Two more divisional winners crowned as the 2023/2024 season reaches its climax
Old Chelmsfordians A successfully defended the division 1 league title they won last season while Danbury M improved upon last year’s third place finish (as Danbury N) by winning division five – registering just one defeat from their 18 matches. The destination of the division two and division three titles is still undecided with two rounds of matches remaining.
Division 1
OCA A clinched the division one title with a 9-1 home win over Danbury B – Paul Lucas and Mark Mulley earned trebles while Scott Dowsett won twice. The closest singles match of the night was Mark Mulley’s 3-2 win over Dan Anderson whereby Anderson had taken a 2-1 lead. Later, Anderson and partner Sam Lowman took a 2-1 lead over Lucas and Mulley in the doubles only for the OCA pairing to come through for the win. Two wins apiece for Aidan Lees and Omar Wasi boosted sixth-placed Chelmsford B to a 6-4 home win over Galleywood A. Lees recovered from 2-1 down to beat Peter Barrett but later was on the wrong end of another 3-2 scoreline – James Hicks clinching the decider 13-11 in their clash. Wasi had earlier beaten Hicks in four but fell to Barrett in their contest. Hicks also saw another five-game match whereby he fought back from 2-1 down against Wiktor Delimat.
Standings div 1: C: Old Chelmsfordians A 153 points (from 20 matches), 2: Chelmsford A 126 points (19 matches), 3: Danbury A 123 points (21 matches).
Division 2
Hatfield Peverel A moved to the top of division two with a 6-4 away victory at third-placed Maldon A – Julie Johnson fired a hat-trick on her return. Johnson beat both Chris Hancox and Dawn Baldry in four and just about edged out Colin Napper over five close games. Baldry won her other two games – an epic 3-2 win over Alastair Piper was followed by a four game win over Martin Archie who won his other two matches. Another player who returned to action this week was Gary Ward who won all three of his matches in Writtle C’s 5-5 draw with OCA B. Ward won each of his matches in four games while teammate John Parodi lost out to Michael Hayes over five games before edging David Porter in the decider. Sanjay Saptarshi clinched three wins as his Danbury D beat Danbury G 6-4. Peter Chastin was unfortunate not to get a win on the board having played in three five-gamers. Three wins by Adi Kamma backed up by two from Sami Osman helped Chelmsford D earn a 6-4 home victory over Danbury E. Chelmsford’s Kamma dropped just two games during the evening while Danbury’’s Tony Forster’s two successes were both earned the hard way – over five games.
Standings div 2: 1: Hatfield Peverel A 121 points (from 19 matches), 2: Chelmsford C 119 points (from 18 matches), 3: Maldon A 105 points (19 matches)
Division 3
Ian Whiteside won all three of his singles matches as fourth placed Danbury H beat tenth placed Danbury J 6-4 in division three. Whiteside dropped just one game while J’s Peter Hance and H’s Alan Scammell both recovered from 2-1 down in their respective matches against Ken Sheard and John Robinson. Felix Reeve and Pav Srinivasamurthy were both unbeaten as Chelmsford F beat Writtle E 7-3. Reeve dropped just one game in his three wins while two of Srinivasamurthy’s wins were not secured until a fifth game decider – his match against Malcolm Storey was a close 6-11, 13-11, 13-11, 9-11, 13-11. Jarek Pietraszuk won three, James Grimston two and Andy Swales two as Chelmsford E won 8-2 against Danbury K. Grimston was denied a treble by Alan Dadswell who battled back from 2-1 down to take the win while Dave Oxley-Goody got the better of Swales in three.
Standings div 3: 1: Galleywood B 135 points (from 18 matches), 2: Buttsbury A 125 points (18 matches), 3: Danbury H 101 points (from 18 matches).
