WRITE UPS - SEASON 2021/22 BY RUSS KEITH

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W/C 23/05/22 

There were only three matches played this week but the main match was the Handicap Cup Final between the top two teams in Div One. The handicapping system was supposed to level the playing field for all teams but it is definitely a case of these two teams are a class above the rest.  

Div One winners (Martin Parnell, unbeaten Mark Weymouth and Jacob Kodicek) from Shopfitting By SWS  A were taking on Runners up (Tony Sweet, Garry Reed and Glyn Price) from Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A with SWS having to give Chaddy a 21 point handicap in the race to a maximum 500 as this event included a Doubles match.  

First up saw Parnell returning from injury and having to play as all other team mates were cup tied playing Sweet but Sweet started in fine form winning 25-9 and 25-15, thus increasing their lead overall.  Next saw Weymouth lose 21-25 to Reed only to come back with a great 25-9 second end reducing the deficit slightly. Kodicek then scores a maximum 50 points defeating Price 25-14, 25-14 reducing the deficit further. The rivalry continued with Sweet beating Weymouth 22-25, 25-16. Parnell stepped up to play his second game against Price and we saw same vicious attacking top spin smashes but at times Price was there to just block them back and win 25-21, 25-11. The steady left hander Kodicek then showed his form with some great top spin shots backed up with some brilliant retrieving as Reed did his best but lost 13-25, 11-25.   

The score now stood at 256-243 to Chaddy when Price outplayed Weymouth in the first end winning 25-13 but just lost the second end 23-25. Kodicek then quite convincingly beat Sweet 25-10 only for Sweet to come out and play some brilliant table tennis to return the favour beating Kodicek 25-15. The final singles match between Parnell and Reed saw some heavy hitting smashes from both players and some brilliant points but Parnell just came out on top 25-22, 25-24 leaving just the doubles to play with Chaddy 14 points ahead.  

Weymouth had to be persuaded to play the doubles and partnered Kodicek, with Sweet partnering Price and everything to play for. The first end just went to Chaddy 25-24 but with some dogged play it looked like SWS might pull off a remarkable comeback but they fell short despite winning 25-13 leaving the final score extremely close at 423-420 to Chaddy. Congratulations to Chaddy and well played to Shopfitting By SWS.  

Back in the Handicap League Div Three Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) G (Mike Chapple, Adam Forshaw and John Chadwick) had two matches this week and won them both pushing them up the league and in contention for the runners up spot. Their first match was against Horrabridge (Crispin Jordan, David Wilson and John Cook) and they won 404-382 points despite Wilson managing to score 142 points out of a possible 150 for the evening.  

A couple days later they entertained Woodland Fort D but on form Nigel Aston of the Fort came away with a maximum but Fort lost 358-402 with all the Chaddy players only losing to him showing why Aston finished 2nd in the players averages for this league only losing four matches all season. 

W/C 16/05/22 

Eventually the final Div Two match in the normal league season was played between Crafthole B and Astor C with Crafthole starting in second placed and needing at least 8 out of the 10 points available to win the title and the tension could be seen by the whole team of Holly Davis, Antony Shapland and Rui Baretto. It started well for Crafthole with Baretto and Shapland beating Martin Fowler and Bob Vella respectively but then the nerves started to show for Davis who was convincingly beaten 5-11, 12-10, 5-11, 3-11 by Trevor Mole. Crafthole then rallied and won the next three matches only for Mole to step in again and defeat Shapland this time 11-3, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5. Nevertheless Crafthole went on the win the remaining three matches and secure the 8 points they needed to win the Division albeit with good fortune to win 8 out of the 9 tie-breaks played. Congratulations go to the other players in their team, Robert Hallet, Martin Hynes, and Martin Wilcox who all hand a hand in winning the league throughout the season.  

Back in the Handicap league, Div One team Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) D held the key on who would win the league as they had to play both the top two teams in the division. Before the start of Chaddy’s two matches, Shopfitting By SWS A were ahead of Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A by only 5 points so it all came down on how well Chaddy D played against both teams.  First up were SWS A (Mark Weymouth, Jacob Kodicek and stand-in Mike Briggs for Martin Parnell) and they were expected to obtain the maximum 450 points but with Russ Keith unpredictably beating Weymouth 25-17 in the first end the race for top spot was slipping very slightly. However, SWS didn’t lose any more points winning 442-353. 

This meant that when Chaddy A (Tony Sweet, Garry Reed and Glyn Price) played their club mates they could only afford to lose 3 points from their maximum available all night. It started brilliantly with Sweet beating Keith 25-13, 25-15 but then up stepped defender Shaun Gilbert who outplayed Reed in the first end with some incredible table tennis winning 25-15 and thus handing the title to Shopfitting By SWS A. Despite Reed’s first end defeat he did manage to beat Gilbert in a reverse score in the second end. Gilbert also managed to take a 25-20 point end off his ex-team mate Price in a superb match with Price winning the second end 25-23. The final score was 433-372 to the A team. Congratulations go to Shopfitting By SWS A for winning the inaugural Handicap League; however revenge might be on the cards when these two teams meet up in the Handicap Knockout Cup Final next week.  

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) F (unbeaten Ralph Stone, Barrie Oliver and Ian Lindsay) also had two catch up matches in the Div Three Handicap league this week. First up to face them was their G team mates (Mike Chapple, John Chadwick and Adam Forshaw) but despite giving the G team a 10p point handicap the difference between the teams was the brilliance of Stone winning maximum points and only losing 82 points and securing a 381-368 victory.  

Stone again secured maximum points when his team then played Woodland Fort C (Pete Andrews, Ken Chambers and Dave Brown) the following evening but this time they had a 13 point handicap and after some topsy-turvy matches the handicap was just about perfect with Chaddy winning by 372-362 points despite the brave efforts of Andrews and Chambers winning 136 and 135 points respectively and only losing points to Stone. 

W/C 09/05/22  

Continuing with the catch up of postponed handicap matches there were five matches played this week. In Div One the clash of the Titans took place between Shopfitting By SWS A (Jacob Kodicek, Mark Weymouth and stand-in Mike Briggs) and Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A (Tony Sweet, Garry Reed and Glyn Price) and after winning the main league season SWS had to give Chaddy a 26 point handicap. First up Sweet beat Briggs and after a 25-12 win destroyed Briggs 25-3 in the second end. Then in a close encounter Weymouth beat Reed 46-44 (25-19, 21-25) and this was followed with Kodicek quite comfortably beating Price 25-15 in both end. The matches then started to favour SWS who started to claw back the points and when Kodicek beat Price 25-6 and 25-12 they took the lead for the first time at 251-244 points. Then the top two players took to the table with Kodicek beating Sweet 25-22 only for Sweet to come back and win 25-21 and edge out Kodicek 46-47. After fantastic games of table tennis Chaddy just managed to turn the match around winning with a final score of 379-375 after Reed beat Briggs 25-14, 25-22 in the final match of the evening.  

