Free Church Seniors sit in third spot in British League
Lillington Free Church's Senior British League squad had mixed fortunes on weekend 2 of competition in Division B1 winning two and losing two.
The matches were held in Wellingborough and the club suffered two very narrow defeats on the Saturday, resulting in no points being added to their total. Their first opponents were Colin Deaton TTC of Chesterfield who pipped them 5-4. Lee Dorning won two and Ricardo Bolanos and Rex Wong took singles but Dorning and Wong lost the crucial doubles 8-11 in the 5th. Next up were Britannia of Ipswich who also got home 5-4. Bolanos won two and Dorning and Wong a single each but again the duo lost the doubles, this time 9-11 in the 5th.
The squad turned things round in the two Sunday matches. Sycamore of Nottingham were dispatched 6-3, Dorning and Wong both won two singles, James Berry added one and this time Dorning and Wong won the doubles. Next up were Kidlington and on this occasion a 5-4 result was in Lillington’s favour. Berry, Bolanos and Dorning won singles as did Monika Tomaszek and Berry joined Dorning to win the doubles. With two weekends to contest, Lillington are third of 8 teams , having won 5 of their 8 matches.
Two other Free Church players, Chris Jones and Daniel Shaw, played for Bicester in Division C3 of the Senior British Clubs League, also held in Wellingborough. It has been a tough baptism for the inexperienced Bicester squad who are currently bottom of the division but Jones recorded his first two wins.
Another Free Church player, Dave Ramsey, entered the Milton Keynes 1-star tournament. He competed in Band 2 which was organised as a round robin in which all 7 players faced each other. Ramsey won 5 of his 6 singles to finish up as runner-up to Rajiv Padman.
In Division 1 St Georges A continued their impressive start with a 10-0 eclipse of Eathorpe A. Harrison Allwood, Matt Hobday and Mark Jackson were the victorious trio with Pete Titmas offering most resistance when extending Hobday to 5. The only other result to hand is Rugby A’s 6-4 win at Free Church C. Ricardo Bolanos posted a hat-trick for Church and Owain Jones won one. Ryan Lines and Matt Outhwaite each got braces and Luke Smith added one as well taking the doubles with Lines. The crucial match was Lines victory over Jones 11-8 in the 5th.
Nomads A moved to the summit of Division 2 with an emphatic 9-1 victory over 4th placed Eathorpe C. Andy Davies and Paul Rowan were unbeaten and Tony Thomas won twice. Kieran Podbury grabbed the consolation in straight games.Aces have 40 points from 5 matches. WCC Coots joined them on points after defeating Ashorne A 8-2 but Coots have played an extra match. Mark Freeman won his three without dropping a set. Cliff Jackson and Steve Proctor bagged two wins apiece and Freeman and Jackson won the doubles. Richard Grover and Alexandros Plianos shared the villagers’ points. Colebridge B defeated Wanderers 7-3 with Dean Hicks taking a treble, as did Jason Rainey. Andrew Rowland won one. Richard Smith replied with a single as well as suffering a 9-11 in the 5th result against Hicks. John Stather added one and the duo notched the doubles 11-9 in the 5th. WCC Bears posted a 9-1 win at Eathorpe B. Chris Hughes and Clive Irwin recorded maximums and John Price won twice, falling to Chris Atkins. Irwin and Price wrapped up the doubles.
Division 3 leaders, Radford B, squeezed home 6-4 against Rugby D. Diosdado Alferez won three and Gary Edwards two, the pair combining to win the doubles in 5. Peter Ratcliffe (2), Bernard Burke (1) and Katsuko Nagata (1) responded. Second placed Moreton Morrell sit 7 points adrift with a match in hand after whitewashing Eathorpe D. Tim Davies, Kannan Nithi and Pablo Smith were unstoppable on the night. Nomads Dragons were also 10-0 winners against WCC Dinos. Catherine McAuley, Jon Waters and Jill Weaving pocketed all the singles before McAuley and Weaving grabbed the doubles in 5 when opposing Jason Grey and Derek Harwood. Free Church F were a player light when visiting Ashorne B but Bethan Jones and Mark Singleton won all of the 7 rubbers that were contested.Rugby C trounced Flounders 9-1. MaduEzedinma and Jo Outhwaite were unbeaten. Kal Singh lost one single to Joseph Cho but partnered Ezedinma to the doubles.
Division A leaders, Eathorpe K suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of third placed Flounders who beat them 4-1. Salman Atta (2) and Andy Caine (1) also won the doubles. Kieran Podbury got the consolation. Flounders trail the leaders by 7 points, as do second placed Wanderers who walloped Nomads Codgers 5-0 courtesy of John Stather and Dennis Woodhead.
Division B leaders FISSC A also suffered their first loss of the season to third placed Free Church I. Alfie Green won both his singles and steered Anay Aroon to the doubles. Aroon picked up one, losing to Neil Mudie. Meanwhile second placed Free Church J also won 4-1 when taking on Eathorpe E. Otis Green won two and the doubles with newcomer David Wong who recorded one win. The impressive Luis Baxter got Eathorpe’s consolation.
Eathorpe G edged their F team 3-2 in Division C.Mark Popham won two for the F side but Dave Hawker and young Ben Titmas won singles and the doubles. Rugby G overcame Radford E 3-2. Again it was one of the losing team, Adrian Church-Jones, who was unbeaten but Jack Kuomi and Grace Newman got the other three points.
Moreton Morrell won 4-1 against Free Church L in Division D. Bernie Spratt won two and Julian Morris one plus the doubles. Emerging youngster, Stiaan Van Rensburg got the consolation and took Spratt all the way before losing 9-11 in the 5th. FISSC B also won 4-1 against Eathorpe H. Prasanth Prabhakaran won two , Mandip Takhar added one and the pair took the doubles. Joseph Titmas was the consolation winner. Leaders Free Church M squeaked home3-2 against Radford F. David Amos won two and guided Matt Hayes to the doubles. Xander Church-Jones and Anthony Verdier replied.