Good weekend for first team

After a disappointing first session in September when not at full strength, the Cippenham first team bounced back with an unbeaten display to haul themselves up the British League table. A victory and three draws provided five points to lift the host team up to sixth in the division. It will, however, be necessary for this form to be maintained during the second half of the season as Division 1 South is very competitive with the two teams below Cippenham only one point adrift.

With Lee Dredge recovered from injury and Rob Lemon playing nearer his best, Cippenham were competitive throughout the line-up. Martin Adams, the captain and shouldering the added responsibility of playing in the number one position was still, though, the most successful player, winning six of his eight matches. Mark Butler and Lemon won four each and Dredge three.

Saturday morning started with a good team effort as all four players contributed one apiece in the 4-4 draw with Fareham-based Generation 2. This, like many of the matches, over the weekend was keenly contested with three of the eight sets being decided at deuce in the deciding game. Adams was involved in two of these: a loss to Ashley Willetts and then a win over Adam Proszko as he commenced the team’s recovery from 1-3 down. Butler got the better of Valmiki Sinanan by a similar margin.

The afternoon match against Byng Hall provided more of the same with six sets decided by 11-8 in the fifth and deciding game or closer. This 4-4 draw seemed more like a point lost than gained as Mark Butler, against Will Power, and Rob Lemon, against Rob Worrall, both had match points before succumbing deuce in the fifth. Cippenham had been 4-1 up and looked to have had the beating of their Kentish opponents.

It was a lopsided team effort that got the Sunday morning draw with Brighton. Adams and Butler both secured a brace as Cippenham dominated the top half of the match and lost the bottom positions. However, for the then winless Cippenham this represented a good effort against a team that had previously not dropped a point.

Confidence was now much improved and Cippenham went into the final match against second-placed DML Woolwell in high spirits. Matches between the locals and the Plymouth side are usually well contested. The season’s win-duck was finally broken with a superb 5-3 victory, secured the hard way from 2-3 down. This time it was the bottom of the team that prevailed with Lemon finding his best form to beat both Mike Short and Kevin Buddell without dropping a game. Adams and Dredge both got the better of Czech player Marketa Myskova while Butler came back from two a two-game deficit to down Short.

Cippenham’s other two teams did not have such a good time. The second team, playing at the same level and at the same Cippenham venue as the top team, in Division 1 South and Midlands, are almost bound to suffer and missing top players David Hayes and Danny Baxter did even more to secure their fate. The highlight was a 4-4 draw with Bedford Modern and that was due to a great performance from substitute Chris Hansell who claimed two wins from the number four position. Mark Jackson and Steve Munson also won one in this match and Munson and Hansell both got one in the 2-6 defeat by Urban Progress II. The other matches, against Westfield and DHS London Progress II both resulted in 8-0 defeats with Steve Buck, last season’s most consistent performer, failing to win but being short of match practice following an early season injury.

The third team, playing at Chichester in Division 3 South, fared only slightly better. Their only victory came 6-2 against a depleted Ellenborough II team while defeats were tasted 3-5 against both Horsham III and Hastings and 2-6 to York Gardens II. Eddie Mitchell, at thirteen the youngest player in the Club’s senior squads, celebrated his British League debut with three wins out of seven, while Paul Elliot won two and Steve Smith one. Paul Baker and Jonathan Evans played one day each and both won two out of four.