Stratford march on after another easy victory
STRATFORD march on at the top of the Wildmoor Spa Summer Tennis League following victory over HDA Redditch.
The reigning champions claimed another maximum points win in week six as their pair Callum Bailey and Simon West beat Tomas Cop and Lubo Smoliar 6-4, 6-1, and then beat Tim Bradley and Ben Portman 6-0, 6-2.
Stratford captain Tim Page, with partner Cameron Malik, beat Bradley and Portman 6-1, 6-1, and beat Cop and Smoliar 7-5, 6-2.
Second-placed Ardencote Manor (16) maintained their challenge with a 3-1 victory over Evesham.
Ardencote’s Jack Smith and Christian Hardy won both their rubbers, beating Chris Francis and Andrew Crowther 6-2, 6-3 and then John Clarke and Julian Heath (Evesham) 6-0, 6-2.
Ben Summers and John Brain (Ardencote) beat Clarke and Heath 6-3, 6-3, but lost to Francis & Crowther 6-7, 1-6.
An interesting tussle between the third and fourth placed teams, Henley-in-Arden and Alcester A, resulted in a 3-1 away win for the latter.
This result brought the Alcester team level on points and equal third with Henley on 12 points each.
Stuart Beach and Alex Woodbridge beat Sam Turner and Max Retallack 6-4, 6-3, and beat Henley’s Tom Griffiths and Matt Williams 6-1, 6-1.
Alcester A’s Pete Watson and Charlie Watson beat Griffiths and Williams 6-3, 7-5, but lost to Turner and Retallack 7-6, 6-7, 0-1 after a championship tie-break decider.
In the final premier fixture, mid-table Alcester B beat bottom team Moreton-in-Marsh A 3-1.
Alcester B’s Matt Fielding and Barney Williams lost to Gary Jackson and James Elliott 3-6, 1-6, but beat Greg Stotesbury and Brian Lomas (Moreton) 7-6, 6-1.
Alcester B captain Gareth Price, with Charlie Watson, beat Stotesbury and Lomas 6-2, 7-5 and beat Jackson & Elliott 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 after a championship tie-break.
Division One leaders Chipping Campden travelled to play second in the table Studley in a crucial match.
With only a two-point lead, Campden were in danger of being overtaken by Studley if the latter could beat them.
In the event Campden retained their lead but it was cut to one point after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Studley, who stay equal third.
Behind them the third and fourth placed teams Littleton and Pershore, who both kept up the pressure with 4-0 wins.
Littleton’s was over bottom but one team Ardencote Manor B and Pershore’s at the expense of bottom side Snitterfield.
Meanwhile, a mid-table clash between Claverdon and Stratford B saw Stratford B emerge as comfortable victors 4-0.
In Division Two, leaders Henley B retain the lead with 20 points after a 3-1 result over Claverdon B.
Inkberrow A stay second thanks to a good 3-1 win over lower table side Snitterfield B.
Third-placed Shipston-on-Stour A managed a good 4-0 away win at Alcester C.
The surprise of the week came when fourth-placed FISSC lost 4-0 to joint bottom of the table team Studley B after an epic battle in three of the four rubbers, including two tie-breaks.
In Division Three, leaders HDA B of Redditch had no match this week and were vulnerable to second-placed Warwick only two points behind, who travelled to Inkberrow B.
However, Warwick turned out not to be a threat since they surprisingly went down 4-0 to Inkberrow B.
The other team that could have threatened was Chipping Campden B, however their match versus Aston Cantlow was postponed due to heavy rain.
Pershore B (10) moved away from the drop zone with a 4-0 win at Claverdon C.
A clash of the top two in Division Four between leaders Bidford-on-Avon A and second-placed Inkberrow C (15) was postponed due to rain.
Third position remains in the hands of Wildmoor Spa A, even though they were unexpectedly held to a 2-2 draw by Moreton-in-Marsh B.
Evesham B moved up to joint fourth, thanks to a hard fought win over bottom team Moreton-in-Marsh C.
Although the result was 4-0 to Evesham B, this belied the closeness of the match.
A mid-table fixture between Bidford B and HDA C Redditch saw the Redditch visitors take the match 3-1 and as a result moved up to join Evesham in equal fourth place on 12 points.
In Division Five, the top two teams met at Shipston-on-Stour and the 3-1 victory to the visitors meant that Chipping Campden C moved to join Shipston B at the head of the table on 17 points apiece.
The match between Wildmoor Spa B (11) and Tysoe (10) was postponed due to slippery courts caused by heavy rain.
This meant that Warwickshire County Council celebrated a 3-1 away win at Inkberrow D (7) even more as it elevated them to third spot in the table.
Finally, a match near the foot of the league between Henley C and HDA D Redditch resulted in a 3-1 win for Henley.
