Eton Fives League Reports 2010/11

The Old Ipswichians continued their late season winning streak at Westminster on Tuesday night with a 2-1 over the Old Salopians 2, a result which moves the OIs level on points with the Carthusians and condemns the Salopians to bottom spot in Division 2. OI skipper Tom Fletcher did the damage at the top of the order, partnering David Leach to a 3-1 win over Salopians captain Al Taylor, back from injury, and Julian Black. Harry Turnbull and Tom Lister gained a much needed point for the Shropshire outfit at second pair, winning three tight games against Tim Wyndham and veteran Richard Wood, but the concession of third pair by the Salopians rather summed up their season and leaves them stranded at the foot of the table. For the Ipswichians, however, things are looking a lot brighter than they were a few months ago, and they move onto their final match and then into next season with renewed optimism.

February

The Old Cholmeleians' disappointing league season ended on a low note at Westway last night as they conceded third pair and lost the other two to the Old Harrovians. Tom Dunbar and Ross Bryan won in straight games at first pair against Vishal Bhimjiyani and Rob Beenstock and Richard Tyler and Nick Shaw repeated the dose against Paul Jefferys and Dexter Davis. The Harrovians move up to within a point of the Westminsters in third place with three games to play; they may have left themselves a bit too much to do in terms of challenging for the title but a strong finish could yet see them get in amongst the two Olavian teams at the top of the table.

After a disappointing first half of the campaign, the recent signs from the Old Ipswichians have been promising and they finally delivered on court at Westminster with a 2-1 win over the Old Westminsters 2 to take them out of minus numbers and open up a considerable gap between themselves and bottom club the Old Salopians 2. Captain Tom Fletcher set the tone at first pair, partnering promising youngster David Leach to a five game win over Conrad Shawcross and Callum Brock. It's great to see two recent school leavers such as David and Callum getting the opportunities at first pair for their respective teams and performing so well. By way of contrast the OI second pair was the old firm of Peter Boughton and Simon Woolfries - remarkably with well over a thousand OI league matches between them over the years - and they showed they've still got what it takes at this level with a straight games win over Freddie Krespi and Chris Watts. The OIs also won the third pair as Mike Fenn, whose playing career makes the Boughton/Woolfries combination look like a pair of callow youths, partnered the ineligible Nick Bunyan to a win over Andrew Aitken and Matt Chen. A win to the OIs but a point to the OWs. OI skipper Fletcher was delighted to finally break their league drought with a win and described his team's performance as a \"cracking effort, which was then followed by a few celebratory lemonades\".

Elsewhere in Division 2, the Old Westminsters 2 travelled to Berkhamsted last week and picked up a useful away point, with the experienced Margerison and Shetty winning at third pair after the first two had gone the way of the Berkhamsted team, with schoolboys Alex Rattan and the Holroyd twins James and Charles to the fore.

The Edwardians have also resumed play after their Christmas break and scored an impressive 2-1 win over the high-flying Stoics at Westway. Dave Mew and Ryan Perrie proved they have few equals as a Division 2 first pair with a win over Nick Bunyan and Alex Cybulski but the Eds strength in depth meant that the second and third pairs both went their way, perhaps not that surprising as they featured the quality and experience of Peter Scholey, Simon Purkis, Nigel Cox and Courtney Friend, a quartet with a history of almost as many points on court as pints off it. With several games in hand over the teams above them, the Birmingham team are looking well placed for a high finish at the end of the season.

The Etonians also returned to winning ways after their recent defeat at the hands of Highgate School as they won 2-1 against a battling Carthusian outfit at Westminster on Monday night. Mackenzie and Colquhoun came from a game down to defeat Burrows and Clarke at first pair and the wily duo of Martin Powell and Forman Wickes had too much nous for Mark Platt and Alex Manby at second. The Carthusians slavaged a useful point with a win at third pair, OC supremo Ronald Pattison teaming up with newcomer Adrian Love - ironically himself an Old Etonian, albeit with strong Carthusian links - to win against John Rowe and Giles Mckean. Both the OEs and OCs are currently languishing in the lower half of the table but both will be looking for a strong finish to the season to move them up a few places come the final reckoning at the end of April.

The all-conquering Olavian bandwagon at the top of Division 1 is showing no sign of slowing down as the season draws to a conclusion. Olavians 1 played the Westminsters at Eton on Sunday; thir pair is still to be played but the Olavians are already 2-0 ahead even without the services of the injured James Toop and skipper Howard Wiseman. Matthew Wiseman and Pauli Markkanen were simply too good for John Reynolds and Doug Foster at first pair whilst George Campbell and Dave Mew were also dominant at second pair against Harry de Quetteville and Saul Albert.

Meanwhile, Olavians 2 responded with a 3-0 win over the Old Salopians at Westway last night. The Salopians conceded third pair and the quartet of Seb Cooley, Peter Cohen, Ant Theodossi and Ryan Perrie conceded only 14 points between them as they moved four points clear at the top, not counting the points from the incomplete game at the weekend. Olavians 1 are still the favourites to win the league, but the second team are in a strong position to cash in should Howard Wisman's men slip up in the run in.

The Old Millhillians continued their recent fine form in Division 2 this week as they recorded yet another 3-0 win, this time over the Old Ipswichians at Highgate, to move closer towards a seemingly inevitable March showdown for the Division 2 title against main rivals North Oxford. The OIs put out their strongest looking line-up of the season with both Fletcher brothers, Josh Rose and Peter Boughton all present and correct with suppport from Tim Wyndham and the evergreen Mike Fenn. Tim Fletcher and Josh Rose pushed hard at first pair against Vishal Bhimjiyani and Joe Coakley and won the third game 15-12 after losing the first two before injury intervened, unfortunately preventing the completion of a potential classic. The OMs strength in depth was then shown by the performances of Sunil Tailor and Jitesh Patel at second pair and James Hutcheson and senior pro Chris Vincent at third, who made short work of Boughton and Wyndham and Tom Fletcher and Fenn respectively to move within three points of league leaders North Oxford with a game in hand.

In their first season back in the League, the Old Citizens closed in on winning the Division 3 with a 2-1 win over defending champions Windosr & Eton at Highgate last week. With skipper Nick Gill unavailable, his former Cambridge team mate Dexter Davis slotted in to first pair and partnered Rob Cooper to a close 3-0 win over Nick Bunyan and Will Skjott. Ian Mitchell and Robert Wilson, still on a high from winning the Northern Festival the weekend before, levelled the match at second pair with a four game win before the Citizen third pair of Stockton and Heindorff clinched the win with a comfortable 3-0 win over Tom Goodman and Mandie Clemmett.

