‘B’ 9
RSV ‘B’ coasted to yet another comfortable victory and the only point they lost on the evening was one that was not even contested, due to their third player Mohammed Saleh who was playing up for the first time from the 3rd division arriving too late for his first singles, and as a result Andy Taylor claimed a walkover.
Apart from that, RSV won every other point up for grabs with three wins for Hamza Bham & Nick Walker and two wins for Mohammed.
Vidas & Andy Taylor were close though to beating Mohammed and Nick in their respective ties, with both coming unstuck eventually in a 5th set.
The doubles sort of summed up Redcliffe’s night, as they fought really well to win 2 tiebreak sets to square the tie up at 2-2 after losing the first two sets, but in the end it came to nothing as the RSV pair won the fifth set 11-6 and that was that for Redcliffe.
Highnam ‘C’ 10
Rudford ‘D’ 0
Two player Rudford ‘D’ were crushed by a trio from Highnam who’s confidence must have been really high after beating a team above them in the table and holding the divisional leaders in the previous few weeks.
Tony Wauchope, Neil Dowding and Mariusz Plaskowicki did not mess around all beating Chris Beard and the playing up Sten Salisbury (the sixth time this season Rudford ‘D’ have had to play somebody up) in straight sets, except for one game where Sten took a set off Neil.
The doubles in actual fact was the most competitive match-up, with Tony and Mariusz winning in four very close sets (12-10, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9).
British Energy ‘B’ 5
Debenhams ‘C’ 5
Strange match- indeed!!
The match didn’t start until 7:40pm, as the pavilion was locked and the players had to wait for twenty minutes for somebody to open it.
When play finally happened, Debenhams eased into a 4-0 lead and a thrashing was on the wall for the home side, and a big win for the visitors was on the cards.
Cue an impressive comeback, and the end result was a 5-5 draw. British Energy ‘B’ remarkably have now gained 22 points from their last four matches (2 wins & 2 draws) after losing their first seven matches and just 13 points earned. Quite a turnaround!!
Chris White for Debenhams won an easy three, but it wasn’t enough to get an overall win, mainly due to two wins for George Evans, which included winning the first ten points of his tie vs. Tony Williamson. Also George paired up with Dave McIntosh in the doubles and they won in 4 so that a spare of the spoils was achieved.
Earlier Barrie Pope and Tony Williamson won a point apiece for Debenhams, whilst Dave McIntosh & Dave Moore did the same for the home team, with Dave Moore winning his singles in a 5 setter with Tony.
Rudford ‘D’ 6
Rudford ‘E’ 4
Both Rudford teams in this fixture fielded a debutant, with one having slightly more success than the other.
Henk van der Waald for the ‘E’ team beat Peter Price of the ‘D’ side in straight sets to record his first win in the division and he also later on took a set off Kim Selfe.
To add to Henk’s win, Pete Humble won two including defeating Kim in four and Trevor Seymour added a further win.
This was not enough overall though, as Stewart Jones swept through all before him to register a maximum, Kim won 2 and together they just squeezed out Pete & Trevor in the doubles in 5 sets, the only tie all night that went the distance.
British Energy ‘A’ 6
Redcliffe College 4
If Redcliffe had not been a player short, due to Andy Taylor being ill, then who knows they might have been able to achieve that still elusive first win, as it is the wait goes on into the New Year.
Richard Johnson & Vidas Rimkus tried their hardest in Andy’s absence with Richard claiming a pair, Vidas winning one and they secured the pairs in five sets when taking on Matthew Sproston and Charles Campbell.
Matthew, Charles and the playing up Dave McIntosh (from the ‘B’ team) all won a point each; Matthew & Dave beating Vidas and Charles getting the better of Richard in five sets, which was good enough for the home team to extend the gap between themselves and Redcliffe in the first of two relegation spots.
Highnam ‘B’ 7
British Energy ‘B’ 3
Yet again a solid performance from James Dance and Dave Gough who both had three wins each and the doubles, just about. As the hosts were a player short due to illness, Huw Darch played up, as well as playing his Division Four match for the ‘D’ team, and he didn’t disgrace himself. All the Energy Dave’s, Eaton/McIntosh/Moore though did actually beat him.
The doubles was the only tie on the night that went to five sets, with 4 out of the 5 sets being settled by just two points. In the pairs James & Dave G took on Dave McIntosh and Dave E and the scoring went 13-11, 11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 12-10 in Highnam’s favour to round off the match.
Week 13 Result - Debenhams ‘C’ 7-3 Rudford ‘E’
It was the Tony and Paul Show, with T. Williamson and P. Singh winning three games each. Both saw two of their opponents off in either three or four sets, but both found their remaining opponent a tough obstacle to overcome.
Tony after easing into a two set to nil cushion vs. Trevor Seymour was pegged back to two sets all, before Tony eventually finished off 11-5 in the final set. Meanwhile, Paul was involved in a brilliant and nail biting tie with Rich Spry where every set was decided by eleven points to nine, with Paul obviously winning one more than Rich.
