Fambridge are massive! | Essex County Table Tennis Association

It was the opening week of the new Winter league season in the Burnham & District Table Tennis League and the teams old and new did not disappoint. The Fixture Gods had pitted the two top teams from recent years together for an early showdown and boy was it a humdinger. Supreme Champions Fambridge welcomed their nearest rivals Cold Norton B in the opening salvo in the top division. Both teams elected to go full-Galactico as 6 of the best from across the County when toe-to-toe and paddle-to-paddle in an encounter that went on into the following morning. Four of the matches went to a deciding 5^th leg, and all of those final matches were extremely close with 2 going to deuce and beyond. So how on earth did Fambridge come away with an emphatic 8-2 victory – well that’s just what they do. Fambridge took all 4 of those 5-setters and that’s what sets this awesome Club apart. Fambridge’s Paul Sayer and Keith Adams both recorded hat-tricks on the night, with Cold Nortons whipper snapper Sam Lowman edging out John Poysden for a notable singles win in an incredibly tight match (-11, 13, 11, 10). Lowman was on tip top form throughout as he was on the wrong side of those two ‘deuce and beyond’ 5 set defeats. He did manage to add the doubles point as he and partner Eric Green took a straight sets victory over Poysden and Sayer.

Elsewhere in the top division it was a good week for the lefties as both Mapledene’s Steve Muth and Colin Chatfield ploughed through their opposition in their respective matches, and Dan Piglet for Woodham also notched an opening day trio of wins. The Muthinator took his hat-trick against Woodham B including a notable win over Sanjay Saptarshi with a display of fierce hitting and electric serves. Saptarshi himself took his sides only 2 points in the 8-2 win for Mapledene A. Chatfield’s hat-trick came in Mapledene B’s 6-4 defeat of a strong Maldon A side. The clean sweep was only secured in the final match as Chatfield and Harrison Hill went into the match both undefeated and even at 13-13 in the deciding leg it was hard to separate these protagonists – such different styles – but in this instance experience triumphed over youth and Chatfield took the honours. In the final match of the week Woodham A took a 7-3 victory away from Stow A with both Dan Piglet and Lee McHugh recording hat-tricks – Piglet just coming through in 5 sets against the loopy Keith Martin.

Blackwater A surprised everyone in Division 2 with a surprisingly comfortable 7-3 turnover of the usually combative Maldon C trio. It was wily ol’ Merv Perriman who caused the most trouble as he went unbeaten all evening and only dropping a single set en route. Perriman’s sidekicks of Alan Scammell and Roger Slade chipped in with a brace of wins apiece – but they couldn’t contain the doubles expertise of Maldon’s Steve Aspland and Colin Barrell who took the consolation doubles point. It was a welcome return for two former Woodham players as both Graham Briggs and Chris Hancox notched familiar hat-tricks back at their old stomping ground as Woodham C scored an impressive 9-1 victory over a beleaguered Stow D side. Stow’s Tim Pulham saved the whitewash with a 5 set victory over the tricky David Meah. Cold Norton D will be looking for a more consistent run of form this year which should see them fighting for a podium finish and they kicked off with a solid 7-3 triumph over Blackwater B with awkward lefty Peter Lucraft doing the damage with a fine hat-trick of wins. Perennial podium chasers Maldon B fielded a very strong side as they blasted their way through the challenge from Stow C. The match ended up at 9-1 with Maldon’s Colin Napper and Dawn Baldry going unbeaten in singles and doubles. Stow’s most difficult player was Peter Chastin and he at least saved the whitewash with a long and hard fought 5 set victory over Hamish Innes (rumours of expedite being called after the first ½ hour cannot yet be verified). Last year’s champs Mapledene C kicked off their campaign with a comprehensive 8-2 victory over the newly promoted Maldon D. Lin Roff and Bill Smith went unbeaten for Mapledene, and Maldon’s Marty Englander registered an excellent singles point in a 4 setter with Sue Body.

It was mixed fortunes for the Blackwater teams in Division 3 this week as Blackwater C stormed to the top of the leader board with a stunning 10-0 whitewash – unfortunately against their very own Blackwater E side. The regular Blackwater C trio of Kath Little, Deb Ginn and Phil West all registering opening day hat-tricks – its like they had been playing all summer! The match wasn’t without its drama though as Little had to make two amazing comebacks from the ‘dead’. Against Peter Hughes, Little was 0-2 down and then 6-10 down in the match before she went on a run of 6 winning points to nick the 3^rd leg and then take the final two legs for the most unlikely of victories. Then in her final match Little found herself 0-2 down again against Ron Tam. As the 3^rd leg got underway there was some disturbance in the other match and the leg had to be restarted and this short delay appeared to break Tam’s concentration as fortunes changed and Little took the final 3 legs for her hard-earned hat-trick. Woodham E fielded 2 debutants and 2 players with a bit more experience as they secured an 8-2 home win over the knowledgeable trio from Maldon F. Debutants Reece Arundell and Peter Harverson both notched a brace of wins but it was the wily old Chris Crooks that took the plaudits with an impressive hat-trick of wins including a 5 setter against Maldon’s best player John Leavett. Crooks was joined by Val Board for their Brucie Bonus doubles point against Leavett and Roger Warren.