Report For 7/2/08

Division One
Wizards Conjure Up A Fine Win Over Depleted Chelsea
This weeks comprehensive division one report is a compilation of the past few weeks results.

A re-arranged game between Newlands and Cheltenham B saw the B team winning by the narrow margin of 6-4, largely due to a maximum from Milan Dragojlovic, supported by Graham Slack who chipped in with two. Milan and Graham then combined to take the doubles and secure the narrowest of victories. Nick Mytton despite his advancing years won two and looks to have been slightly unlucky against Milan losing all the games in deuce.  

Saracens A entertained Chelsea in a match that clearly highlighted that the Saracen's had enjoyed too many pies over the Christmas period which resulted in an 8-2 win for the Chelsea. Both Guy Greening and Bill Dawe enjoyed a maximum of wins, supported by Simon Moysey who chipped in with one. Guy and Bill then combined to win the doubles. The Saracen's points were won by Pete Wood and Alan Smith with a win each over Simon Moysey. It has to be said that Richard Moore's of Saracen's was somewhat unlucky against both Simon Moysey and Guy Greening losing to both in a very close fought battle.

Newlands entertained Cirencester in a match that surprisingly saw the second loss in a week for Newlands and also the second win of the season for Cirencester's Gordon Shaw! Nick Mytton enjoyed yet another maximum, supported by Dave White who won one for Newlands only four points of the evening. The other highlight of this match was the second win of the season for Cirencester's Gordon Shaw with a win over Doug Payne. Cirencester's other points were obtained by Dave Adamson and Howard Williams who both contributed two wins, Dave Adamson then combined with Gordon Shaw to record a good doubles win over Nick Mytton and Dave White to secure the win for Cirencester. 

Cheltenham A played Winchcombe Warriors in a pleasant, if somewhat one sided match, that saw the Warriors endure another heavy whitewash defeat. Cheltenham A, represented by the Harvey family, won nine of their games in straight sets against Mike Vick, Jan De Wet and Richard Bishop, the only minimal resistance being from Jan De Wet who won one game against Robert Harvey before being defeated in four games.

Winchcombe Wizards were heavily defeated in their 8-2 loss against Cheltenham B. Keith Ferguson and Chris Lane of the Wizards won one each against Barry Turner for their only two points of the evening. Graham Slack for Cheltenham B was largely untroubled in winning his maximum and was well supported by his team mates. Russell Hayward enjoyed a maximum which included two hard fought wins over both Keith Ferguson and Chris Lane. 

Cirencester played Saracens in a match where the score card probably does not provide a true reflection of the evening with numerous games being very closely fought. Clearly Dave Adamson was the star of the evening being the only player to win all of his games, supported by his team mates Howard Williams and surprisingly Mike Kiff who both contributed with two wins. It is not known on this occasion whether Mike Kiff employed the Yellow Shirt, Yellow Ball advantage? Saracen's only points were won by Tony Stead who enjoyed a brace of wins over Howard and Mike, but was unable to overcome the strength of Dave Adamson.

Due to the absence of Guy Greening through Illness (back injury) and Bill Dawe, a weakened Chelsea lost to Winchcombe Wizards in their heaviest defeat for several seasons. Keith Ferguson and Choi Sze To of the Wizards each won a maximum and were well supported by Stewart Ratcliffe who contributed with two. Keith Ferguson played particularly well winning his three comfortably, but the match of the evening had to be Choi Sze To who only won her maximum after an epic five set match against David Metcalfe. Dominic Wynn-Sands won the Chelsea's only point of the evening with a win over Stewart Ratcliffe.

Cheltenham B played Winchcombe Cavaliers in a match that saw the second defeat of the season for Milan Dragojlovic, this time at the hands of the talented Luke Moffat. However, the star of the evening has to be Cheltenham's Graham Slack who was the only player to win all of his games. Graham was well supported by his team mates Milan Dragojlovic who won two and Barry Turner who won one. The match between Milan Dragojlovic and the Cavaliers Luke Moffatt appears to have been the match of the evening and was an epic five setter with the first four games being won in deuce. In the fifth game Luke was able to establish his dominance and established a good lead eventually winning 11-7 in the deciding game. Judging by the result card, the match score could have been somewhat different to the 7 - 2 victory enjoyed by Cheltenham B as there were some very closely contested games. Barry Turner of Cheltenham appears to have been a little unlucky in only winning one which included a couple of very close five set matches as did the Cavaliers Stuart Greene who lost all of his games, two of which were very close. The Cavaliers 3 points were won by Luke Moffatt who won two, including that fine win over Milan and Craig Norledge with a win over Barry Turner.

Saracens A played Winchcombe Warriors in a match that saw another fairly heavy defeat for the Warriors who are placed firmly at the foot of the table and seem set to be playing in Division 2 next year. Both Pete Wood and Roy Fowler of the Saracens enjoyed comfortable maximums supported by Richard Moores who won one. The Warriors only two points were won by Mike Vick and Richard Bishop who both enjoyed a win over Richard Moores.

