Leaders Kingfisher A overcame their club colleagues Kingfisher D 9-1 in Division One, but not before top player Hari Gehlot had a scare and needed to fight back from 0-2 behind as he overtook Mike Douglas 7-11 5-11 11-9 11-4 11-4.
The D team’s sole point originated from the bat of Georgi Ivanov who played well to beat young Rishaan Sawant. Meanwhile Malcom Gregory squandered four match points against Cath Venning as his Sonning Common & Peppard D squad lost 2-8 to Kingfisher B.
Their two points were gained by his colleagues, Nigel Maltby and Brian Meheux, both against Cath. Julian Telford and Graham Mendick gained the maximum three wins each plus doubles.
Sonning Common & Peppard A had a reasonably comfortable evening at home to Tilehurst RBL A although Jason Roberts could not get the better of Keith Winter over five tight games. In-form Ed Lush and Ian Cole completed the 9-1 victory.
Danny Dockree starred with a triple as Sonning Common & Peppard C overtook their B team with a 6-4. He was ably supported by Jon Abbott with a double despite Matt Stone spoiling his party.
The mid-table clash between Kingfisher C and Tidmarsh A had a 5-5 draw written all over it. All team members contributed while none remained unbeaten.
Several sets went to the deciding fifth game including the doubles where Kingfisher’s Alan Cummings and Phil Mead edged out Antony Baker and Lee Calcutt 6-11 11-9 11-6 10-12 14-12.
Division Two leaders Kingfisher F had a hard fought 6-4 win at Tilehurst RBL B. Kate Maksimenko recorded a great maximum for Tilehurst which included a very close win in five against the much improved Akeel Mir.
Second place Reading FC had a comfortable 9-1 win over the bottom team Pangbourne WMC with Clive Taylor’s win over Jazz Dillon being Pangbourne’s only success.
Springfield A had a good 7-3 win at Tidmarsh B helped by a very good three straight maximum from new signing Matt Hickman. Kingfisher E maintained their good start to the season by beating Tidmarsh C 7-3 in a match where all the individual sets went to four or five.
Our Lady of Peace A beat relegation threatened Kingfisher H 9-1 despite the Kingfisher team fielding two new signings. One of the new signings, Vivaan Karalkar recorded Kingfisher sole win by beating Dave Godfrey.
Division Three continued with four games in week six and one game postponed for a later date. The week’s first game was the Tilehurst derby, where Tilehurst Methodists C hosted their B team.
Nigel Rowland and Martin Wetherell trebles were significant as the B team won 7-3, however the action was in the doubles match where the C team won the last two games of the five-setter thriller: 11-7 10-12 8-11 14-12 11-7.
The next evening, there was an important game for the title race where 2 good teams were clashed with Kingfisher I beating previously unbeaten Our Lady of Peace C 8-2.
This win gives the Kingfisher team a comfortable lead at the top of the table. Ruben Hernandez and Huzeyfe Borazan’s put in good performances with trebles and a comfortable win in doubles.
Our Lady of Peace B beat Sonning Common & Peppard E 6-4. Superb substitute player Lousie Forster’s treble really helped OLOP to this win, whereas, on the other hand, Jez Willis’s two wins for SC&P were not quite enough for a draw.
Tidmarsh D were 6-4 winners against Sonning Sports B, Dave Edwards joined with 2 wins to Terry Hardie’s treble, to help their team clinch the win.
In Division Four, Our Lady of Peace E gained a 5-5 draw with Springfield C thanks to a great treble from Pat Daniels while their F team clubmates were 7-3 winners at Sonning Common & Peppard G thanks to Alice Walker and Gopi Ponnapalli who both hit maximums.
Rob Atack was in top form by gaining a hat trick to help Springfield B win 6-4 at Kingfisher K.
By Nigel Matlby