Barrie Pope chipped in with a further win, but no more as Pete Humble and Rich both won a point each for their home side.
The doubles was an absolute epic battle with Pete & Rich winning 63 of the 122 points played against Tony and Paul, including the 2nd set winning 24 of the 46 points played and crucially won three of the five sets played.
Week 13 Result - RSV & Friends ‘B’ 7-3 British Energy ‘A’
From left to right: George Evans, Nick Walker, Matthew Sproston, Ben Roberts and
Barney Upton. Inset: Hamza Bham.
All three of the juniors of RSV ‘B’ saw off two of the British Energy opponents with little fuss, but Matthew Sproston on the other hand was a different proposition all together.
Nick Walker, Ben Roberts & Hamza Bham all overcame Barney Upton and George Evans (who was playing up from the ‘B’ team) to win 6 singles points and Hamza added to this by also beating Matthew to complete maximum points for him.
Matthew though was too good for Nick and managed to turn around a 2 set deficit against Ben to record another win.
Matthew and Barney in the doubles gained the visitors’ third point on the night, by defeating Nick & Ben in three sets.
Division 3
Phoenix ‘A’ 7
RSV & Friends ‘C’ 3
Angie Brear yet again showed she is ‘The Queen of Five Set Games’, after winning two ties just like last week (for more details see later on) in a final set situation, and therefore continued her fine run, remaining unbeaten for the home side. Chris East and Trevor Cox both won two apiece.
Brin Davis beat Chris in a five setter and lost to Trevor & Angie in five too so a long evening for him, whilst his teammate Jerry Winter as well lost to Angie in 5 after being 2 sets to the good, but he did bounce back coming from 2-1 down to defeat Trevor.
In the doubles, Brin partnered Mike Gray and they took it in four sets vs. Angie and Trevor.
Rudford ‘G’ 3
Rudford ‘F’ 7
In the standings there is little to choose between these Rudford teams, so consequently when Rudford ‘G’ only fielded two players it was most likely that they were going to struggle to avoid a loss, and that is exactly what happened.
Fabrizio Trifiro was the only player to win two games (one being a 5 set triumph over Luke Woodliffe) with Sten Salisbury, Dave Vye, Luke & Will English winning one apiece.
Tie of the match was Sten coming from two sets behind to oust Will 12-10 in the fifth of a thrilling contest.
Rudford ‘G’ won the doubles in four and as a result gained the last point available.
S.T.R. ‘A’ 5
Grange Baptist 5
Three of the big hitters in this tier met at Oakleaze and Alistair Wood did the best out of them to move above Dave Smith in the averages into second and go further clear of Ian Kellie.
Alistair won all three including coming from a set behind to beat Dave in 4 to make that two losses for Dave in recent weeks after he had been unbeaten for so long. Alistair has also lost just two games this term.
Dave won his other 2 ties in straight sets, while Ian also claimed a brace by winning twice in 4.
Len Horwood (in five over Tony Saxton) and Errol Johnson added to Alistair three points, by winning one each, but they did have to settle for a draw overall as Dave & Ian were far too strong in the doubles when they took on Alistair and Len.
Crypt ‘A’ 1
S.T.R. ‘B’ 9
The rundown of the scoring in this match-up shows you the fine line between winning and losing games. The away side won three ties in five, including one where Abdu Afifi was 2 nil down to Nigel Cullis, and two more in four sets. Okay, Tommies ‘B’ did win 4 ties in straight sets, but the outcome of two them could have easily been different, as Bohan Du (playing up from the ‘C’ team in division four) beat Adam Crabbe 12-10, 15-13, 14-12 and in the doubles two of the three sets played were decided by just two points in a tiebreak.
For the record, Ed Watson & Abdu won three each and Bohan won two, with Nigel Cullis gaining a consolation point for Crypt by defeating in a close three setter.
RSV & Friends ‘C’ 4
Crypt ‘A’ 6
At the twelve attempt at last a win for Crypt ‘A’ this season. Only one team now in the entire league has not won a league fixture.
Crypt were helped by having a 3-0 head start due to RSV ‘C’ being a player short, but they just about made the most of it with Josh Roberts winning both his games and Josh & Nigel Cullis won the pivotal doubles rubber against Mike Gray and Brin Davis in four to seal it after pegged back to 5-4 in the match score.
Mike & Brin fought well by winning two each by couldn’t quite stop Crypt getting that 1st win.
Grange Baptist 9
Rudford ‘G’ 1
A comprehensive victory this for the leader Grange Baptist against one of the strugglers in this division, with maximums for Errol Johnson & Alistair Wood who both dropped just one set along the way. Errol had an unusual first two sets vs. Luke Woodliffe with Luke winning the first 11-7 before amazingly Errol bagelled Luke in the second before going on to win.
Len Horwood backed up his clubmates with two four set wins, but couldn’t quite win a third going down to Luke 11-9 in the fifth to prevent a clean sweep for the hosts.