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) D (Russ Keith, Shaun Gilbert and Steve Hill) travelled to Crafthole A (Iain Oxenham, Shirley Luckhurst and Mike Cookson) and had to give the home side 26 points handicap but despite every effort could not gain enough points to overturn the handicap losing 399-430. The evening was full of nets and edges right from the start but this did not deter from some outstanding table tennis played by all parties. The top player saw Gilbert secure 145 points with some incredible defending, with both Luckhurst and Cookson scoring 140 points each.  

Defender Steve Hugh was on form for Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) C scoring 142 points closely followed by attacking Chris Dyson with 140 points in their match against Astor A (Steve Cookson, Tony Powlesland and Steve Garlick) helping their team to a 414-365 victory with both teams starting from scratch. The closest match all evening saw Chris Dunn lose to Powlesland 18-25 only to recover and win the next end in reverse scores with both players winning 43 points each.  

At the bottom of Div two Crafthole B (Anthony Shapland, Martin Wilcox and Rui Barreto) have struggled in the handicap league but when they had to give Woodland Fort B (Mike Willis, Abel Hernandez and Richard Searle a 55 handicap this might have been slightly too much for them. However it was only Hernandez that but up a great fight winning all his games on points but with Crafthole scoring a grand total of 424 points between them Fort lost by 47 points (377). When the top players of each team squared up it was Hernandez who got the better of Barreto winning 25-24, 25-20).  

Astor E (Bob Steele, Dave Harding and Paul Moore) have been enjoying the handicap league with 5 wins out of seven matches but when they visited Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) F (Ian Lindsay, Ralph Stone and Barry Oliver) they probably thought this was going to be a very tough match to get anything out of as the also had to give Chaddy a 14 point handicap. They were up against unbeaten Stone and once again Stone gained maximum points even destroying Steele 25-6, 25-6. Penholder Oliver also had an outstanding evening gaining maximum points with his best match beating Moore 25-11, 25-16.  

W/C 02/05/22

This week we saw the catch up of some postponed matches including the semi-final of the Handicap Cup between Div 1 Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A (Tony Sweet, Glyn Price and Garry Reed) and Div Three Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) G (Mike Chapple, Adam Foreshaw and John Chadwick) who started with a handicap of 247 points. Despite this large handicap it would always be a struggle as Chaddy are one of the top teams in the whole league and their opponents are still very much learning the game. However it was Foreshaw who shocked Reed by beating him 25-24 in one of the ends, but him and his team mates didn’t come close in any other games. The result in the end was a foregone conclusion with Chaddy A booking their final place and the right to play Shopfitting By SWS A winning 499-447.  

In the Handicap League Div One Shopfitting By SWS B (John Palmer, Gary West and Mike Briggs) travelled to Crafthole A (Iain Oxenham, Shirley Luckhurst and Mike Cookson) and had to give the home team a 46 point handicap and with some brilliant matches and some outstanding play Shopfitting By SWS just fell short losing 404-414. However Briggs was the top player securing maximum points followed closely be West on 140 points. Crafthole’s top player was Cookson on 134 points.  

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E (+52) (John Dodd, Jake Neilson and Andrew Courtney) enjoyed the handicap structure and secured second spot in Div Two with a 458 to 388 point win over Woodland Fort B (Richard Searle, Mike Willis and Abel Hernandez) who find themselves at the foot of the table with one remaining match. Chaddy played far better in this competition than the normal league structure with all players contributing some great team points. The tightest match saw Neilson playing Hernandez and the spoils were shared with both played totalling 47 points (25-22, 22-25). Hernandez also just lost by one point to Dodd 19-25, 25-20.  

Woodland Fort A (Jon Goodfield, Brian Luscombe and Norman Hall) have unexpectedly struggled in this competition and even with a 12 point handicap over Crafthole B (Martin Wilcox, Rui Barreto and Martin Hynes) eventually lost 371-400 points. It was Barreto who came away with maximum points defeating Hall 50-32, Luscombe 50-34, and Goodfield 50-30 which made all the difference.  

In Div three Ivybridge (Jeremy Wilcox, Alan Davis and Alan Spencer) have almost secured top spot after beating Astor E (Bob Steele, Dave Harding and Rob Jenkins) 463-265 after Jenkins disappointingly had to retire injured after his first match. Ivy’s top players were Wilcox and Davis both winning 149 only losing a solitary end 24-25 to Harding.  

Woodland Fort C (Pete Andrews, Ken Chambers and Dave Brown) move to second spot despite a defeat of 389-446 against Horrabridge (Crispin Jordan, David Wilson and Dave Vanstone) with Wilson claiming maximum points despite a very close 25-24, 25-24 win over Chambers. Four of the matches saw a player winning one end but then losing the second end which shows the determination in every player to gain points for their team.  

Astor F played two matches this week and on both occasions could only field two players (Jewel Vittle and Glenn Delaney) due to injury and obviously with only two players in each match lost both of them heavily. The first was against Astor E (Steele, Jenkins and Paul Moore) and lost 332-426 and against Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) G (Chapple, Foreshaw and Chadwick) 250-447. 

W/C 25/04/22  

This should have been the final week of our season but due to one reason or another there are still 23 outstanding matches across all divisions.  One of the main contenders for the Handicap League title Shopfitting By SWS A (Jacob Kodicek, Mark Weymouth and stand-in Mike Briggs) secured maximum (450) points over Astor A (+120) (Steve Garlick, Tony Powlesland and Steve Cookson) and it was Garlick scoring 106 points in total and taking 41 points from a possible 50 off Kodicek losing 25-21, 25-20, but this was a one sided match with SWS winning 450-388.  

The Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) team mates from the B and the C teams clashed but the B team only had two players (Jan Walaskowski (139) and Dan Kayes (139) ) and started the match 150 points down including a handicap of 43 points. Despite this the pair put up a brave fight against Steve Hugh (144), Chris Dyson (131) and Chris Dunn (111). The match started with defender Hugh taking on hard forehand hitter Walaszkowski and the first end went to the defender 25-14. Things turned around after that when Walaszkowski found his shots hitting the table more frequently and managed to win the second end 25-20. Hugh finished the evening drawing with Kayes in an extremely close match 24-25, 25-24. Obviously with only two players Chaddy B lost the match 282-429.  

In Div Two Astor D (+98) (Andy Watmore, Nick may and Steve Harvey) continue to favour the Handicap system beating their C team mates (Trevor Mole, Bob Vella and stand-in Rob Jenkins). This was top of table Astor D’s 5th win of the season with only one loss which is the reverse of the C team who maintain second spot showing a loss is not as important as gaining points throughout the full season. Seven of these individual matches swayed both ways with one player wining the first end but then losing the second end, again showing the importance of winning points. Harvey claimed man of the match scoring 147 points followed closely by Mole on 145 points and when these two players met it was Harvey taking the honours winning 24-25, 25-20.  

