Nets & Edges

League reports from the Ashford & District Table Tennis League, and the Kent League www.ashforddtta.co.uk & www.kctta.co.uk

[ashfordtt]

Trophy Pet Foods (East Kent)

ASHFORD & DISTRICT CLOSED TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT

10th and 11th March 2018

Johnny Bispham proved his all-round talent as he picked up 3 titles at the Trophy Pet Foods (East Kent) Ashford table tennis tournament at the weekend. However with the high standard of play on show he did not have everything his own way over the weekend.

Bispham, seeded 2, won his third Men's Singles Trophy as he overcame surprise finalist 13year old Arthur Bracken in the final in three straight games. However this did not tell the whole story of the event. In the early group stages Bispham had already lost to the same player in a shock five game defeat which meant he ended up in the harder side of draw for the knockout stages. This resulted in him having to earn hard fought victories against reigning champion Mani Khapung in the Quarter finals and recovering from a 2 game deficit against debutant Louis Bigallet an epic five set semi-final. Bigallet had early been involved in the match of the tournament in the quarter-finals where he defeated top seed Joe Britnell  8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-9 in a match of such high quality rallies that play stopped on all other tables to watch the latter stages.

Bispham combined with his father Steve to lift the Men’s Doubles title following a close four set victory over Mani Khapung and Charlie Richards in the final and also won the inaugural Under 40 singles title defeating for the second time in the day French player Louis Bigallet in the final. However Bigallet did help to prevent a clear sweep of titles for Bispham when he combined with Jenny Swain to defeat Bispham and partner Michelle Kingsland in the Mixed Doubles final. Amazingly Bispham also reached the final of the Allocated Doubles final narrowly losing out in four games to winners Cliff Ball and Darren Richardson.

In the Ladies events Michelle Kingsland won her fourth Singles Crown in a row defeating Heather Robertson in straight sets, and also combined with her mother Jenny Swain to retain the Ladies Doubles title defeating Robertson and Michele Chapman.

The Veteran Events (Over 40) were dominated by Malcolm Skates who defeated Paul Waumsley in four sets in lift the Singles title and also combined with Brian Cook to take the Veteran's Doubles Title, recovering from 2 sets to 1 down in the final against Chris Hooper and Keith Harris to win in five sets.

In the other senior events:

Alan Provan won his first Over 50's Singles title defeating Chris Hooper in four games in the final. The unlucky Hooper also lost in the final of the Over 60's Singles going down in 12-10 in the deciding game to Paul Waumsley.

Darren Richardson won both the Divisional Singles A and B titles defeating John Jarvis and Luke Garvey in the respective finals. However Jarvis got some revenge by combining with Matt Hills to win the Divisional Doubles title defeating Darren and Tom Richardson in the final. Steve Bispham won the Consolation Singles event with victory over John Jarvis in the final.

The David Cue Merit Award for outstanding performance of the tournament went to Arthur Bracken for reaching the final of Men’s Singles at the tender age of 13, defeating several higher ranked and more experienced players en route

In the Junior Events:

The match of the day saw 12 year old Shem Lejarde defeat reigning champion Tom Down in the Under 17 Boy’s Singles event over five sets. Lejarde started quickest taking the first two games 12-10, 11-7 only for Down to save a match point in the third before sneaking it 12-10. The momentum appeared to be with Down as he raced through the fourth game 11-1 however, showing great spirit, Lejarde responded  and picked up his game to take the decider 11-7 and claim his first Under 17 singles title.

Lejarde also won the Under 14 singles event following a straight set victory over Max Behrens in the final, however lost out in the Junior Doubles with partner Ella Down going down in four sets to top seeds Tom Down and Luke Garvey in the final.

Ella Down won the Under 17 girls final defeating Shreya Verma in the final, and also won both the Non-League Junior Singles and Doubles crowns defeating Sam Timms in the former and partnering with Spencer Hewins to the defeat Harvey Horsley and George Patten in the Doubles.

The Stan Hastie Junior Award for most improved player over the season went to 7 year old Aarav Verma.

The Junior trophies were presented by the owner of Trophy Pet Food (League Sponsor) Graham Bingham with Association President Michael Claughton presenting the trophies for the Senior Events.

ANNUAL ASHFORD CLOSED TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT

(sponsored by Trophy Kent Foods East Kent)

10th /11th March 2018

FINALS

 Men’s Singles:            Johnny Bispham beat Arthur Bracken            5, 4, 9

 Ladies Singles:           Michelle Kingsland beat Heather Robertson  10, 9, 6

 Men’s Doubles:          Johnny & Steve Bispham

                                               beat                                                     -9, 12, 13, 8

                                   Charlie Richards & Mani Khapung    

 Ladies Doubles:         Jenny Hogben & Michelle Kingsland

                                               beat                                                     9, 4, -2, 6

                                    Michele Chapman & Heather Robertson

 Mixed Doubles:         Louis Bigallet & Jenny Swain

                                               beat                                                     5, -4, 10, 9

                                   Johnny Bispham & Michelle Kingsland        

Veteran Singles:        Malcolm Skates beat Paul Waumsley             -8, 8, 8, 3

 Veteran Doubles:      Malcolm Skates & Brian Cook

                                               beat                                                     -11, 6, -5, 7, 4

                                   Chris Hooper & Keith Harris              

 Under 40’s Singles:   Johnny Bispham beat Louis Bigallet              9, 6, 9

 Over 50's Singles:      Alan Provan beat Chris Hooper                      -6, 9, 7, 4

 Over 60’s Singles:      Paul Waumsley beat Chris Hooper                 8, 9, -5, -13, 10            

 Allocated Doubles:    Cliff Ball & Darren Richardson

                                               beat                                                     10, -9, 7, 5

                                   Johnny Bispham & Jenny Swain                    

 Consolation Singles:  Steve Bispham beat John Jarvis                      2, 13, -8, 7

 Div. Singles A:           Darren Richardson beat John Jarvis                -8, 5, 9

 Div. Singles B:           Darren Richardson beat Luke Garvey                        1, 7, 3                          

 Div. Doubles:             Matthew Hills & John Jarvis

                                               beat                                                     7, -7, 6, 6

                                   Tom & Darren Richardson                  

 David Cue Merit Award:      Arthur Bracken

(for outstanding performance of the Tournament)

   Under 17 Boys Singles: Shem Lejarde beat Tom Down                   10, 7, -10, -1, 7

 Under 17 Girls Singles: Ella Down beat Shreya Verma                   2, 5, 6

 Under 14 Singles:      Shem Lejarde beat Max Behrens                    3, 6, 2

Junior Doubles:            Tom Down & Luke Garvey

                                               beat                                                     7, 4, -8, 10

                                       Ella Down & Shem Lejarde                                    

 Non-League Junior Singles: Ella Down beat Sam Timms              6, -11, 8, 4                  

Non-League Junior Doubles:  Ella Down & Spencer Hewins                                

                                                           beat                                         8, -10, 6, 7

                                                  Harvey Horsley & George Patten                

  Stan Hastie Junior Award:  Aarav Verma

(most improved junior player this season)

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League - Division 3

Five in to two don’t GO

 At the half way point of the season division 3 of the ADTTA league could not be any closer.   With only 3 points currently separating the Top 4 teams.

