The top division of the Burnham & District Table Tennis League is already far better contested this season than it has been for many years as both Mapledene A and Woodham A throw their respective hats into the podium cauldron with decisive victories over last season’s top two teams. First up, and current League leaders, Mapledene A delivered a crushing blow to perennial champions Fambridge with a convincing 7-3 triumph, something Fambridge didn’t experience for the whole of last season. For Mapledene Liam Squirrell buried his opponents for a stunning hat-trick, with the Young family adding 2 wins a piece for Dad Gary and son Daniel. For Fambridge Keith Adams was on form with two wins over the Young clan and he combined with Paul Sayer for an important doubles victory. Podium hopefuls and last year’s runners-up Cold Norton B would be looking to make up some ground as the top two teams fought it out. With two matches in quick succession they could easily have ended the fortnight in pole position especially after their opening 10-0 whitewash against a seasoned Maldon A side. Hat-tricks all round for the Cold Norton boys – Sam Lowman, Eric Green and Ian Wall – although it wasn’t without drama as 3 of the singles contests went all the way to deciding sets and Green just about squeezed through against the wily Steve Whiteley 15-13 in one of those fifth setters. So going into their second match of the period the Cold Norton tails were up and they were looking to consolidate their position in the top three – however the newly invigorated Woodham A team had other ideas and in the most surprising result of the week registered a very unexpected but welcome 9-1 result – and yes that was in their favour! Hat-tricks for the modern defender Lee McHugh, and for recent signing Kaung Htet Paing, and a brace of victories for Captain Dan Piglet including his first ever win over the usually impenetrable Eric Green. For the shell-shocked Cold Norton team Dave Richardson spared the whitewash blushes with a 4 set victory over Piglet. The rest of the matches were close encounters as Woodham B earned a draw with Cold Norton A that included a much sought after hat-trick for Dan Patynski including a revenge victory over his Hockley nemesis Matt Stringer. Stow A and Mapledene B slugged out their match with no player remaining unbeaten and Mapledene’s Anthon Ranjit-Singh and David Jacob taking the doubles to seal a 6-4 victory.
The Woodham Club seem to have got something special going on this season as both their Division 2 teams have a 100% record so far this season and are looking to push seasoned favourites Mapledene C and Maldon B all the way. The Woodham C trio racked up a 9-1 win over Blackwater A with only Neil Freeman able to score a point against Chris Hancox after a tremendous 5 set duel, with Adi Kamma and Graham Briggs unbeaten all evening for Woodham. Meanwhile Woodham D made it 3 wins on the bounce with an emphatic 8-2 result against Blackwater B with Gus Heath the standout player with an evening of undefeated singles and doubles play. Mapledene C squeezed out a 6-4 win over their closest rivals Maldon B with Barrie Delf in fine fettle and registering a hat-trick of wins. Later on in the period Mapledene went one better against Stow C with a hard fought 7-3 turnover – but another hat-trick for Delf, laying down a marker for the coveted most valuable player trophy. Stow C fared slightly better in their earlier encounter with Maldon C – albeit just one point better, as they succumbed 6-4 to Steve Aspland and his merry men of Maldon. Aspland registered yet another hat-trick which puts him right up there in battle with Delf for the best win average. It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Stow club this week though as their B team notched an 8-2 victory over the young Maldon D team. For Stow the experienced Peter Hance was untouchable, but the youth of the Maldon side shone through with a point for Marty Englander and an inaugural division 2 win for Ella Sach – we expect more victories for this pair as they grow into the season. In particular Sach was very unlucky not to register more points as both her losses came in tight 5 setters.
St Lawrence continue their quest for the title in Division 3 with their 4th straight victory. This time it was Blackwater E that were slain at the paddles of the St Lawrence Trio – this is a sports team not a folk band despite the catchy name. St Lawrence applied the trusted Dusty Bin 3-2-1 singles victories with Mike Pratley at the top of the tree with a hard-earned threesome that included two 5 set victories both coming from 0-2 down. Pratley and Steve King combined for the extra doubles point to wrap up the 7-3 win. It was a similar scoreline as Blackwater D defeated Maldon F with both Dave Benstead and Chris Rolison leaving with 100% records. The final match went all the way to the fifth end of the doubles to separate the Maldon E and Blackwater C teams – with Maldon’s James Raymond and Ross Wheeler coming through 11-9 to secure the doubles bonus point as well as the overall 6-4 victory.
In the opening round of the team Handicap Cup there were a few notable turnovers where David was able to slay Goliath. Most notable was Blackwater A of the second division who were able to bring down the stars of Cold Norton A – Top handicapper Duncan Taylor’s -20 points starting penalty may have seemed harsh but he was still able to claim his team’s 2 points in their 5-2 loss. For Blackwater David McHattie was the joker in the pack with 3 from 3 wins as his ample handicap bonus of +13 really made it tough for the Nortonians. In the other ‘shock’, Woodham D, currently flying high in Division 2, toppled the Division 1 Maldon A side. This was a real battle of a cup tie that went all the way to the final whistle with half of the matches going to climatic deciding sets. Woodham were kings of the singles winning 4 from 6 with Peter Mortensen on a flat handicap winning both his matches, whereas Maldon with the more experienced heads were able to squeeze out both of the early doubles in thrilling 3 setters. The final doubles saw Derek Balding and Steve Whiteley (handicap -15) pitted against Mortensen and Alex Wilson (handicap of +3) – and although the Maldonites closed the gap they couldn’t do it quickly enough and Woodham prevailed for the hardest fought cup victory of the week.
Peter Hance from Stow Maries having to stretch to retrieve another fierce smash from Maldon’s Ella Sach
Kaung Htet Paing (Woodham A) v Dave Richardson (Cold Norton B)
Kaung Htet Paing 
Eric Green