Astor C also played Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E (Jake Neilson, Andrew Courtney and John Dodd) and with Chaddy having a 79 point handicap only 12 points separating the teams at the end of the evening with Chaddy coming out victorious on 442-430.  Replacing Jenkins in this match Martin Fowler came out as the top player securing 147 points followed by Mole on 145 but with some hard hitting from Courtney and winning 137 points this must have helped his team to the victory. The whole evening was played in the correct spirit of the game with many close matches.  

Lee Mill (Wendy Roberts, Mark Chapman and Richard Smaridge) had a handicap of 62 points made the longest journey in the league when they visited Crafthole B (Martin Wilcox, Anthony Shapland and Rui Baretto). Once again it was Smaridge on fine form scoring maximum points for the Millers followed by Chapman on 144 points. Baretto for Crafthole did however manage a respectable 135 points but lost to Smaridge 20-25, 21-25 and Chapman 22-25, 22-25 but then turned over Roberts 25-9, 25-20. With the final score 466-372 to the Millers they are keeping up their push for the runners-up spot.  

In Div Three leaders Ivybridge (Alan Davis, Alan Spencer and Jeremy Willcocks) lost their first match 364-412 to Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) F with both Ralph Stone and Barrie Oliver winning maximum points and being backed up by Ian Lindsay (112). It was Stone who did most damage only losing an impressive low 81 points in total to the visitors. 

W/C 18/04/22 

As the inaugural handicap season comes to its final few weeks the current leaders of Div One are Shopfitting By SWS B (John Palmer and Gary West) with 2818 points from 7 matches and their match this week saw them win 413- 313 against two player Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) C (+46)  with the help of stand in player Colin Mitchell. The good spirited matches didn’t start well for them with Palmer losing out to defender Steve Hugh 19-25, 18-25 but West then defeated Chris Dunn 25-21, 25-19. West finished the evening on 149 points, one short of a maximum, just losing one end to Hugh by the solitary point but did revenge the loss beating Hugh 25-17 in the final end. Another reversal of fortunes match saw Mitchell lose to Hugh 20-25 and then recover to beat him 25-18.  

Second in the league at present with 2723 points are Shopfitting By SWS C (Steve Foster, Bryn Ford and again Mitchell playing for his own team) but they were up against the formidable team from Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A of Glyn Price, Tony Sweet and Garry Reed. Despite SWS having an 85 point handicap the match finished with all of Chaddy’s playing securing maximum points and winning 450-357. The closest any of the SWS’s players got to Chaddy was Foster winning a total of 40 points (25-18, 25-22) against Reed. However, Foster also had the least points gained when up against Sweet losing 25-12 and 25-9. Chaddy now have a total of 2643 points but have a game in hand over the two teams above them and should surely recover top spot soon.   

Astor A (Steve Cookson and Tony Powlesland) had to call upon Joe White who was registered for a Div Three team to play up for a scratch match against Crafthole A (Iain Oxenham, Shirley Luckhurst and Mike Cookson). The first match of the evening saw Cookson take on Oxenham and the points were shared 46 each overall but then Crafthole won the remaining games and won 444-320. Cookson finished with a maximum whilst his partner Luckhurst finished one point short of the 150 maximum losing one end to Cookson but beating him overall by 24-25, 25-21.  

In Div Two the only match played this week saw the closet finish so far with only one point between the two teams. Astor C (Martin Fowler, Trevor Mole and Bob Vella) started with a 10 point handicap over Woodland Fort A (Brian Luscombe, Jon Goodfield and Norman Hall) and the match finished 395-396 to Astor. The matches swayed both ways throughout the evening with Fowler beating Luscombe 50-41 and then Goodfield beating Mole 50-31. Astor then came back with Vella beating Hall 50-34 only for Fort’s Goodfield to defeat Fowler 50-47. This swapping of wins continued for the rest of the evening and it all came down to the final match to decide the overall winners. With the total score of 345 to Fort and 356 to Astor, Goodfield knew he had to overcome Mole by 36 points for the win and 37 for the draw. Goodfield took the first end 25-19 setting up a tense final end but despite winning again by 25-19 lost the overall team match by the solitary point.  

Ivybridge (Alan Spencer, Jeremy Wilcox and Alan Davis) are now the current leaders of Div Three after they played now second placed Crafthole C (Pete Nicholson, Sam Bacon and Trevor Luckhurst) and won by 433-383 despite giving Crafthole a 62 point handicap. Crafthole seem to be relishing the handicap system after their disappointing season in the main league and although they have won only two matches and lost four they are scoring many points against their opponents helping their league position. Davis was the top player of the evening gaining a maximum and destroying Nicholson 25-7, 25-7. In one particular match, youth prevailed over experience with 18 year old Bacon beating 75 year old Wilcox 25-20, 25

W/C 11/04/22 

Lee Mill and Astor D are both vying for the top spot in Div Two and this week met each other in a very close match. Lee Mill (Ann Warren, Mark Chapman and Richard Smaridge) overcame a resilient and rejuvenated Astor D (+58) (Nick May, Andy Watmore and Steve Harvey) and managed to inflict the first defeat of the season on Astor by 397-384.  Smaridge once again scored a maximum amount of points whilst only losing 65 points beating Harvey 25-17, 25-13, Watmore 25-11, 25-8 and May 25-6, 25-10. Despite the loss Astor still lead the league with 2242 points followed by Lee Mill on 1975, a difference of 267 with only one more match for each of these teams.   

Meanwhile Astor C are now currently bottom of the league but by only one point from Crafthole B despite a convincing 440 to 346 win over Woodland Fort B (+33). Astor’s team of Martin Fowler, Bob Vella and Trevor Mole only lost 10 points throughout the whole evening with the biggest win coming from the bat of Fowler beating Keith Phillips 25-8, 25-11. However Phillips did take an end off Vella beating him 25-16 but then lost the following end 20-25.  

In Div Three Astor E (Dave Harding, Paul Moore and Rob Jenkins) made up some ground over Horrabridge (+32) (Dave Vanstone, David Wilson and John Cook) with a 418-375 victory. The two teams are now only separated by 4 points. Jenkins was the top player scoring a maximum 150 points and losing 104 points, this was closely followed by Moore winning 149 points and losing 105 points. Jenkins victories included a 25-16, 25-20 defeat of Cook, a 25-15, 25-20 win over Wilson and finally a 25-19, 25-14  triumph over Vanstone.  

Despite losing their fourth match from six played Woodland Fort C (Pete Andrews, Ken Chambers and Dave Brown) are top of the table but have played a match more than most of their chasing opponents. This week they lost 412- 382 to Ivybridge who started with a 31 point handicap but without the handicap the match would have been won by a solitary point. The best match of the evening paired Alan Spencer against Chambers with Spencer winning the first end 25-24 only for chambers to return the favour beating Spencer 25-24 thus drawing this individual match. Chambers however secured managed to secure a grand total of 149 points for his team beating Jeremy Willcox 25-15, 25-20 and Alan Davis 25-14, 25-15. 