Ruckinge C and Little Chart Posties head the table with 33 points.  Alan White has been the mainstay for Ruckinge having won 15 of 18 games. For the Posties Colin Price is top of the pops  with 10 from his 15.

Hot on their heals, only one point behind are Ashford C, who have moved up the table from 7th to third with a great run of victories, including a recent 7-2 win at the posties. Youngster Luke Garvey is in fine form having won 13 of 15 and has not lost a game since week 1.

The interlopers (still very welcome if not local) from Cheriton Motor House are in 4th only 2 points further back.  A fine recent 8-1 victory over Challock D stopped a run of 3 close defeats. Star performers for Cheriton so far have been Pawel Martyniuk with 9 from 12 and Mark Gregory with 8 from 11.

Challock D have slipped down to 5th spot in the absence of the unbeaten Darren Richardson (fancy having a holiday in the table tennis season!).  The dark horses remain Challock C who are in 6th place but have games in hand. The eagerly awaited (well by them anyway) meeting of the last two undefeated players in the division was abandoned due to the snow, so Darren and Nigel remain the two prime targets at the top of the rankings. Luke Garvey has moved up to 3rd in the individual rankings with his fine run of form.

In the danger end of the division are Rolvenden on 20 points and Ruckinge F on 12 but with a game in hand. For Rolvenden Robin Maktelow has won 14 of 18 and for Ruckinge F Joe Laty has 4 from 9.

As last week was International women’s week it would be remis not to mention Division 3’s female competitors, of which there are sadly only 2.  Jenny Swain has won 3 of 9 and Helen Mattock 1 from 9.  I find it incredible that we only have  6 ladies actively playing in the Ashford League, it would be lovely to see more, Table Tennis  is a sport where men and women play on an equal footing as strength is not involved, so come on ladies, come along and get involved.

For full results and tables please visit www.tabletennis365.com/ashford

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League

Division 1

Whilst the battle at the top starts to tighten up, but is still very much a four way race, there is also a battle for survival going in at the bottom.  With Challock A, Challock B, and Iron Room B eight points adrift of the top four, but only separated by three points.  Currently Iron Room B are left holding the wooden spoon with only one win in four to their name, two pints ahead are Challock B, and then a further one point up are Challock A.

So far this season Iron Room B started badly with an 8-1 defeat to last season’s winner Postling A, they then edged past fellow survival battlers Challock A 5-4 thanks to two wins apiece from Vince Corbin and Paul Waumsley and a single from junior Shem Legarde. But a brace each from Challock regulars Steve Smith & Cliff Ball ensured the result had little effect on the positions.  Then on to Little Chart B who are proving to be the dark horses of this year’s events, Iron Room B could only field a much weakened side with junior Tom Down taking full advantage with wins over Shem Legarde, Mick Micklethewaite and Peter Coles. The 9-0 whitewash was only avoided when Michelle Kingsland attacked was ‘out attacked’ by Shem Legarde, and Kevin Beasley’s unique style felon deaf ears with the experience Mick Micklethewaite winning the battle of attrition 11-9 in the fifth.  However both Kevin and Michelle picked up a brace with both beating Peter Coles, and getting the better of each other’s Achilles heal. Finally, with Vince Corbin side-lined they had signed on Mani Khapung to help steady the ship.  As reigning open singles champion it was a pretty good back up plan, but Ruckinge A had other ideas.  Starring for Ruckinge Joe Britnell only dropped two sets in his hat trick of wins over Shem, Paul, and Mani.  Ruckinge captain, Hrvoje Crnko, proved in excellent form adding another two wins over Shem and Mani, but couldn’t get past Paul Waumsleys unorthodox approach.  Finally young Arthur Bracken was totally befuddled by Paul Waumsleys, and lost out against former team mate Mani, but added a point with a straight sets win over Shem.  6-3 to Ruckinge A, and Iron Room B seem in trouble.

Elsewhere Challock B, new promoted to Division 1, didn’t help their cause losing out 5-4 to Ruckinge A. But a failure to submit the scorecard resulted in their points being voided.  However with Tim Pichowski and Paul Amos on the books they are a strong side and will cause all teams a lot of problems.  Their next match was away to Iron Room A who were able to field star turn Phil Saxby, who won all three at a canter only dropping his first set to Tim Pichowski in the final singles encounter.  Tim was only add to grab a point for Challock against Keith Harris over four legs, but it could have gone either way against Vince Corbin who came through 11-6, 11-9, 15-17, 12-10.  Paul Amos showed no signs of being away with 3-1 wins over both Keith Harris and Vince Corbin.  Challock’s third player, Lee Hirst, struggled against Vince Corbin and Phil Saxby but took Keith Harris to the wire 11-13, 12-10, 7-11, 8-11 but faded away in the final leg 11-5.  Postling A were the next team to visit Challock but without Tim Pichowski the current champions Postling breezed past Chris Senior and Lee Hirst, but Paul Amos starred with wins over Malcolm Skates, Nick Owen and Roy Coles.  That said Malcolm was unlucky going down 10-12, 12-10, 11-7, 12-10.  This week’s match up between Challock B & Iron Room B could be critical for both teams.

