Week 7 of the South Warwickshire Summer Tennis League marked the half-way point of the season and saw back in form Stratford-on-Avon re-establish their grip at the top after last week's defeat to Littleton in the Premier Division. They did this with an emphatic 4-0 victory over third placed Evesham who now drop to fourth in the table. Littleton are on a charge after their defeat of the league leaders they demolished second placed side Alcester 4-0 and with this result moved up to join them on16 points. Surprise of the week saw bottom side Shipston-on-Stour beat fifth Henley-in-Arden 3-1. Finally, in the Premier Division Claverdon's 2-2 draw away to Chipping Campden saw them move up to joint fifth while pushing Campden down to joint bottom with Shipston on 8 points.
Stratford made short work of their opponents as their pair Callum Bailey & Chris Morrow beat Chris Francis & Andy Crowther (Evesham) 6-3, 6-2, and beat Rob Noble & Duncan Lowe (Evesham) 6-3, 6-1. Richard Monk & Cameron Malik (Stratford) beat Noble & Lowe 6-4, 6-3 and beat Francis & Crowther 6-1, 6-2.
Littleton in confident mood triumphed over Alcester as Mike Crooks & Simon Blewitt blew away Gareth Price & Matt Fielding (Alcester) 6-0, 6-0, and then overpowered Tim Kenneally & Ollie Allerman (Alcester) 6-2, 6-2. Dave Rudge & Chris Elliott (Littleton) beat Kenneally & Allerman 6-4, 7-5 and beat Price & Fielding 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) in a much closer encounter.
Shipston regained some pride with their first victory of the season as Ross Tugwood & William Welch beat John Hunt & Dave Taylor (Henley) 6-3, 6-2 and then Fraser Kent & Terry Brandon (Henley) 5-1, 6-0. Hugh Allen & Ben Allen (Shipston) defeated Kent & Brandon 6-3, 7-6 but lost to Hunt & Taylor 3-6, 1-6.
Finally, in a drawn match Ollie Coombes & Josh Thompson (Camden) beat Richard Butler & Carsten Astheimer (Claverdon) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-3) and beat James Courier & Pete Thomas (Claverdon) 6-3, 6-2. Geoff Vaughan & Callum Hui (Campden) lost to Courier & Thomas 6-1, 4-6, 0-1 (2-10) and lost to Coombes & Thompson 1-6, 1-6.
Division One leaders Ardencote Manor extended their lead with 23 points following a 4-0 defeat of Aston Cantlow. Meanwhile second placed Pershore visited fourth side Inkberrow resulting in a 2-2 draw. Third placed side Studley had no match which just left the bottom two sides Bidford-on-Avon and Alcester B battling it out. This ended in a 3-1 win for Alcester.
Studley B remain Division Two leaders with 19 points despite not having a fixture this week. Stratford B took advantage in second to close to within two points of the leaders after they beat bottom placed Shipston B 4-0. A clash for third place between Snitterfield A and Chipping Campden B resulted in a good 3-1 win for Campden keeping them in third and widening the gap to fourth. The lower table meeting between Claverdon B and Whitnash gave the former a 3-1 victory which meant they climbed to fourth over Snitterfield.
Division Three is still led by Moreton-in-Marsh B on 19 points who chalked up another victory 3-1 this time over Ilmington. Second placed Redditch side HDA A kept their position on 15 points even though held to a 2-2 draw by FISSC. Inkberrow B stayed third after defeating bottom placed Littleton B 4-0. Fourth placed Henley B had no match this week.
Division Four saw Ardencote Manor B reclaim top spot over Wildmoor Spa A when they beat them 4-0 giving the leaders a total of 21 points over Wildmoor's 17. A 2-2 draw for Snitterfield B away to Claverdon C was enough to keep them in third while the Claverdon team stay just above bottom side HDA B of Redditch. The latter's match against Alcester C was rained off and with Pershore B having no match they all remained unchanged and Alcester and Pershore stay mid table on 8 points apiece.
In Division Five with previous leaders Studley C's match at Wildmoor Spa B being rained off new leaders are Chipping Campden C who go into a two point lead on 17 after they beat Bidford B 3-1. Fourth placed Moreton-in-Marsh B travelled to fifth placed Inkberrow C and their 2-2 draw result means that Moreton remain just above Inkberrow at the half way stage of the season.