W/C 04/04/22 

In Div One this week most of the matches involved club handicap matches but with Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) B turning up with only two players against their A team mates this was going to be an impossible task to win the match so it was all about individual performances. With this in mind Jan Walaszkowski of the B team did manage to defeat Garry Reed 25-17, 25-22 but all the remaining games favoured their opposition 430-272 with Tony Sweet winning a maximum 150 points.   

Despite Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) D (John Steuart, Steve Hill and Shaun Gilbert) being a lower ranked team than their team mates Chaddy C they had to give them a 26 handicap due to having a great performance in the standard league previously in the season. It wasn’t until the end of the fifth match that the handicap was wiped out with Steuart beating Chris Dunn 25-24 and then turning on the style to win 25-9 in the second end. Then Gilbert and Steve Hugh squared up and with everyone thinking this would be a very long defensive game saw Gilbert opening up with some perfect shooting and thus defeating Hugh 25-14, 25-16. The man of the man was Steuart taking maximum points in his team’s 406-362 first victory in the handicap league.  

The other Club match featured Shopfitting By SWS B (Mike Briggs, John Palmer and Gary West) against their C team mates and with some fantastic banter amongst great friends the C team (Steve Foster, Colin Mitchell and Bryn Ford) managed to win 409-392 with the help of their +37 handicap and the fact that Mitchell did defeat Palmer 25-6 and 25-7. Mitchell also managed to take an end of Briggs 25-19, who normally manages maximum points, after losing the first end 16-25.  

Crafthole A had the daunting task of playing one of the best team in the league visiting Shopfitting By SWS A and with SWS’s Mark Weymoth, Jacob Kodicek both taking maximum points and stand in player Briggs also claiming max points, none of the Crafthole players came anywhere near their opponents with Iain Oxenham getting their best total of 95 points in their 390-450 defeat.  

Crafthole C (Trevor Luckhurst, Sam Bacon and Mike Kinger) now lead Div Three after their win over Woodland Fort C (Pete Andrews, Ken Chambers and Dave Brown) who now are in second place. Crafthole started the match with a +93 handicap but with some great performances taking extra valuable points off their opponents won by 460-400. Four of the matches swayed both ways with one player winning the first end and the other player the second end proving how close this match really was. Luckhurst in the final game of the evening lost the first end to Chambers 10-25 but came back to the table to then win 25-21 proving how much the game can change with a bit of luck and a good performance. 

W/C 21/03/22  

Previous winners of the main season in Div One Shopfitting By SWS A (Mark Weymouth , Martin Parnell and Jacob Kodicek) still look unstoppable in the new Handicap League were every point won counts towards the team’s league total. This week they played Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) C (Steve Hugh, Chris Dunn and Chris Dyson) and had to give them a 120 point handicap. Every match except one went the way of SWS winning by 50 points to something and in most cases this was kept below 20 points and as low as 4 points. It started badly for Chaddy when Weymouth demolished defender Hugh 25-4 in the first end and then by 25-14. Parnell then beat Dunn 25-12, 25-12 and Kodicek beat Dyson 25-12, 25-9 showing their complete dominance. Table tennis is a game of styles and this showed in the last game of the evening when Hugh recovered and managed to take an end of Parnell 25-23 despite losing the first end 16-25. The final score favoured SWS by 448-371 even with Chaddy’s 120 handicap.  

Once again Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) B (+3) only had two players (Jan Walaszkowski and Dan Kayes) due to work commitment, this time against Shopfitting By SWS B (John Palmer, Gary West and Mike Briggs). With a mixture of fortunes the first game saw Palmer beat Walaszkowski 25-15 but then lose 13-25 and the same thing happened when Kayes beat West 25-23 and then lost 23-25. Kayes once again had mixed fortunes in losing to Briggs 17-25 only to go on and defeat him 25-19 in the second end. With only two players and very close matches Chaddy were always going to lose this match as they were never going to recover from basically giving SWS a 150 points right from the start for only having the two players and the final score saw SWS win 390-278 despite a great evening of entertaining table tennis all played within the spirit of the game.  

In Div Two Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E (Andrew Courtney, Jake Neilson and John Dodd) seem to have improved immensely especially Neilson who came away with a maximum 150 points against Crafthole B (Martin Hynes, Martin Wilcox and Anthony Shapland) and with a 101 point handicap easily won 483-394. However the games did swing from team to team with Crafthole winning the individual matches 5-4 when Chaddy lost 2-8 in the previous standard league match earlier in the season.   

The handicap league does prove a point that when every point is a league point for your team you might be losing but those few extra points can make all the difference in the final league positions and many points have ultimately been won when one player is on the cusp with 24 points and the other player still manages to win maybe a few more points before their opponent closes out the match on 25 points. 

W/C 14/03/22  

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A had to give Shopfitting By SWS B a 48 point handicap this week in Div One but despite this and with Tony Sweet winning a maximum 150 points Chaddy won the match by 432-369. As this is more of a team game now it is up to every player to get as many points they can and SWS’S John Palmer could only manage 85 pts. His team mate Gary West was their team’s top player securing 130pts.  

Great friends played each other when Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) D hosted Shopfitting By SWS C (+17) and throughout the evening the match play was at times outstanding along with the friendly banter which made for a great evening. Five of the matches swayed both ways with one player winning the first end and then losing the second end. SWS’s Bryn Ford was the best player on the night winning 144 points with team mate Colin Mitchell one point behind. Chaddy were without their top player but this was no excuse for losing 382-438.  

Astor A (+43) and Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) B turned up a player short meaning the teams both lost the chance to gain 150 points over all the other teams. Chaddy’s Dan Kayes was the top player winning a maximum 150 pts followed closely by his team mate Jan Walaszkowski on 144. Their opponents, Steve Cookson and Steve Garlick finished on 142 and 127 pts respectively. Chaddy B now lead the division but have played a game more than following pack.  

There we no maximums for any players when Crafthole A took on Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) C with the game starting level on handicaps. It was however Crafthole’s Mike Cookson (143) and Shirley Luckhurst (141) who made the difference in the match securing their team a 417-385 win.  

In Div Two Lee Mill relied once again on Richard Smaridge to acquire maximum points and once again he accomplished it keeping the points against him to a low level. He was closely followed by Mark Chapman on 140 pts and ‘shoeless’ Ann Warren on 131pts. Their opponents Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E just fell short even though they had a +39 point handicap losing 392-421 with Andrew Courtney being their top player winning 125. John Dodd went back to more of an attacking game this week but came up short with only 116 pts. This result now sees Chaddy in second place 15 points ahead of the Millers.  

Despite their second defeat in the league Woodland Fort A now lead the division by the slightest margin of 4 points proving ever point counts in this competition and this is despite their 395-508 defeat to Astor D (+108). Fort’s Brian Luscombe gained maximum points despite his team’s loss and Astor’s team of Steve Harvey (137), Andy Watmore (140) and Nick May (123) but up a very brave fight.  

With a handicap of +22 Astor C could have done with a further 26 points as they lost 396-422 against Crafthole B with no player winning a maximum but Crafthole’s Rui Baretto (147) and Martin Hines (145) came extremely close.  

