Report From 23/11/04

Division One
Dawe comes knocking
A maximum from Chelsea’s Bill Dawe including a win over Len Vowles, to avenge an earlier season defeat, were the only points Chelsea B.S. could muster against Cheltenham A in the 1^st Division of the Cheltenham Table Tennis League. Cheltenham took all the remaining sets to run out comfortable 7-3 winners.

Jacqui Carver played well to win two sets for Winchcombe Wizards, but they still went down 8-2 to Saracens B. A maximum for Dave Harvey, plus two each for sons Michael and Robert clinched the win for them.

Cirencesters winning run came to a halt when they met Saracens A. Saracens managed to clinch the closely contested match in the doubles by a 6-4 victory. Brian McRandle once again remained unbeaten and Suzie Robinson won two. David Lloyd was Cirencesters best player, winning two of their four sets.

League leaders Smiths A had 3 easy points given to them by opponents Winchcombe Cavaliers because the Cavaliers could only field 2 players. The end result was a 10-0 whitewash for Smiths.

Division Two
Saracens have marathon encounter
Smiths D fought out an exciting draw with Saracens C in Division Two.  Martin Cosnette had a very successful evening when he gained a maximum for Saracens assisted by Dave Foulser who captured 2 sets.  For Smiths Julie Taylor worked hard for her 2 sets win with both Christine Williams and Mike Gleeson taking 1 set apiece, although one of Gleeson’s losing matches against Dave Foulser included 3 deuce games, one of which involved an 18-20 marathon.  Smiths went on to win the doubles and therefore secure a hard earned draw.

Saracens D also had a closely contested match with Smiths B but were just unable to prevent Smiths from pulling off yet another victory by 6 sets to 4.  Andy East caused the most damage for Smiths by claiming a maximum with Dave Dawkins winning 2 sets.  For Saracens Ross Greening recorded an outstanding win over Dave Dawkins in his 2 sets win with Terry Sims and Dennis Wadley, both capturing 1 set apiece.  To earn the victory Andy East and Dave Dawkins teamed up and powered their way to success in the doubles.

Smiths C scored a hard earned victory over Cheltenham C by 6 sets to 4.  Paul Singh and Graham Chandler both won 2 sets apiece with Chris White managing another set, whilst for Cheltenham, Milan Dragojlovic scored a maximum and with assistance from Andy Dyke who won 1 set Cheltenham needed to win the doubles to draw the match, but Smiths had other plans and took the doubles to record the 6-4 victory

Division Three
Winchcombe CCC stumped with 2 loses
Saracens F completed a fine 8-2 victory in Division Three over CCS B thanks to maximums from Tony Child and Pete McGeough. Rob Browning took CCS B's only point in the singles with a five-set win over John Adcock. He then combined with Geoff Wilson to complete a good doubles win.

CCS A thrashed Winchcombe CCC 9-1, with Doug Blades and Steve Murton claiming maximums. It could have been a whitewash but for the battling performance of

Tiffany Hopton, playing up for the Winchcombe side. She came back from being 2-1 down to Jeremy Turberville to take the fourth set 14-12 and the fifth 18-16. It was a terrific match, and somebody had to be the loser. Cheltenham D overcame Winchcombe CCC 7-3 with a brace of wins each for Alan Harvey, Andy Dyke and Matt Mulcahy. However, the star performer was Winchcombe's Dick Prior, who claimed a maximum and salvaged some pride for his team in the process.

Tewkesbury A completed a comfortable 7-3 victory against Saracens F thanks to fine maximums from Mike Tyrrell and Rob Amphlett. Sheila Matthews performed particularly well for Saracens, pushing both Tyrrell and Amphlett hard for their wins. Simon Lockley, returning from injury, was rather off-form and lost all three of his games in straight sets.

Division Four 

Only 4 available for Cheltenham derby

An unusual occurrence happened in the Division Four match between the Cheltenham E and F sides with each team only able to field two players. Consequently, only nine points were available to score instead of the usual ten.

Tewkesbury B were a player short against Cheltenham F who took advantage to secure a draw, the first to be recorded in this division during the current season. John Brayne secured another maximum for Tewkesbury.

Winchcombe Eagles were on the winning trail again with a comfortable win over Cheltenham G, and followed this up with a 7-3 success against an improving Cheltenham H side.

The match between Cheltenham G and Winchcombe Panthers was a closely fought affair, and Cheltenham G just held out thanks to a maximum from Emma Mollison.