Week Four of the Wildmoor Spa Tennis League covering the South Warwickshire area and parts of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire saw Stratford-on-Avon open up a six point lead at top of the Premier Division following another 4-0 drubbing of this week’s opposition. This time it was Claverdon who suffered the defeat and as a result dropped from third to sixth place. Ardencote Manor hung on to second spot on 10 points by beating last but one side Littleton 3-1. Henley-in-Arden moved up from sixth to third with 9 points thanks to a 3-1 win over bottom placed Inkberrow. Alcester and Evesham maintained equal fourth place both on 8 points after they shared a 2-2 draw.
Stratford cruised to a comfortable victory away to Claverdon. Top Stratford pair Callum Bailey & Cameron Malik dropped only eight games in their two straight sets victories beating Pete Thomas & James Courier (Claverdon) 6-0, 6-2, and beating Richard Butler & Andy Ashley (Claverdon) 6-2, 6-4. Team captain Tim Page with partner Simon West dropped only seven games as they beat Butler & Ashley 6-3, 6-0 and beat Thomas & Courier 6-3, 6-1.
Ardencote Manor stay the nearest challengers to the champions as they beat Littleton 3-1. Their first pair of Ben Summers & John Brain won both their rubbers beating Andy Reynolds & Jack Philpot (Littleton) 6-2, 6-3 and beating Richard Herborn & Simon Blewitt 6-3, 6-3. Christian Hardy & Tom Holland for Ardencote edged out Herborn & Blewitt 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-6) after a championship tie-break but lost to Reynolds & Philpot 6-7, 4-6.
Henley climbed to third place after a hard won 3-1 victory over Inkberrow. Their pair Brett Mackay & Sam Turner just lost out to Inkberrow’s Matt Saunders & Jim Richardson 5-7, 7-6, 0-1 (10-12) in the closest of rubbers. However, they bounced back to beat Gordon Keir & Chris Dixon (Inkberrow) 6-3, 6-1. Meanwhile on the other court Max Rettallack & Neil Supperstone for Henley beat Gordon Keir & Chris Dixon 6-1, 6-2 and beat Saunders & Richardson 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) in another close finish.
In the final Premier Division Fixture honours were even when the mid-table teams Alcester and Evesham shared the points in a 2-2 draw. Stuart Beach & Alex Woodbridge (Alcester) beat Simon Wall & Andrew Crowther (Evesham) 6-0, 7-5 and beat John Clarke & Chris Francis (Evesham) 6-1, 6-0. Duncan Robinson & Jack Newbold (Alcester) lost to Clarke & Francis 1-6, 1-6 and lost to Wall & Crowther 0-6, 0-6.
In Division One Studley A pulled four points clear at the top after beating sister side Studley B 4-0. Pershore lay second following their own 4-0 victory over bottom placed Shipston-on-Stour. Finally, Chipping Campden fielded only one pair in their 3-1 loss to Snitterfield and are docked a further point. This result put Snitterfield up to fourth place only a point behind third side Studley B. Aston Cantlow had no fixture.
Division Two saw Moreton-in-Marsh A pull four points clear on 13 thanks to a great 4-0 result over Whitnash. Stratford B lay second despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Bidford A. Alcester B with two matches moved up to third after two victories. The first was a rain re-arrange match with bottom placed Claverdon B which Alcester B won 3-1. They then went on to beat HDA A of Redditch 3-1.
The third Division leaders FISSC consolidated their position on 9 points with a 3-1 win over bottom side Chipping Campden B. The only other fixture of the week saw Ardencote B move up to second following a resounding 4-0 result over third placed Wildmoor Spa A.
In Division Four Snitterfield B go top with 9 points after they beat bottom side Chipping Campden C 4-0. Alcester C hung on to joint second spot with 8 points despite being held to a 2-2 draw by mid-table Littleton B. Claverdon C moved up to joint second alongside Alcester C and Studley C when they beat the latter side 3-1. Henley B had no match this week.
Finally, in Division Five Inkberrow C move just clear at the top on their own with 11 points after beating Bidford B 3-1. Pershore are second a point behind as they were held to a 2-2 draw by third placed HDA B. Finally, the bottom two teams met resulting in Wildmoor B beating Inkberrow D 3-1. Moreton-in-Marsh B had no fixture this week.