In Division Three we saw the closet match so far in the Handicap League were Crafthole C starting with a 94 point handicap just lose the match by only 3 points to Astor E (434-437).  Astor (Robbie Jenkins 150 pts) knew the intensity of not dropping many points and trying to beat their opponents by a greater margin as they only dropped 13 points from their maximum target and keeping Crafthole below a winning margin.  

Due to player problems, Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) G only had two players and knew they were on for a defeat against Ivybridge before the match started but as the competition is all about points Chaddy but up a really brave fight and only dropped 6 points from their achievable target of 300 with Mike Chapple gaining a maximum and John Chadwick 144 pts. The final score being 404-294 to Ivybridge. 

W/C 08/11/21

Mark Weymouth of leaders Shopfitting By SWS A in Div One maintained his 100% unbeaten record winning all his three matches in straight games when playing Astor A, this was backed up with a maximum from standing player Mike Briggs and a brace from Martin Parnell who lost to Steve Cookson 11-5, 10-12, 6-11, 8-11. Parnell also found himself 1-2 down against John Sherlock but turned it around to win 11-5, 11-8 in the last two ends.

In an outstanding match between Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A and D, Tony Sweet of the A team, lost his unbeaten run to some brilliant defending from Shaun Gilbert. This was Gilbert’s first ever win over Sweet and the match did not disappoint right from the start with Gilbert frustrating Sweet and winning the first end 11-8. Sweet managed to level reversing the score but Gilbert won the third end 11-5. With the pressure on Sweet he managed to level the match again on a tie-break 13-11 win. The fifth end saw Sweet attack from the off but with some dogged defending Gilbert won 11-9. Gilbert also went on to lead Garry Reed 2-1 but Reed had to retire through an injury and in the doubles he partnered Russ Keith to win the doubles 11-5, 5-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-7. It was Glyn Price’s night though taking a maximum for Chaddy A in their 7-3 win.

Briggs playing for his own team Shopfitting By SWS B picked up another maximum in his team’s 6-4 victory whilst travelling to Crafthole A. Crafthole had 16 year old Holly Davis playing up and she managed to defeat John Palmer albeit winning two tie-breaks 12-10.

Astor B are still languishing at the bottom of the table with John Turner not playing due to an injury and again had to call on Bob Vella to play up. The visitors Shopfitting By SWS C ran out 9-1 winners with maximums from Colin Mitchell and Steve Foster with Astor’s only point coming from Les Cole beating Bryn Ford. 

The long distance match between Crafthole B and Lee Mill in Div Two saw Lee Mill take the long journey home with only the solitary point coming from Mark Chapman beating Rui Barreto. Crafthole’s Martin Wilcox didn’t drop a game in any of his matches whilst Robert Hallet despite winning all three had to fight back from nil-2 down to defeat Champan 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 and with this victory Crafthole lead the division by a solitary point.

With the first 10 nil defeat in this division Astor D hold up the rest of the teams and it was their team mates from the C team that inflicted the whitewash. However Trevor Mole had a scare whilst playing Steve Harvey as he found himself nil -2 down only to recover to win a third end tie-break 12-10 and then go on to win the next two games. 

Ivybridge, Jeremy Willcox, Alan Spencer and Alan Davis, the current leaders in Div Three had to play three matches this week but in their match against Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) F secured a 9-1 win with only Davis losing to Rob Batten and now lead the division by 3 points.

The only other match in this division had the same 9-1 score line going in favour of Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) G over lowly Crafthole C. Adam Forshaw and John Chadwick secured their maximums whilst Chris Hemmings picked up a brace only losing to Trevor Luckhurst.

W/C 01/11/21

Shopfitting By SWS A, the leaders in Div One, inflicted Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) D’s first defeat of the season beating them 9-1 with Steve Hill beating stand-in player Mike Briggs in straight games to salvage a point for Chaddy. Russ Keith was unlucky not to gain his team a second point but lost out to Martin Parnell 11-6, 5-11, 7-11, 12-10, 13-15.

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A, second in the league, also secured a 9-1 victory over Shopfitting By SWS C and surprisingly it was Bryn Ford who stopped the whitewash beating Garry Reed 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9. Unfortunately Shopfitting By SWS’s Colin Mitchell had to withdraw from the match after suffering an injury in his first match against Tony Sweet.

At the lower end of the table it was a night of ‘Firsts’ when Astor A met Crafthole A. It was the first time this season that the Cookson brothers met with Steve (Astor) edging out Mike (Crafthole) in very close match 11-6, 10-12, 6-11, 12-10, 14-12. There was also a first maximum of the season for Steve Garlick and John Sherlock managed his first brace. With Crafthole missing Shirley Luckhurst, stand in Rui Barreto played well but Astor ran out 9-1 winners.

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) B, Jan Walaszkowski, Dan Kayes and Tau Manonge turned on the style whitewashing a depleted Astor B with Les Cole putting up a dogged battle against Kayes losing out 11-6, 5-11, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11.

In Div Two Crafthole B took advantage of their closest rivals Woodland Fort A only winning 6-4 by beating their opponents Astor D 9-1 and now lead the division by a solitary point. Crafthole had young Holly Davis playing her first match on the season and taking a maximum along with Bob Hallett. Steve Harvey gained the only point for Astor beating Anthony Shapland in the very first match of the evening.

As mentioned, Fort A only won 6-4 over Astor C but none of the players could defeat Trevor Mole who took his first maximum and the doubles with Martin Fowler. Vella playing in his own division was unlucky not to beat Brain Luscombe but lost both the tie-breaks played. Vella and Fowler did however suffer their first ducks of the season.

Two player Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E suffered a 3-7 defeat to Woodland Fort B with Abel Hernandez taking a maximum for the Fort. Chaddy’s Andrew Courtney should have had a maximum as he was two sets and 10-7 up in the 3rd game against Hernandez only to lose the next 5 points and the remaining 2 games.

A top of the table clash in Div Three saw a draw between Astor E and Horrabridge and it was Crispin Jordan who stood out in the match taking his first maximum of the season for Horrabridge. Astor found themselves 1-3 down only to fight back to lead 4-3 and 5-4 but with Jordan partnering John Cook they won the doubles to draw the match.

Another drawn match saw Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) G play Woodland Fort D and it was Forts’ Nigel Aston who stood out taking a maximum and the doubles with Dave Backholer. Aston’s strangest match saw him beat John Chadwick 11-1 in the first end but then he went on to lose the next two games. However, Aston then upped the pace winning the final two ends 11-6 and 11-5.

With several players registered for Crafthole C they could still only manage to field two persons in their 1-9 loss to Ivybridge but it was good to see young Sam Bacon improving with every game, especially beating Jeremy Wilcox 4-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-5.

W/C 25/10/21

In Div One club mates from Astor A and B met and one match in particular was going to be of some interest with neither John Sherlock (A) nor Tony Powlesland (B) having won a point this season. Sherlock, playing with a knee injury, took the first game 11-4 but Powlesland recovered with a 15-13 tie-break win only for Sherlock to claim the point winning the next two games 11-9, 11-6. Steve Cookson’s maximum for Astor A secured a 6-4 victory.

