Watfordttblog

WATFORD & DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

Things are hotting up in Div One now that West Watford ‘B’ have caught up on matches played. Post Office who have held a good lead for months are now only two points ahead after both have played 17 matches. Gazelles and Eagles in 3rd and 4th spots are 7pts and 11pts behind. Oxhey Hall ’A’ are certain to be relegated.

In Div Two, Hounds continue to dominate only needing 3pts to be certain to be champions. Iguanas look good to stay in second place.

In Div Three, Audit ’B’ need 1pt to be crowned champions, whilst Lions and Meerkats fight out the last few matches for second place.

In the Premier Div, West Watford ’A’ are almost home although should they collapse Fullerians are only 6pts behind. Both have four games to play.

In matches played this week there was a very good win for Oxhey Hall ’B’ of Div Two, who recorded only their second win in defeating Audit ’A’ Dave East the Oxhey star. Hounds also of Div Two, had a 7-1 victory over Jaguars.

In Div Three, Lions gained a point on Meerkats. Lions winning 8-0 vs. Watling ’D’, whilst Meerkats dropped a point in beating Panthers 5-3. Ospreys beat Newts 6-2.

In Div One, West Watford ’B’ had a double header vs. Oxhey Hall ’A’ 8-0 to WW. Gazelles and Eagles played the Watling teams. Gazelles beating ’B’ 6-2, and Eagles beating ’A’ by the same score. Post Office dropped a point to Falcons winning 6-2.

In the Premier Div, Fullerians beat Abbots Langley 6-2, Dennis Robinson their star. Aardvarks had a comfortable win vs. Cougars 6-2 the score, Antony Budden back to form. Bats strengthened by Stuart Seaholme saw off Dolphins 5-3.

Results:

Premier Div: Bats vs. Dolphins 5-3; Abbots Langley vs. Fullerians 2-6; Aardvarks vs. Cougars 6-2.
Div One: Oxhey Hall ‘A’ vs. West Watford ’B’ 8-0 (Double Header); Falcons vs. Post Office 2-6; Gazelles vs. Watling ‘B‘ 6-2; Watling ‘A‘ vs. Eagles 2-6.
Div Two: Audit ‘A‘ vs. Oxhey Hall ‘B‘ 2-6; Hounds vs. Jaguars 7-1.    
Div Three: Ospreys vs. Newts 6-2; Panthers vs. Meerkats 3-5; Watling ‘D‘ vs. Lions 0-8.

Postponed games now played: Oxhey Hall ‘A‘ vs. Falcons 1-7; Meerkats vs. Ospreys 5-3; Cougars vs. Abbots Langley 4-4; Cougars vs. Dolphins 4-4.

Match reports by : Geof Bax

POST OFFICE V WATLING 'A' - 8TH MARCH 2010

With West Watford making a late run for the championship, every point counts, so Post Office knew they would need at least three or four points from this match to stay ahead.

1. Les Leach played Graham Spooner and the first two games were very close with Les winning both 11-9. The third game was not so close with Les securing a 3-0 win. (1-0)
2. Abdul Rahim faced the all out attack of Wayne Meisel but managed to contain him winning 3-0. Again the first two games were close but the third was more convincing. (2-0)
3. David Edwards played Graham Roland in what is always a close games as both players play a similar style. David led 1-0 and 2-1 before Graham took the match to the deciding game. David trailed 3-5 at the change of ends but at 9-9 it was Graham to serve. Two good serves to different parts of the table secured the win for Graham. (2-1)
4. Abdul versus Graham was a close match but after losing the first game, Abdul came through in four games. (3-1)
5. Les played Graham next and was forced into a more attacking role than normal but won in straight games. (4-1).
6. David played Wayne and managed to contain Wayne’s heavy loops with some consistent blocking. David served well and Wayne became frustrated with looping the ball off the end of the table. David kept his concentration and managed to secure a fine 3-0 win. (5-1)
7. Abdul played Graham next and won the first two games fairly easily but lost his concentration and Graham played well to take the next two games to force a decider. Abdul had a good start and maintained his form to win 11-6. (6-1)
8. Les and David played Graham and Wayne and there was still an extra point available for both teams. Also, there was additional pressure as Les and David wanted to maintain their 100% doubles average and also time was running out to meet the 10.30pm deadline. After a disastrous first two games and a stern talk from captain Abdul, David and Les played better and managed to win the next two games. David and Les had a great start and changed ends at 5-0 but Wayne and Graham fought back valiantly but could not prevent David and Les winning 11-7. (7-1).

This was a tough match for Post Office but the match was much closer than the score of 7-1 would suggest.