Finally Challock A lost their first match 5-4 to Iron Room B, and then collapsed against Little Chart B with only Steve Smith able to offer up a point with a win over averages winner Alan Provan.  Kevin Beasley and Tom Down both provided a hat trick with wins over Smith, Cliff Ball, and Roy Baker.  However braces from Steve & Cliff in their next match keep Ruckinge A honest, but they still fell 5-4 with Roy Baker unable to better Mike Galvan, Joe Britnell or Charlie Richards.  Then in an important head to head Challock A (Steve Smith, Cliff Ball, & Roy Baker) came unstuck against Challock B (Paul Amos, Tim Pichowski & Chris Senior). Both Cliff and Steve easily beat Chris 3-0, but Chris one over Roy with a 3-1 win.  The rest of the evening was very much one way traffic with only Steve Smith able to win a single leg against Tim Pichowski.  How important could that 7-2 win be?  

For full results please visit www.tabletennis365.com/ashford

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League

Division 4: Week 5

With the second half of the season now underway Ruckinge E have taken a 4 point lead over nearest rivals Sportsman B with Hamstreet B just a point behind them. Ashford D have had a change of fortunes currently sitting second to bottom, mainly caused by the absence of the talented Joe Moyle in two of their matches.

Ruckinge E took on Sportsman C and secured a 7-2 victory and swiftly followed that up with the same result against Ashford D with Joe Moyle being the only player to get on the scoresheet by winning two of his games, losing out to Clive Devlin who picked up all three of his games. They were in action the following week with, once again, the same result against Sportsman B and with Clive Devlin keeping a clean sheet. Ken Walter picked up the only two games having gone down 3-1 to Devlin. Ruckinge E finished off the month with a 9-0 victory over Challock E having fielded their top players for the first time this half of the season.

Sportsman B took Hamstreet B to a 6-3 win with Mike Whitford taking all three of his games despite a long-standing shoulder problem and Hamstreet’s David Smith only managing to win two. Sportsman’s match against Ashford B resulted in a 6-3 win with a changed line-up and Ashford without Joe Moyle.

Challock E picked up two wins with a 7-2 over struggling Ashford E and then scraped a 5-4 win over Hamstreet B with the last match between Don Stedman and Tim Woodhouse finally deciding then match with a tense 3-2 victory to Stedman.

For full results, and information about the league please visit www.tabletennis365.com/Ashford or follow us on Twitter (@AshfordTT) or through Facebook.

[ashfordtt]

Junior Grand Prix Competition

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League

Division 3

After the first 4 weeks the 2018 spring season is looking very exciting in Division 3 of the ADTTA. The top 4 teams are separated by only 3 points and every team has suffered at least one loss, so it is all to play for.

Little Chart posties again moved back to the top of the league after a 7-2 victory against Ruckinge F, to go with their recent victories over Ashford C & Challock D.  But the blot on their copy book was a 7-2 reverse by Cheriton Motor House, which could have been a lot worse had it not be for Colin Price & Frazer Duncan winning the final two singles matches of the evening.

Ruckinge C are in second place following fine victories against promotion rivals Challock D 5-4 and Cheriton Motor House 7-2.  The result versus Challock D was kept in thanks to Challocks star player Darren Richardson who again provided a hat trick of wins for his side.

Challock D are joint second also with 21 points and Cheriton Motor House third on 20 points. CMC suffered a 5-4 reverse in a close encounter with Ashford C.

Only 5 points cover the bottom 4 teams, but Challock C, Ashford C and Ruckinge F have games in hand over the top 4 teams. So there could be as many as 6 of the 8 teams fighting for two promotion places.

In the individual standings both Darren Richardson and Nigel Griffiths of Challock have maintained a 100% winning record, with Robin Manktelow, Alan White and Mark Gregory all having over 75% win percentages.

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League: Division 1

With the second half of the season three weeks old now there is a certain normality appearing with Postling A holding a slight advantage over Little Chart B & Iron Room A. These three sides are the then ten points clear of the remainder of the division.  Although all other teams do have at least a game in hand.

In an unfortunate piece of programming the winners and runners up from the first half went head to head in the first match of the second half.  This time Iron Room B were only able to field one of their top players, and without the support junior, Shem Legarde, was only able to get the better of Roy Coles who put up some resistance in the second leg, but it was largely one way traffic.  Nick Owen & Malcom Skates served up their three wins apiece with victories over Shem, Peter Coles, and Mick Micklethewaite.  Within an 8-1 win it put Postling top of the pile, and Iron Room B the task of playing catch up for the remainder of the season.

Elsewhere the teams in second and third fought out a 5-4 result with Little Chart B coming out victorious with their strength on depth.  Iron Room A were able to field Keith Yarnley who produced a solid display with only Michelle Kingsland able to offer any resistance, but still being edged out 3-1 despite two deuces and an 11-9.  Iron Rooms A’s other Keith, this time Harris, produced the fourth point with totally eclipsing Michelle 11-7, 11-3, 11-3.  Mike Lee started brightly sharing four legs with Kevin Beasley, but a 14-12 win for Kevin in the fifth leg seemed to take the wind out of Mike’s sails for the remainder of the evening narrowly losing out to Michelle, and Tom Down showing a very confident performance and avoiding his usual fifth leg nail bitter!

Ruckinge A arrived to their match against Iron Room A to find an extremely strong Iron Room side waiting for them, with Phil Saxby & Johnny Bispham putting in rare appearances and win 3 and 2 respectively.  Not to help matters Ruckinge were only able to field two first team players, with Colin Bingham bravely stepping up from Division 2 to help out.  Charlie Richards & Hrvoje Crnko both came through their matches against Steve Bispham without losing a leg, but Steve got his revenge by repeating the feat against Colin.  The only really ‘upset’ of the night was Hrvoje taking a 3-1 win over Johnny in a very tight affair 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9.

Making up the division are the two Challock sides.  Challock A were hosted by an Iron Room B side back to full strength.  After racing into a 3-0 lead with victories for Vince Corbin, Shem Legarde, and Paul Waumsley over Cliff Ball, Peters Stevens and Steve Smith respectively it all looked good for Iron Room.  But then Cliff came through a very attacking and close 5 leg match against Shem Legarde, and then Vince couldn’t find a consistent way past Steve Smiths stubborn defence and Challock came through again in five legs. Paul had no such trouble against Peter, but then Steve managed to frustrate Shem and took a 3-1 win before Cliff provided the surprise of the night.  Not the win, we all know he is capable, but the whitewash win over Paul Waumsley.  So the match came down to a final matchup of the night with the odds heavily in Iron Rooms favour.  Vince Corbin showed no mercy hitting through Peter Stevens in three straight.

