Phoenix Flames Seconds showing why they are red hot favourites in the Mixed First division
A bumper week with eight matches being played, covering the Mixed, Combi, Ladies, Men's (Open) and Masters!
Phoenix Flames Seconds continued their impressive start to the season in the Mixed First division as they made it three wins from three with an 8-1 victory over Hawkwell. Greg Roffey and Farnaz Siddiq won a perfect three rubbers and were supported by a hat-trick from Tim Baskett and Trudi Clark, and a double from Jithin Raju-Geetha and Corinne Telling. Tim and Hannah Rainbow picked up the point for the Hawks. The Flames have dropped just two points so far this campaign.
In the Combi Premier, it was a tough opening to the season for Fitzwimarc Seconds as they lost their first two matches. The first was a 6-0 defeat against the Fitzwimarc Firsts. Natalie Smith, Chloe Baker, Phil Tuffee and Paul Chaplin all won three rubbers without dropping a game.Â
The second was a 5-1 loss at home to Phoenix Flames. Greg Roffey and Holly Hoswell-Sims both secured three rubbers each with Alex Cheung and Carly Horsler getting a brace apiece. Oliver Smith and Emma Dixon helped Fitz Seconds to their point. Phoenix remain top with victory, one point ahead of Fitz Firsts having played a match more.
The first match in the Ladies First division took place and SLH Rayleigh started with a 5-1 home win over Hawkwell. Jan Watt and Judy Slater both secured hat-tricks without dropping a game with Caroline Fletcher and Sam Cooper each winning two. Caroline Trace and Jenny Howorth got the point for the visitors.
In the Men’s (Open) First division, SLH Rayleigh increased their lead at the top of the table with a 6-3 victory against Velocity Viers. Andrew Strutt and Sam Partridge, and Pete Greenslade and Joe Garnett both picked up hat-tricks to secure the win. Paul Hyde and Akshay Lavangu, Shail Rawat and Chandra Maddi, and Prakash Singh and Sajan Jayaram all won a rubber each for the visitors. SLH are eight points clear at the top having played two matches more than second placed Phoenix, meanwhile Velocity move into third but have also played more than the sides below them.
There were two matches in the division below. The first saw Fitzwimarc Thirds beat Deanes 7-2. Andrew Millham and Jamie Lammas grabbed all three of their rubbers and were backed up by doubles from David Palmer and Matthew Pavyer, and Aaron Rose and Paul Western. Nick Cutmore and Satheesh Chintala grabbed the two points for Deanes.
The other saw Phoenix Flames Seconds defeat SLH Rayleigh Seconds 5-4. The Flames started 3-0 up as SLH had to field an ineligible player, and Max Tanto and Tom Cook got the two rubbers that they needed for victory overall. Alex Marcus and Will Chan, and Mike Smith and Debin Tom both won two rubbers each for the away side in their first match of the campaign.
Finally, Phoenix Flames Thirds narrowly beat the Fourths 4-2 in the Masters Premier to move up into second place. Trudi Clark won all three of her rubbers with Peter Lewin and Rob Dunn getting two each. Jo Howard-Simpson helped the Phoenix Fourths to their two points as they move up to sixth in the nine team division.
All the matches above were played between 11th November and 17th November.
Player of the Week: Judy Slater - the SLH Rayleigh ladies team are back in the Southend league for the first time in over five years and Judy picked up a clean sweep of rubbers to help them to victory in their first match.
Team of the Week: Phoenix Flames Seconds (Mixed 1) - this Flames side really are on fire. Another big victory means it’s three wins from three to start the season and only two points dropped as well. An instant return to the Prem after relegation last year looks on the cards.
You can see how these matches affected the league tables by following the link here. And if you haven’t already, then subscribe below!