The signing of Ben Wiseman, former British League player, has heralded an improvement
in Chalfont’s results since Christmas. He lost his first match 3-0 to Steve Smith
but has not looked back since. Wins over Ricky Hardcastle and Paul Baker helped earn
his side a 5-5 draw with leaders Cippenham Buccaneers. Ben was assisted by Paul Savage
who also won two against Paul Baker and Steve Smith but lost to Ricky who also beat
the winless John Stacey.
Next up, Ben won three, as did Gerald Finesilver on his first appearance in the League
this season, against Burnham Leopards who succumbed 8-2. John Stacey beat Mary Stafford
but lost to both Derek Sudlow and Ray Lewington.
Meanwhile, Cippenham Outlaws took advantage of Buccaneers’ lost points to close the
gap to one point - and they have a match in hand. They beat Burnham Lions 9-1 with
Anthony Gardner (who beat Derek Husbands 14-12 in the fifth) and Graham Trimming
(11-9 in the fifth over Derek) both winning three. Derek made up for those disappointments
with a good 3-0 victory over Neil Bird. Rafique Sarhadi, unbeaten so far this season,
was unwell on the night his Cippenham Rascals team played Outlaws and so Rascals
went into battle short-handed. They were made to pay for this as their only successes
in a 3-7 defeat came from the also unbeaten Steve Dobbins.
Losing in the fifth is becoming a feature of Derek Husbands’ season. It happened
also in the Burnham Lions match against Burnham Nomads. Derek was 2-1 up against
Dave Hyder before losing 11-5 in the fifth but made up for it by defeating both Ian
Baker and Elroy Hull.