Finally we must cover the upset of the season so far.  Postling A, fielding their strongest side of Malcolm Skates, Nick Owen, and Chris Hooper paid a visit to Little Chart B represented by Tom Down, Alan Provan, and Kevin Beasley.  Alan Provan, the averages winner from the first half, was in good form with a 3-1 win over Chris Hooper, a 3-2 win over Malcolm despite being 2-1 down, and a 3-1 win over Nick Owen (averages runner up).  Tom Down proved a very useful team mate starting with an unlikely 3-2 win over Nick Owen again despite being 2-1 down and on the receiving end of an 11-1 score line.  He repeated his 3-2 score line over Chris Hooper again from 2-1 down.  But Malcolm proved to be a stumbling block losing out 3-2. His mistake might have been leading 2-1 though!  Little Chart’s third player, Kevin Beasley, was unable to add to the score but did enough disrupting the Postling players with his unique style to enable his team mates to do the damage.  5-4 Little Chart B, and dark horses for a title challenge perhaps?  

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League

Division 2: Week 5

 Three Horse Race?

This season the league is showing real strength in depth with an exceedingly high standard of play within the all of the teams. At the moment division is shaping up as a three-way fight, but Sportsmen A should not be discounted at this early stage.

Currently Ashford A are sitting at the top of the pile with four matches unbeaten, and the divisions’ top performer in Frenchman Louis Bigalett.  That said they seem to have a certain knack of scrapping 5-4.  So far they have recorded this score line over Hamstreet A, fellow title chasers Postling C, and Postling B.  On each occasion they were reliant on Louis to bring home a hat trick of wins with both Reuben Tozer and Russell Swain adding a game each.  The exception was the visit of newly promoted Ruckinge D who struggled against Louis and Reuben, both recorded hat-tricks, how Russell was undone by the attack of Luke Bingham, and the ‘unique’ style of Brian Kennett.

A point behind Ashford are Ruckinge B, recently relegated but eager to bounce straight back to the top division. Whilst a point behind, they do have the advantage of a game in hand.  Ruckinge set their stall out early, after trailing to Sportsmen 1-0 they soon hit their stride and hat tricks from Mike Galvan & Chris Cloake, plus a brace from Trevor Heales saw them ease home 8-1.  Next up a local derby against Ruckinge D, but any hopes of an easy ride were soon eradicated.  Against Mike Galvan showed his season in Division 1 help bring home all three points but Luke Bingham proved to be the stumbling block for Trevor Heales (losing 12-14, 11-7, 11-8, 3-11, 6-11), and Mike Holiday (edged out 12-14,11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11).  But Colin Bingham and Simon Dale were unable to stop Mike & Trevor getting two a piece and ensuring a 7-2 win.  Ruckinge have also played host to Ashford B where Matt Hills was in outstanding form and held his nerve for a for a 14-12 fifth leg win over Mike Holiday.  But in a evening of high entertainment and laughter nerves were not need with Mike winning over both Jenny Swain and Bob Young with relative ease, and Chris Cloake doing the same.  But hats off to Jenny Swain playing up from Division 3 and stealing Mike Galvan’s 100% record (3-0).  But a 6-3 victory for Ruckinge meant they would be entering this week’s match against Ashford A unbeaten as well.  So either Ashford A or Ruckinge B will lose their 100% record.

Postling C are sitting four points further back, but have suffered the loss of one of their stronger players which may impact upon their season.  But an early season 7-0 victory over Ruckinge D, and a 6-3 win over Hamstreet A have set them up well for a challenge however losing out 5-4 to Ashford A will be a dent in their title hopes after finishing runners up before Christmas. 

At the other end of the table Ruckinge D are already coming adrift of the rest of the division.  Having been promoted in fine style before Christmas it looks at though Division 3 will be welcoming them back, however there is hope in that their first three matches have been against the three title chasers so the coming weeks will be an opportunity to make up some ground before face the top three in the reserve fixtures later in the season.

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League

Division 3 (Park B Week 1)

Little Chart Posties off to a fast start

The Ashford and District table tennis leagues all start afresh in January, the end of 2017 saw a nail-biting finish with Ashford B and Challock C finishing level on 88 points apiece, with Ashford B taking the single promotion place to division 2 based on their better games won total, congratulations to Bob Young, Matt Hills, John Metcalfe and John Jarvis (from a not too bitter player from Challock ‘C’ !).

Division 3 had the addition of two teams from Ruckinge , team C coming down and team F gaining promotion from Division 4.  Little Chart Posties showed the least signs of a New Years hang over (must be all those early mornings) with a convincing 8-1 win over Ashford C, Richie Richardson and Brian Milner both winning their three games and Colin Price two.

Also starting the new year with victories are two of the bookies early season favourites , Cheriton Motor House and Ruckinge C. Cheriton Motor House  winning 6-3 against a two man team from Rolvenden with Robin Manktelow picking up all three of his games, Alan Eyles, Steve Woodward and Mark Gregory each winning two for Cheriton and five of the matches  all went the full distance of five legs.

Ruckinge C had a similarly close match with Challock C, Ruckinge winning 5-4 , Alan White and Paul Hickman both winning two each for Ruckinge and Nigel Griffiths winning all three for Challock. Jamie MacDonald and Dave Twiddy each winning one.

Little Chart Posties continue to improve and they have added themselves to the likely list of Cheriton Motor House, Ruckinge C, Challock C and D who on paper look to be the teams who will be pushing for the two promotion places come the end of the season.

For full results please visit www.tabletennis365.com/Ashford

[ashfordtt]

Ashford Table Tennis League

Part A Round Up

 Postling take title, but Provan halts the hat trick

 As expected Postling A have again won the league title, but they did not have it all their own way.  The most consistent side in Ashford were pushed all the way but unexpected dark horses Iron Room B.  Both teams end the half with eleven wins and three losses.  This in itself is a surprise as the top side rarely lose more than one match in a season let alone three!  In the second half I suspect it will be even closer with Iron Room B’s junior, Shem Legarde, improving all of the time and with some experience of the league under his belt.  Else where in the league Little Chart B finished a creditable third down to the exploits of Tom Down and Alan Provan, the latter of which took the individual averages crown winning 90% of his matches (or losing just three), this figure is half that of Nick Owen sitting in second place and just shy of given Postling the hat trick of wins (Singles League, Doubles League, & Individual Averages).  Showing strength in depth Iron Room A finished fourth but a mere two points behind Little Chart B.  Ten points further back were Ruckinge A who finished the season on a high with an 8-1 win over their B team.  Chasing Ruckinge A were Little Chart A & Challock A separated by just a point. Finally Ruckinge B with one win to their name and 21 points further back make up the top flight.

