In was Week Five of the Wildmoor Spa Tennis League covering the South Warwickshire area and parts of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, Stratford-on-Avon’s lead increased to 7 points at the top of the Premier Division. They have already amassed 20 points after once again blasting their opposition, this time Alcester 4-0 while dropping only three games the entire match. Ardencote Manor stay second on 13 points beating third placed Henley-in-Arden 3-1. Moving up a place to fourth, a point behind Henley, is Evesham with 9 points thanks to their 3-1 victory over bottom placed Inkberrow. Near the foot of the table Littleton climbed off the bottom thanks to an excellent 4-0 result over Claverdon.
This was Stratford’s easiest victory of the season led by Callum Bailey partnered together again with Rob Slatter as they thrashed Tim Price & Peter Bostock (Alcester) 6-0, 6-1, and then had a 6-0, 6-0 walkover as Alcester were only able to field one pair and will be fined and docked a further point. Meanwhile captain Tim Page and Richard Monk also of course had a 6-0, 6-0 walkover before they too beat Price & Bostock 6-1, 6-1.
Ardencote Manor remains the only team in touch which was helped by their 3-1 win over third placed Henley. Their duo of Ben Summers & Jon Turner won both their rubbers beating Sam Turner & Jon Hunt (Henley) 7-6, 7-5 and beating Max Retallack & Emmanuel Vaxier (Henley) 6-2, 5-7. 1-0 (10-3) following a championship tie-break decider. Phil Silk & Myles Wilcox-Smith (Ardencote) beat Retallack & Vaxier 7-5, 6-0, but lost to Turner & Hunt 3-6, 0-6.
Bottom of the table Inkberrow were the surprise victors when they celebrated their first win of the season by beating Evesham 3-1 away from home. Jim Richardson & Matt Saunders (Inkberrow) beat Andrew Crowther & Ray Foster-Morison (Evesham) 6-3, 6-4 and beat Simon Wall & Jack Castle (Evesham) 6-1, 6-0. Nick Brookes & Gordon Keir (Inkberrow) beat Wall & Castle 6-0, 6-1, but lost to Crowther & Foster-Morison 1-6, 4-6.
The final Premier Division Fixture saw Littleton just stay off the foot of the table with a resounding 4-0 result over the team just above them Claverdon. Richard Herborn & Jack Philpott (Littleton) beat James Courier & Richard Butler (Claverdon) 7-5, 6-3 and beat Carsten Astheimer & Gary Wells (Claverdon) 6-3, 6-0. Sean Witheford & Dave Rudge (Littleton) beat Astheimer & Wells 7-5, 6-2 and beat Courier & Butler 6-3, 6-2.
Division One saw the withdrawal of Chipping Campden after only four matches and so they are automatically relegated leaving only one other team to be relegated in the 2014 season. It also means their record this year has been expunged and this substantially changes the table. Studley A still stay at the top of the table but with a reduced score of 12 points instead of 16 had their previous 4-0 win over Campden counted. They continued their strong season with a 4-0 victory over bottom side Shipston-on-Stour. Pershore stay second with 8 points but their match this week against Campden was obviously cancelled. The cancellation of points against Campden generally lifted Studley B to third place with 7 points despite having no match this week. The only other fixture saw Aston Cantlow now in fourth place with 6 points, draw 2-2 with Snitterfield, who with losing their points scored against Campden, drop to fifth with 5 points.
Moreton-in-Marsh A stay top of Division Two on 13 points despite having no match this week, but their lead is cut from four to just a single point after Stratford B beat Alcester B 3-1 to go second. Whitnash moved up to joint third with Alcester B on 9 points when they overcame Bidford-on-Avon A 3-1. At the bottom of the table a clash between HDA A of Redditch and Claverdon B saw honours even in a 2-2 draw.
Division Three leaders with 10 points FISSC were beaten by second placed Ardencote B 3-1 but hung on to their lead by a solitary point. Inkberrow B shot up the table to third position on 8 points thanks to two wins in the week. The first was a 4-0 away win at Ilmington and the second was a 3-1 victory at home to Chipping Campden B. Wildmoor Spa A lay in fourth place with 7 points following a 2-2 draw with Ilmington.
In Division Four new leaders are Claverdon C on games difference thanks to a 3-1 win over Littleton B, while previous leaders Snitterfield B drew 2-2 with Henley B and Alcester C drew 2-2 with Studley C. This means that Claverdon C and Snitterfield B have 11 points while Alcester C trail a further point behind in third place.
Finally, in Division Five Pershore B race to the top following a dramatic 4-0 win over previous leaders Inkberrow. This leaves them on top with 14 points while Inkberrow C drop to second on 11 points. HDA B of Redditch are third with 9 points but had no match and Moreton B fourth on 8 after their 2-2 draw with Wildmoor Spa B. The final fixture saw Bidford-on-Avon B move away from the bottom two with an good 4-0 victory over bottom placed Inkberrow D.