Knock-Out Cup  21/03/08  Beechdown play BH Pegasus 2 in one semi-final of the Cup while Aldermaston face Andover Sports in the other on Sunday 30th March at the Sports Centre.  These matches commence at 9.40am  The final and third place play-off will follow immediately after the semi-finals have been decided.

Ladies Matches 21/03/08 A 5/4 victory over BH Pegasus at the Sports Centre leaves Viking still at the top of the table in the Ladies 6 Division.  With a lead of 23 points Viking have two matches still to play while BH Pegasus have four.  Alison Crawford/Sophie Rapacioli won their three rubbers for Viking supported by one each from Diane Cooper/Juliet MacAskill and Linda Rapacioli/Emma Day.  Lesley Acheson and Jenny Skilton won two rubbers for the losers as did Amanda Marsden/Anu Davies.  In the same division, a Beechdown team comprising Andrea Hill/Tracy King, Sandra Smith/Karen Southwell and Hayley Kopp/Katie Appleton beat visiting Phoenix 9/0. 

Andover lost 4/2 to BH Pegasus at Andover in the Ladies 4 division.  Kim Street and Sally Holmes both took part in three winning rubbers for BH Pegasus with Lesley Acheson and Jenny Skilton participating in two.  Each of the home ladies, Karen Causley, Sue Clarke, Louise Phillips and Sophie Rippon played in one successful rubber.   Waverley’s last match in the division resulted in a 5/1 home defeat to Beechdown for whom Sandra Smith and Leanne Francis won all three rubbers in which they played complimented by two each from Alex Nagel and Sue Nolan.

Mens Matches 21/03/08   Carlo/Milo Rapacioli, Simon Williamson/Torben Wachholz and Stuart Cheng/Vince Yong were the successful Viking B side which defeated BH Pegasus B 9/0 at Everest College in Mens Division 1.  This victory puts the Viking B team in second place in the table just below their A side.  The Viking A side strengthened their position at the top of the table by beating Andover Sports B by the same score at Andover. Their team was Tim Cooper/Chris Powell, Graeme Berry/Simon Williamson and Tony Coombes/Torban Wachholz.                                                                                                                                 
LoddonSherpas A had two successive victories in Division 2.
In the first they beat Phoenix A 6/3 at Sherfield School and then 3 days later beat Firefly 5/4 at the Hurst.  Philip Carley/Ian Young and Phil Hood/Mark Gentry both won maxima against Phoenix A with each of the home pairs, Greg Sudell/Jon Thomson, Matthew Hawkins/Paul Nightingale and Paul Verling/Mike Taylor winning one rubber each.  In the 5/4 win at the Hurst Phil Pike/Scott Armstead won two rubbers for the home side supported by one each from Steve Webb/John Weston and Colin Pink/Mike Turrell.  Phil Hood and Mark Gentry again recorded a maximum in this match for LoddonSherpas A with Paul Carley/Ian Young getting the remaining two.

Beechdown B had mixed fortunes in Division 3.  Late in February they lost 6/3 to Hurst at the Hurst and then in the first week of March they beat LoddonSherpas B 7/2 at Winchester Road.  Against Hurst Neil Marie/Tim Jefferies won two rubbers supported by one from Tim Williams/Nick Jones.   Each of the home pairs, Barry Egginton/Nigel Appleton, Mark Payne/Duncan Keary and Colin Cresswell/David Ord won two rubbers.  Chris Apsey/Stephen Gaunt, Neil Hince/David Lowe and Graham Page/Glynn Libberton were the three successful Aldermaston pairs who beat Alresford 9/0 at Aldermaston to maintain second place in the table.  A 7/2 defeat of visitors LoddonSherpas B at Winchester Road means that Beechdown B are certain to finish in the top two in the division.  Simon Johnston/Keith Dawson won a maximum for Beechdown B supported by two rubbers each from Tim Williams/Bruce Scott and Tim Jefferies/Nick Jones.  Paul Bonner and Steve Woodward were the winners of the two rubbers for LoddonSherpas B.  Stephen Gaunt/Chris Apsey, Neil Hince/Michael Ling and Graham Page/David Lowe were the Aldermaston team which defeated Phoenix B 9/0 at Sherfield School.  This victory leaves Aldermaston only one point behind current leaders Beechdown B but with two matches in hand.

 Mixed Matches 21/03/08   Viking Mixed A in Division 1 suffered two successive defeats over the last couple of weeks.  The first defeat was 5/4 at home to last years champions St Marys for whom Mark Ferguson/Margaret Mason scored a maximum complimented by one rubber each from Peter Braithwaite/Val Laver and Philip Desbois/Andrea Farmer.  Tim Cooper/Julie Shawley won two rubbers for Viking A, Tony Coombes/Juliet MacAskill one and Scott Wilkins/Alison Crawford one.  The second defeat 7/2 was at the hands of leaders BH Pegasus A.  Torben Wachholz and Juliet MacAskill won the only rubbers scored by the losers.  David Gough/Sue Lorrain won three for BH Pegasus A with David Burrell/Anu Davies and Martin Hill/Amanda Marsden chipping in with two each..  A fortnight after their A side had lost to St Marys Viking B showed them how to do it by beating the Newbury side 8/1 at Everest College. In this match Mark Ferguson and Margaret Mason were the only winners for St Marys.  Torben Wachholz/Sophie Rapacioli and Carlo Rapacioli/Madeline Graves both won three rubbers for Viking B supported by two from Milo/Linda Rapacioli.  Elsewhere in the division Andover Sports A narrowly beat a two pair BH Pegasus B team 5/4 at Andover. Damien Roberts/Pauline Prior won their three rubbers for the home side supported by two from Shaun McDonald/Liz Roberts o complete the victory.  The only rubber won by the visitors went to Steve Harrison/Jenny Skilton.  The home third pair were forced to concede their three rubbers to BH Pegasus B. 

Vince Young and Diane Cooper won the solitary rubber for Viking C when with only two pairs they lost 8/1 to Beechdown A at Everest College.  Mark Bayliss/Andrea Hill and Daniel Sheppard/Karen Southwell both won their two rubbers for Beechdown A complimented by one from Martin Webb/Hayley Kopp.  Three rubbers from Ian Young/Stephanie Matthews, two from Phil Hood/Sue Evans and one from Chris Young/Cheryl Matthews gave LoddonSherpas a 6/3 win over Waverley A at the Sports Centre.  Adam Bridgen/Jan McDonald scored two of the loser’s rubbers with Keith Miles/Gill Trimmer contributing the third.

Firefly were again only able to turn out a two pair team to face Andover Sports B in Division 3 and went down 7/2.  Each of the pairs, Phil/Sue Pike and David Ord/Sarah Corbett won one rubber.  Daniel Pharoah/Ellen Dennett and Peter Hartfield/Sue Hatfield won two rubbers for the winners.  Greg Sudell/Alison Rendall and Paul Nightingale/Carolyn Neale won their three rubbers to start Phoenix A on their way to a 8/1 victory over Beechdown C at Sherfield School.  Mathew Hawkins/Sam Taylor won the other two.  The solitary visitor’s rubber was won by Tim Williams/Sue Nolan.  

Having beaten LoddonSherpas B 8/1 at home Aldermaston B only require one point from their final match in Division 4 to top the table.  Andrew Long and Caroline Thompson won the visitor’s only rubber with Graham Page/Lisa Apsey and Neil Hince/Sally Jenkins both winning maxima for the home side.  Rod Jenkins and Helen Apsey completed the scoring by winning two rubbers.