Running in parallel to the singles league is the doubles league.  Match at the end of the each evening with each leg won counting ad a point.  This saw Postling A as runaway leaders by 10 points over Little Chart B.   By far the most telling statistic is the 13 wins for Postling to 7 wins for Little Chart. The remainder of the teams were split by 9 points with Little Chart B leading the pack of Ruckinge A, Iron Room A, Little Chart A, Iron Room B, and Ruckinge B.  This time Challock A had to settle for the wooden spoon five points drift at the bottom. 

Division 2 was almost a clean sweep for Challock B, wining the singles league and taking first sand second in the individual averages. Although some will say this is a hollow victory with the deck stacked in their favour the ride in Division 1 after Christmas might not be so plain sailing.  Whilst Challock B topped the pile there is some consolation for Postling C who bested the divisions winners 5-4 in the last match of the season, and took away the 100% records of Paul Amos and Tom Pichowski, who finished the season on 97.06% & 96.88% wins, respectively.  Postling C also took home the doubles league title beating Postling B & Challock B by four points.

Looking further down the division the young side of Ashford A seeking to return an Ashford side to division 1 finished in a solid third place 8 points behind second, but 21 ahead of fourth.  The remainder of the teams lined up as Hamstreet A, Sportsmen A, Postling B, and Ruckinge D.  As in Division 1 there was a Ruckinge side holding up the rest, this time with Ruckinge C heading for Division 3 after Christmas. 

By far the closest affair was found in Division 3 with the final winners being decided on matches won and not points.  Ashford B & Challock C went into the final round of matches separated by a point and with Ashford winning 8-1 it left an opening for Challock who duly took up the challenge with a 9-0 win!  Unfortunately for Challock, Ashford B had 13 wins to their 11 and took the title as a result.  The remainder of the teams were also rans with Cheriton Motor House leading out Ashford C, Little Chart Posties, Challock D, and Rolvenden.  Without a Ruckinge side in Division 3 the wooden spoon went to Sportsmen B, although this came down to the wire but an 8-1 loss in the penultimate match of the season to fellow strugglers Challock D didn’t help. 

Ashford B also edged out Challock C in the doubles table, but this time by three points, with Cheriton Motor House and Ashford C making the top four identical to the main league.  Seeking a hat trick Ashford B fell just short with Matt Hills (96.88%) missing out on the individual title by less than 1% to Challock C’s Nigel Griffiths.

Finally Division 4, and a change in fortunes for Ruckinge with Ruckinge F running away with the title by 12 points over nearest rivals Ashford D & Ruckinge E.  On a rather odd result fifth placed Hamstreet B came good in the doubles and piped Ruckinge F to top spot by two points.  The league wooden spoon goes to Ashford E, but expect these juniors to coming along quickly in the seasons to come.

The individual averages crown went to Trevor Cox of Sportsmen beating Stuart Whorlow by virtue of playing, and winning, two more games than the Hamstreet player.

With tables decided there will be a one up one down system before the league starts a fresh for a second half after Christmas.

[ashfordtt]

Ashford Table Tennis League

Week 15 - Div 2

With the title heading to Challock B, and Ruckinge C already demoted the final round of fixtures before Christmas were more for individual averages and pride.

 Also ran’s, Ashford A kept pushing the leaders to the very end with a convincing 8-1 victory over relegated Ruckinge C.  Reuben Tozer & Dean Burfield both came away with hat tricks over Alan White, Ray Quinn, and Paul Hickman.  However Paul Hickman did give the Ruckinge side some hope with a victory over Russell Swain in an early encounter.  But with the score poised at 2-1 the Ashford side showed that they will be a force in the division after Christmas by losing just two legs in the final six games.

Elsewhere a mid table encounter between Hamstreet A & Ruckinge D proved to be a very tight affair. Only two of the games with decided by straight sets victories, Ben Brown over powering a luckless Simon Dale 11-9, 11-4, 11-2 before Anthony Bodle repeated the feat 11-7, 11-5, 12-10. Martin Yeandle & Simon Dale shared the first two legs of their encounter before Martin powered through the third leg 11-2.  However Simon fought back and was unlucky not to force a final leg decider losing out 17-15. Player of the evening had to go to Luke Bingham with an unblemished copybook overcoming both Martin Yeandle & Ben Brown 3-1, and fighting past Anthony Bodle in five very tight legs.  The fourth point for Ruckinge came at the hands of Clive Develin who bested Anthony Bodle over four legs.  After the first six games the match was tied 3-3 before Hamstreet made the decisive move with two wins on the bounce to take a 5-3, the only consolation for Ruckinge being the final win of the night to make the score 5-4.

In a busy week Ashford A were then back in action against Postling B, making up for a missed fixture earlier in the season.  Unfortunately on an all too common occurrence Postling turned up short handed gifting three points to Ashford, that said Ashford were also playing with two players from Division 3.  Luke Garvey impressed on the night with a five sets win over the ever-reliable Brain Cook despite falling to 2-0 down.  Not to be out done by his Division 3 team mate Dan Housden then lost the first leg to an attacking Denise Glenister before reeling off three legs in a row to win 3-1.  Both these juniors were ably support by veteran Russell Swain who wasted little time beating Brain Cook 3-0, but was undone in an extremely tight 3-0 loss to Denise, with each leg only being decided by two points!

At the time of going to print the final fixture of the week Challock B v Postling C (1st v 2nd) was not known.

[ashfordtt]

Ashford Table Tennis League

Week 14 – Division 1          

Title heading for Postling A……again

Assuming Postling A avoid a 9-0 defeat & Iron Room take a 9-0 victory then the title is heading back to its perennial home at Postling A.

