Two sides bidding for second place met this week in division 1 and it was Kingfisher D who impressively overcame Our Lady of Peace A, who could only field two players, with an 8-2 victory.
Ryan Chung and Graham Mendick were unbeaten and only OLOP’s Mo Cook could notch up a singles win over Julian Telford, who, along with his team mates, beat Steve Murgatroyd.
The other team bidding for runners-up is Sonning Common & Peppard A who kept up their good form with an 8-2 home win over Kingfisher B.
Jason Roberts contributed a double. but triples from Jamie Barlow and Neil Hurford, who deserved player of match for not dropping an end, completed the victory.
Kingfisher A once again increased their lead at the top with a comfortable 10-0 victory over Reading FC, although Mike Childs provided some resistance against Martin Adams 4-11 8-11 11-9 11-13.
Sixth met Seventh as Sonning Sports A scored a narrow 6-4 victory over Tilehurst RBL A. They now have an equal points tally. Once again Dave Croucher proved to be MVP, winning his three, ably backed up by Nick Sears and Paul Savage, although they are yet to win a doubles match.
In division 2 a close match saw Tilehurst RBL B overcame Our Lady of Peace B 6-4 with Kate Maksimenko getting and impressive maximum for the Tilehurst team.
Darek Kaminski played well for OLOP winning twice and giving Kate a good game. Second placed Our Lady of Peace C got a good draw against likely promotion contenders Tidmarsh B despite playing with a reserve.
New signing Sachin Mundra won twice for OLOP including beating Francois Durand in five and Francois won another set that went to five against Pradeep Desh.
In Division 3 a match where the score would be important for both teams’ promotion chances saw Tidmarsh C beat Our Lady of Peace E 7-3, but it was a close game. There 5 set matches as well as 15-16 points in a single game which clearly shows that it was a great contest.
Tidmarsh’s Richard Hudson gave a good fight against Harry Bullock with a comeback from 2-0 to 2-2 however; Harry won the last set and the game. In another match, Qing Wu from OLOP caught David Sheppard from 2-0 to 2-2, but it wasn’t enough to win the same which David winning three sets to two.
The highlight of the match was Louise Forster’s win against Ian Wu. All the first 4 games were very close but in the end, Louise managed to get an important point for her team: 11-13 11-9 9-11 11-9 11-7.
Tidmarsh D won 9-1 against last week’s good-performing team Sonning Sports B. Despite Brett Hastings’ good opening win against Dave Edwards, Sonning Sports B lost all the remaining nine games.
Brett Hastings had another good fight against Ray Webb, however, he lost the last two sets and the game. The highlight of the match was an exciting doubles match which again ended in five sets.
Sonning Sports B was 2-1 up however they lost the last two games, and the match: 11-5 9-11 11-7 4-11 3-11.
The last match of the week was between Our Lady of Peace F and Springfield A, and Springfield A whitewashed a two player OLOP F team.
James Smith was the player who was the closest to a win. The highlight of the match was James Smith vs Peter Gurney’s 5-setter. James was 2-1 up, however, he lost the last 2 games 13-11, which was a bit unfortunate for him: 10-12 11-6 11-8 11-13 11-13.
In the big local derby in division 4 Sonning Common & Peppard F beat Sonning Common & Peppard E 8-2.
For the F team Mike Casserley recorded a good hat trick with Oliver Bonser and Gerry Bacon wining two each, while Anthony Reeve won two for the E team. David Riddle was very unlucky for the E team only losing 11 – 13 in the fifth end against Mike.
Lewis Oke hit a good maximum to help Tilehurst Methodists C beat Springfield B 8-2. His match against Steve O’Connor in set ten was a classic with Lewis winning 9-11 12-10 12-10 7-11 12-10. Steve himself won the two for his team.
By Nigel Maltby