Division 4
Fourth placed OCA D finished their season in style with a 10-0 away victory against winless Hatfield Peverel E as David Bishop, Russell Hall and Farooq Ahmed did the business for the visitors. Davina Brazier was the best performer for the hosts – taking both Russell Hall and David Bishop to five games. A Peter Mortenson treble wasn’t enough to prevent his Hatfield Peverel C side from going down 6-4 at Danbury L. Mortenson beat Paul Thirkettle in three, John Manning in four and Greg Cooper in five, while teammate Richard Drozd had two matches which went to a decider – winning one. Roger Patient didn’t drop a game as Highwood A won 6-4 at Hatfield Peverel D. Highwood’s Keith Fitz-John went winless but saw two of his losses go to deciders while Melanie Bonnett edged Deb Ginn over five games.
Standings div 4: C: Galleywood C 139 points (from 17 matches), 2: Chelmsford G 120 matches (from 17 matches), 3: Maldon B 117 points (from 17 matches)
Division 5
Graham Naggs, Steve Martin and David Smith earned two wins apiece as Danbury M became division five champions with a 7-3 away win at Maldon C. Shirley Carroll bagged two wins for Maldon – both in fifth game deciders while her teammate Ross Kirby beat Martin before missing out in five against Smith. Buttsbury C moved up into second place with a 9-1 win over Galleywood D on Friday thanks to three wins each for Oscar Hutt and Francesca Hart as well as two wins by Freya Hart. Galleywood D had played earlier in the weeks whereby Nick Rounce won all three of his singles matches in the 6-4 home victory over Chelmsford H. Rounce had to fight back from 2-1 down for his victory against Peter Davenport who won two matches himself. Anglia Ruskin University cruised to a 9-1 victory over winless Hatfield Peverel F – trebles by Kelvin Edeh and Douglas Bawuah were backed up by a double by Connor Case. Chelmsford J and Highwood B shared a 5-5 draw – Chelmsford’s Shweta Lees and Mark Nolan as well as Highwood’s Keith Pallett and Nicola Pippen all won two games each.
Standings div 5: C: Danbury M 131 points (from 18 matches), 2: Buttsbury C 107 points (19 matches), 3: Chelmsford J 106 points (18 matches).
Chelmsford Junior League division 2A
All to play for still in CJL division 2A as the Hutton Hawks stay top despite slipping to a 3-2 home defeat by the Chelmsford Eagles. Joshua Freeman won twice for the visitors – his victory over Charlie Gould in the opener was after going 2-0 down. The Danbury Dragons leapfrogged the Buttsbury Bears into second place with a 4-1 home victory – Oliver Martin won both of his matches by a 3-1 scoreline while Peter Harverson beat Thomas Lewis before Vivaan Babbar earned the only win of the night for the visitors.
Standings CJL 2A: 1: , Hutton Hawks 20 points (7 matches), 2: Danbury Dragons 16 points (from 7 matches)
Chelmsford Junior League division 2B
Martis Heyes and Hugo Perry went undefeated as the Hutton Harriers extended their lead at the top of CJL 2B with a 5-0 home win over Chelmsford Leopards. Heyes withstood a George Gregory comeback from 2-0 to clinch the decider in the closest contest. Lewis Woods won both of his matches as the Buttsbury Bulldogs won 4-1 at Hutton Hyenas on Wednesday night. The tightest match was Hugo Perry edging past Vivaan Babbar in a fifth game decider.
Standings CJL 2B: 1: Hutton Harriers 26 points (7 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bulldogs 21 points (from 6 matches)
Chelmsford Junior League division 2C
Ethan Collins won twice and Amelie Lucas once as the Chelmsford Panthers retained top spot in CJL 2C with a 4-1 away win at the Hutton Hornets, while the Hutton Hammerheads beat the Chelmsford Rhinos by the same scoreline thanks to an Archie Giles double backed up by a victory for Spencer Giles.
Standings CJL 2C: 1: Chelmsford Panthers 28 points (from 7 matches), 2: Chelmsford Jaguars 23 points (6 matches)
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