The importance of this win for the Cits was shown a few days later at Westway as W&E returned to winning ways taking maximum points over a disjointed London Universities side, suffering from a late drop out and an ineligible player as well as succumbing tamely on court to a rampant W&E outfit.

Olavians 1 moved a step closer to retaining their Division 1 title with a convincing 3-0 over the Old Cholmeleians at Highgate on Tuesday night. The struggling Cholms were again forced to concede third pair after a late withdrawal but were able to field Alick Varma at first pair, alongside Vishal Bhimjiyani. George Campbell and Dave Mew proved too strong for them, however, winning in straight games. The Cholms were also able to welcome back Sanjive Sachdev to the game after a ten year break, a good sign for the future given their shortage of players this season, and he teamed up with Cholms skipper Guy Chapman at second pair. Despite their best efforts, a sterling performance from Olavians schoolboys Tony Barker and Harry Ravi was enough to win the three points for the Olavians, and move them to within one point of Olavians 2 at the top of the table with a game in hand.

With North Oxford and the Old Millhillians increasingly looking like being involved in a two-way fight for the Division 2 title, the chasing pack have been playing this week and taking points off each other. The biggest movers have been Highgate School, with a 2-0 home win over the Etonians and a 2-1 away victory over the Stoics at Westminster taking them into double figures for the season and into fourth place in the table, one point behind the Old Olavians 3. A good sign for the Old Stoics was the appearance of youngster Jonty Irving at second pair, given the paucity of bona fide Old Stoics currently on the circuit. Billy Dennis's Olavian team consolidated their third place at Westminster on Tuesday night with a 2-1 win over Old Westminsters 2. Billy himself led the way with partner Luke Stradwick, as they won 3-0 against Harry de Quetteville and Freddie Krespi. Edward Levy and Conrad Shawcross struck back for the OWs at second pair as they beat Olavian teenagers David Hewlett and Janahan Elansei. There was more experience in the Olavian third pair and wily old pros Andrew Aitken and John Sanderson were unable to do anything to prevent Arun Kalra and Charlotta Cooley cruising to a comfortable win. The Division 2 action continues tonight as Highgate take to the courts once more against the Carthusians, looking to leapfrog the Olavians and make it into the top three.

January

The Old Harrovians continued their good recent form last night with a 3-0 over the struggling Cholmeleians at Highgate. The Cholms were agains unable to field a third pair and as a result slide into minus numbers for the season, but wins for Will Sorrell & Jamie Fleming over Guy Chapman & Alick Varma and for Nick Shaw & Ross Bryan over Dexter Davis & Vishal Bhimjiyani were enough to take the OHs into double figures as they close in on the third place spot currently held by the Westminsters.

The Salopians and Carthusians fought out a highly competitive Division 2 draw at Westway last night, with both teams pleased to add to their points tally and close in on their rivals in the bottom half of the Division 2 table. The Carthusians took first pair with Alex Burrows and Ian Clarke winning three close games against Marc Quinn and Peter Nichols. The match was squared at second pair with Julian Black and James Pollock taking out Carthusian skipper Ronald Pattison and Nick Higgins. Third pair produced the closest match of the night as the first four games were shared between Tom Lister and Ian Mitchell for the Salopians and Adrian Burrows and Adrian Love for the Carthusians. The 10pm Westway lights out deadline then intervened to leave the overall match score tied at one and a half points each.

Highgate School made a significant move up the Division 2 table last night at Highgate with a 3-0 win over the Old Ipswichians. Matthew Kovar and Alex Pavitt came out on top 3-1 in a close tussle at first pair against OI skipper Tom Fletcher and evergreen veteran Peter Boughton; second and third pairs were domiated by the Highgate boys as Cameron Most and James Curry saw off David Leach and Tim Wyndham and Jonny Airey and Aroop Bhattacharya made short work of Stephen Bland and Robin Chatterjee. Highgate coach Anthony Brunner was pleased with his side's efforts commenting that as they get into their main Fives term the performances of his players are getting better and better as they begin to find some form. OI supremo Fletcher was not disheartened by his side's performance, however, and is confidently predicting better things to come from the Suffolk men in the second half of the season.

The two top teams in Division 3 clashed at Westway last night in a titanic battle and it was the Old Citizens who shaded the contest with a 2-1 win that sees them now in a very strong position at the head of the table. Lancing went with experience at first pair with Nigel Cox and Paul Baddeley and they went head to head with Paul Jefferys and Ronald Pattison, a late stand in for Spencer Chapman (having a mare off court rather than on it for a change). The match was tight from start to finish but the Citizens pair managed to close out each of the three games to win 9, 10 and 8. The South Coast outfit struck back immediately at second pair where the tried and trusted father and son pairing of Richard and Julian Black made short work of Mark Stockton and Rob Cooper. It was left to the third pair to decide the win and Lancing's Dan Bell and Karen Hird got off to a good start. winning the first game 15-13 against Alex Nice and Stephen Mullin. The Citizens weren't finished, though, and came back to win the next two games 12-8 and 12-9. With the match poised at 6-4 to Alex and Stephen in the fourth game, the 10pm lights out deadline was reached, leaving the Citizens 2-1 ahead and claiming the third point to take the match 2-1.

A valiant effort by the Old Westminsters 2 on their home turf last night was not enough to prevent the impressive Millhillians recording their fifth consecutive Division 2 victory and closing the gap on leaders North Oxford. Giles Coren and Harry de Quetteville pushed Vishal Bhimjiyani and Sunil Tailor all the way at first pair, with the OM duo getting on top only in the fifth and final game of a seesaw encounter. Freddie Krespi and Nick Fry won the first game at second pair but went down 3-1 to Jitesh Patel and Jamie Adler and the third pair mirrored the first pair with both teams having spells in the ascendancy. In the end it was James Hutcheson and James Mason who claimed the fifth game 12-9 for a 3-2 win over Chris Watts and Edward Levy and a well-earned three points for the Millhillians. 

A big weekend of Fives in Division 1 saw the two Olavian teams increase their stranglehold on the top places in the table. First up were Olavians 2, who made short work of the Old Cholmeleians on Sunday morning at Eton, with none of the Highgate players able to offer much resistance. The afternoon saw the second Olavian derby of the season and Olavians 2 made the best possible start with Seb Cooley and Peter Cohen reversing the result of the recent London Tournament final to defeat James Toop and Matthew Wiseman in straight games. This was a mighty impressive performance from Cooley and Cohen, with Peter commenting afterwards: \"It’s great to extend our league run against them to three in a row, but they hate to lose and they will use this result to bounce back stronger. Unfortunately for us we always beat them before a major tournament, perhaps we should let them win next time!\" Olavians 1 fought back, however, at second and third pairs as Howard Wiseman and Pauli Markkanen used all their experience to beat young pretenders Ant Theodossi and Ryan Perrie 3-1 and George Campbell and Sanjaya Ranasinghe cruised to a comfortable win over Jeff Lawrence and Stewart Fautly. 2-1 to Olavians 1, then, and they followed that up by winning the outstanding game from the unfinished second pair from their first encounter earlier in the season to take that one 2-1 as well. The results mean that Olavians 2 are still top of the table but Olavians 1 are now breathing down their necks with games in hand. Can the Harrovians do anything to prevent an end of season 1-2 for the Olavian teams?