Civil Service 6
S.T.R. ‘A’ 4
A hat-trick for Dave Smith would normally mean a win for Tommies ‘A’, but not on this occasion due to two wins apiece for Paul Daniels and Phil Lewis, a win for Martyn Brown plus Paul & Martyn doing the business in straight sets in the doubles.
Only a win for Ian Kellie could be added to the away team’s total.
This match in summary was a real mixture of five setters and straight set ties, with 4 for the former and 5 for the latter, so it was an up and down night to say the least.
Week 13 Result - S.T.R. ‘B’ 4-6 Phoenix ‘A’
Very well contested fixture this one, with only 1 tie being settled in the minimum amount of sets needed to be contested.
Chris East for Phoenix was the only undefeated player on the night, by winning a 4 setter & a 5 setter before having a walkover in his third game against Andy Marshall. This was because where Andy lived in May Hill it was snowing heavily and his mother texted him that he had to leave now or he wouldn’t get home! So he left there and then.
Added to this was two five set wins for Angie Brear and another win for Trevor Cox.
In reply, Abdu Afifi won two for the home team and Ed Watson with a further win as a result of grinding out a victory over Trevor Cox 12-10 in a final set.
Tommies ‘B’ pulled back the overall winning margin for Phoenix to two points by just having enough in strange five setter in the doubles (the fifth occasion a tie had gone to the distance). Ed & Abdu won the first two sets at a canter vs. Chris and Angie dropping just four points, but the Phoenix duo did remarkable well to square the score, so that it went to a final set shootout.
The last set was the closest of the lot; in the end Ed and Abdu were victorious 11-9 and avoided the tag of the worst collapse from the strongest position this season.
Division 4
St James 5
Phoenix ‘B’ 5
Two man St James battled back to secure a draw against the visitors from Down Hatherley, with thanks in the main to a hat trick from Alan Page, but Graham Ponter also won one and they combined their talents in the doubles to useful effect winning in a five setter versus Chris Harley and Mike Burgess.
For the away team there was a win for Mike & Emmanuel Byilingro who overcame Graham in a fifth set.
S.T.R. ‘C’ 10
Crypt ‘D’ 0
A real boost this to the total for Tommies ‘C’ as they won every point available to them all in straight sets. For the second week running Crypt ‘D’ fielded just two players and got whitewashed too boot.
Two wins apiece for Hector Palmer, Chris Green and Sammy Hau.
Highnam ‘D’ 4
Crypt ‘C’ 6
Huw Darch who was playing up for Highnam ‘B’ on the other table whilst playing for his normal team, did well to win two matches but could not stop Andrew Perks preserving his 100% record (24 out of 24). Andrew in fact is one of only four players in all the divisions to still be unbeaten this campaign.
Stewart Blencowe for Highnam as well won two, with a win apiece for Crypt’s other two players, Shirley Bailey (who beat Clare Bell 11-9 in a fifth set) and Ollie Perks.
It came down to the doubles to decide the end result and Ollie & Andrew were the victors 11-4 in the 5th against Huw and Stewart to seal a great away win for Crypt ‘C’.
Phoenix ‘B’ 1
One Church 9
One Church are the first team this season to reach the 100 point mark and they have done this in just 12 fixtures.
Three straight sets win for Mark Wilding, a hat trick from Sherif Abdalla with just the one set lost, this to Emmanuel Byilingro and two wins for Graham Warman.
The only tie on the night that went beyond a fourth set was when Mike Burgess took on Graham, which Mike won 11-8 in a 5th set.
This prevented a pointless evening and meant Mike had secured himself and his team a consolation pt.
Crypt ‘C’ 4
S.T.R. ‘D’ 6
An away victory for Tommies ‘D’ over a side, which is well above them in the standings. Harkeerit Kalsi was on top form with a maximum, with two wins from Santos Hau both in 5 setters against Matt Emmett & Ben Woodliffe and a single triumph for Gavin Kwok.
All three Crypt ‘C’ players gained a point each; the players were Ollie Perks, Matt E & Ben W.
To round off the match, Ollie and Matt teamed up against Harkeerit & Gavin and came out on top in the doubles in 4 sets after going a set behind.
Week 13 Result - S.T.R. ‘D’ 0-10 One Church
This really was like men against boys, as the boys from Oakleaze picked up just the solitary set, albeit there were only two of them due to being a player short. Stuart Carver won this set in this tie against Graham Warman.
Two wins then for Graham, Mark Wilding and Pablo Williams including Mark winning one set 11-0.
Week 13 Result - Crypt ‘D’ 0-10 Crypt ‘B’
Crypt ‘D’ are getting further adrift at the wrong end of the table after picking up nothing in this match. It doesn’t help when only seven ties are actually contested on the night due to you not being able to field a third player.
Anyway, Deborah Feltham & Sam Hobbs (no sets lost between them) and Olly Tyndall were not complaining, as they won two each to enhance their season’s points total.
George Evans
Press Secretary
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