We are drawing to the close of the Winter season for the Burnham & District Table Tennis League and we finally have the winners and runners-up in each division confirmed.
The runaway Ist Division champions are Fambridge TTC but it took until this week to confirm Cold Norton B as runners-up for this season. Cold Norton weren’t at the table this week but Mapledene A failed to return the 8 or more points required to keep the race alive going into the final games. In fact Mapledene A only managed a draw away to Woodham A and even that took last gap victories in the final 3 matches as both David Jacob and Barrie Delf recovered from 5th set match points against to eek out 2 last gasp victories to secure the draw. Delf’s victory over Lee McHugh (pictured above) being the most noteworthy victory of the fun-filled evening. Elsewhere in the top division Stow Maries A bagged 4 points against Maldon A which they hope will secure them top flight table tennis next season. However the real developing story of that match was the inaugural Division 1 hat-trick for Maldon’s Harrison Hill. Following Hill’s epic display at the recent Burnham Tournament it will surprise no-one within the sport but it does mark the first of what we expect to be many hat-tricks for this prodigious talent. In the final encounter this week Duncan Taylor shone brightly with an unblemished hat-trick for his Cold Norton A side but this was not enough to stave off defeat as opponents Mapledene B took home the spoils 6-4, with 2 wins a piece for Keith Willett and Colin Chatfield, and a final match of the night victory for Anthon Ranjit-Singh over Steve Maltby despite having lost to him twice in recent weeks.
In the two horse race for the Division 2 title things couldn’t have gone more tangential for our two runners. Top seeds Mapledene C showed no nerves as they approached the final furlong as they completely dispatched Cold Norton D to the cleaners in an emphatic 10-0 trouncing. Hat-tricks all round for Mapledene trio Andy Seaman, Mick Tappenden and Barrie Delf. Maldon B needed to match or better Mapledene’s result to stay in the running but succumbed heavily in an 8-2 loss away to Stow Maries B. Stow’s power house Nicky Reece-Ford blasted all before him for a superb hat-trick and was ably supported by his trusty wingmen Peter Hance and Tony Forster who both won 2 singles. For Maldon only Colin Napper appeared on the scoresheet with wins over both Forster and Hance. In the Blackwater A v B derby nether team secured the bragging rights as they played out an honourable draw, although the B team’s Neil Thompson was seen skipping home clutching his well-earned first hat-trick of the season. Maldon C’s talisman Steve Aspland was at it again this week as he raced through the Woodham C card to secure his 6th hat-trick on the bounce – what a season he has had. Unfortunately for Maldon C they were a man down and Woodham were able to secure all the remaining points for a comfortable 7-3 victory to finish off their season.
Division 3 is now complete and with Stow Maries D already confirmed as champions it came down to the final matches to sort out the runner-up spot. Coincidentally both of the key matches were taking place on courts next to each other at West Maldon Community Centre so with each game completed the league abacus was adjusted to show the real-time situation. Woodham D started the night a point behind Blackwater D so were eager to make a good start to erase that gap. No nerves on display as they raced to a 5-0 lead over opponents Blackwater E. On the other table Blackwater D had a more tricky time of it as they took on the plucky Blackwater C trio. A reasonable start but they were only 3-2 up after 5 games and were now trailing Woodham D. Both teams lost the 6th match so it was now down to the final 3 matches of the season and the odds were now stacked in favour of Woodham. For Blackwater D they won 2 of the last 3 with none of their players able to get passed the impressive James Brooks from the C team, but Woodham casually strolled through their final matches, winning all 3 for a 9-1 victory and the coveted runner-up spot. Hat-tricks for the Woodham dynamic duo of Joe Cooke and Alex Wilson. Blackwater D won out 6-4 for third spot but the win did mean they had more victories than Woodham D over the season – possibly scant consolation as your rivals celebrate across the barriers.
Pictured below
Harrison Hill of Maldon A Steve Aspland – Maldon C Joe Cooke – Woodham D