Again, the match was only just completed in time. In fact it finished at 10.35pm. This was not because of time wasting but because of the length of the rallies and the number of games played.

This was another good example of keeping the format as it is perhaps. Not everyone wants to or is able to be still playing at 11.00pm or later.

Match Report by : David Edwards.

Handicap Cup Draw - Semi finals / Outstanding fixtures

Home team first
 
Monday 15th March
Jets Eagles vs Jets Hounds

Wednesday 17th March
WWCC "B" vs Watling "A"
WWCC "A" vs LMR Audit "B"

Thursday 18th March
Jets Aardvarks vs Watling "C"

For those teams not in the cup it is an ideal opportunity to catch up on any postponed fixtures. All league fixtures must be completed by the 9th April.

Post submitted by : Stuart Seaholme

Bats V Dolphins on 03/03/2010

First off was Ricky Tarani against Neil Seaholme. Ricky started well with his usual unstoppable loop working well. It looked like he would sail through the first match. But Neil kept a positive attitude and turned the tables in the second game. (We suspect after some good tactical advice from Stuart).
Almost inevitably it became a 5-setter with Neil showing the better consistency to win through.
 
Next Stuart Seaholme against Ralph Taylor, Ralph was using his usual tactic, throwing in every variation of serve he could think of. This did win a few points but not enough to cancel out the winners from Stuarts deadly backhand flick. Maybe in a momentary laps in concentration Ralph took 1 game, but the outcome was not in dispute. Ralph left the table muttering something about developing a forehand loop.....
 
David Warren v Kevin Williams. Kevin's nice smooth Forehand loop was working well. Though the first game was close, Kevin never looked troubled and took it 3 straight.
 
Stuart Seaholme v against Ricky Tarani. Was a good tactical match, with Ricky trying to select the right shot to hit and Stuart keeping the ball nice and low. Ricky was getting a reasonable percentage of loops on the table with Stuart returning some (much to Ricky's surprise!). Stuart won 3 straight.
 
Neil Seaholme v  Kevin Williams. Close well fought match, with Kevin winning one or two extra points each game. Kevin won 3 straight.
 
David Warren v Ralph Taylor. Ralph started solidly, getting a good advantage from his serve. David seemed rather nervous and was struggling to get his attacking shots going. Ralph took the first two sets but in the third set David started to play more freely. The fourth set was a nail-biter with Ralph winning with rather a lucky serve that seemed to hit the side edge on both sides of the table (Pheeeww!).
 
Stuart Seaholme v Kevin Williams. Stuart won 3 straight but match was closer than the scoreline suggests. Stuart using his experience and guile to win the important points.
 
Doubles: David Warren/ Neil Seaholme v Ricky Tarani / Ralph Taylor. David and Neil ran away with the doubles using good offensive tactics. Rick and Ralph started to get a handle on the game in the third set but it was too late.
 
Match report by : Ralph Taylor

Handicap Cup - WWCC 'A' vs Ospreys - Feb 24th

Chris and Roger arrived early to get the table set up and to get a practice in... the night before had been an OK knock in the dark over at Ravesncroft, so it was nice to play in the light! Howard arrived and after 15 minutes began to look like a 1st division player again... seriously he needs to get some practice time in!

The guys from Osprey arrived a little before 7:30pm athough one arrive a bit later. Now below is the tale of the tape!

 
At WWCC 'A' we were predicting that we would need to keep the scores down to 3 per leg, when we opend the dreaded brown envelope it was 7 per rubber not 9 as we predicted. A quick countback revealed that WWCC 'A' had won by a mere 7 points overall!  Had it not been for some very low scoring in a couple of the games Ospreys would have had their day... as it was WWCC 'A' move onto fight again!

A good game played with good spirit that took a little over 1 hour to play out! 

Match report : Chris Ogle

WATFORD & DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

NOW TWO THIRDS OF THE WAY THROUGH THE 2009/10 SEASON

In Div One, things are looking a little clearer after the latest matches. West Watford ‘B’ are now up to second place with a game in hand. They have beaten Eagles and Watling ‘A’ gaining seven points, the scores 7-1 and 6-2 respectively, with Russ Davies unbeaten. This has aided Gazelles who with a 5-3 win vs. Falcons have a cushion over Eagles who also lost 7-1 to leaders Post Office, Abdul Rahim and Les Leech starring for PO. Ian Hamilton was unbeaten for Gazelles. Bottom side Oxhey Hall ‘A’ were well beaten 8-0 by Watling ‘B’, Paul Phillips, Attila Zeck, and Steve Bance the winning team. So we have top, Post Office with 49 points from 17 games, West Watford ‘B’ with 39pts from 15, Gazelles 37 from 16, and Eagles 33 from 16.

