A dominating week for Danbury in Division 1

The three Danbury teams in division one enjoyed an excellent week as the A team won 9-1 at Writtle, the B team won 10-0 at home to Galleywood A, and the C team posted the same result at home to Chelmsford B.

Division 1

There were three dominant victories for the Danbury teams in division one as Danbury A moved equal on points with leaders Chelmsford A thanks to a 9-1 win at Writtle A.  While it was Penrose’s third treble of the season, McLeod chipped in with a first and Cramphorn would have been pleased with the two victories given his slow start to the season in division two for Danbury E. Danbury C are in third position just a point off the top two following a 10-0 win over Chelmsford B – Danbury’s strength in depth again showing by the reappearance of John Poysden alongside Reece Seddon and Liam Squirrell – a fearsome threesome to face anyone in the county. Having previously slipped from third position to fifth, Danbury B moved up to fourth place with a 10-0 success over Galleywood A – Lowman, