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Division Two
Lakeside Stay Buoyant To Sink Opponents
By the time you read this on the website, you will probably have already heard on the grapevine that Lakeside B finally clinched the Division 2 Championship with a 7-3 away win against Cheltenham C. Early pacesetters Winchcombe Legends were in the runner-up slot, having pushed Lakeside right to the last, while Cleeve Saracens A were a very worthy third, the only team to knock Lakeside off their winning perch all season and with Dennis Wadley top of the individual averages. So congratulations to all three teams.
 
Legends kept up the pressure with an 8-2 win over Cheltenham C, with both Darrell Wiltshire and Stewart Ratcliffe scoring max-es, but it was not to be.  Lakeside’s win also over Cheltenham C saw them home, although Ken Smith had to be reminded that he was playing that night!  But he successfully swapped slippers and beer for trainers and energy drink to notch up a max for Lakeside to go with Andy East’s, although he had to fight hard to overcome Christine Williams in 5 sets after squandering a 2-0 lead.  Mel Garlick and Martin Smith inflicted a rare doubles defeat on Chris Ball and Andy East – only their second of the season.
 
Tirley Tigers achieved the dubious distinction of not managing a win all season – going down 8-2 to Lakeside C in their final match.  Rob Deeley was their only winner, with two, but even he could not get the better of Trevor Oliver who was in fine form on the night, scoring an excellent max for Lakeside. Rob made him work hard for it, though, taking him to five closely contested sets, and also only just managed to edge Chris White out of a max, squeaking home 14-12 in the fifth. Pete Humble was unlucky to come away empty-handed, going down 11-9 in the fifth after a well-fought contest with Graham Chandler.  Cake report: Janie Kirby's famous cakes had a filling of strawberries and cream this week, and was Tirley’s main success of the night.
 
Tewkesbury A versus Old Saracens finished all-square after a see-saw encounter, with both Rob Amphlett and Mike Maxwell scoring two singles apiece and Mike Tyrrell providing the fifth, while for Old Saras, Judy Morley notched up another max to round off a very successful season and combined well with Sheila Matthews to take the doubles in four sets.  Sheila had a real ding-dong against Mike Tyrrell; after going 2-1 down (16-14, 9-11, 9-11), she just squeaked the fourth set 12-10 before going on to take the fifth 11-6.
 
And finally, Saracens B scored a good 6-4 win over higher-placed Lakeside C to ensure that they stayed well clear of the relegation zone.  Neil Penny and Mark Nally notched up two singles each, plus the doubles, while Tony Iles weighed in with a further singles win.  Chris White and Barrie Pope won two each for Lakeside, with Julie Taylor desperately unlucky to come away empty-handed after two 5-setters against Tony and Neil, and a four setter against Mark.  Neil too got his moneysworth for the night, just being squeezed out in 5 sets against Chris White, scraping home 12-10 in the fifth against Julie but losing out to Barrie in four tightly contested sets.
 
That’s All, Folks! Hope you enjoyed the reports over the season, and see you next year – that is if CCS are allowed to stay up !!

Steve Murton
Division Two Secretary

Division Three
G Men Outgun Division Winners
Congratulations to Tewkesbury B who went through the whole season unbeaten, and clearly have no place in such lowly depths as the third tier! At the same time, well done to John Goodchild for heading the individual averages. The handful of games outstanding since the last report have produced significant results which have affected the final placings behind Tewkesbury – in fact with one match still to play, we still do not know which side will finish second.

Cheltenham G were a player short against Tewkesbury B, and consequently went down 9-1. The G side finished their campaign with two notable draws, the first being against Cheltenham E. With a number of games in hand, the E team were looking to take full advantage, but in a match in which no player won all three, a share of the points was a fair reflection of play.

Cheltenham G gained perhaps their best result of the season when they deprived Tewkesbury B of a 100% win record. Simon James inflicted only the second individual defeat of the season upon John Goodchild, and went on to gain a notable maximum. Ryan Godwin provided support by beating Wayne Lippett, and Simon teamed up with Jon Laramy to win the doubles.

In the meantime, Cheltenham E were making best use of their games in hand. They picked up two useful points against champions Tewkesbury B, for whom John Teare and John Goodchild gained maximums.

Cleeve Eagles had stuttered somewhat in the run-in, but put up a spirited performance against Cheltenham E, forcing them to share the points. Whilst James Bird won all three for the Cheltenham side, it was a case of what might have been for Eagles. Joe Seed took James to five games, and both Dan Crook and Derek Brown each lost narrowly to Carey Maisey, in tight five game contests.

With just one match left to play, Cheltenham E have to secure four points against Wincombe Vikings to pip Cheltenham F for runners-up spot, with Cheltenham G and Cleeve Eagles just behind, in what has been an enthralling end to a very competitive season.

Other notable items of interest:

• No fewer than thirteen people turned out to play for Cheltenham F at some stage during the season – either there is some unique attraction in playing for this team, or they regularly find themselves short of players. I will leave you to judge!

• For a while, I was lacking the results from one fixture where no-one has been able to provide me with the details involved, due to the result card ending up in a washing machine! Fortunately the away side were able to come up with the data.

• Tom Warner kept busy by playing for three different Cheltenham sides on various occasions.

• The mysterious ‘M Bush’ appears in the individual averages. I am assured that no such person exists, but nevertheless, his name was included on a result card, and I am unable to find out whose name this should actually be!

• Five players completed fifty sets or more, the highest three being Geoff Wilson (53) John Goodchild (59) and James Bird (60). James will increase this if he plays in the one remaining match.

• Most improved player? – a difficult one this, as I have not seen all of the players, but based upon a comparison with last season, Richard Comley of Cheltenham H gets my vote.

• Finally, thanks to all team secretaries for prompt submission of results.

Derek Brown
Division Three Secretary