Crafthole A have played the top two teams in the division in the last two weeks and it has been disappointing for Mike Cookson and Iain Oxenham who unfortunately, especially playing so well, have come away with no points and this was the same when visitors Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) D arrived this week. Chaddy arrived at Crafthole expecting their first defeat of the season without their top player Shaun Gilbert but with some fantastic play, not only from Chaddy but Crafthole as well, the visitors walked away with an 8-2 thanks to a dogged display from Steve Hill taking a maximum in some tough games. Shirley Luckhurst taking the points for Crafthole.

Shopfitting By SWS B (Mike Briggs, Gary West and John Palmer) whitewashed Astor B with Palmer claiming his first maximum of the season but it was Astor’s Tony Powlesland, despite not winning a match so far, who pushed Gary West all the way and only just lost 11-13 in the fifth end tie-break.

Steve Hugh of Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) C picked up his second maximum of the season so far making light work beating all of Astor A’s players in straight games. He was backed up with braces from Chris Dunn and Chris Dyson in their 7-3 victory. Dyson should have claimed his first maximum of the season after being 2-nil up against Steve Garlick but lost the next three ends all 8-11.

The long awaited top of the table clash between Shopfitting By SWS A and Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A was thrown into confusion with SWS turning up for the match to find their visitors thought the match was the following evening. Chaddy have conceded the match and an adjudicated score will be awarded to SWS at the end of the first half of the season.

In Div 2 Crafthole B (Anthony Shapland, Rui Barreto and Bob Hallett) inflicted a first defeat of the season on Woodland Fort A (Brian Luscombe, Mike Willis and Jon Goodfield) but strangely there were no maximums for any players in Crafthole’s 7-3 win. The Crafthole players all took braces whilst Fort all took single points but all defeating different opponents. The outstanding match of the evening saw Luscombe 2 nil up against Barreto, only to be pulled back to 2-a-piece and in the final game Luscombe survived the tie-break winning 12-10. With this victory Crafthole are now only 2 points behind Fort at the top of the table.

Crafthole C in Div 3 could only field two players so their match against Woodland Fort D was already made so much harder but Pete Nicholson and Sam Bacon both managed a solitary point and the doubles but lost 3-7. Both Keith Phillips and Dave Backholer of Fort were undefeated.

W/C 18/10/21

Despite leaders in Div One, Shopfitting By SWS A whitewashing Crafthole A, Mark Weymouth (SWS) stated that his match against Mike Cookson was probably the most enjoyable match he has played in many years with his opponent playing absolutely superbly only just losing 11-13 in the fifth game.

SWS B played their team mates from the C team and again Mike Briggs took a maximum only dropping one game to Colin Mitchell (2) and his wins helped secure a 6-4 victory.

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A, Tony Sweet, Glyn Price and Garry Reed, whitewashed their B team mates Tau Manonge, Jan Walaszkowski and Dan Kayes to keep up the pressure on the leaders.

Another club clash saw Chaddy D take on Chaddy C with the D team having Shaun Gilbert (3) finding some great resilience in defeating Steve Hugh. With both players defending, some of the rallies went on for what seemed ages but it was Gilbert, with his odd smashes that prevailed winning 4-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3.

Woodland Fort A (Brian Luscombe 3, Jon Goldfield 3, Norman Hall 2) in Div Two look like odds on favourite to win the league already with a 9-1 win over Lee Mill who had Richard Smaridge returning for his first match of the season and taking the solitary point.

No maximums where recorded between Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E and Astor C but 5 sets all went to the fifth game and with the score 6-4 favouring Astor, these matches must have been very closely fought.

Chaddy’s Andrew Courtney must have been a tired man after all his matches went to the fifth end especially when beating Trevor Mole 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11, 16-14.

Records were broken in Div Three when Astor F hosted Crafthole C. Firstly the oldest player in the league, Astor’s Cecil Downing, a young 88 years played one of the youngest players 17 year old Sam Bacon but youth prevailed with Bacon winning 11-5, 11-3, 10-12, 11-6. However when Bacon played the second oldest player 87 years old Mike Perry experience had the better of youth with Perry winning in straight games 11-6, 13-11, 11-5. Perry had previously won his first match of the season beating Pete Nicholson also in straight games. Downing also managed to defeat Nicholson, but in five games, to win his first match of the season. Trevor Luckhurst for the visitors also broke a record winning his first maximum of the season helping his team to a 7-3 victory. 

Crafthole C also played leaders Woodland Fort C and were whitewashed despite a valiant effort from Trevor Luckhurst. Fort remains the only team in this division to be undefeated.

Two player Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) G only just lost 4-6 to second placed Horrabridge but it could have been worse if Mike Chapple hadn’t taken a fine maximum. With the score 5-4 to Horrabridge Chapple partnered John Chadwick in the doubles to try and save the match and despite leading in the fifth end lost 11-13 to David Wilson and John Cook.

Astor F are rooted to the bottom of the division after losing 2-8 to Woodland Fort D with Joe White gaining his first point after joining the Astor team with super veteran Downing obtaining the other point. Fort had Dave Backholer winning his first maximum accompanied by Nigel Aston also securing a maximum.

The spoils were shared when Astor E hosted visitor Ivybridge with Robbie Jenkins taking a maximum for Astor and despite his team mate, Dave Harding playing well, Hardings luck has deserted him losing 4 out of 5 tie-breaks he played against Ivybridge.

W/C 11/10/21

Even at this early stage of the season Shopfitting By SWS A (Mark Weymouth, Martin Parnell and Jacob Kodicek) have taking over the top spot, as expected, after whitewashing Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) C. Steve Hugh of Chaddy came closest to winning a point taking Parnell to a fifth end.

Shopfitting By SWS A closest rivals Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A (Tony Sweet, Gary Reed and Glynn Price) managed a 9-1 victory over Crafthole A with Shirley Luckhurst saving the whitewash defeating Price 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 13-11. Price also had a scare whilst playing Iain Oxenham after finding himself 1-2 down but found the strength to win the final two games 11-4 and 11-6.

‘Consistant’ Mike Briggs of Shopfitting By SWS B came away with a well-deserved maximum when they visited Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) B and his points obviously helped to secure the 6-4 win. The most intriguing match of the night was between Chaddy’s Dan Kayes and SWS’s John Palmer. It started with Palmer winning the first end and then Kayes winning the next two, only for the fourth end to be an epic ending 19-17 in favour of Palmer thus taking the match to a deciding game. Kayes then upped his game to win 11-6. 

Despite Steve Cookson’s maximum for Astor A his team suffered a 4-6 defeat at the hands of Shopfitting By SWS C with only Colin Mitchell taking a game off him and that was a 12-10 tie-break. Unfortunately Astor’s John Sherlock is still suffering with knee problems which doesn’t help their score-line every week.

