Superleague 2011

08/08/11 at Westway: Aston House Studs beat Martlet 4-2

L.Brock & J.Shaw lost to S.Tailor & J.Patel 9-15

J.Hindle & S.Chapman lost to J.Coakley & C.Vincent 14-15

L.Brock & S.Chapman beat J.Coakley & J.Patel 15-14

J.Hindle & J.Shaw beat S.Tailor & C.Vincent 15-13

L.Brock & J.Hindle beat S.Tailor & J.Coakley 15-10

J.Shaw & S.Chapman beat J.Patel & C.Vincent 2-2 (conceded)

The Aston House Studs squeezed into the semi-finals of the Superleague with a nail-bitingly close last eight win over Martlet. Essentially a match up between regular season Division 2 rivals North Oxford and the Old Millhillians, the Studs had a point to prove having been pipped to the league title by the London side. The Studs got off to the worst possible start, however, losing both of the first two matches with Spencer and Jeremy coming agonisingly close at 14-14 before losing the vital last point. A spectacular comeback followed, with the second rotation crucial, as Spencer this time came out on the right end of a 15-14 thriller alongside Laurie Brock and Justin Shaw and Jeremy Hindle squeezing past Sunil Tailor and Chris Vincent 15-13 to level the match at 2-2. Laurie and Jeremy then weighed in with a third point, this time a 15-10 win over Sunil and Joe Coakley, leaving the old firm of Spencer and Justin to tie things up against Chris and Jitesh Patel. After two 15-14 games, Spencer was struck down with cramp early on: an injury time-out and some intense massage work from Pete Cohen got him ready to head back in to the fray, at which point the Martlets skipper Chris Vincent sportingly conceded the match in recognition of the Studs advantage at that stage of the evening, leaving the Studs to head home avoiding rioters and looters and dreaming of a Wednesday semi-final against old rivals WHOREFC.

11/07/11 at Westway: Aston House Studs drew with WHOREFC 3-3

N.Shaw & J.Hindle beat E.Hewens & H.Turnbull 15-8

L.Brock & E.Scoones lost to M.Skjott & J.Hutter 5-15

N.Shaw & E.Scoones lost to M.Skjott & H.Turnbull 13-15

L.Brock & J.Hindle beat E.Hewens & J.Hutter 15-12

N.Shaw & L.Brock beat E.Hewens & M.Skjott 15-8

J.Hindle & E.Scoones lost to H.Turnbull & J.Hutter 12-15

It was déja vu at Westway last night as The Aston House Studs once again took on WHOREFC - the result of other teams being unable to raise a side - and once again claimed a 3-3 draw to cement their place at the top of the Conference B table and the number one seed slot for the play-offs. Emily Scoones came into the side for her first match of the season and after a slow start came very close to winning her matches with Nick Shaw and Jeremy Hindle against good quality opposition. Nick, Jeremy and Laurie Brock mopped up the remaining points between them to send Jeremy back top of the MVP race and we now have to wait for the rest of the league matches to take place to see how the play-off draw shapes up for the quarter-finals in early August.

27/06/11 at Westway: Aston House Studs drew with WHOREFC 2 3-3

L.Brock & S.Chapman beat T.Walters & K.Wagner 15-6

J.Hindle & I.Mitchell lost to M.Skjott & H.Turnbull w/o

L.Brock & I.Mitchell beat M.Skjott & K.Wagner 15-12

J.Hindle & S.Chapman lost to T.Walters & H.Turnbull 2-15

L.Brock & J.Hindle lost to T.Walters & M.Skjott 14-15

S.Chapman & I.Mitchell beat K.Wagner & H.Turnbull 15-12

The Aston House Studs met their toughest challenge of the Superleague season so far at Westway on Monday night and were pleased to come away with a battling 3-3 draw, maintaining their pole position in Conference B and looking set to start the play-offs as number one seeds. Things got off to a sticky start, with traffic problems meaning that one of the rubbers in the first rotation had to be conceded. On the other court, meanwhile, Laurie Brock and the returning captain Spencer Chapman ensured parity with a convincing 15-6 win. Laurie's good form continued in the second round of matches, teaming up with Ian Mitchell to beat Mike Skjott and Karl Wagner 15-12; WHOREFC struck back in the other game as Salopian duoT Walters and Harry Turnbull - a very strong number 4 - dominated Spencer and Jeremy. Skipper Chapman refound his mojo in the final game to team up with Ian and come back from 12-6 down to defeat Karl and Harry 15-12; this proved to be a crucial result as Laurie and Jeremy were unable to hold on convert a 12-3 lead against T and Mike, eventually going down 15-14. The points scored take Jeremy to the top of the overall MVP charts, with Gareth Hoskins in joint third and Laurie Brock just one point behind. With one more regular season game to go before the play-offs, can the Studs continue their unbeaten run and defend their title successfully?

