St Leonards C pip Honiton to Div 3 glory
28 March, 2013 Andy Rowe
The Division 3 champions are St Leonards C following a 9-0 whitewash of Clyst Vale, a 6-3 win over title rivals Honiton and a convincing 8-1 win over Exeter D.
In the “title decider” against Honiton the saints pairs of Ali Rehemi/Martin Matthews, Phil Ooms/Matt Knight, Mike Lamboll/Mark Stanley all bagged a brace of wins, but Honitons Roger Tucker and Ethan Leach fought well and deservedly came away unbeaten.
The saints Matt Knight starred in the match against Exeter D, effectively having to play singles as his partner Phil Ooms was injured.
Kevin Perryman made his first appearance this season for Ringswell B and steered to a 9-0 win over 2 pair Sidmouth B. Also on the scoresheet were Phil Matthews,Brian Jeary. Mike Clarke, Tim Hall and Chris Gould. Ringswell B followed this up with a 9-0 demolition of Clyst Vale.
Exeter D secured their 4th win of the season by beating Sidmouth B 6-3, although none of their pairs could overcome the Sidmouth top pair of Graham Baker and Jimmy Newcombe (3).
Exeter A merely need to field a team for their final two fixtures to secure the Division 1 title. They maintained their unbeaten record with a 7-2 win over 2nd place Queens A, with Dan Harris and Sam Owens leading the way with 3 wins. It was a close fought match with 5 of the rubbers being decided in the 3rd game.
Kevin Cobbledick’s valedictory appearance for Queens A was notable for losing a game 30-29 against the Ringswell A pair of Nigel Osbourne and Steve Rice, before winning the next 2 games 21-15, 21-5 on his way to 3 wins with partner Darren Frisby. This laid the foundations for a 9-0 win, with teammates Simon Brassington, Ben Watkins, Tim Goode and Ben Herbert also unbeaten.
At the foot of the Division a 5-4 win for University against Sidmouth A helped both teams in their fight for relegation. The student’s points came courtesy of Harry Hacking/ Mark Milton (3) and James Bell/Nick Halliwell (2).
University followed this with a fine 8-1 win over Cranford. The student pairs of James Bell/Milo Rapacioli and Mark Milton/Harry Hacking put in unbeaten performances with Zac Phillips and Joe Davis salvaging a point for Cranford.
In Division 2 the St Leonards A team of Tim Wardale, Phil Nicholls, Malcolm Travis-Dart, Guy Sweetman, Leo Robbins and Mark Newson ended their season with a solid 8-1 win over Queens B. Matt Brassington and Nathan Scase rescued a point for Queens B.
Allister Brimble and Ian Jameson won all their 3 rubbers to guide St Leonards B to a 6-3 win over Otter Vale. Brian Deem and Mark Brown were the pick of the Otter Vale pairs with 2 wins.
RESULTS
Division 1
Exeter A beat Queens A 7-2
Queens A beat Ringswell A 9-0
University beat Sidmouth A 5-4
University beat Cranford 8-1
Division 2
St Leonards A beat Queens B 8-1
St Leonards B beat Otter Vale 6-3
Division 3
St Leonards C beat Clyst Vale 9-0
Ringswell B beat Sidmouth B 9-0
St Leonards C beat Honiton 6-3
St Leonards C beat Exeter D 8-1
Exeter D beat Sidmouth B 6-3
Ringswell B beat Clyst Vale 9-0