A depleted Astor B had to call on the help of Div Two Bob Vella to stand in for regular player Les Cole but with nothing to lose Vella put up a brave fight against Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) D but came away with a duck along with his team mates John Turner and Tony Powlesland as Chaddy’s Steve Hill, Shaun Gilbert and Russ Keith just proved slightly too strong. Hill was playing with a brand new rubber after only about one hours of practice with it, which is a remarkable achievement as it was completely different from his 30 year old previous rubber. The match was almost a whitewash for Astor as Turner and Powlesland found themselves 2 nil down in the doubles to just defeat Gilbert and Keith 13-11 in the final end of the evening.

Back in his own Division Vella managed a brace along with his Astor C team mates Trevor Mole and Martin Fowler, playing their first match of the season, and secured a 7-3 victory with Woodland Fort B’s Abel Hernandez putting up a real fight also taking a brace. Vella was 2 nil down against Mike Willis but summoned the strength to win the remaining games 11-9, 11-2, 11-9.

Woodland Fort A are expected to do well this season and with John Goldfield (3) playing well and being backed up Brian Luscombe (2) they should be contenders for the league title but Astor D’s Steve Harvey (2) did all he could to dent their hopes but Fort came away with a 7-3 victory.

Crafthole B had Martin Wilcox and Bob Hallett both taking maximums beating Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E 8-2, Chaddy are having mixed fortunes this season after being promoted with John Dodd not firing on all cylinders and even losing to Martin Hynes 11-7, 6-11, 4-11, 12-10, 10-12.

There was a surprise in store for current leaders of Div Three Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) F took on their lower ranked G club mates, but Adam Forshaw, John Chadwick and Mike Chapple all obtained braces in their 6-4 victory, nevertheless they all lost to unbeaten Ralph Stone of the F team in straight games. Unfortunately Stone will not be available for the next 5 or 6 matches, much to the relief of the other teams! The closet match of the evening saw Chadwick come from 1-2 down to just defeat Barry Oliver but he required two tie-breaks to achieve it 13-11, 12-10. 

Woodland Fort C overtook Astor E in the league to move to second position thanks to their 8-2 victory with Pete Andrews and undefeated Ken Chambers both securing maximums. Andrews did have a scare after being 2 nil up, Dave Harding levelled the match but came short in the fifth game losing 11-4.

There were no less than 10 tie-break games when newcomers Horrabridge (Crispin Jordan, David Wilson and Dave Vanstone) hosted Woodland Fort D (Keith Phillips, Dave Backholer and Nigel Aston) and strangely they evened themselves out sharing 5-a-piece. It started with Phillips winning the fifth game against Jordan and then Wilson won two games 12-10, 12-10 against Backholer to level the sets. Not to be left out Vanstone then beat Aston 15-13 in the first game only for Aston to level with a 13-11 win in the second game but it was Astons’ evening obtaining the only maximum of the evening even beating Wilson 11-4, 10-10, 12-14, 12-10. The match even ended in a draw.

W/C 04/10/21

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A, of Div One, had a tough match against Shopfitting By SWS B in winning 7-3 thanks to an unbeaten start of the season from Tony Sweet who only lost one game to Mike Briggs (1). However it was SWS’s Gary West who managed to secure a brace beating Glyn Price and Garry Reed both in four ends.

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) B had Tau Manonge on fine form securing his first maximum of the season with some great looping throughout although he had a very close and tightly fought match against Astor A’s Steve Cookson with 3 games going to tie-breaks but came out winning 8-11, 14-12, 12-10, 13-11. One of the best shots that anyone in the league could have played was a brilliant round the net shot (which is permissible) but not only did it go around the net it just rolled on the table (also allowed) and left his opponent Steve Garlick in disbelief. Cookson also suffered tie-break defeats to Dan Kayes 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 8-11, 10-12. Manonge’s team mates Kayes and Jan Walaszkowski both followed up with braces to secure a 7-3 victory. 

It was all square at the end of the evening between Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) D and Shopfitting By SWS C but none of the Chaddy players could defeat the steady play and hard hitting of Colin Mitchell. Chaddy did take a 3-1 lead only to be pegged back and found themselves losing 3-5 before levelling the match. SWS’s Bryn Ford and Steve Foster both defeated Russ Keith by 10-12 in the fifth game were at one stage Keith was 10-6 up against Foster only to lose the game. Chaddy’s John Steuart who last week suffered a duck did find his form in beating Ford and Foster.

Crafthole A (Shirley Luckhurst 2, Mike Cookson 2, Iain Oxenham 1) have now won 2 matches and lost 2 matches after their 6-4 victory over visitors Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) C. Cookson was unlucky not to get a maximum but lost to Chris Dyson (2) 11-13 in a fifth end tie-break after being 2 games to 1 up. The battle of the defensive players went the way of Chaddy’s Steve Hugh (2) beating Luckhurst in straight games 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.

With two matches in a week, and both victories, Shopfitting By SWS A go top of the league. Their first win came against Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) B in the form of a 8-2 victory despite Martin Parnell losing both points to Dan Kayes and Darz Allen. Their second win was a whitewash over Astor B with eight of the ten sets being won in straight games and the other two in four games. Both Mark Weymouth and Jacob Kodicek remain unbeaten … at the moment!

Jake Neilson of Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E in Div Two stole the show with a “Perfect Maximum” winning all his matches in straight games after playing some great table tennis. His only scare was when Lee Mill’s Wendy Richards took him to 13-11 in the third end. Lee Mill were without their best player Richard Smaridge for the singles games but Smaridge did take part in the doubles match partnering Mark Chapman to win in straight games nevertheless this didn’t stop Chaddy from winning 6-4.

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) F lead Div Three at this earlier stage in the season thanks to another maximum from undefeated Ralph Stone when his team beat their old club mates Woodland Fort D 7-3 after switching alliance to Chaddy. Only one match went all the way to the fifth game and that was the double match where Stone partnered Rob Batten (2) to lose the first end 3-11 against Keith Phillips (1) and Nigel Aston (2). Chaddy recovered winning the next two ends 11-6 and 11-7. Fort levelled the game winning the next on a tie-break 11-13 only for Chaddy to win the final end 11-8.

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) G had to thank Mike Chapple for his first maximum this season against a weakened Ivybridge team. Alan Spencer (2) did manage to take Chapple to five games where Chapple did find himself 1-2 down at one stage but just recovered to win the fourth end winning 12-10 and the final end 11-4. Chaddy went on to win 7-3.

Astor E (Bob Steele (3), Robbie Jenkins (3) and Dave Harding) continued their undefeated start to the season, despatching Crafthole C 9-1 with only Chairperson Pete Nicholson getting the solitary point beating Dave Harding 15-13, 11-6, 14-16, 11-9. Nicholson just failed to get another point for his team after losing to Steele 11-13 in the fifth game.

W/C 27/09/21

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A are the early leaders of Div One are with Tony Sweet, Garry Reed and Glyn Price obtaining a whitewash over the C team mates. Unluckily Chris Dyson did manage to take Price to two tie breaks but lost them both 12-14. 