Cheltenham B played Chelsea Building Society who fielded a team that was a player short due to Guy Greening injuring his back on the day of the match. Graham Slack of CTTC won both of his games comfortably and was supported by Russell Hayward who won one. However, the Chelsea made the best of it with Dominic Wynn-Sands winning two of his games against Russell Hayward and Barry Turner, supported by Simon Moysey who had a win over Barry Turner.

Winchcombe Cavaliers played Cheltenham A this week in another match where the score card does not reflect the evening, with numerous very close games that might have gone either way. The final result was a 9-1 win for Cheltenham A with Luke Moffat winning the only point for the Cavaliers with a win over Rob Harvey. Luke had a marathon of an evening with two epic five set matches that included one against the undefeated Dave Harvey and another against young Robert Harvey and a close four set match with Mike Harvey. Both Craig Norledge and Darrell Wiltshire of the Cavaliers enjoyed epic matches with young Robert Harvey where the youngsters talent eventually won through. 

In a re-arranged game Winchcombe Warriors played Newlands that resulted in another 10-0 whitewash for the Warriors who were outclassed by last seasons league winners. Newlands represented by Nick Mytton, Doug Payne and Matt Hartwell were largely untroubled in a straight forward win over the Warriors who were represented by Mike Vick, Jan De Wet and Richard Bishop.

The Winchcombe Warriors and Wizards clashed again in a local derby where the Wizards ran out comfortable winners by 9-1. Choi Sze To and Keith Ferguson of the Wizards won a comfortable maximum over Mike Vick, Jan De Wet and Richard Bishop while the Warriors only point was won by Richard Bishop with a win over Chris Lane.

Winchcombe Wizards played Cirencester in a match that saw a heavy whitewash defeat for the Wizards with the only resistance being offered by Nick Davidson and Stewart Ratcliffe, who each had a five set epic with Rob Willsher before losing narrowly in the fifth. Both Howard Williams and Gordon Shaw of Cirencester were untroubled in winning their maximums against the Wizards that comprised of Nick Davidson, Stewart Ratcliffe and Jacqui Carver.

Division Two
Newlands Give Club Mates The Chop!
Newlands Park B suffered a slight setback in their hunt for the title after stuttering to a 6-4 win against club rivals Newlands Park C. Braces of wins for Ken Smith and Andy Richards were hard to come by, with Richards edging out Chris White in five close sets, and Smith doing likewise against Barrie Pope, but in an even tighter contest. Paul Singh played superbly to win twice for Newlands Park C, defeating both Smith and Andy East, against whom he fought back to win in five sets having been 2-0 down. Nobody was able to claim a maximum on the night, but it went all the way in terms of time. According to Chris White: “In almost 30 years of playing table tennis tonight I’ve witnessed two of the most tedious matches ever played – Paul v Ken followed by Barrie v Ken. Each player gave 100% but nobody played any attacking shots. It was death by chopping!” The tortuous evening was concluded at 11:30 p.m., but that was only due to having rushed through the doubles. What is certain is that this was a terrific team performance from the C team, and Newlands Park B had to dig deep for this crucial victory. Their title ambitions may yet have been dented by their own club colleagues.

Saracens C and Saracens B played out an exciting and hard-fought draw. Mike Dodwell and Dennis Wadley won twice each for the ‘B’ team, but surely the performance of the evening belonged to Mark Nally of the ‘C’ team, who remained unbeaten. However, Dodwell and Wadley combined in the doubles to win and force a draw in an entertaining encounter.

Newlands Park D steamed to a 10-0 win over luckless Tirley Tigers. Maximums for Chris Ball, Mike Gleeson and Julie Taylor ensured a whitewash. Lesley Dewick came closest to winning for Tirley, losing out in the fifth game of a hard-hitting encounter with Taylor.

Saracens D were able to call on two new players as they fought gamely against CCS A. Mike Savage (15 years) and Jim Tyrrell (25 years) both played their first competitive matches for a long while, and helped themselves to debut wins over Jon Nixon. However, it was CCS A who were stronger overall on the night, and relatively straightforward maximums from Dave Hart and Steve Murton ensured the victory by a score line of 7-3.

Division Three
B Team Win Tewkesbury Derby
Promotion hungry Cheltenham E were too strong for Tewkesbury C, who succumbed 10-0. Their main resistance came from Neil Cameron who took all of the Cheltenham players to four games.

Civil Service B scraped home 6-4 against Cheltenham F who were a player short. Cheltenham’s Zac France was the only player from either side to win all of his sets, including a notable victory over Rob Browning, which went to 17-15 in the fifth game.

Civil Service recorded the same scoreline against Cheltenham G, Rob Browning leading them home with a maximum.

Honours in the Tewkesbury derby went predictably to their B side, who nevertheless dropped two points, thanks to Wayne Lippett of the C team. Wayne had a busy evening, with all three of his sets going to five games. Against both Michael Maxwell and Alison Lockley, he went two games up, and then lost the next two, only to comeback to win both sets by the same score, 11-9.

Saracens E were ahead of Winchcombe Eagles in the table, but it was the Eagles who triumphed 7-3. Tiffany Hopton scored a maximum, and Daniel Crook upset the formbook by following suit. Eagles are now a point ahead but have played a match more.