This week saw the two title contenders going head to head, but neither side could field their full strength teams, but in their place the teams fought out a 5-4 scoreline.  First up league stalwarts Roy Coles and Mick MIcklethewaite went head to head in a tight game with Roy’s left handed defence taking the match three straight 11-9, 11-9, 11-8.  Next up Bob Edwards in a rare Ashford league appearance up against Nick Owen the current pace setter in the division 1 averages.  As expected the first two legs both were decided 12-10 in a tight affair with both players marking up a leg each, but the Bob took control, and the ‘lucky’ Nick Owen was unable to add to increasing win tally going down 11-8, 11-7.  Finally players in 2nd (Paul Walmsley) & 4th (Chris Hooper) in the individual averages.  A five leg encounter as expected with Chris squeezing through the first leg 16-14, before Paul found his range taking the second 11-5.  But not to be out done the quick attach of Chris saw him through the thirds leg 8-11, but Paul wasn’t going down without a fight and took the final two legs 11-6, 11-6 leaving Postling A trailing 2-1.  However the match went away from Iron Room with three quick fire wins.  Roy Coles cruised passed Bob Edwards 3-0, Chris then repeat the scoreline against Mick Micklethewaite, and then not to be out done Nick Owen beat Paul 3-0.  Now leading 4-2 Postling looked like they were on course to seal the title, but possibly a bit of over confidence took hold and Bob Edwards edged passed Chris 11-6 in a fifth leg, and Paul edged passed Roy Coles 11-4 in the fifth.  The final match between Mick & Nick was decisive, a win for Mick and the league would go into a final week, and a win for Nick and the league would be all but out of reach for Iron Room.  Unfortunately this was a little one sided after a tight first leg which Nick took 11-13, his superior attacking took its toll losing the next two legs 11-8, 11-5. The result means a 5-4 win for Postling A, and another title barring the unthinkable.

Elsewhere Ruckinge B were fighting for survival, whilst a long shot they could still mathematically remain in Division1 after Christmas.  But Little Chart B were not in a festive mood sailing to a crushing 9-0 victory.  Chris Cloake and Colin Bingham provided some hope taking Kevin Beasley into a fifth leg. But beyond this there was little that could be done with Alan Provan, Michelle Kingsland, and Kevin Beasley all taking full points.  The Ruckinge B side of Colin Bingham, Mike Galvan, and Chris Cloake were all going home empty handed and looking forward to life in Division after Christmas.  The result also means Little Chart B are likely to finish in third place pending the results in the final week.

The only other match in Division 1 saw Iron Room A take on Challock A.  Purely for fun now with both team safely in the bunch.  Keith Yarnley took on his usual starring role win all three against Cliff Ball, Steve Smith & Roy Baker for the loss of just one leg. Cliff Ball & Steve Smith both took their customary two wins, both defeating Mike Lee & Keith Harris. But wins for Mike & Keith over Roy Baker saw Iron Room home to a 5-4 victory.

Next week is the final week of the first half, and seemingly it will be just for enjoyment with nothing at stake beyond team pride and personal averages.  

 This week Postling C did not do themselves any favours turning up with only two players against the seasoned team of Ruckinge C, so automatically starting 3-0 the team of Adam Gajewski & Nigel Stansfield had it all to do.  First up Adam took on Ray Quinn in a rather one sided affair with Nigel taking the win 11-7, 11-1, 11-8.  The second match up was a much tighter affair with Nigel sharing the first two leagues with David Twiddy 11-9, 9-11 before the Postling player got into his stride and waltzed away with the final two legs 11-4, 11-6.  David then repeated the score line with Adam but sharing the first two legs, but losing the next two to lose out 3-1.  Ray Quinn ended the night ‘legless’ with a straight sets loss to Nigel.  But by far the greatest resistance from Ruckinge came from their third player Paul Hickman who came through a first leg with Nigel 13-11 before losing steam in the second leg going down 11-5.  The final two legs both went to the wire with Nigel edging through 11-9 in both.  The final match up saw Paul take on Adam in a very seesaw match with Adam scraping the first 14-12 before Paul hit a purple patch winning the next two 11-3, 11-6, unfortunately then the purple patch switched sides and Adam took the final two legs 11-4, 11-6.  This sealed a 6-3 win for Postling, but the three conceded points could be critical come the end of the season.

Fellow promotion hopefuls Ashford A were off on their travels to Tenterden to take on Sportsman A with Reuben Tozer of Ashford taking the plaudits. He overcame both Douglas Ho and Howard Brightling 3-1, and then eclipsed Mike Whitford 3-0.  He was ably support by Russell Swain and Luke Garvey who both ended the evening with two wins a piece, although Luke did survive a scare against Douglas Ho when he found himself 2-0 and deuce in the third. However his fighting spirit saw him home 11-4, 11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 7-11.  Douglas did go one better against Russell after being 2-1 down he fought through to a five set win.  Sportsmens other win of the evening came from the bat of Howard Brightling using all of his experience to overcome promising junior Luke in three straight.  Final score 7-2 to Ashford A leaving them within touching distance of the leading pair.

Elsewhere Postling B, like Postling C, did themselves no favours by turning out with only two players against Ruckinge D.  Both teams are residing at the wrong end of the table but unlikely to be at risk of relegation.  Brian Cook and Denise Glenister did them team proud both defeating the Ruckinge side of Simon Dale, Colin Bingham and Gordon Pau in a relatively one sided affair, but Ruckinge will be relived for the three free points, despite a 6-3 defeat.

The result of Challock B against Ruckinge C is still unknown, but since this is top against bottom it is expect to see Challock B to knock up yet another resounding win to stretch their lead at the top.

[ashfordtt]

Ashford Table Tennis League

Week 10 – Division 2          

Whilst Ashford A are not out of contention this looks like a two horse race between Challock B & Postling C.

This week Postling C did not do themselves any favours turning up with only two players against the seasoned team of Ruckinge C, so automatically starting 3-0 the team of Adam Gajewski & Nigel Stansfield had it all to do.  First up Adam took on Ray Quinn in a rather one sided affair with Nigel taking the win 11-7, 11-1, 11-8.  The second match up was a much tighter affair with Nigel sharing the first two leagues with David Twiddy 11-9, 9-11 before the Postling player got into his stride and waltzed away with the final two legs 11-4, 11-6.  David then repeated the score line with Adam but sharing the first two legs, but losing the next two to lose out 3-1.  Ray Quinn ended the night ‘legless’ with a straight sets loss to Nigel.  But by far the greatest resistance from Ruckinge came from their third player Paul Hickman who came through a first leg with Nigel 13-11 before losing steam in the second leg going down 11-5.  The final two legs both went to the wire with Nigel edging through 11-9 in both.  The final match up saw Paul take on Adam in a very seesaw match with Adam scraping the first 14-12 before Paul hit a purple patch winning the next two 11-3, 11-6, unfortunately then the purple patch switched sides and Adam took the final two legs 11-4, 11-6.  This sealed a 6-3 win for Postling, but the three conceded points could be critical come the end of the season.