Elsewhere in the league, there were a couple of disappointing matches as Salopians 2 conceded two pairs in losing 2-1 to Highgate School in Division 2 and in Division 3, London Universities also conceded two pairs in going down 3-0 at the hands of the Old Citizens, who go level on points at the top of the table with the Lancing Old Boys. These two play each other in a potentially crucial match on Wednesday evening.

The Westminsters 2 won the battle of the second teams at Westminster on Wednesday night with a 2-1 win over the Old Salopians 2 in Division 2. The Westminsters are playing most of their fixtures after Christmas with their first team having played more before the break, and it will be interesting to see how far up the table the OWs will be able to make it by the end of the season. On Wednesday, Giles Coren and Harry de Quetteville beat Marc Quinn and Harry Turnbull 3-0 at first pair. New recruit Tom Lister looks like he's added something to the Salopian line-up, however, as he partnered James Pollock to a 3-1 second pair over Freddie Krespi and the dangerous Nick Fry. Unfortunately for the Salopians, that point was offset by their inability to produce a third pair, a failing that leaves them marooned at the bottom of the table.

The Old Millhillians confirmed their status as serious Division 2 title contenders at Westminster last night with a confident 3-0 win over fellow high flyers the Old Stoics to move back into second place in the table, with 11 points out of a possible 12. Even with the likes of Justin Lefort, Oli Sander and Joe Coakley unavailable, the Mill Hill side showed they have the strength in depth to give anyone a game. Vishal Bhimjiyani and Jitesh Patel combined well at first pair to see off the challenge of Ed Hewens and Jurgen Hutter, despite an improved showing in the third game from the Stoics pair, which they only lost 14-13. At second pair, the Millhillian management duo of Chris Vincent and James Hutcheson had too much firepower for Karl Wagner and Rob Cooper and the whitewash was completed at third pair by Jamie Adler and James Mason, who defeated Simon Warren-Thomas and Will Skjott in straight games.

The EFA League resumed at the weekend after the midseason break with Highgate School starting their major Fives term by recording their first win and first points of the season at the third attempt, with a tight 2-1 home win over Old Olavians 3. Matthew Kovar and Alex Pavitt were unable to match the strong Olavian first pair of Luke Stradwick and Sanjaya Ranasinghe, losing in four games despite a 12-2 success in the third. The Highgate second pair of Cameron Most and James Curry took a while to get on top of opponents Lev Gurdenli and Colin Wilson, but raced through the second and third games having squeaked through the first 15-14. Third pair was one of those rollercoaster matches where fortunes sway back and forth. The Highgate pair of Jonny Airey and Aroop Bhattacharya found themselves 2-1 down to Billy Dennis and Charlotta Cooley, but managed to dig deep and win the fourth and fifth games to clinch the second point for Highgate. There was some consolation in defeat for the Olavians as the move into second place in the Division 2 table ahead of the Old Stoics

December

Old Westminsters 1 defeated Old Salopians 1 2-1 at Westminster in Division 1 last night.

John Reynolds reports:

Harry de Quetteville (yes, the grandson of the first Kinnaird winner) made his debut at the Westminsters' first pair and very nearly helped to pull off an upset against former Kinnaird finalist Ed Taylor and recent n/national schools' winner Tom Cox. In a fluctuating five-setter, Taylor had just enough fire power, reach and touch to earn the visitors a point but fellow lanky left-hander de Quetteville was a revelation on his home courts, returning a high percentage of cuts from under the front wall, playing early volleys beyond the Salopians' reach and sending down some mighty slams back court. Tom Cox returned a high number of cuts and repeatedly managed to turn defence into attack with some sharp volleying out of the buttress.

Ed Rose and Saul Albert (just off the aeroplane from his honeymoon in Hawaii) had too much for Craig Webster and Harry Turnbull; Conrad Shawcross and Andrew Joyce were also comfortable winners at three against Dan Howie and Ian Mitchell.

The Westminsters' win puts them an agonising half a point off the top of the table – but they have played nearly all their matches and must now wait to see if the Olavians' first team and the Harrovians can overhaul them in the second half of the season. Last year, 17 points was needed for third place in the division; will the Wets (with 13.5) just fall short of earning a top-half finish for the second season running? Salopians 1, for their part, earn a valuable point in their quest to avoid last season's wooden spoon; they already have many more points - five - than the measly half they ended up with then.

Team Westway moved up to second place in the Division 3 table with a 2-1 win over Lancing Old Boys at Westway last night. The Westway team were able to call on the quality and experience of Ryan Perrie at first pair and he teamed up with Old Harrovian James Hammond to beat Nigel Cox and Julian Black in three straight games. Lancing turned the tables at second pair, where the wily Richard Black and Dan Bell were too canny for youngster Josh Butler and ex-Cambridge player Ralph Morgan. Third pair saw the tightest battle of the night with Jamal Saleh and Michaela Galperti claiming first blood for Lancing with a 14-12 win in the first game, before the Westway duo of James Caplin and Freddie Rowe turned the tide and won the next three games to 6, 7 and 9. The win moves Westway up to second in the table, 1½ points behind Lancing but with two games in hand. Division 3 is certainly shaping up to be highly competitive this season.

North Oxford won their seventh Division 2 match on the trot last night at Westminster, with a comfortable 3-0 win over the Old Ipswichians. The closest contest was at first pair where North Oxford skipper Gareth Hoskins teamed up with Old Summerfieldian Tom Faber - returning to his Oxford prep school rooots - to beat Tom Fletcher and David Leach in three tight games; a fast ball on a fast court made it difficult to kill the ball in the buttress but Gareth's driving to the back right and Tommy's touch play on top step were enough for them to come through 6,9 and 6. North Oxford had too much firepower for the OIs further down the order, as veteran Chris Davies showed he's lost none of of his class, teaming up with Spencer Chapman to beat Simon Woolfries and Robin Chatterjee. Similarly, Chris Austin and youngster Carl Rennie - making an impressively assured Division 2 debut - were too strong for Oli Watts and Tim Wyndham at third pair. North Oxford sit on top of the table with 20 points, but will be watching closely to see if the teams below with games in hand, such as the Stoics and the Millhillians, can narrow the gap over the next couple of months.