Shopfitting By SWS A (Mark Weymouth, Martin Parnell and Jacob Kodicek) have only played one match so far and this was against their C team mates and they started the season as most teams would expect then to by winning 10 nil with each of the players only losing one game each (all Sets are the best of five games).

Two Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) teams clashed with the B team hosting the D team and with some outstanding table tennis throughout the evening the match ended all square at 5 each. The D team did take a 4-2 lead at one stage only to be pegged back and found themselves 4-5 down going into the final doubles match which they won in straight games. The star of the night was Chaddy's Darbz Allen securing a maximum but his hardest match game against Shaun Gilbert and with some great topspin shots against Gilbert’s defences he ran out 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 12-14, 11-9 winner.

Mike Briggs and Gary West both gained maximums (and the doubles) for Shopfitting By SWS B in their 8-2 victory over Astor A. Unfortunately John Palmer was the recipient of the two loses to Steve Cookson and Steve Garlick although Garlick had to recover from 1-2 down to win the next two games 11-6, 11-6.

Crafthole A won their first match of the new season after losing their two previous matches beating Astor B 8-2 with Mike Cookson and Shirley Luckhurst both gaining maximums along with the doubles. Astor’s John Turner and Les Cole both managed to defeat Iain Oxenham. Turner also must have thought he had the better of Luckhurst after being 2 games up but Luckhurst turned it around to win the next three ends 11-6, 11-9, 11-9. 

In Div Two Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E had to call on a reserve Mike Chapple from Div Three but this was a step too far for him losing all his games to Astor D (Nick May, Andy Watmore and Steve Harvey). Harvey recovered from his loses in his previous weeks matches to secure his maximum, although Andrew Courtney (2) pushed him all the way 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 4-11, 11-4. The match finished all square.

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) F are top of Div Three at present by a single point. Ralph Stone once again taking a maximum as expected, but their opponents Astor F only had two players. One of their players, Chris Baverstock, used to play for the opposition and he managed to take both of Astor’s points beating Rob Batten 15-13, 11-9, 11-4 and then with a hard fought match defeated pen-holder Barrie Oliver 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8.

After two loses, new team Horrabridge secured their first win of their new adventure with John Cook and David Wilson obtaining their first ever maximums in their 9-1 victory over Crafthole C. Unfortunately Crispin Jordan lost his team’s only point to Trevor Luckhurst. However the closes match of the evening saw Wilson beating Luckhurst in five games, with no less than four of them going to tie breaks 13-15, 11-2, 12-10, 10-12, 13-11.

The spoils between Woodland Fort C and Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) G were shared 5-a-piece although Fort’s Pete Andrews just won all his matches after Mike Chapple came close but lost 10-12 in the fifth end. Strangely Fort’s John Dean came away with a duck despite winning all his previous matches.

W/C 20/09/21

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) A had to call on Jan Walaszkowski to play up from their B team in Div One this week and only just failed to secure a maximum just losing to Astor A’s Steve Cookson 10-12 in the fifth end. Cookson also defeated Glyn Price in five games after coming from 2 games down to win the next three 11-9, 11-9, and 11-5 thus getting Astor’s only points in their 2-8 defeat. Tony Sweet was the only person who obtained a maximum and only dropped one game in the process.

Unfortunately Crafthole’s Shirley Luckhurst, with her maximum, could not stop the 4-6 defeat to Shopfitting By SWS C although Colin Mitchell took her to the fifth game 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 7-11, 11-5.

In Div Two Woodland Fort B took a 5 nil lead over Astor D before Andy Watmore and Nick may of Astor D pulled two sets back with Watmore coming from 1-2 down to beat 80 year old Dave Wyatt 11-8 and 11-9. Astor’s Steve Harvey suffered a rare duck despite two of his matches going to the fifth game and unfortunately losing to Wyatt 10-12 in the fifth end. Fort’s Abel Hernandez took the only maximum thus securing his team 8-2 victory.

Brian Luscombe’s maximum along with braces from John Goodfield and Norman Hall secured Woodland Fort A an 8-2 victory over newly promoted Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) E but Chaddy’s Andrew Courtney, with his short backswing smash shot, was too much for Goodfield and Hall. Luscombe, in the first match of the evening found himself 10-12 and 11-13 down to Jake Neilson but with his years of experience won the remaining 3 games 11-8, 11-8, 11-8. Chaddy’s John Dodd was looking forward to a new challenge in a higher league but once the opponents started playing more defensive his hitting accuracy deserted him and suffered what will probably be a rare duck.

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) F in Div Three, almost claimed a whitewash over Crafthole C but for Tim Collings, who was signed just 24 hours before the match, taking Crafthole’s solitary point beating Barrie Oliver in straight games. Collings almost managed a second win against Chaddy’s top player Ralph Stone but lost out in a close fought game 12-14, 11-4, 13-11, 5-11, 10-12. 

Woodland Fort C’s Ken Chambers remains unbeaten after two matches and helped his team to win 7-3 against their D team mates. Forts C’s Pete Andrews was also looking for an unbeaten start to the season but Nigel Aston put a stop to it beating Andrews 5-11, 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 11-3.

W/C 13/09/21

Div One Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) B and D both with 7-3 victories over Crafthole A and Astor A respectively in the first week of the new season after a long stoppage due to Covid restrictions. After a few seasons in the Pairs League, Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) B’s Dan Kayes returned to the Triples League and took a brace along with both his new team mates Darbz Allen (playing his first season in this league) and Tau Manonge. Crafthole’s Shirley Luckhurst also took a brace defeating Allen and Manonge. Only one set went to five ends with Crafthole’s Mike Cookson defeating Kayes 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 3-11, 11-9. Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) D’s Shaun Gilbert started with a maximum and came from 1-2 down against Astor’s Steve Cookson to win the next two games 13-11 and 11-6. Astor’s John Sherlock fought through a painful knee injury and his ability to manoeuvre hampered him totally; we all hope it improves soon John.

Chaddlewood (Molyneux Assoc) C managed a 6-4 win over Shopfitting By SWS C with defender Steve Hugh taking a maximum only losing one game to Colin Mitchell 13-11.  

The Debut match for Horrabridge in Div Three proved an uphill struggle at first with nerves getting the better of the new side, starting by trailing by 3 sets; only to find their feet taking the next 4 to put Ivybridge on the back-foot. Alan Davis stopped the rot for the Home side as Crispen Jorden had no answer for the left handers deceptive serve which began the collapse of a brilliant debut game. Despite defeat Horrabridge are going to be a side to watch this season, as their combination of different playing styles means one will pick up a set where others will not.

Astor F hosted Woodland Fort D and secured an 8-2 victory with a maximum from Rob Jenkins who only lost one game to Keith Phillips 10-12. Forts’ Dave Backholer shocked Bob Steele by beating him 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 to claim one of Forts’ points with the other coming from Phillips who beat Dave Harding 11-7, 6-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-6.