Week 12 of the Wildmoor Spa Tennis League for South Warwickshire area and parts of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, with only two more weeks of the season to go, saw the top three teams, Stratford-on-Avon, Evesham and Ardencote Manor celebrate with convincing wins. Stratford’s was 3-1 over mid-table Alcester, Evesham overwhelmed bottom club Inkberrow 4-0 and Ardencote enjoyed a valuable 4-0 victory over fourth placed Henley-in-Arden. The latter now only have 22 points and are perhaps out of the runners-up challenge. Stratford were crowned champions last week and are on 45 points, Evesham a distant second with 29 points, and Ardencote have 28 points. So Evesham are second , now equal second with 28 points. In the final match Littleton stay two points clear of their opponents Claverdon, who lie in the drop zone with 16 points, after they drew with them 2-2.
Alcester did well to take a rubber as they played host to Champions Stratford. However, the visitors opened with a win as Stratford’s Callum Bailey partnered with Simon West defeated Alcester captain Tim Kenneally & Stuart Beach 3-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-4) in a close rubber. They then went on to cruise past Alcester’s second pair Peter Bostock & Andy Wijnberg 6-0, 6-0. On the other court Stratford captain Tim Page and partner Richard Monk won their opening rubber 6-3, 6-3 over Bostock & Wijnberg, but lost out to Kenneally & Beach 1-6, 3-6.
Evesham enjoyed another straight forward 4-0 victory in straight sets over the relegated bottom club Inkberrow. Simon Wall & Paul Everatt (Evesham) beat Nick Brookes & Gordon Keir (Inkberrow) 6-3, 6-2 and beat Jim Richardson & Chris Dixon (Inkberrow) 7-6, 3-6, 1-0 (10-5). Ray Foster-Morison & Chris Francis (Evesham) beat Richardson & Dixon 6-3, 6-4 and beat Brookes & Keir 6-3, 6-3.
Ardencote Manor made an impressive charge for the runners-up spot with this 4-0 win assisted by a Henley side that was only able to put out one pair and will be docked a penalty point. This gave Ardencote a 2-0 rubber start. In the remaining two games John Turner & John Brain (Ardencote) beat Max Retallack & John Hunt (Henley) 6-0, 7-5, and then Ben Summers & Christian Hardy (Ardencote) beat Retallack & Hunt 6-1, 6-1. .
Littleton kept out of relegation worries with a 2-2 draw away to nearest rivals Claverdon. Pete Thomas & James Courier (Claverdon) lost their opening clash 4-6, 1-6 to Sean Witheford & Dave Rudge (Littleton), but beat Chris Elliott & Richard Herborne (Littleton) in their second rubber 7-5, 6-4. Claverdon captain Richard Butler & Andy Ashley beat Elliott & Herborne 6-4, 6-4, but went down to Witheford & Rudge after a close match ended in a championship tie-break 6-4, 1-6, 0-1 (7-10).
Division One again had only two fixtures both ending in 2-2 draws. The surprise result was bottom placed Shipston holding table toppers Studley A. The other was more predictable as just above Shipston in the table Snitterfield held on to their two point lead after their draw with Aston Cantlow. The latter now have 12 points, one ahead of Shipston with both in real danger of being relegated to Division Two. Second and third placed teams Pershore and Studley B respectively had no match this week.
In Division Two Whitnash again made a challenge for promotion with a good 3-1 victory over Bidford-on-Avon A. This took them up to second place on 26 points and only three behind leaders Moreton A who were without a match this week. It also placed Bidford A only one point above the relegation battle on 18 points. Third placed Stratford B have 25 points after they beat Alcester B 4-0 leaving the latter, along with Bidford, only one point above the relegation zone. The two teams currently in that zone played each other, resulting in HDA A of Redditch beating bottom team Claverdon B 4-0 and giving them 17 points while almost certainly dooming Claverdon B with only 10 points to relegation to Division Three.
Favourites to win the Division Three title are Ardencote B. They enjoy a six point lead with only two weeks to of the season left. This despite being held to a 2-2 draw by third placed FISSC who have 17 points. The second promotion place is still being claimed by Inkberrow B on 21 points in spite of being surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw by bottom and likely relegation candidates Chipping Campden B. The last Division Three match saw fourth placed Wildmoor Spa B claim an important victory over the team just below them Ilmington. The latter now drop into relegation worries with only 14 points three behind Wildmoor.
In Division Four the title race is still wide open. Alcester C reclaimed the lead from Henley B when they defeated third placed Studley C 3-1. Studley C then played a previously rained off match against Littleton B and claimed a 3-1 victory. This meant that Alcester have 27 points to Henley’s 26, Studley C's 26 (behind Henley on sets difference) and Snitterfield’s 25. This was after Snitterfield and Henley met resulting in a 3-1 win to Snitterfield and drawing them closer to the title race. Chipping Campden C had no match but the results around them confirmed their relegation at the end of the season. Littleton’s home draw 2-2 with mid table Claverdon was little consolation as they too will join Campden C down to Division Five next year. They are now 12 points adrift with only one match in hand.
Finally, in Division Five with previous week’s leaders HDA B of Redditch having no match, Pershore B, with a great 4-0 win over third placed Inkberrow C, climbed back to the top by a solitary point with 33 to HDA’s 32. Both however, are almost assured of promotion with that result as the gap from second to third is now 8 points. Dropping down further Moreton B in fourth played sixth placed Wildmoor Spa B and drew 2-2. The final match involved a 3-1 victory to fifth placed Bidford B over bottom side Inkberrow D.