The Salopians 2's disappointing start to the season continued on Monday night as they lost 3-0 to the Old Olavians 3 at Westminster. Despite every pair being hard fought, none of the three Salopian pairs were able to to pick up a point for the beleagured Shrewsbury outfit, currently marooned at the bottom of the table. The performance of the Salopian sextet - Marc Quinn, Craig Webster, Pete Nichols, Sam Jarvis, Tom Lister and Ian Mitchell - against their Olavian rivals should give them encouragement that this state of affairs will prove to be temporary but on the night the Olavians just had the edge. Sanjaya Ranasinghe and Luke Stradwick beat Marc and Craig in three close games, Pete and Sam lost 12-7 in the fifth to Billy Dennis and Charlotta Cooley having established a 2-1 lead and Ian and Tom went down 3-1 to recent school leavers David Hewlett and Constantine Philippou. The 3-0 win moves the Olavians 3 up to third place in the table, just half a point behind the Stoics.

The Old Westminsters were hit with a double blow last night as their first team went down 3-0 to  the Harrovians at Westway and their second team suffered the same fate at home at the hands of the Old Stoics in Division 2.

The Division 1 match saw the OHs take revenge for their defeat at the hands of the Wets a few weeks ago. The Westminsters started badly, with Jeremy O'Neill stuck in horrendous traffic and unable to reach Westway until 8:45pm, handing the point to Will Sorrell and Richard Tyler before he had even stepped on court alongside John Reynolds at first pair. Second pair saw a tremendous performance from Jamie Fleming and Ross Bryan, who defeated the dangerous OW pairing of Doug Foster and Ed Rose in fine style winning 2,5 and 6. Third pair was conceded in advance by the Westminsters, who were forced into fielding the ineligible T Walters, and featured regular North Oxford partners Spencer Chapman and Justin Byam Shaw on opposite sides, Spencer making his Division 1 debut alongside OH skipper Nick Shaw against Justin and T. Nick and Spencer got off to a good start, winning the first game 12-6, but T and Justin turned it round after that and came back to win in four. All three points, however, went to the Harrovians, who make good progress up the table and who, with games in hand, are putting the Old Westminsters' third place under pressure.

Across town, a strong-looking Stoics side were making short work of the Westminsters second team, Dave Mew, Ryan Perrie, Mike Skjott, Jurgen Hutter, Sam Basu and Simon Warren-Thomas claiming the 3 points without conceding a game between them and moving ominously up the table into second place. They should certainly be one of the contenders in Division 2 this season. The Westminster line-up of Freddie Krespi, Conrad Shawcross, Paddy Ell, Chris Watts, John Sanderson and skipper Andrew Aitken were left to lick their wounds and regroup, hoping for some easier matches as the season progresses.

John Reynolds reports:

Westminsters 1 squeaked into second place (having played three games more than league title holders Olavians 1) with this win over the Cholms on their home turf. 

November 

Division 2 reached the Fives equivalent of the frozen North on Sunday as the Old Edwardians hosted North Oxford and the Old Etonians in a league double header at KES, Birmingham. With temperatures hovering around the -5° mark, North Oxford were first up, looking to maintain their hundred percent league record so far this season. First and third pairs went the Oxford side's way easily with Gareth Hoskins and Graham Pulsford beating Nick Bunyan and Rez Malik at first pair and Spencer Chapman and Saturday's 1-Wall handball hero Jeremy Hindle teaming up to make short work of Ed Johnson and schoolboy James Claughton at third. With the Edwardians juggling their resources in a way that would have made Tony Hughes proud, the second pair game looked like a close contest on paper and so it proved on court. Edwardian pair Chris Mellor and Richard Ambler took the first and third games but each time North Oxford's Chris Lloyd and Greg Hammond struck back to level the match and take it into a fifth. There was never more than two points between the pairs throughout the final game, but it was the Edwardians who took it 12-10 to inflict the first league defeat on a North Oxford pair this season.

The afternoon match against the Etonians was full of drama but not necessarily for the right reasons. With the Etonians only able to produce one bona fide eligible Etonian pair, club secretary Alex Knight had enterprisingly rounded up an assortment of Wulfrunians and spare players form the morning match to ensure the fixture was played with a full complement. To add to the mix, the lights then failed just as the match was about to start and within a few points of the first pair starting Nick Bunyan of the Edwardians suffered a nasty looking eye injury that meant he was unable to continue. The second and third pair matches both made it to a conclusion, with the OEs ineligible players meaning the points went to the Eds whatever the result, and the Edwardians can take a lot of encouragement from the good performances of youngsters James and Tom Claughton (stepping in for the injured Bunyan) who showed a lot of promise for the future.

The Old Harrovians returned to winning ways at Westway on Wednesday night as they claimed all three points against Old Salopians 1 to move up a couple of places in the Division 1 standings. Will Sorrell and Jamie Fleming produced an impressive display at first pair to win against the dangerous Ed Taylor/T Walters combination, with OH captain Nick Shaw paying tribute to Jamie's returning of the formidable Taylor cut. The returning Ross Bryan teamed up with captain Shaw for a comfortable victory at second pair against Marc Quinn and Craig Webster, while third pair gave an opportunity for last year's top Harrow School pair of Tommy Faber and Alex Poole to gain some valuable experience. A late Salopian withdrawal meant that the point was in the bag for the Harrovians before the start, but with Seb Cooley standing in for the Salopians alongside Pete Nichols, the two youngsters had a tough game on their hands. They acquitted themselves well, sharing the first two games 11-12, 12-11 with Poole impressing on top step, before Seb's know how took the game away from them in the third and fourth.

Across London, the Stoics were winning their third consecutive Division 2 match of the season, with a 2-1 triumph over the Old Ipswichians at Westminster. The formidable looking top pair of Dave Mew and Ryan Perrie were too good for the battling Fletcher brothers at first pair, and Ed Hewens and Simon Baring won a tight second pair match in four games against Mark Graves and Robin Chatterjee. However, the experienced OI duo of Simon Woolfries and Richard Wood gained a valuable point for the Ipswichians at third pair as they were too strong for Jurgen Hutter and Karl Wagner of the Stoics.

