Report For 1/4/09

Division One
A Week Of Whitewashes
Cheltenham 'B' played Cirencester 'A' in a match where the 'B' side suffered a 10-0 whitewash. Despite a few close games, Cheltenham 'B', represented by Simon Pratten, Dominic James and John Gaskell were unable to overcome Cirencester's Rob Willsher, Howard Williams and Dave Adamson.

Guy Greening
Division One Secretary

Division Two
Lockleys The Key To Nick Davidson's Average
Two-man Lakeside C overcame Tewkesbury B 6-4 thanks to a maximum for Chris White. Graham Chandler won twice, whilst Mike Maxwell picked up Tewkesbury’s only win on the night, defeating Chandler in four games. 

Cheltenham C picked up a hard-earned 8-2 win over Tewkesbury A. Anand Keshav claimed another maximum, although he was hard pushed by Mike Tyrrell in particular, coming back from 2-0 down to win in the fifth set. Dave Green and Christine Williams both won twice for Cheltenham. Rob Amphlett picked up the two points for Tewkesbury A, defeating both Green and Williams. Tyrrell was particularly unfortunate in his match with Williams, coming back from 2-0 down only to lose 14-12 in the fifth set.

Tewkesbury B earned a hard-fought 5-5 draw with Cleeve Saracens A. Mike Maxwell was in superb form and he claimed an excellent maximum. Mike Dodwell and Tony Iles, playing up from the B team, both won twice for Cleeve Saracens A. Tewkesbury B’s other points came via Simon Lockley and John Teare who both defeated Terry Sims. Cleeve Saracens A claimed a draw as Dodwell and Iles overcame the partnership of Maxwell and Teare in four sets.

Winchcombe Wizards condemned Lakeside D to defeat by the scoreline 8-2. Maximums for Keith Ferguson and Chris Lane were relatively easy to come by. Mike Gleeson and Julie Taylor both completed straight sets victories over an out of sorts Stewart Ratcliffe.

CCS A put Cheltenham D to the sword with a 7-3 away victory. A comfortable maximum from Dave Hart and a brace from Phil King did the damage. Jon Nixon also picked up one win, defeating Richard Gummow in a tight four-setter. Alan Harvey was the pick of the Cheltenham D players, winning twice, and Matt Mulcahy won once, although he was unlucky to go down to King in a ding-dong five-set affair. Hart and King emerged victorious in a close five-set doubles encounter.

Cleeve Saracens A beat Lakeside C by 7-3, but the match was far tougher than the scoreline suggests. The home venue seemed to make the difference and it enabled Mike Dodwell to gain a maximum with both Ross Greening and Terry Sims claiming two wins apiece. Chris White was the mainstay for Lakeside C, winning two matches and teaming up with Graham Chandler to salvage another point by winning the doubles in a closely contested match against the Dodwell/Greening combination.

Winchcombe Wizards completed a comprehensive 9-1 win over Tewkesbury B as top of the table met bottom. Keith Ferguson and Chris Lane both claimed relatively straightforward maximums whilst Nick Davidson won twice. In the most surprising result of the season so far, top of the averages Davidson was defeated comprehensively in straight sets by Tewkesbury B’s almost bottom of the averages Simon Lockley, whose counter-hitting and blocking approach was on fire on the night.

Tewkesbury A claimed a good 7-3 away win over Winchcombe Warriors. Rob Amphlett claimed a straight-sets maximum, although he was troubled by Ray Griffiths, winning 12-10, 13-11, 12-10. Mike Tyrrell picked up two good wins and was unlucky not to pick up a maximum, going down 11-8 in the fifth set against Graham Fisher having been 2-1 up. Ali Lockley won once. Fisher picked up two wins for Winchcombe Warriors and Griffiths came back from 2-1 down to defeat Lockley in an open and attacking contest. Lockley and Tyrrell were victorious in a four-set doubles win.

Lakeside B kept up their chase for second place with a whitewash of Cleeve Saracens B. Maximums for Andy East, Ken Smith and Chris White, playing up, were relatively easy to come by, although East struggled past Mark Nally in five sets and Smith edged out Neil Penny in four close sets. East and White assured the 10-0 win in an entertaining five-set doubles victory over Dave Foulser and Nally, winning 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-4.

Simon Lockley
Division Two Secretary

Division Three
Tigers Leap To Take Title
Cheltenham E were not over extended in a 9-1 win over Cheltenham H, with Carey Maisey and James Bird picking up maximums.

Tirley Tigers continued their domination of the division with a comprehensive 10-0 win over Cheltenham F. Leslie Dewick won all of her sets in straight games, but Tony Saxton had to fight back from two games to one down against Andy Sutherland, whilst Elaine Evans did the same against Tom Parry.

Tirley rounded off their season with a close 6-4 win over nearest rivals Old Saracens, thus preserving their unbeaten record. Some varied playing styles produced interesting results. Tony Childs of Saracens just lost out to Lesley Dewick 10-12 in the fifth game, but won 12-10 again in five games against Tony Saxton. In the only other set which went to five games, Tirley’s Janie Kirby was edged out by John Adcock, but Janie went on to get the better of both Pete McGeough and Tony Childs.

Derek Brown
Division Three Secretary