Report For 20/2/08

Division One
Two Good Wins For Cirencester
Cirencester played Cheltenham B in a closely contested match in which Cirencester emerged the winners by the narrow margin of 6-4. This win was largely thanks to a hatrick of wins from Dave Adamson that included a good win over Graham Slack supported by his team mates, Howard Williams who won two, and Mike Kiff with one. Cheltenham B's points were from Graham Slack with two wins and Russell Hayward with one. Graham and Barry Turner combined in the doubles to take the fourth and last point of the night.

Saracens A entertained Cheltenham A in a match that saw some excellent games, but resulted in the evitable defeat for Saracens by a 7-3 scoreline. However, it was not all plain sailing for Cheltenham A as Suzy Robinson had two very closely contested games with both Robert and Mike Harvey and looks to have been a little unlucky in both, particularly against Mike losing deuce in the fifth. Tony Stead also enjoyed a good evening with wins over Mike and Robert but was unable to contain with the power of the old man. Dave Harvey of Cheltenham A was pushed hard by Alan Smith who had a rather mixed evening before losing in a closely contested fifth game.
 
Chelsea played Cirencester that resulted in a 6-4 win for Cirencester with each of their players winning two against Dave Metcalfe and Simon Moysey. However, the Cirencester trio comprising Dave Adamson, Howard Williams and Rob Willsher were unable to overcome the strength of Bill Dawe who won a maximum and then combined with Dave Metcalfe to win the doubles and Chelsea's only other point of the evening.
 
Cheltenham B played the Winchcombe Warriors in a match that saw several closely contested games. The Warriors comprising Mike Vick, Jan de Wet and Richard Bishop all enjoyed a win a piece over Barry Turner for the Warriors only points of the evening. Milan Dragojlovic of Cheltenham B was untroubled in winning his maximum and Russell Hayward eventually also won a maximum after eventually overcoming Jan de Wet in four games.
 
Newlands A played Saracens A in a match that probably finished the following day as there were so many closely contested five set matches. Matt Hartwell of Newlands was the only player to obtain a maximum that included two tough four set matches with Alan Smith and Tony Stead and an even close five setter with Suzy Robinson. However, Dave White went even better with all of his matches going to a close and deciding fifth set of which he won two, but was unable to overcome Tony Stead. Saracen's Suzy Robinson clearly enjoyed a good evening and appears unlucky to have only come away with one victory over Doug Payne who surprisingly lost all three. 
 
Cheltenham A played Winchcombe Wizards this week in a match where the Wizards came away with two points. Choi Sze To and Jacqui Carver both had a win over Robert Harvey. Both Mike and old man Harvey enjoyed a maximum although Stuart Ratcliffe pushed Mike all the way before losing in a closely contested fifth game.
 
Winchcombe Warriors enjoyed their first win of the season against a weakened Chelsea side who were a player short due to Guy Greening being injured on the day. The Warriors trio, Jan De Wet, Mike Vick and Richard Bishop all enjoyed a win a piece against Dave Metcalfe and Simon Moysey. Mike and Richard then combined to win the doubles and secure the Warriors first victory of the season.
 
Chelsea played Cheltenham A in a re-arranged game that saw the A side emerge winners by a 7-3 scoreline. Bill Dawe of the Chelsea secured two points with a win over Robert and Mike Harvey but was unable to contain their father, Dave. Probably the most surprising result of the night was the doubles where Dominic and Dave Metcalfe combined to take on the might of Dave and Mike Harvey and emerge the winners in a closely contested fifth set. To quote Dave Harvey, 'Dave Metcalfe looped several excellent balls past both me and Mike and killed some excellent balls at key points in the game. He played seriously well and more than ably backed Dominic up in winning the game.'
 
Cheltenham A played Newlands A in a match that surprisingly saw the first defeat of the season for Cheltenham A against last seasons league winners. Dave Harvey for Cheltenham predictably won all of his singles, although he was pushed to a fifth set by Matt Hartwell who seems to be finding his form again. Surprisingly Alex Kearney lost all of his singles, as did Robert Harvey who incidentally won a maximum the first time around. The Newlands team of Nick Mytton, Dave White and Matt Hartwell each won two games against Robert and Alex.
 
Saracens A played Cheltenham A in a match that saw numerous close games. Suzy Robinson of Saracen's seems doomed against Mike Harvey, losing once again in a very close deciding game after being 9-6 up in the fifth. There was one fantastic game between Mike Harvey and Tony Stead where Tony was 8-0 up in the fifth and then 11-10 down, but Tony recovered well to win a great game 13-11 in the fifth. Alan Smith despite only winning one, also had a great game with Dave Harvey just losing narrowly in the fifth 11-8.
 