It was a big weekend for the Olavians in Division 1 as the two Kent teams strengthened their stranglehold on this year's Division 1 title race. Olavians 1 started with a 3-0 win over the Westminsters 1 on Friday night at Highgate as John Reynolds reports: \"Kinnaird Cup holders Toop and Wiseman gave a masterclass at first pair to demolish Foster and Reynolds, inflicting one of the worst defeats either could remember suffering. Wiseman's volleying from mid-court was especially damaging - shots being played very early but with great accuracy and often spin. They also cut ferociously, returned cut heartbreakingly well and made few unforced errors. Last season Toop and Wiseman won the two main satellite tournaments - the London and the Northern - and the Kinnaird. It was the first time since 1991 that a single pair had won all three: on this showing, they must once again be the pair to beat this season. At second pair, Albert and Rose should take great encouragement for taking a set from former Kinnaird winner Howard Wiseman and the big-hitting Dave Mew. The Brock brothers played together for the first time at third pair, Callum making his first division debut after training for some weeks with the first-team squad, but they were not able to match the experienced Campbell and Ranasinghe.\"

Sunday then saw the Harrovians at Eton for a double header against the two Olavian teams. In the morning James Toop and Matthew Wiseman of Olavians 1 continued their dominant form with a convincing win over a rusty Tom Dunbar and Will Sorrell and Pauli Markkanen partnered Howard Wiseman to victory over Richard Tyler and Jamie Fleming at second. Third pair allowed the Harrovians to score their first point of the season as Nick Shaw and Will Jones combined to beat Sanjaya Ranasinghe and promising schoolboy Tony Barker, who will have gained valuable Division 1 experience despite the defeat. The hard matches in the morning meant that the afternoon challenge for the Harrovians against the high-flying Olavians 2 was going to be doubly difficult. Peter Cohen and Seb Cooley inflicted another heavy defeat on the Dunbar/Sorrell partnership and Ant Theodossi and Ryan Perrie, full of confidence after their win in the Midland Tournament, held off the challenge of Tyler and Shaw at second pair. The third pair match was a see-saw affair with the Olavians Peter White and Luke Stradwick getting off to a strong start against Gareth Hoskins and Will Jones. The Harrovian third pair then began to dominate, taking the second and third games to 8 and 2. White and Stradwick then began to cut more effectively and cut down on the errors to take control once again and take advantage of their tiring opponents, going on to win the match in five games.

In Division 2, North Oxford maintained their 100% record with another 3-0 win, this time against Highgate School at Highgate on Sunday morning. Gareth Hoskins and Graham Pulsford were in fine form at first pair, winning 12-2, 12-1, 12-4 against Cameron Most and James Curry. Second and third pairs were tighter, but the greater experience of Chris Austin and Robert Desmond at two and Chris Lloyd and Jeremy Hindle three gave them the edge against the schoolboys and moved North Oxford into a very strong-looking position at the top of the table.

Old Salopians 1 claimed their first Division 1 win of the season at Westway on Tuesday evening as they gained revenge for their narrow defeat at the hands of the Old Cholmeleians a few weeks ago. The Cholms won a tight first pair match, with Guy Chapman and Vishal Bhimjiyani squeezing past T Walters and Al Taylor 15-11 in the fourth game. At second pair, Tom Cox and Julian Black started well against the ex-Cambridge pairing of Paul Jefferys and Dexter Davis and took the first game 12-6. Unfortunately Dexter then sustained a foot injury that meant he was unable to continue and the point went to the Salopians, as did the third pair after a late withdrawal meant the Cholms had to concede.

In Division 3, The Old Citizens defeated the Abbey Club 2½-½ at Westminster on Thursday night as Nick Gill reports: \"The Old Cits consolidated their winning start to the season with a strong performance against the Abbey Club. Third pair was particularly evenly contested, with Mullin and Powell using their experience to pull away in the final game only to be denied the opportunity to further push for victory when they ran out of time at match point in the final game.\" 

The Dunbar-less Old Harrovians got off to a sticky start to the season with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Old Westminsters 1 in a close and exciting encounter at Westminster last night as John Reynolds reports: \"The drama of the evening came at second pair, where Coren and Rose seemed to be losing their battle against Shaw and Fleming fairly comfortably. However, at nil-two down they had an extremely noisy discussion about how they were playing and - to everybody's astonishment - their fortunes were transformed. According to Coren, Rose went on to play with the \"cold dead eyes of a killer\" and the Westminster pair wrapped up the match with a few minutes to spare before the 10 o'clock deadline. A bemused Shaw admitted during post-match analysis in the pub that he and Fleming had relaxed too soon. At first pair, a couple of big points runs earned Foster and Reynolds two games before Sorrell and Tyler started to warm up and the visiting pair won one back. The home side were perhaps within an ace of clinching the match when Big Ben intervened, but their 2-1 lead was enough to claim the point. Third pair, featuring the grandson of the de Quetteville who won the very first Kinnaird Cup in 1925 and then again in 1928, was over quickly. But it also featured Tommy Faber in his first league match for the Harrovians after leaving school. He had starred in the semi-final of the universities championships earlier in the week, playing at London Universities first pair, and is surely a player to watch in the future.\"  

With the Westminsters 1 and the Olavians 2 setting the early pace in Division 1 so far this season, it has been easy to overlook the lurking presence of the two teams who have dominated the top end of the table for the past few seasons. The Old Harrovians open their season against the Westminsters next Tuesday evening, but Old Olavians 1 reminded everyone of their quality at Westway on Wednesday night with a crushing 3-0 win over Old Salopians 1. Ed Taylor and T Walters fought well at first pair but still went down 3-0 to Matthew Wiseman and George Campbell, and lower down the order the Olavians' great strength in depth was too much for the Salopians. Former Shrewsbury schoolboy stars Tom Cox and Ben Alderson - with Ben hardly having played since leaving school - were blown away at second pair by Howard Wiseman and Dave Mew and the Olavians still had the luxury of being able to field James Toop at third pair, where he partnered Sanjaya Ranasinghe to a comfortable victory despite the valiant efforts of Julian Black and Craig Webster. The 3-0 win, and maximum points from their two completed matches so far, move Olavians 1 up to an ominous second place in the table.

In Division 3. the Abbey played their first match of the season, with the Westminster schoolboys coming up against a strong Lancing Old Boys side, featuring the likes of Doug Foster and Nigel Cox. Lancing won 2-1 to extend their lead at the top of the table. 

The Old Westminsters recorded a very useful 3-0 victory at home to the Cholms in their Division 1 clash on Tuesday night to move themselves up to the dizzy heights of second place in the table, although last year's top two of Olavians 1 and Harrovians have only played one match between them so far. After a couple of disappointing results, the John Reynolds/Doug Foster partnership returned to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Niifio Addy and Vishal Bhimjiyani. Second pair was tighter, with Ed Rose and Giles Coren just having the edge in all three games against Guy Chapman and Nick Gill. The Westminsters also won at three to complete a clean sweep.

