Division Two
Penny Drops At Cheltenham
A bumper bundle of cards and a week of interesting and significant results this time round, with Saracens B exhibiting the No.37 bus syndrome (nothing for some time then three come along at once).  There were, unusually, three draws this week, but most significant was Lakeside B’s 7-3 win over Winchcombe Legends with maximums (again) for Andy East and Chris Ball; this leaves Lakeside still unbeaten and now equal on points with Legends, but top of the Division by virtue of their unbeatenness and a game in hand.  Although Ken Smith lost all three, Andy and Chris’s consistent strength, plus their doubles win, was enough to secure the victory. Andy was made to work hard for his win over Chris Lane, only squeezing home 12-10 in the 5th and there were a number of other tight 4-setters and close scores of 11-8 and upwards.
 
Saracens B are rapidly becoming the Division’s draw specialists, with three in the first half of the season and three already so far in the second.  While Mike Vick secured a fine max for Winchcombe Warriors, two apiece for Tony Iles and Mark Nally, plus one from Neil Penny rounded off the first of Saracens’ two draws.  Neil was unlucky to come away with only one win (against Graham Fisher), with all his games going to 5 tight sets but just being edged out 11-9 against Mike Vick and 11-8 against Charlie Loh, who conceeded his match against to Tony Iles as a walkover in unexplained circumstances.

Neil again got his moneys worth in the draw against Tirley Tigers, going to five sets against Rob Deeley and Elaine Evans (win), and four against Pete Humble, while Rob Deeley registered a max for Tigers. Pete Humble scored two good wins, including a close 5-setter against Tony Iles by 11-7 in the fifth. Two points from Mark Nally and one each from Tony and Neil, plus the doubles, finally balanced the scores after a see-saw evening.

Saracens couldn’t quite manage a third draw on the trot, going down 4-6 to Cheltenham D despite an excellent max from Mark Nally.  Unfortunately this was matched by an off-form Neil Penny losing all three and it was Cheltenham D’s double win in four sets which gave them a closely-shaded victory.  Tony Iles was unlucky to come away with only one win for his efforts; although losing to Chris James in three, he staged a spirited recovery from 2-0 down against Matt Mulcahy only to lose 11-5 in the fifth, and then nearly did the opposite against Alan Harvey, with Alan staging the comeback from 2-0 down only to see Tony finally snatch the victory by 11-7 in the fifth.

Cheltenham D also achieved a good win over the Lakeside C team of Trevor Oliver, Graham Chandler and Barrie Pope, with Chris James notching up another good max, although he took five sets to subdue Trevor Oliver. Two hard-fought five-set wins by Alan Harvey against Graham and Barrie plus one from Matt Mulcahy gave Cheltenham their six points, but a real ding-dong doubles finally went to Lakeside, where the 11-8 score in the final set was actually the lowest of the encounter!
 
Cleeve Saracens A were in imperious form against Cheltenham C in a very competitive match, with the ever-reliable Dennis Wadley maintaining his near-perfect singles record (only one loss in the season). He was well supported by two each from Mike Dodwell and Ross Greening. Dave Green, struggling with injury, could not manage to register a win despite his best efforts, but Mel Garlick and Chris Williams won one apiece and despite throwing away a 2-0 lead in the doubles against Dennis and Ross – emerged victorious 14-12 in the fifth to secure their third point in a thrilling encounter.  Saracens are still in contention for promotion, only a few points adrift of Lakeside B and Legends, but have played more games.  They may come to rue not being able to find a winning doubles combination as once again this week, despite excellence in the singles, they were unable to reproduce that form in the doubles.
 
CCS A made the most of their opportunity to stay clear of the relegation zone with an 8-2 win over Old Saracens, with another good maximum for Phil King.  It looked as though Judy Morley was set for another max, after winning her opening encounter with Jonathan Nixon in three sets, but she then suffered a recurrence of her injury, twisting awkwardly while trying to retrieve a net cord shot early in her match with Phil.  Although she sportingly played on against Phil, she had to give Steve Murton a walkover, leaving CCS to mop up the remaining singles and doubles for a much-needed win.
 
In the third draw of the week, Cheltenham C played out a see-saw match against Winchcombe Warriors, with Chris Williams scoring a fine max for the home side and Charlie Loh notching up two for Warriors. Cheltenham went into a 4-2 lead but were then being pegged back to 4-4 by Warriors, going ahead again at 5-4 only to see the doubles snatched by Warriors (Mike Vick and Charlie) in three close sets.
 
Slightly bizarrely, Warriors then only managed a 6-4 against short-handed Tewkesbury A, with Rob Amphlett cruising to his second max on the trot (despite dropping a set against Luke Gresty) and pairing with Alan Cook for a straight sets doubles win.

Some more examples of the doubles phenomenon this week!  Winchcombe Legends walked away with the singles against Cleeve Saracens B (although not, it must be said, without stiff resistance in some quarters from the Saracens), but then the Saracens combination of Tony Iles and Mark Nally squeezed home 15-13 in a nail-biting (I’ve found a new adjective) 5-setter against Stewart Ratcliffe and Darrell Wiltshire. 

Not to be outdone, Tirley Tigers (Elaine Evans and Pete Humble), having lost all the singles fairly comprehensively, reproduced the same unlikely feat against Dennis Wadley and Ross Greening of Saracens A to rescue Tirley’s honour with their sole win of the evening.

In the battle of the Lakesides, the 'B' gave the 'C' a 9-1 thumping, with both Chris Ball and Andy East achieving max-es, but Graham Chandler saved the whitewash with a good win in 4 sets against Paul Singh.

Meanwhile, CCS A came out on the wrong end of an 8-2 loss against Tewkesbury A, with Rob Amphlett notching up a good max and Phil King marking up two singles wins for CCS.  Simon Lockley, playing up from the lower Division, did very well to win two of his singles, with some hard hitting, and only just lost out to Phil King in five sets. The evening was remarkable for the number of long matches, which could have turned either way and made for a very different result – five 5-setters and three 4-setters.

Judy Morley, returning from injury, continued to prop up Old Saracens with a brace of max-es against the two College sides, Cheltenham C and Cheltenham D.  Unfortunately, these were the only wins against the C side and Saras went down 7-3, although Dave Green pushed Judy all the way, before finally going down 11-6 in the fifth set.  Against the D side however, a singles win for John Adcock against Chris James plus the doubles (Judy with Tony Child), in addition to Judy’s three, gave them a creditable 5-5 draw.

Tirley Tigers also feature twice this week, losing 9-1 to both Winchcombe Warriors  and Saracens A.  Elaine Evans was the sole singles winner for Tigers, beating Warriors’ Graham Fisher in four sets, while the doubles phenomenon of Elaine and Rob Deeley gave them their one point against Saracens A. Elaine and Rob Deeley also nearly pulled off another doubles success against Graham and Luke Gresty in the match vs Warriors but were just squeezed out 11-9 in the fifth set.  Janie Kirby, although still without a win, took Ross Greening to what I think may be the highest score this season – 19-17.

And finally, Winchcombe Legends – determined to keeps their noses in front of Lakeside B - roll on relentlessly with a 9-1 win against Cleeve Saracens B, with only the doubles standing between them and a 10-0 whitewash. Although, both Tony Iles and Neil Penny took all three Legends players to four and five sets.  Tony did well to come from 2 sets down against Stewart Ratcliffe to level the scores before finally losing out 11-5 in the fifth; if only that second set at 14-16 had gone Tony’s way!