13/06/11 at Westway: Aston House Studs beat Team F 6-0

N.Shaw & J.Hindle beat A.Cybulski & J.Fagan 15-9

G.Hoskins & I.Mitchell beat A.Love & R.Morgan 15-10

N.Shaw & I.Mitchell beat A.Love & J.Fagan 15-12

G.Hoskins & J.Hindle beat A.Cybulski & R.Morgan 15-2

N.Shaw & G.Hoskins beat A.Cybulski & A.Love 15-2

J.Hindle & I.Mitchell beat J.Fagan & R.Morgan 15-9

The Aston House Studs continued their domination of Conference B in the Westway Summer Superleague this year with another 6-0 success at Westway last night, this time over the dangerous Team F. The changes of personnel, with Nick Shaw and Ian Mitchell coming in for their seasonal Studs debuts, made no difference to the efficient Fives winning machine that the Studs have become this year as the result maintained the 100% winning record and enabled the team to close in on top spot in the Division with two games still to go before the play offs. A slight rustiness after a lay off of a couple of weeks manifested itself in the first rotation as both Studs pairs took a while to get into their games before pulling away at the end. Nick and Ian continued to struggle slightly in the second rotation, coming from behind to win 15-12 against Jonathan Fagan and Adrian Love in a game that could easily have gone the other way. On the other court, Gareth and Jeremy were beginning to find their range - plus a few useful edges - to cruise past Alex Cybulski and Ralph Morgan 15-2. The final round of matches saw Jeremy and Ian achieve a workmanlike win over Fagan and Morgan, whilst Gareth and Nick hit some form in the other court, dominating the cut returns and showing glimpses of the play that took then to the quarter-finals of the Kinnaird Cup last season. The potentially awkward opposition of Cybulski and Love were blown away 15-2 and the 6-0 result communicated to Chief Stud Chapman, who had selflessly left himself out of the starting line-up (at the insistence of his wife). Next up are WHOREFC in a couple of weeks time in a replay of last season's final.

25/05/11 at Westway: Aston House Studs beat Katona 6-0

L.Brock & S.Chapman beat T.Fletcher & M.Millership w/o

J.Hindle & R.Pattison beat R.Malik & E.Thompsell 15-8

L.Brock & R.Pattison beat R.Malik & M.Millership w/o

J.Hindle & S.Chapman beat T.Fletcher & E.Thompsell 15-6

L.Brock & J.Hindle beat T.Fletcher & R.Malik 15-6

R.Pattison & S.Chapman beat M.Millership & E.Thompsell w/o

The Aston House Studs continnued their unbeaten march to the Superleague play offs last night with a cruise control 6-0 victory over Katona. With Katona's fourth player - NOEFC's very own Michael Millership - unaware he was supposed to be playing, the strong Studs line-up were left to face Tom Fletcher, Rez Malik and Emmalina Thompsell; Laurie, Spencer, Jeremy and Ronald duly made short work of the three live rubbers to clinch the 6-0 win and establish a stranglehold at the top of Conference B. Next up for the Studs are Team F on June 13th.

18/05/11 at Westway: Aston House Studs beat Four4Fives 6-0

G.Hoskins & S.Chapman beat P.Cohen & A.Pilkington 15-8

J.Hindle & R.Pattison beat J.Hammond & F.Rowe 15-6

G.Hoskins & R.Pattison beat J.Hammond & A.Pilkington 15-7

J.Hindle & S.Chapman beat P.Cohen & F.Rowe 15-8

G.Hoskins & J.Hindle beat P.Cohen & J.Hammond 15-9

R.Pattison & S.Chapman beat A.Pilkington & F.Rowe 15-2

The Aston House Studs maintained their 100% Superleague record with a comfortable 6-0 win over Four4Fives at Westway last night. On court the match was notable for the Studs debut of Ronald Pattison and an enjoyable set of games, with the Studs managing to successfully negotiate the potentially tricky situation of having to cope with the threat of Four4Fives's number one Peter Cohen, whilst simultaneously ensuring that his much weaker partners got a decent game. All the drama surrounding the match happened off court, however, with the Studs management team struggling to replace the injured Justin Shaw at the last minute and coming close to having to pull out of the fixture until Jeremy Hindle magically reappeared from his ankle injury to step into the breach. The post match drama centred around Jeremy, his car and house keys and climbing up a ladder and through an open first floor window to get into the Hindle house at around midnight. For full details, please ask Jeremy, who will be delighted to talk you through the evening's events.

04/05/11 at Westway: Aston House Studs beat Wallflowers 6-0

L.Brock & R.Desmond beat H.de Quetteville & G.Coren 15-7

G.Hoskins & J.Shaw beat S.Ranasinghe & P.Cohen* 15-14 (12-15)

L.Brock & J.Shaw beat S.Ranasinghe & G.Coren 15-6

G.Hoskins & R.Desmond beat H.de Quetteville & P.Cohen* 15-13

L.Brock & G.Hoskins beat H.de Quetteville & S.Ranasinghe 15-1

J.Shaw & R.Desmond beat G.Coren & P.Cohen* 15-14 (6-6)

*ineligible player

The Aston House Studs got off the perfect start to the 2011 Westway Summer Superleague on Wednesday night, starting the defence of their title with a resounding 6-0 win over new team the Wallflowers. A late withdrawal from the Wallflowers number four meant that tournament organiser Pete Cohen stepped in to play for them as an ineligible player at number four, so the Studs had three points in the bank already at the start; the pressure was then on to convert that into a full six pointer against strong opposition and the team didn't disappoint. Laurie Brock was in fine form at number one and his former Cambridge partner Robert Desmond, playing his first Fives since January, soon got into his stride. Playing together in the first rotation they got their noses in front against the Fleet Street duo of Coren and de Quetteville - both awkward lefties - and never looked back, winning 15-7. Gareth Hoskins and Justin Shaw had the luxury of knowing the point was already won in their match, a tough one against Olavian pair Cohen and Sanjaya Ranasinghe. Although they lost narrowly, the Studs pair played well in patches and found the form which then set up two good wins in the second rotation as Laurie continued to dominate his fellow Old Westminster Giles Coren and Gareth and Rob scored an impressive win over Cohen and de Quetteville. The Wallflowers were definitely wilting by the third and final rotation as Laurie and Gareth teamed up to demolish Sanjaya and Harry 15-1. The other match was poised at 6-6 but with the point won and the pub beckoning, play was stopped with maximum points won by the Studs. You can keep up to date with all the latest Superleague news here.