Meanwhile, in Division 2. the Old Ipswichians poor start to the season continued as they went down to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Olavians 3 at Westway. Tom Fletcher and David Leach were unable to overturn the strong Olavian first pair of Billy Dennis and Luke Stradwick and at second, Simon Woolfries and Robin Chatterjee went down in four games to Arun Kalra and Charlotta Cooley. The concession of the third pair leaves the OIs marooned at the bottom of the table alongside Old Salopians 2, whilst the Olavians move up to third place. 

The Old Stoics followed their win against the Salopians last week with a second successive strong showing at Westminster on Monday night, winning 2-1 against the Old Carthusians. Dave Mew and Ed Hewens were pushed at first pair by Carthusian stalwart Alex Burrows and young Harrovian Alex Poole (coaching at Charterhouse this year) but came through to win in three. The two team captains also emerged victorious, with the Stoics' Mike Skjott teaming up with Karl Wagner to defeat Ian Clarke and Alex Manby in four games at second pair and Carthusian veterans Ronald Pattison and Mark Platt making short work of the Stoics' Carlo Makhoul and Sam Basu at third pair to pick up a welcome first point of the season for the OCs.

It's a busy week in the EFA N/national League this week, with first division clashes between the Westminsters and Cholmeleians and then the Salopians 1 and Olavians 1, plus a first Division 3 match of the season for the Matt Wiseman coached Abbey team as they take on Lancing Old Boys at Westminster on Thursday. There is also another Division 2 match on the agenda, as Olavians 3 take on the Old Ipswichians.  

The Stoics have played their first Division 2 match of the season and they got off to a strong start against Old Salopians 2 at Westminster this week. Stoics Simon Baring and Ed Hewens teamed up at first pair and won well in straight games against Peter Nichols and Craig Webster. The Salopians had conceded third pair in advance which meant that it was down to the Stoic engine room of Mike Skjott and Jurgen Hutter to win at second pair to take all three points. The Salopian second pair of Harry Turnbull and Marc Quinn had other ideas, however, and the match developed into one of the closest encounters likely to be seen all season in the league. The Salopians took a 2-1 lead, getting on the right end of a remarkable sequence of game scores - 13-12, 14-15, 14-13 - before Mike and Jurgen began to get on top, winning the fourth to 6 to level at 2-2. There was no time for either side to push for victory, unfortunately, as the 10pm deadline was reached and the match ended in a draw, leaving the Stoics 2½-½ winners overall.  

October

There has been plenty more action across all three divisions this week, with the Salopians 1 and the Cholmeleians clashing in a tight battle at Highgate on Wednesday evening. T Walters and Ed Taylor of the Salopians returned to winning ways with a comfortable first pair win over Nick Gill and Robert Desmond. Second and third pairs looked close on paper and the tactical battle between captains Walters and Guy Chapman to ensure the correct pairings was always likely to be crucial. Chapman played it slightly safer, partnering himself with Dexter Davis at second pair while Rob Beenstock played at three with Eddie Davis, whereas Walters went for broke, moving  Al Taylor up to second pair to partner Tom Cox with Tom Gerrard and Marc Quinn at three. As Guy commented after the match, \"this could have been a potential masterstroke by T, but in the end it went wrong by the odd point in 29\" as Cox and Taylor went down 14-15 in the fifth game just as the lights were about to go out. Guy also had this to say about the match: \"...a hugely well-spirited game - two examples being 1) Cholms offering a simple blackguard cut at 13-14 in the fifth after causing a let in the preceding rally (Salopians taking full advantage to level at 14-14) and 2) the Salopians accepting the Cholms' assertion that the cut had bounced twice (it definitely had!) without complaint, again at 14-14.  I can think of many sports, and several Fives players, where that could have caused an irreconcilable incident, so huge credit to Al and especially Tom (who thought he had got it up).\" Third pair was equally tense, with the Cholms winning in four close games to take the match 2-1 and move off the bottom of the table.  

In Division 2, Berkhamsted returned to winning ways with a 3-0 home win over the Old Carthusians. Both sides had reason to be positive about the result: the Berkhamsted side featured four schoolboys, whilst the Old Carthusians began their campaign to recruit some new Carthusian blood with a promising first appearance from recent University leaver Alex Manby.

In Division 3, Lancing Old Boys recorded a 2-1 victory away at Windsor & Eton, where Nigel Cox and Paul Baddely's defeat at first pair at the hands of Nick Bunyan and Robert Wilson was made up for by wins at second and third pair, including a seasonal debut for Ashley Lumbard and a win for Lancing's Richard Black, playing against the club he founded many years ago and of which he is now the President! There was no conflict of interest on court, however, as Richard ruthlessly despatched his W&E opponents in straight games.

The Olavian tit for tat at the top of Division One continued last Tuesday at Westway as the Old Olavians 2 raced to another three pointer, this time against Old Salopians 1. The pre-match build-up raised several interesting questions: Could Ed Taylor and T Walters build on their opening victory over Westminster duo John Reynolds and Doug Foster? Could Seb Cooley find his best form without his young Ipswichian fan club clamouring for autographs at the back of the court? Could the Salopians produce the strength in depth necessary to terminate the OOs licence to thrill?

As it turned out, the Olavians were the ones with all the answers as Cooley and Peter Cohen took on the Salopian first pair. The first game was close and featured a series of long rallies and spectacular shots, with Salopian skipper T Walters pleased with the form being showed by Ed and himself. The Olavians clicked into gear in the second game, however, and won the last two games 12-6, 12-1. The Olavians also dominated at second and third pair, with Ant Theodossi and Ryan Perrie dispatching Pete Nichols and Marc Quinn in double quick time, with Peter White and Luke Stradwick not far behind as they won comfortably against James Pollock and Ronald Pattison. 

Important matches have been played across all three divisions of the EFA N/national League over the last few days. In Division One, Old Olavians 1 responded in fine fashion to the form being displayed by the Olavian second team, with a convincing 3-0 win over the Old Cholmeleians at Eton on Sunday. Even with James Toop and Howard Wiseman resting, the Olavians had too much firepower for the Cholms, Matthew Wiseman and Pauli Markkanen beating the Roberts Desmond and Beenstock 3-0 at first pair and David Mew and George Campbell winning at two against Guy Chapman and Abhishek Bhattacharya, taking a break from coaching duties at R/rydal Penhros. You can see extensive video footage from the second pair encounter here.