In Div Two, Hounds are well ahead with two games in hand. Iguanas Beat Jaguars 6-2 to stay in second place, Kris Kepa their star. Kangaroos stay third. They had a 7-1 win vs. Oxhey Hall ’B’, Jack Pegram and Tony Shapps unbeaten. Watling ’C’ and Auidit ’A’ played a double header and shared the points 4-4. So Hounds have 43 pts from 13 games, Iguanas 37 from 15, Kangaroos 32 from 15, and Audit ’A’ 28 from 14.

In the Third Div, we have had runaway leaders almost from day one. Audit ’B’ have been outstanding, and had another maximum points match winning 7-1 vs. Newts. Gordon Hitchman and John Hutchison starring. Audit ’B’ have 52 pts from 15 games, Meerkats 38 from 14, Lions 35 from 13, and Watling ’D’ 25 from 14.

In the Premier Div, West Watford ’A’ have led from the start, and this week beat strong rivals Fullerians 5-3, Chris Ogle back from injury, unbeaten for WW. Fullerians had beaten Bats 6-2, with Dennis Robinson their star. Aardvarks having played more games are still second after beating Abbots Langley 5-3. Ken Stonebridge unbeaten for the losers. So the top of the division reads, West Watford ’A’ 45 pts from 14 games, Aardvarks 36 from 15, Fullerians 36 from 13, and Bats 24 from 14.

Results:

Premier Div: Aardvarks vs. Abbots Langley 5-3; Bats vs. Fullerians 2-6; Fullerians vs. West Watford ’A’ 3-5.
Div One:Eagles vs. West Watford ’B’ 1-7; West Watford ’B’ vs. Watling ’A’ 6-2; Post Office vs. Eagles 7-1; Falcons vs. Gazelles 3-5.
Div Two: Jaguars vs. Iguanas 2-6; Oxhey Hall ’B’ vs. Kangaroos 1-7; Watling ’C’ vs. Audit ’A’ 4-4 (Double Header).
Div Three: Newts vs. Audit ‘B’ 1-7.

Match reports by : Geof Bax

Division One: Post Office vs Eagles - Monday 15th Feb. St.Marks

Post Office win 7-1

Not having visited the site due to a puter break down I am surprised to see that master match reporter Edwards has not entered a report in my absence.
 
Despite an individual - jewel gem of a performance by James Banfield who wasnt too far away from winning three singles, the post office were well worthy winners, both brian clarke and ian banfield being fairly easily despatched and unable to support James.
 
I dont have score card to refer to but Eagles only win was James against Dave Edwards who must be a contender for most improved player award( if there is such an award).

It was James turn to lose the usual close battle with Abdul in a hard fought tactical battle and James managed to force the illustrious Les Leech to play at, or near his best to win. Ian and Brian not worth mentioning! :)

Post Office now seem to be heading to win div one and for attempting to play three regulars all season, deservedly so, above a very strong West Watford squad.
 
Match report by : Ian Banfield

Top of the Table clash - Fullerians vs WWCC 'A' - 17th Feb 2010

Chris and Roger of WWCC arrived at just after 7pm for their customary knock before the match. Last night Chris and Roger played in a top of the table clash in the Chalfont league which has left Chris's muscle strain a little tender tonight, and Roger was actually sick in the night and feeling a bit weak. So when Trafford invited us to make this a double header (to wipe out the postponed match)... we weren't feeling inclined to go with it... anyway we'd like to play the match guys (and gals)!

The match got underway at about 7:45, just as Alan Thomas wandered in... Caroline Vs Roger first match on... now last time these two met it was deuce in the deciding set, could be another cliff hanger... well the game never really lived up to expectations... Roger won the match 3-0 as Caroline didn't seem to be able to get her nose in front during the entire match.

Next up Dennis Robinson against Alan.. I thought I'd slip to the toilet, I noticed the score 2-1 when I came back in and thought they'd just started but it was already the second game... Alan had lost the first 11-2! Although fleeting chances for Alan in the match Dennis came through comfortably 3-0.

Trafford lost pretty badly against Chris early on in the season but at 5-5 in the first leg seemed to be handling the situation with Chris pretty well... although it suddenly slipped away 11-6 to Chris. All the games had a similar story, and although a thoroughly open and enjoyable match with some very entertaining rallies Chris took it 3-0.

Roger now against Dennis. Roger has lost to Dennis but before, but with a controlled game waiting for the right balls romped home 3 straight. The match position now 1-3 in WWCC favour.