Chelsea 3 Cheltenham A 7  
Cheltenham A 4 Newlands A 6 D. Harvey
Winchcombe Warriors 7 Chelsea 3  
Cheltenham A 8 Winchcombe Wizards 2 D. Harvey, M. Harvey
Newlands A 5 Saracens A 4 M. Hartwell
Winchcombe Warriors 3 Cheltenham B 7 M. Dragojlovic, R. Hayward
Cheltenham A 7 Saracens A 3 D. Harvey
Cheltenham B 4 Cirencester 6 D. Adamson
Chelsea 4 Cirencester 6 B. Dawe
Saracens A 3 Cheltenham A 7 D. Harvey

Division Two
Dominic James Steps Up To The Challenge!
 Newlands Park D claimed a 6-4 victory over Cheltenham D in a tightly-contested fixture, but it was an unlikely hero for Cheltenham that ensured the match was so close. Dominic James, currently highly ranked in Division 3, played up and claimed an amazing maximum against Newlands Park D, who have progressed well in to the top half of the Division 2 table in recent weeks. He defeated Julie Taylor, Chris Ball and Mike Gleeson to secure 3 valuable points for Cheltenham. Taylor, Ball and Gleeson all won twice for Newlands Park, although some of these matches were close. Alan Harvey was unfortunate to lose 11-9 in the fifth against Gleeson, whilst Richard Gummow lost by the same margin against Ball. Harvey and James combined brilliantly to thrash Ball and Gleeson in the doubles in straight sets to ensure a 100% win ratio for young Dominic on his debut in Division 2.

CCS A claimed a credible draw with Saracens C despite only fielding two players due to unforeseen circumstances. Dave Hart won all three of his matches and Steve Murton won twice. Mark Nally picked up the only Saracens C singles win of the evening with a straight sets victory over Murton. Saracens required the doubles to ensure the draw, and they obliged, winning in four close sets and preventing an unlikely CCS A two-man win.

Saracens B hosted Newlands Park C and were just pipped to the post by a score line of 6-4. In a closely contested match in which half the games were decided by the fifth set, Newlands came out on top possibly because they won 4 out of 5 of these close encounters. Chris White was on top of his game in attaining his maximum, whilst Paul Singh won twice. This combination also won the deciding doubles. Mike Dodwell managed two for Saracens, aided by a win each for Terry Sims and Ross Greening, in a match that did not seem to want to finish but was very sportingly contested. 

Cheltenham C cruised back to the top of the table with a 9-1 thumping of Tewkesbury A. John Gaskill and Anand Keshav both claimed maximums, whilst Dave Green won twice for Cheltenham. Rob Amphlett was particularly unfortunate for Tewkesbury as all his matches went to a deciding fifth set. He overcame Green, but lost to both Keshav and the still undefeated Gaskill having been two sets to one up in both matches. Cheltenham were relatively untroubled in their other games.

Saracens D overcame Tirley Tigers by a score line of 6-4 in an entertaining match between the division’s two lowest positioned teams. Jim Tyrrell was the star of the night, claiming an excellent maximum, whilst Dave Foulser chipped in with two wins. Elaine Evans also won twice for Tirley, recapturing some of her form. Lesley Dewick and Pete Humble also won once each for Tirley, ensuring that a doubles win could still earn a draw for Tirley. However, Foulser and Tyrrell were just too strong for Dewick and Humble and it led to a good away win for Saracens D.

Cheltenham D 4 Newlands Park D 6 D. James
CCS A 5 Saracens C 5 D. Hart
Saracens B 4 Newlands Park C 6 C. White
Tewkesbury A 1 Cheltenham C 9 J. Gaskill, A. Keshav
Tirley Tigers 4 Saracens D 6 J. Tyrrell

Division Three
Servicemen Shoot Down Saracens
 Saracens E suffered a setback, losing out to Civil Service B 4-6. Jeremy Turberville led the way with a maximum, well supported by Rob Browning who won two. They clinched the match by winning a five game doubles against Sheila Matthews and Roy North.

Cheltenham G gained a useful 6-4 win against Tewkesbury C. All six players notched up at least one victory, but it was Emma Mollison’s maximum which was the decisive factor.

Mick Holder won all three of his sets as Winchcombe Eagles maintained their challenge for third spot, overcoming Cheltenham F 8-2. 

Saracens E 4 Civil Service B 6 J. Turberville
Tewkesbury C 4 Cheltenham G 6 E. Mollison
Winchcombe Eagles 8 Cheltenham F 2 M. Holder


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