In Division Two, the Old Millhillians kept close on the heels of leaders North Oxford with a 3-0 win over Highgate School at Highgate. In the opinion of Highgate coach Anthony Brunner, the Highgate schoolboys were a little rusty and short of match practice but they certainly showed enough to demonstrate that they will be no pushovers this year. The Millhillians had too much for them, however, and move to a total of eight points from their three matches. Elsewhere in Division Two, the Old Ipswichians continued their disappointing start to the season, a combination of illness and miscommunication forcing them to concede two pairs to the Old Edwardians at Westminster. Salt was rubbed into the wound by Nick Bunyan and Alex Cybulski, who went on to beat Tim Fletcher and Dave Leach in the one pair played to take maximum points for the Eds in their first game of the season.

Westway on Saturday saw the return to League action of the Old Citizens for the first time in a long time. In fact, as Old Citizen captain Nick Gill pointed out, the last time the Cits played in the league, the Westway courts didn’t even exist! Their return was a triumphant one, too, as they claimed a 2-1 win in a close match against Team Westway to get their Division Three season off to a strong start. 

Inspired by a return to the scene of their Westway Summer Superleague triumph, North Oxford picked up their fourth consecutive 3-0 Division 2 win of the season against the Old Olavians 3 last night as they continue to set the pace at the top of the table. Young Olavians Billy Dennis and Luke Stradwick were quickest out of the blocks at first pair, taking the first game 12-6 against Graham Pulsford and Nick Shaw and establishing an 8-3 lead in the second. Not for the first time this season, however, Nick and Graham gradually began to claw their way back into the match, recovering to take the crucial second game 14-11 before asserting themselves in the third and fourth to clinch a 3-1 win. At second pair, Robert Desmond gained some small revenge over the Olavians after his Division 1 defeat against Seb Cooley and Peter Cohen last week by partnering North Oxford captain Gareth Hoskins to a comfortable straight games win over Sanjaya Ranasinghe and promising recent school leaver David Hewlett. The North Oxford old firm of Spencer Chapman (fuelled by his collection of dubious-looking energy drinks) and Justin Byam Shaw completed the win at third pair, taking out Ben Sinclair and Charlotta Cooley to maintain their team's 100% record.

Self-styled \"crack commando unit the Double Os\" aka Old Olavians 2, continued their impressive early season form with a 3-0 win over Old Westminsters 1 on the OWs home turf last Friday night. The following report was received from a Westminster insider: \"Cooley was on fire in the second game, scoring something like eight points in one hand. He played at great pace and with great confidence up court, but still apparently within his comfort zone. White played a very tight backcourt game, sending in vicious shots on a good length into the buttress both directly and via the serving angle. Foster and Reynolds just couldn't live with the pace, apart from a brief spell in the third when they finally managed to up their game and find a bit of space to play some aggressive shots of their own, but it was too little too late. They're perhaps paying the penalty for not having enough court time together after Foster suffered a cricket injury in the summer. Dossi and Perrie proved far too powerful and coordinated for de Quetteville and Brock, playing together for the first time. Lancing Old Boy Mylo Scurr, playing in partnership with Westminster stalwart Saul Albert, found himself struggling to return cuts from the big-hitting Cohen but was by no means outclassed on his first division debut. Scurr, still a teenager, is the second recent school leaver blooded by the Westminsters this season – Berkhamstedian Jeremy O'Neill being the first, when he played against the Old Salopians earlier in the week – as the club pursues a policy of selecting young talent.\"

Wednesday evening saw the Old Cholmeleians play their first Division 1 match of the season at Highgate, where they put in a strong performance against Old Olavians 2 but were unable to prevent all 3 points going to the Kent side. The two ex-Cambridge Roberts - Beenstock and Desmond - took on the challenge of playing at first pair but were unable to cope with the dominant Fives of Seb Cooley and Peter Cohen. As OC captain Guy Chapman ruefully commented \"All the one-wall training from the European champion sadly (from a Cholms point of view) didn't have an adverse effect on Pete’s Eton Fives performance\". Guy himself partnered Dave Goldschmidt at second pair against Ant Theodossi and Ryan Perrie and the Cholms got off to a flying start. establishing a 7-1 lead before gradually being pegged back to 10-10. It then took innumerable rallies and changes of serve before the Olavians finally took the game 13-10 and from thereon they had the upper hand, with the Cholms left to regret their missed first game opportunities. Third pair was tight right from the start, with Alick Varma and Dexter Davis winning the first game. Olavians Peter White and Luke Stradwick fought back, however, and their superior fitness became the decisive factor as they opened up a 2-1 lead before the lights went out. Despite the defeat, Guy was able to take plenty of positives out of the Cholms slightly rusty performance, whilst Seb Cooley and Peter Cohen's stated ambition of winning the Division 1 title this year moves one small step closer.

Tuesday's Division 1 clash between the Salopian and Westminsters first teams produced some terrific Fives, with the Westminsters taking the honours 2-1. First pair featured a replay of last year's Kinnaird Cup quarter-final. On that occasion fifth seeds John Reynolds and Doug Foster turned over fourth seeds Ed Taylor and T Walters and the Salopian pair were keen to exact some revenge for that defeat. The match was every bit as close and hard fought as expected with some long and gripping rallies, but to their great delight, Ed and T were able to claim the win in four games and earn a valuable point for the Salopians. This levelled the match, as the Westminster second pair of Ed Rose and Saul Albert had already dispatched Craig Webster and former schools' champion Tom Gerrard in straight games. Third pair had been conceded by the Salopians, but with Ant Theodossi guesting to ensure a contest and avoid the penalty point, the third pair match was an absolute classic, fully vindicating the effort made by the Salopians to find a sixth player to get the match played. Theodossi teamed up with Julian Black to take on the Westminster duo of Jeremy O'Neill and Harry de Quetteville, eventually winning 3-2 with time running out and providing great entertainment for the watching EFA directors after their meeting next door. Click here for full EFA League results and tables.

Further action has taken place across all three divisions this week with one or two surprising results. The Division 1 season kicked off at Eton with Olavians 2 involved in a double header. The morning match saw the first of this season's Olavian derbies as Olavians 2 looked to turn over their first team. Even with Peter Cohen away in the USA, Seb Cooley's men proved to be a match for Olavians 1; Peter White and Billy Dennis beat Sanjaya Ranasinghe and David Mew at third pair and with James Toop and Chris Self taking the second pair match against Seb and Jamie Moore to level at 1-1, the first pair contest was left tantalisingly unfinished with Howard Wiseman and George Campbell of Olavians 1 currently 2-1 up against Ant Theodossi and Ryan Perrie. This match will be finished in the near future to decide the destiny of the third point. In the afternoon, Olavians 2 returned to the courts and came away with a hard fought 2-1 win over Old Westminsters 1. Seb Cooley and Peter White took out last year's Kinnaird semi-finalists John Reynolds and Doug Foster 3-1 at first pair. Reynolds called the match a \"three-hour epic\" and paid tribute to his opponents, describing Cooley in particular as having been \"on fire\". Seb himself was keen to praise his partner Peter White for his calming influence during a Cooley bad patch. Theodossi and Perrie at second pair had just too much firepower for Giles Coren and the fast-improving Laurie Brock, winning in three tight games, but the Westminsters gained some consolation and their first point of the season with a fine third pair win for Ed Rose and Saul Albert against Dennis and Moore.