Fellow promotion hopefuls Ashford A were off on their travels to Tenterden to take on Sportsman A with Reuben Tozer of Ashford taking the plaudits. He overcame both Douglas Ho and Howard Brightling 3-1, and then eclipsed Mike Whitford 3-0.  He was ably support by Russell Swain and Luke Garvey who both ended the evening with two wins a piece, although Luke did survive a scare against Douglas Ho when he found himself 2-0 and deuce in the third. However his fighting spirit saw him home 11-4, 11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 7-11.  Douglas did go one better against Russell after being 2-1 down he fought through to a five set win.  Sportsmens other win of the evening came from the bat of Howard Brightling using all of his experience to overcome promising junior Luke in three straight.  Final score 7-2 to Ashford A leaving them within touching distance of the leading pair.

Elsewhere Postling B, like Postling C, did themselves no favours by turning out with only two players against Ruckinge D.  Both teams are residing at the wrong end of the table but unlikely to be at risk of relegation.  Brian Cook and Denise Glenister did them team proud both defeating the Ruckinge side of Simon Dale, Colin Bingham and Gordon Pau in a relatively one sided affair, but Ruckinge will be relived for the three free points, despite a 6-3 defeat.

The result of Challock B against Ruckinge C is still unknown, but since this is top against bottom it is expect to see Challock B to knock up yet another resounding win to stretch their lead at the top.

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League

Week 8 Division 1

Two Horse Race?

This week opened with two teams flirting with relegation as Challock A took on Little Chart A.  The teams separated by a point before the match, and lying in 7th & 6th places respectively.

The early signs for Challock were good with Cliff Ball taking a deserved first leg (11-6) lead over Mani Khapung.  However after last weeks unusual double loss the Little Chart player was in no mood to repeat the mistake and fought back to steal a the second leg 11-9, and moved into a 2-1 lead with an 11-6 win in the third leg. But the ever resiliant Cliff Ball wasn’t going to go away easily, and took the match to the deciding leg.  But with Mani fired up, the challenge faded towards the end finally conceding the final leg 11-6.

The next match was a rather one sided affair with Mike Holiday, searching a first win in 11 attempts, breezing past Roy Baker 11-3, 11-3, 11-3.  The final singles in the first grouping saw junior, Arthur Bracken, take on the ‘not so’ junior Steve Smith.  With Steves unique style confusing the youngster the first two legs went in favour of Challock 11-7, 11-8.  But then Arthur found his stride, and clinched a tight third leg 13-15, and repeated the feat in the fourth 11-13 to ensure another five leg match.  This time Challock were victorious, with Arthur being worn down by Steves excellent defence.

The scorelines continued in a similar pattern all evening with Roy losing out to both Mani & Arthur 3-0.  Cliff, like Steve, took a two leg lead over Aruther Bracken only for the Little Chart player to go one better than his earlier match and take the final leg 11-9.  Steve Smith got his revenge for his first half loss to Mike Holiday in a light hearted but competitive match, coming out a 3-0 winner.

Arguably to most balanced matches were left till last. Steve took the first and third legs, but Mani took the second and fourth to ensure a deciding set.  With some phenomenal top spin backhand returns to Steve deep defence it could have gone either way, but on this occasion the attack from Little Chart was consistently strong, and a 11-7 scoreline sealed victory. Cliff Ball and Mike Holiday replicated the scoreline, with Cliff taking the first and third legs 12-10, and Mike taking control of the second and fourth legs, before hitting a purple patch in the decider, and sealing an 11-3 win.   This 7-2 victory for Little Chart will boost their hopes of a good finish, and leaves Challock with work to do.  

Elsewhere there were two rather one side results which both had an impact on the title race.  Postling A entertained Little Chart B.  Getting off to the flaying start Nick Owen didn’t drop a set against Kevin Beasley, before both Chris Hooper & Malcolm Skates took fifth leg wins over Tom Down and Kevin Coleman respectively.  Chris then maintain his 100% record on the site with a 3-1 win over Kevin Beasley, before Nick again took a 3-0 win this time over Kevin Coleman. The sixth encounter of the evening saw a very attacking game between Malcolm Skates and Tom Down, with Tom taking the first leg 11-9 before Malcolm fought back to take the second 11-7, and edge the third 14-12.  Then the wheels came off in the fourth leg with Tom coming through 11-2.  Despite a tight game Malcolm was unable to fight back enough and lost of 11-8 in the fifth leg.  The final games all went the way of Postling, with only nick being pushed the distance by Tom.  Final score was 8-1 to Postling which saw them end the week top of the table.

 The only other match was a inter team match between Iron Room A & Iron Room B, but this was possible on of the most one side matches of the season with Iron Room B romping into a 5-0 nil thanks to Vince Corbin, Shem Lejarde & Paul Waumsley all of whom failed to drop any games to Bob Baker, Keith Harris or Mike Lee.  The sixth game proved to be the best Iron Room A could produce with Mike Lee briefly holding a 2-1 lead over Shem, but the youngster continued his impress progress this season, showing his resolve to win the final two legs 11-4, 11-8.  Whilst the final three matches were all won 3-1 there was little Iron Room A could do to avoid a 9-0 whitewash to their ‘B’ side.  The result meant Iron Room B closed to within one point of Postling A setting up a potential title decider in early December between the two sides.

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League

Week 6 Division 2

Ruckinge Rock Bottom

In a very topsy turvy encounter a Sportsmen ‘A’ side, of Julian Thorne, Howard Brightling and Douglas Ho, took on Ruckinge C ably represented by Richard Wright, Alan White and ,League Chairman, David Twiddy.  After dropping the first leg to Richard Wright 11-8, Julian Thorne found his range and took a swift 3-1 win.  Howard Brightling than put David Twiddy in his place 11-1 before David fought back well but Howard held on for the 3-0 win.  Finally Douglas Ho showed no mercy to Alan White conceding just 10 points in his 3-0 win.  With Sportsmen A currently sailing at 3-0 up the tide suddenly turned with Howard & Richard sharing the first two legs 11-9, then Richard taking the third, before Howard proved far to strong to take the fourth 11-1 and take match into a final leg which Richard saw out 11-7 to take Ruckinge’s first point.  Then Alan White followed this up with a 3-1 win over Julian Thorne before David Twiddy showed the newcomer Douglas Ho that he knows most of the tricks in the book to take an 11-9 deciding set to level the match 3-3.  All players now had won and lost game!  In the final round of singles matches the tide obviously turned again and saw Douglas and Howard besting Alan and Richard respectively to give Ruckinge a 5-3 lead. However there was almost final twist with Julian and David exchanging legs to reach a fifth leg decider which Julian took 14-12 at the last gasp.    This result propelled Sportsmen up to third, with Ruckinge now rooted to the foot of the table.