Caroline also made Chris work hard into the 5th set when they last met, however a similar story to the previous game against Roger, struggling to return Chris's serve and unable to keep the short serve tight enough put Caroline under pressure from the start and she was unable to find her Rythm. Apart from a tense 3rd leg which was 13-11 to Chris the game was fairly comfortable.

After Alan's great performance last Week against Aardvarks his team mates expected another good show this week, however Alan's topsy turvy season continued with another erratic performance against Trafford. Although Alan managed to pull out the first leg from way down 7-3, he never really got into the next three legs. Trafford was far too consistent for Alan and with some good variety, attacking and defensive play deserved to win 3-1.

The match now poised at 4-2, with Dennis against Chris. The first leg went to Chris 11-9 although he was leading for the whole leg... the second was much easier with Dennis unable to control Chris's agressive forehand and backhand topspins... the third set finished comfortably for Chris although not before a slight relapse of the strained leg muscle... fortunately a few days off now to recuperate once again.

The match now at 5-2 meant that the remaining doubles game was purely for pride. The pairing of Caroline and Trafford working very well against Roger and a somewhat deflated Alan. In the end Caroline and Trafford were too consistent and kept the ball on the table too many times to bring the game home 3-1.

Final score : Fullerians 3  WWCC 'A'  5

The match finished at 9:40pm... as did the Newts vs LMR Audit on the end table... the other match being played there also finished around 9:45pm. The Fullerians team did comment that they only finish early when they play against WWCC and that this was the earliest they'd ever finished... we on the other hand rarely finish after 10pm... Trafford also said that against Aardvarks the doubles game was conceded as they had run out of time which was unfortunate for Aardvarks who were the home team on that occasion.

Good friendly match enjoyed by all !!

Match Report by : Chris Ogle

WATFORD & DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

In Div One, Post Office suffered only their second defeat when losing 2-6 to Gazelles. Sally Bax and Ian Hamilton both unbeaten. Watling ‘B’ with only two players did well to draw with Watling ‘A’, the ‘B’ team winning four of the five games played, only losing the doubles. Paul Phillips and Steve Bance the ‘B’ stars.

The two leading teams in Div Two, are making sure they stay ahead, both with convincing wins. Leaders Hounds won 8-0 vs. Audit ‘A’, whilst Iguanas won 7-1 vs. Oxhey Hall ‘B’. Karl Seddon, Gerry Evans and Mitch Haynes for Hounds, and Dale Nichol, and Kris Kepa for Iguanas, all undefeated. A much closer affair was fought between Kangaroos and Watling ‘C’, and after 34 legs the match ended in a draw. Malcolm Soloway of Watling the only unbeaten player.

In Div Three, the two top teams met and the three youngsters of Meerkats gained a draw against the three ‘oldies’ of Audit ‘B’. The youngest ‘oldie’ Tom Sapundziev winning his three games. There were no close encounters in the other matches. Panthers beating Ospreys 8-0, and Watling ‘D’ overcoming Newts 7-1. Mark Semple, Stuart Cass, and Steve Marsh for Panthers, and Michael Schuz, and Simon Pyzer for Watling won all their games.

In the one Premier result received, leaders West Watford ‘A’ drew with Aardvarks.

Results:

Premier Div: West Watford ‘A’ vs. Aardvarks 4-4.
Div One: Post Office vs. Gazelles 2-6; Watling ‘A’ vs. Watling ‘B’ 4-4.
Div Two: Audit ‘A’ vs. Hounds 0-8; Iguanas vs. Oxhey Hall ‘B’ 7-1; Kangaroos vs. Watking ‘C’ 4-4.
Div Three: Audit ‘B’ vs. Meerkats 4-4; Watling ‘D’ vs. Newts 7-1.

Match Reports by : Geof Bax

THE LIONS ROAR! Div 3 Panthers V Lions - 15th Feb

Panthers were eaten alive by a Lions team that was on their best form of the season.

The star of the evening was Abe Jacobs who was up against his old team and was determined to shine!
Abe overcame a 2 set lead against Mark Semple to go and take the fifth and win. (what a good signing)

BOBxx Wyard took his three single matches in his stride, being on his best form of the season (back hand finally working again).

Lions running out winners 1-7 Looking good for second place in Div 3 Watchout Meercats here we come!!

Match report From BOBxx Lions Captain.

On a lighter note -:

During the evening Mark Semple and myself were in conversation regarding the temperature in the hall, this led on to Mark saying how cold it had been at another venue he had played at, so cold he almost kept his wooly hat on! Now with David Edwards on the next table we just had to ask is it OK to wear a hat when playing? And lets not stop there! what about the matching gloves? I can just See Sally and Caroline trying to find matching outfits. LOL BOBxx