In Division 2, the Etonians - after an encouraging first win - found themselves on the wrong end of two defeats in a week, going down 3-0 against Old Westminsters 2 and Olavians 3 at Westminster. On both occasions, Alex Knight's men fought hard and played some excellent Fives but both opposing outfits started their season on a high note, putting out stronger sides than they managed for most of last year and serving notice that they are both aiming to be in the Division 2 mix at the end of the season.

September

In Division 3, the Old R/reptonians joined the fray with an emphatic 2½-½ win over promotion-chasing Lancing Old Boys. Not even the return from his summer Provencal retreat of Nigel Cox, alongside league debutant Old Cranleighan Will Howard, was enough to prevent the R/reptonians dominating, with wins for Simon Baring and Mike Skjott at first pair and Carlo Makhoul and Jurgen Hutter at second. Richard Black and Stuart Duncan salvaged a point for LOB at third pair holding Sam Basu and Simon Warren-Thomas to a draw before time ran out.

There is still a long way to go before the Division 2 title is decided this season with several clubs yet to set foot on court, but the early season pace is being set by the Old Millhillians and North Oxford. Both clubs finished last season on 26 points, two behind Berkhamsted, but both have taken on and defeated the defending champions in the last week. First up were the Mill Hill boys, who conquered fortress Berkhamsted with a fine 2-1 away win. The home team's point was won at first pair, where Andrew Joyce followed up his Under 25s victory the weekend before by teaming up with regular partner Jeremy O'Neill to inflict a 3-0 defeat on the highly-rated pair of Vishal Bhimjiyani and Justin Lefort. School coach Ant Theodossi then teamed up with schoolboy Chris Debonnaire at second pair but they were unable to overcome the fast-improving duo of Sunil Tailor and Jitesh Patel who won 3-1. Third pair was even closer, with Berkhamsted school pair Charles Holroyd and Alex Rattan going down 3-2 to Olly Sander and Joe Coakley.

Further disappointment was to follow for Berkhamsted at the weekend as they travelled to Aldenham to take on North Oxford. The Oxford team arrived with a very strong-looking line-up and duly won 3-0, although Berkhamsted performed with great credit and were unlucky not to come away with a point. Third pair was wrapped up quickly for North Oxford but second pair went to four games with Rob Desmond (partnered by Chris Austin) winning the battle of the ex-Cambridge captains against Paul Jefferys (playing with Jeremy O'Neill). When Andrew Joyce and Charles Holroyd came off court against Graham Pulsford and Nick Shaw having won the fourth game 12-3 to level the first pair match (pictured) 2-2 it looked like Berkhamsted would be able to salvage a point. In the end, though, experience told and the North Oxford pair were able to turn it round and take the fifth game 12-7 to give North Oxford 6 points from 6 so far this year. Berkhamsted Fives guru Doug Foster was far from down-hearted about his team's week, however: having won the Division 2 title last year, Doug commented that he was adopting a more long-term view this year, with his schoolboys and recent leavers gaining valuable experience and that they were looking to develop a squad of players who will be looking to achieve great things in years to come in both the League and the Barber Cup. Doug was also quick to point out that playing the Millhillians and North Oxford in the first two fixtures was something of a baptism of fire for his lads and that he was proud of the quality of Fives that they had produced. Some consolation could also be taken by the Berkhamsted girls team, who defeated North Oxford Ladies 2-0 in a very close encounter at the same time as the men's match was being played. {gallery}/League1/:::0{/gallery}

Following on from the Old Millhillians' win last week, two of the other Division 2 title contenders have got their seasons off to a solid start with victories in their first match. Old Salopians 2 went down to their second 3-0 reverse of the season at the hands of North Oxford at Westway, with the top two Oxford pairs of Nick Shaw & Graham Pulsford and Gareth Hoskins & Chris Austin both winning comfortably in straight games. The Salopians had to concede third pair and find themselves marooned at the bottom of the table. With Al Taylor unavailable, captain for the night Marc Quinn was quick to point out that the Salopians have had to face two of the pre-season title favourites first up and that they were confident of picking up points in their next couple of games and moving up the table. North Oxford vice-captain Spencer Chapman, left without a third pair to play against, was cautiously optimistic about his team's chances this season and is looking forward to a tasty looking clash this weekend at Aldenham against last year's champions Berkhamsted. Meanwhile, at Westminster, the Old Etonians hit the ground running with a 2½-½ win over the Old Ipswichians. OE captain Alex Knight was pleased with the evening's work whilst his OI counterpart Tom Fletcher was left to rue the absence of some key players through injury and lack of availability. 

Lancing Old Boys have taken the first step towards their end of season aim of gaining promotion to Division 2 of the League with a 2-1 victory in their first match of the season. The match was notable for marking the first ever appearance in the EFA League of the London Universities side, although it turned out to be something of a baptism of fire for the students as Lancing produced a very strong first pair featuring the Betts brothers Will and Tom, with Julian Black and Jamal Saleh an equally formidable second string. Both those pairs won in straight games despite strong resistance from the LU boys. Chris Wheeler and Mark Gilkes salvaged a point for the students with a fine win at third pair and got their campaign off to an encouraging start. Universities captain Alun Meredith of Imperial was pleased with his side's showing against such tough opposition and is looking forward to the rest of the season with plenty of optimism. Lancing secretary Richard Black described the win as \"an excellent start to the season\".

The Old Millhillians got their EFA League Division 2 season off to a flying start at Westway last week with a 3-0 win over Old Salopians 2. Not even the presence of EFA Chairman-elect Peter Worth was enough to prevent a young and talented OM line-up sending out a message to the rest of the Division that they intend to be a force to be reckoned with this year, with team captain Chris Vincent and club secretary James Hutcheson quietly confident of repeating their top three finish of last season and possibly challenging for the top spot. Al Taylor, captaining the Salopians second team this year, was philosophical about the result, commenting \"It was a muggy night to be run around the courts by an excellent Old Millhillian team. We probably need to get a bit fitter, younger and for the weather to get a bit cooler\". The Salopians are back in action next week as they take on North Oxford at Westway.