Week 8 of the Wildmoor Summer Tennis League, sponsored by Bannatyne Health Club & Spa and covering South Warwickshire and parts of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, saw Alcester A still topping the table. They increased their tally to 28 points following a 4-0 win over the Alcester B team (9). Second placed Pershore (24) beat bottom team Henley-in-Arden (2) by a similar 4-0 score. Champions Stratford –on-Avon (20) followed last week’s shock defeat to Littleton with a 2-2 draw with fourth placed Chipping Campden (19). Meanwhile fifth placed Littleton (17) took a 4-0 result over penultimate side Evesham (7).
Alcester A as expected took maximum points off their B Team. Barney Williams & Sam Thruston-nend (Alcester A) beat Duncan Robinson & Matt Fielding (Alcester B) 6-1, 6-3 and defeated Gareth Price & Pete Watson (Alcester B) 6-3, 7-5. Charlie Watson & Marcus Powell (Alcester A) beat Price & Watson 6-2, 6-4 and beat Robinson & Fielding 6-1, 6-3.
Pershore retained second spot after beating bottom team Henley 4-0. However, Henley’s Craig Mander had to retire in the second set of their final rubber while leading 4-3. George Southall & Jack Hingley (Pershore) beat Tom Griffiths & Craig Mander (Henley) 6-2, 6-0 and beat Max Retallack & Alex Didlick (Henley) 6-1, 6-1. Jon Guppy & Anthony Fordham (Pershore) beat Retallack & Didlick 6-1, 6-1 and beat Griffiths & Mander after their injury 6-1, 6-4*.
Current champions Stratford-on-Avon for the first time in sixteen years are seeing their title chances slipping away dropping two more points in a draw at Chipping Campden. The hosts pair Martyn Ledbury & Ali Johnson beat Stratford captain William Morley-Cotterell & Jeremy Simons 7-6, 7-6, but then lost on a Championship tie-break 6-7, 7-5, 0-1 to Stratford’s other pairing Ryan Bolton & George Adams. Campden captain George Richards & Tom Partridge also won their first rubber against Bolton & Adams 7-5, 6-2, but lost their second rubber to Morley-Cotterell & Simmons 6-7, 4-6.
Mid-table Littleton defeated penultimate side Evesham 4-0. The opening rubber proved the closest before Sean & Ali Witheford (Littleton) overcame Simon Wall & Paul Everatt (Evesham) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 after a championship tie-break. They then overpowered Ray Foster-Morison & Matt Roberts (Evesham) 6-0, 6-1. On the other court Craig Witheford & Richard Herborn (Littleton) beat Foster-Morison & Roberts 6-0, 6-1 and then edged out Wall & Everatt 6-4, 7-5.
In Division One, a match between the top two was ruined when Ardencote Manor (19) could only field two players and had to forfeit two of their rubbers to Division One leaders Redditch. This meant that Redditch (24) then took the match 3-1. Even then the 1 point gained by Ardencote was lost, when the league docked them one point for not fielding a full team. Third placed Stratford B (15) hosted fourth placed Moreton-in-Marsh (14) and shared a 2-2 draw. Finally, mid-table Claverdon (11) travelled to Shipston-on-Stour (4) and were shocked to go down 3-1 to a determined Shipston side. Alcester C had no match this week.
Division Two leaders are still Inkberrow A (23), but now Pershore B (21) are a point closer. This is because while Pershore B managed to beat Warwick (15) away 3-1, Inkberrow A could only draw 2-2 away to previously fourth Ardencote B. The result moved Ardencote B up to equal third with Snitterfield with both teams on 18 points. This is because Snitterfield were surprisingly well beaten 4-0 by fifth placed Chipping Campden B (16). It also means that the title race has tightened considerably. In the final match in this division a battle of the bottom two between Claverdon B (11) and Henley B (6) resulted in a 4-0 victory for Claverdon B and keeps their hope of avoiding relegation alive.
A depleted Bidford A team lost their first match of the season, but retained top spot in Division Three. Bidford (25) travelled to Studley B and found themselves competing against some of their A players who had earlier in the season dropped out of Division One of the league. As a result, Studley B (19) emerged 3-1 victors and moved up to joint second with Shipston B (19). The latter side kept second spot by beating Redditch B (18) 3-1 causing them to drop to fourth place. Evesham B (12) pulled clear of the relegation zone with a valuable 4-0 defeat of Chipping Campden C (10). Mid-table Inkberrow B (15) beat sister side Inkberrow C in a close 3-1 victory which went to two tie-breaks, but the result left their C Team club mates rock bottom on 9 points.
The top side in Division Four Stratford C (32) played the bottom team Tysoe (6) and resulted in a predictable 4-0 win for Stratford opening up a 9 point lead. This is despite Wildmoor A (23) also enjoying a great 4-0 victory over third side Redditch C (20). Aston Cantlow (15) were held to a 2-2 draw by penultimate team Bidford B (7) and as a result are joined in fourth place by Moreton-in-Marsh B (15) who beat Warwickshire County Council (10) 3-1.
In Division Five the top team increased its’ lead to 5 points when Pershore C (32) beat bottom placed Shipston C (3) handsomely 4-0. Meanwhile second side Wildmoor B (23) were held to a 2-2 draw by sister side Wildmoor C (16) who now move to fourth. The closest match of the season in the whole league was played out between third from the top of Division Claverdon C (19) and Henley C (12), who sit just third from the bottom of the league. Henley did themselves a power of good by claiming the tightest of victories 3-1. Meanwhile Claverdon seem to be losing ground rapidly on the leaders. Every single rubber went to a championship tie-break before a result was reached. Finally, fifth placed Littleton B (15) took a 4-0 result over Moreton-in-Marsh C (8).