IT WAS a familiar scoreline for champions and leaders Stratford (22) who enjoyed a 4-0 victory over HDA Redditch A (9) in the Wildmoor Spa Tennis League Premier Division.
Second placed Ardencote Manor (16) kept up the pressure with a 3-1 victory over Evesham (9) whilst an interesting tussle between third and fourth placed Henley-in-Arden and Alcester A resulted in a 3-1 away win for Alcester A.
This result brought Alcester level on points and equal third with Henley on 12 points. The then bottom two Alcester B (10) and Moreton-in-Marsh (6) met at Alcester where the hosts emerged as 3-1 winners 3-1 to lift them to mid-table.
Stratford marched on undefeated with another maximum-point victory as Callum Bailey and Simon West beat Tomas Cop and Lubo Smoliar (HDA A) 6-4, 6-1 and Tim Bradley and Ben Portman 6-0, 6-2.
Stratford captain Tim Page and partner Cameron Malik beat Bradley and Portman 6-1, 6-1 and Cop and Smoliar 7-5, 6-2.
Ardencote Manor consolidated second place with a 3-1 win over Evesham. Ardencote’s Jack Smith and Christian Hardy won both their rubbers against Chris Francis and Andrew Crowther 6-2, 6-3 and then John Clarke and Julian Heath 6-0, 6-2.
Ben Summers and John Brain (Ardencote) beat Clarke and Heath 6-3, 6-3, but lost to Francis and Crowther 6-7, 1-6.
Henley played host to the team just below them, Alcester A, and it was the latter who took the honours. Stuart Beach and Alex Woodbridge (Alcester A) beat Sam Turner and Max Retallack 6-4, 6-3 and Tom Griffiths and Matt Williams 6-1, 6-1.
Pete Watson and Charlie Watson (Alcester A) beat Griffiths and Williams 6-3, 7-5, but lost to Turner and Retallack 7-6, 6-7, 0-1 in a championship tie-break decider.
Alcester B beat bottom team Moreton-in-Marsh A 3-1. Matt Fielding and Barney Williams (Alcester B) lost to Gary Jackson and James Elliott 3-6, 1-6, but beat Greg Stotesbury and Brian Lomas 7-6, 6-1.
Alcester B captain Gareth Price with Charlie Watson beat Stotesbury and Lomas 6-2, 7-5 and Jackson and Elliott 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 in a championship tie-break.
Division One leaders Chipping Campden travelled to play second placed Studley. With only a two-point lead, Campden were in danger of being overtaken by Studley if the latter could beat them.
In the event Campden (17) retained their lead but it was cut to one point after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Studley (15), who drop to equal third.
Now second Littleton (16) and Pershore (15) kept up the pressure as both enjoyed 4-0 wins. Littleton’s was over bottom but one Ardencote Manor B (8) and Pershore’s against bottom side Snitterfield (3).
The mid-table clash between Claverdon (10) and Stratford B (12) saw the latter emerge comfortable 4-0 victors.
Division Two leaders Henley B retained the lead with 20 points after a 3-1 victory over next to bottom Claverdon B (7).
Inkberrow A (18) stay second thanks to a good 3-1 win over lower table side Snitterfield B (9) whilst third placed Shipston-on-Stour A (16) managed a good 4-0 win at Alcester C (9).
The surprise of the week came when fourth placed FISSC lost 4-0 to joint bottom Studley B (6) after an epic battle in three of the four rubbers, including two tie-breaks.
Division Three leaders Redditch HDA B (15) had no match and were vulnerable to second placed Warwick, only two points behind, who travelled to Inkberrow B.
However, Warwick surprisingly went down 4-0 to Inkberrow B. As a result, Inkberrow B now with 14 points overtook Warwick (13).
The other team who could have threatened was Chipping Campden B (12), but their match against Aston Cantlow (3) was postponed due to rain.
Pershore B (10) moved away from the relegation zone with a good 4-0 victory at Claverdon C (1).
The clash of the top two in Division Four between leaders Bidford A (20) and second placed Inkberrow C (15) was postponed due to rain.
Third position remains in the hands of Wildmoor Spa A (14) even though they were unexpectedly held to a 2-2 draw by lowly Moreton-in-Marsh B (7).
Evesham B (12) moved up to joint fourth thanks to a hard fought win over bottom side Moreton-in-Marsh C (3). Although the result was 4-0 to Evesham B, this belied the closeness of the match.
Visitors Redditch HDA C (12) won their mid-table match at Bidford B (9) 3-1 and as a result moved up to join Evesham in equal fourth place on 12 points.
The top two met in Division Five at Shipston-on-Stour and the 3-1 victory to the visitors meant Chipping Campden C moved to join Shipston B at the head of the table on 17 points apiece.
The match between the then third and fourth placed teams Wildmoor Spa B (11) and Tysoe (10) was postponed due to slippery courts.
This meant Warwickshire County Council’s (13) 3-1 win at Inkberrow D (7) elevated them to third spot. Lower down the table, Henley C (11) defeated Redditch HDA D (6) 3-1.