This season’s players in the Winchester & District League include a combination of regulars who compete in multiple leagues and have a proven track record, alongside some exciting new players to the league.  A few have just moved into the district, others have returned to league play after a break while one or two are new to match play and are rapidly improving.  So plenty of surprises and battles are predicted.

The first week of matches, beginning 7 October, proved to be the case:

Division 1

Five Tees B 7 – 3 Medstead
Formidable player James Ellicott, fresh to the Winchester League from Basingstoke, put a dent in Five Tees’ score by beating two of their stronger players. He’ll be a great asset to Medstead, a small club eager to make its mark.  Andrew Whitcher was Player of the Match.

Five Tees A 8 – 2 Winnall
Newly promoted Winnall achieved a creditable result against some of the district’s top players, with Colin Ley-Smith and Steve Lawson taking a leg each. Dave Wills was Player of the Match.

Five Tees C 8 – 2 Owslebury A
Owslebury held on to its place in div 1 by the skin of its teeth and whilst Nigel Sheppard had an excellent 5-game win over Len Field, he was unable to take a game off Celia Hooker who was Player of the Match for winning all three of her legs.

Division 2

Kings C 1 – 9 Five Tees D
An enjoyable game between the inexperienced Kings C team against the highly experienced and talented Five Tees D. Multi-league player Ricky Hensman made his mark in his first appearance in the Winchester League by not dropping a game and gaining Player of the Match. Meanwhile Paul Coppin, playing for Kings in his first ever league match, made his opponents work hard for their wins, and Richard Lewis had a terrific 5-game tussle with Graham Lynch, with Graham eventually coming out on top.

Swanmore A 5 – 5 Kings B
What a great first match of the season. Ian Burgess was out of the traps early and bagged himself a pulsating treble, dropping just one game and earning Player of the Match. It was decided on the doubles at the end of the evening, with Kings B winning the 5th game to make it honours even. A special mention to young Billy Wright (son of div 1’s Peter) back from uni for Kings B, who just got better as the evening went on and will be a player to watch.