Cippenham forced to settle for second best in veterans league
Foresters maintain their form to seal title as Andy, Martin and Hari finish season strongly
Cippenham's men’s team were forced to settle for second place in the Veterans British League last weekend as league leaders Foresters maintained their unbeaten run to seal the title by an impressive four points.
Andy Trott, Martin Adams, and Hari Gehlot arrived in Derby hoping to take advantage of a slip up from the Division 1B leaders, but none was forthcoming and their hopes of promotion to the Premier Division were dashed.
Cippenham made a bold start to the weekend, brushing aside Crawley 6-0 in their opening match before easing to a 5-1 win over Norwich.
Crawley number one seed, Steve Brunskill, took both Trott and Adams to a deciding set, as did Jevon Chan against Gehlot, but none were able to make an impression on the scoreboard.
Adams skipped up to Norwich's number one, Jamie McIntosh, in the club's second match, but a brace of victories for Trott and Gehlot ensured a more than comfortable win.
Cippenham’s third match against Lilleshall proved a much tougher affair, with Trott failing to get the side off to a winning start against Steve Scowcroft and Richard Jermyn, succumbing in the final game of both matches. They also chalked up victories over Gehlot and Adams to seal a 4-2 victory as Cippenham's promotion hopes slipped further from their grasp.
The team bounced back well on Sunday morning, as St Georges were swept aside 5-1. Trott picked up key wins over Ben Wilson and Ryan Stockham, while both Adams – who'd earlier beaten Stockham – and Gehlot came through their games against former Cippenham member Mark Jackson in deciding sets.
With Foresters having wrapped up the Division 1B title the previous evening, Cippenham required a draw from their final encounter against the leaders to secure second place ahead of Lilleshall.
The matches generally went to form, with Trott and Adams closing to England number four Ritchie Venner, while Gehlot couldn't get the better of Paul Carter. But Trott responded well to beat Carter and Gehlot’s win over Mike Robinson, set up Adams for a decisive victory over Robinson with the club claiming second place on goal difference.
Meanwhile life was a little more difficult for Cippenham’s men’s B team who finished bottom of Division 3B.
They were beaten by eventual division winners, Joola Plymouth, in their opening match with Samson Bekele and Steve Smith both beating former Wales number one Dave Welsman.
Saturday then concluded with a couple of 3-3 draws against PSP Group and Norwich City. Bekele and Paul Baker proved successful for Cippenham in both matches with the team earning two of this season’s three-point haul in back-to-back games.
On Sunday morning they suffered a heavy 5-1 reverse against Dewsbury, with three of the five lost matches going to a fifth set. Cippenham’s only winner was Baker against Stephen Kosmowsky. The weekend concluded with another 5-1 defeat, this time at the hands of Graham Spicer Club with Stead claiming their only win against Chris Booker.
The Cippenham’s women’s team had a reasonably good weekend, winning three of their five matches to rise from bottom to fourth place in Division 2.
They didn’t get off to the best of starts, losing 4-2 to divisional champions Northern Belles, with Denise Weller and Julie Dean getting their two wins. They reversed those fortunes to beat Billwood 4-2 in their second match. Julie Dean won both of her matches against Caroline Cole and Denise Jacobi. Sue Hayles and Weller got their other wins.
Now in their stride, Cippenham then defeated Milton Keynes 4-2, with
Weller this time to star thanks to victories over Dawn Pearce and Carmen Vajdi, while Dean and Hayes both beat Zsuzsanna Kalman.
Sunday began with a 4-2 loss to Sutton at Hone, with Hayes and Dean scoring Cippenham’s two wins before the weekend concluded with another 42 win over Ellenborough 2nds. Weller and Hayes both found Lynne Trussell too good, but Dean weighed in with a brace against Gill Tournbas and Louise Johnston while Weller and Hayes were also victorious.