Elsewhere Ruckinge D faired no better, getting an 8-1 battering at the hands of title hopefuls Ashford TT A.  The scoreline perhaps hid a much closer match with Colin Bingham losing out 14-12 to former Division 1 regular Russell Swain, and Dean Burfield needing a fifth leg to beat Daniel Simmons who could have gone one better had he not lost out 15-13 in the third leg of the match.  Gordan Pau showed little resistance against the attack of Dean and Reuben Tozer, but in the end Daniel Simmons beat Russell Swain 3-1 in the last singles of the evening to spare Ruckinge a 9-0 whitewash.  This score line means Ruckinge are just ahead of their ‘C’ team in seventh, and Ashford are in fourth but with a game in hand over the teams above them.

Finally for Division 2, Postling C continued their challenge for promotion with a 6-3 victory over Hamstreet A.  Postling ‘C’ are new to the Ashford league, but regular matches in the Folkestone league have stood them in good sted.  Terry Roome, Nigel Standfield and Stephen Powell all proved too strong for Stuart Whorlow (playing up from Division 3), and Anthony Bodle.  With only Anthony testing the Postling team at one point holding a 2-0 lead over Stephen Powell, but he was unable to complete the win losing out 3-2 eventually. Hamstreet’s third player, Ben Browne, put in a man of the match performance dropping only two legs in his wins over Terry, Nigel and Stephen. Postling C now hold a six point lead over Challock B who have a game in hand, and Hamstreet are safely in the middle of the pack.

At the time of writing the result between Challock B & Postling B was not known, but if historical results are to believed it is likely Challock B will return to the top of the pile.  That said Postling B are likely to have proven a very tough test.

Away from the local league Ashford ‘C’ started their first Kent League campaign in Division 3 against a very experienced Maidstone team of Julie Parker, Jill Shipton and Richard Bashford.  In a very close a competitive match Jill Shipton proved to be the lady of the match winning all three, and coming from 2 legs down to beat Luke Bingham in what turned out to be the match of the day. Julie Parker & Richard Brashford both won their matches against Mike Galvan who was very much under par. Ashford who never led managed to scrap an honourable draw on the back of two wins each from Hrvoje Crnko & Luke Bingham, who also teamed up to win the doubles. Next week Ashford ‘B’ start their Division 2 campaign away to Sittingbourne.

For full results and table please visit the www.tabletennis365.com/Ashford

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League

Week 5 Division 1

Taking Shape at the Top

Five weeks into the season, and the title contenders are rising to the top with Postling A and Iron Room B breaking clear from the chasing pack having played five games each. At the moment the remaining teams are all very closely matched with 9 points between Iron Room A in third, and Challock A in eighth.

This week Little Chart A again failed to field a full team against a Ruckinge B side full of confidence after recent results.  That said it was Little Chart’s Mani Khapung, reigning league singles champion, who proved to be the class act dropping just one leg in the course of beating all three of his opponents.  Alongside Mani was a returning Colin Quinn after being absent for a few years due to injury.  However on this occasion Shaun Small, Chris Cloake, and Trevor Heales all proved too consistent on their way to a 6-3 victory.

Elsewhere Iron Room B edged past the every present Little Chart B side 5-4 in a very tight encounter. The experience of Mick Micklethewaite was no match for Alan Provan or Tom Down, and despite picked up a leg against the awkward Kevin Beasley he left the night empty handed.  Game of the night was between the consistent Vince Corbin, and our top junior Tom Down.  Tom took the first leg, before they shared the next two legs both going into deuce.  Then Vince’s attacking style proved too much for young Tom losing out 11-2, 11-6 in the final two legs.  Iron Rooms, Paul Waumsley proved to be the star of the night, despite losing a leg to each of Little Charts players his unique style meant he took home his hat trick of wins.

Finally the league front runners push on with their title charge taking a 7-2 victory over Ruckinge A, but the performance of the evening had to go to Charlie Richards of Ruckinge defying his current average by getting the better of the ever young Chris Hooper in a tight game over five legs.   On this occasion Jamie Horton and Hrvoje Crnko proved no match for the seasoned performers of Malcolm Skates and Roy Coles.

[ashfordtt]

Ashford & District Table Tennis League

Week 4, Division 4

 Division 4’s start to the season has highlighted two teams already looking favourites for promotion at Christmas. Ashford D currently top the table having played one more game than Ruckinge E but only 3 points the difference. Both teams have players who haven’t yet dropped a game – Joe Moyles (Ashford D) and Dan Simmons (Ruckinge E), and will face each other in the final match before the mid season break.

Ashford D dispatched Challock E (7-2), Sportsman C (6-3), Hamstreet B (7-2) and Ashford E (6-3) while Ruckinge E have made short work of Ashford E (9-0), Hamstreet B (7-2) and Ruckinge F (7-2).

Newly demoted Ruckinge F started off the season with a useful 6-3 win over league newcomers Sportsmen C. Trevor Hammond played his usual steady game taking all three games whilst a calmer Ian Tomlin took two with Captain Helen Mattock taking the 6th.  The team haven’t looked back since going from strength to strength.

The other title chasers Ashford D have also been equally strong and top the table despite fielding only two players in their win over fellow Ashford side, Ashford E.  With Keith Young, and Glen Walters being the solid base for the team with Ben & Joe Moyle enjoying a successful start to the league.

The three following Teams, Challock E, Ruckinge F and Sportsman C are keeping in close contact whilst Hamstreet B and Ashford E are yet to post a win, although have come close with Hamstreet B going down 5-4 on two occasions so far.

Overall a good start to the season with lots of opportunities to rearrange the Tables and with one or two players showing their potential to play in the higher division.  Watch this space.