High-flying Hadleigh Forum A held on to third in the Southend and District Premier with a 6-3 win over Rawreth A.

Fred Dove was the hat-trick hero for Forum but he had to work hard -- especially in his game against the otherwise unbeaten George Reeves which went to 13-11 in the fifth.

Rawreth B beat the club's C team 6-3, with Kevin Read scoring a maximum, two wins for Dave Calleja and one for John Cleasby, playing in his first match of the season. Trevor Ward offered good resistance for the C side.

Division One leaders Runnymede A suffered their first defeat of the season when they lost 3-6 to St Peter's A.

Ray Elsdon registered a hat trick for the Saints and took away Eddie Hodson's 100 per cent record by beating him in five sets in the opening clash.

In a mid-table clash, RESSC A were happy to come away with a 7-2 win against Hadleigh Forum B. Mike Worship was the maximum man, aided by Gordon Swan and Frank Hooper with two wins each.

In Division Two, Maurice Cornish led Invicta B to victory against Rawreth G. He earned his hat trick in the last game of the night in a close encounter which went the distance against Roger Perham, who had banked two wins.

Forum D did well to beat Whittingham 7-2 and climb out of the relegation zone. Ray Eley scored his usual hat-trick, while Colin Napper and Bob Gabe added two wins each.

Published Wednesday January 28, 2004

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