Press Report

Division two of the Central Essex Summer League would appear to be the most hotly contested of the League's three divisions, as three teams still have realistic chances of coming out on top. Second-placed West Maldon who have fielded the same two players - Glenn Laing and Tim Huxtable in all their matches might have a narrow advantage although their 4-1 defeat against Excalibur Locals proved they have no room for complacency. Excalibur Locals turned out their strongest duo - Richard Hiskey and Dave Moles for this match and Huxtable's fine 3-1 win over Dave Moles was all that West Maldon could muster. West Maldon fared much better against Excalibur International and their excellent 4-1 victory included a superb success for Glenn Laing against Michael Rostoft. It also included a last gasp doubles success for the Huxtable/Laing pairing against Michael Rostoft and Eleni Manolitsaki by a 10-12, 11-7, 13-11, 6-11, 13-11 margin.

Baddow Village B lead the table and they turned in their best performance of the season to beat Danbury B 4-1.Chelmsford League Secretary Graham Turner won his two singles and an inform Laura Pyman added an excellent win over Paul Oliver and gave Dave Goody a scare before succumbing 3-2. Dave appears to have changed tactics quite dramatically as he came thorugh 7-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-3, 11-5. The advantage of experience over youth perhaps !.

Third-placed Excalibur Locals were less dominant without Richard Hiskey in their line-up and they missed out 3-2 against leaders Baddow Village B. Ryan Pitt and County Junior player Laura Pyman both scored fine wins over Steve Cheesman although they were both found wanting against Dave Moles. In their clash against SETTS B Excalibur Locals came up trumps with a 3-2 success although Matt Perham's two wins prevented them from winning more emphatically. SETTS B were without Perham in their clash against bottom side Baddow Village C and they paid the price as they lost 3-2. Eric Clift excelled with two fine wins over Paul Reed and Perry Fung whilst Diane Pitt added an equally impresive win over Perry Fung as Baddow stormed into a 3-0 lead. Paul Reed hit back as he beat Diane 3-0 and then SETTS added the doubles to bring a degree of respectability to the scoreline. SETTS B combined the services of Paul Reed and Ray Elsdon against Danbury C and they must have been expecting to do well. And they did manage to win, but with Norman Hayes turning in a superb performance to win both his singles their margin of victory was restricted to 3-2.

Leaders Rayne A took two big steps towards taking the first division title as they beat both Baddow Village A and OCs A 5-0. Jon Hill and Dean Andrews gave nothing away in the 5-0 romp against Baddow Village whilst Steve Pennell and Steve Kerns were equally emphatic winners against OCs A. However, the OCs duo - Robbie Burton and Roy Moore did manage to ruffle a few feathers in the doubles before the Kerns/Pennell duo came through 12-10, 6-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-3. With a total of 24 points out of 25 Rayne are now firmly in the driving seat in this division.

Excalibur 6 Champs were the week's big winners in division three this week. Their tussle with high-riding Baddow Village E was fiercely fought but unfortunately for the young Baddow Village team wins were at a premium. Alex Stone gave his all against wily campaigner Lou Hopkins but it was Lou who prevailed 13-11, 6-11, 7-11, 16-14, 11-7 and with a player of Richard Hiskey's calibre in the Excalibur line-up Excalibur always had the advantage. They won 4-1. Baddow Village E returned to winning ways against Baddow Village F as their three player side of Rykki Vansertima, Alex Stone and Andrew Orme raced to a 5-0 victory. Baddow Village F were also found wanting against Old Chelmsfordians B, as this time Brian Shipley and David Porter (again a very strong line-up for this division) beat them 5-0.