First team win against Division 1 new boys

Henley 1sts entertained Bicester 1sts, the new boys in the Division.

At first string Rick Weatherall’s experience and consistency was too much for Jonathan Geekie. Geekie, a young professional and ranked 234 in the world rankings was able to hold his own for most of the match but Weatherall’s hard and accurate hitting saw the Henley man home in the fifth game as he won 3/2.

Luke Power was too fit for Ben Shakespeare and won a comfortable 3/0 after a tight opening game. Power’s court coverage is excellent and he allowed Shakespeare no respite with Shakespeare totally exhausted part way through the third game.

Simon Street played Nick Barnett with Street winning comfortably, 3/0, dropping only a few points to the error prone Barnett.

Will Buckfield’s hard hitting game failed to cope with Chris O’Brien’s attacking style, succumbing 3/1, despite controlling many rallies when he played at his pace.

Andy Walters was too clinical and had too many shots for Jon Childs with Walters finishing off a demoralised Childs 3/0.

Henley 17 points Bicester 5 points.

Henley 2nds travelled to Defence Academy Shrivenham, and lost 3/2.

At first string Paul Sayers could not match Darren O’Sullivan’s speed and fitness and despite pulling back one game, lost 3/1.

James Knight with his unorthodox game and running saw off the talented Nevill Buckle 3/2.

Nigel Richardson had a poor night and despite all his running could not match Jon Morris losing 3/0.

Derek Oswald had the better of the consistent Brian Bell with Oswald finally overcoming Bell 3/2.

The skillful Derk Bray was too much for Steve Berger, who took one game losing 3/1.

Henley 8 points Defence 17 points.

Henley 3rds entertained Telcom(Witney) losing 3/2.

Terry Whiter was no match for Carey James losing in quick time 3/0.

Jill Campion despite her tricky game could not match Peter Walker, but managed to salvage a point losing 3/1.

The ever improving Tim Budden was too good for Paul Whiteman with Budden’s hard driving not allowing his opponent any leeway.

Simon Stone returning as a regular player after a long lay off could not match Ian Foggett losing 3/1.

Chris Pullen used all his wily tricks to demolish Bruce Anderson 3/1.

Henley 8 points Telecom 15 points.

Henley 4ths travelled to Gladiators in Oxford. Both teams were demoted last season, so a close match was expected.

At fifth string, relative newcomer to the teams, Matt Blagg, continued to impress with another heroic and lung-busting performance, eventually losing to a wily Martin Langton 3/2.

At 4, Duncan Nightingale deployed his trademark game of dropshots to defeat Chris Mead 3/1. Mead was the much fitter man, but got frustrated by the short rallies and never really got going.

At 3, Jonathan Betts needed a bit more variability in his game to unsettle a much older, more cunning opponent in Richard Hall and lost 3/1.

At 2, Paul Ireland produced a powerful performance to eventually overcome Peter Beasley 3/2 and leave the overall fixture finally balanced at 2 matches each.

Richard Griffiths, in the final and deciding match of the evening, continued to show an improvement in form on his comeback trail – eventually losing out to a very tenacious Simon Phillips 3/1. The match featured many long rallies with Griffiths moving his opponent around, but Phillips doggedly chasing everything down. Sustained applause from the viewing gallery at the end!

The Oxfordshire League Tables can be seen here.

The Berkshire Veterans League Tables can be picked up here.