Mapledene A have stormed into an early lead in the top division of the Burnham & District Table Tennis League and this is largely down to the form of Steve Muth – only recently awarded the moniker of ‘The Muthinator’ – who destroyed allcomers this week in the Mapledene derby to maintain his 100% record for the season.  Muth was ably supported by Gary and Daniel Young in the 8-2 win, with each notching a brace of wins on their welcome return to the Burnham League.  David Jacobs’ straight sets victory over Daniel Young being the pick of the Mapledene B points.  Maldon A breathed some life into their campaign with a decent 7-3 win over Cold Norton C.  For Maldon Derek Balding was the star turn winning all his matches on the night including the doubles and only dropping a single set along the way. In the other Derby, honours were more evenly spread as Cold Norton’s A and B sides took to the Latchingdon battlefield to see out a 5-5 draw.  Star of this show was Ian Wall with 3 singles wins all in 4 sets, including a notable victory over Finals Night perennial Kevin Read.

There is an early two horse race in Division 2 as both Maldon B and Woodham C have hit the ground running both taking 19 points out of a possible 20.  It looks like these two thoroughbreds will be neck and neck all the way to the winning post.  Maldon B ran out 10-0 winners against Cold Norton D with Cold Norton’s Dave Hancox putting up the most resistance with two 5-set defeats.  But hat-tricks all round for the Maldon trio of Colin Napper, Hamish Innes & Ciaran Whelan.  So as not to be outdone Woodham C matched that scoreline against 2 man Stow B with welcome returnee Graham Briggs getting player of the match for his undefeated evening.  Woodham D kicked off their season with an impressive 7-3 win over Maldon D as League Chairman Alan Dadswell showed his form with a hat-trick, and young Alex Wilson proved his worth with 2 wins as he moves up to this higher division.  The remaining matches were all tight affairs as Blackwater A and Mapledene C, and Stow D and Stow C locked horns in 5-all draws with no player dominant in either match.  The most notable victory was Jean Chasmer’s 5 set marathon against Tim Pulham, although Pulham hadn’t helped himself with two previous 5 setters in the first half of proceedings.  In the final match Maldon C’s talisman Steve Aspland was back to his best knocking out his first hat-trick of the season in his teams tight 6-4 victory over Blackwater B.  As is often the case the victory came down to the doubles dance and the Maldon duo of Aspland and Colin Barrell are masters of this discipline and rattled out a very comfortable bonus point win to secure the victory.

Not surprisingly it is St Lawrence A that have taken the early headlines and lead in Division 3. Another 8-2 victory this week, and another hat-trick for Steve King, against the plucky Blackwater C.  Ron Tam was on dynamic form for his Blackwater E side as he took a trio of wins in the 6-4 encounter with Woodham E.  The final match of the week saw the much anticipated Maldon Derby as F took on E in the bragging rights play-off.  It was a tight affair throughout as alternate blows were traded.  It was all square at the break and as the teams entered the final singles Jude Mayet of the E team evened the match at 4-4.  The final two matches were both rollercoaster epics, both going to 5 sets.  John Leavett squeezed passed James Raymond for his hat-trick, and in the final showdown the wily Roger Warren came from behind to edge out Ross Wheeler 11-9 in the deciding set to secure the 6-4 victory for Maldon F.

Pic 1 – Steve Muth – currently unbeaten in Division 1

Pic 2 – Maldon C’s talisman Steve Aspland

Pic 3 – St Lawrence A’s Steve King

Pic 4 – Stow C’s Jean Chasmer

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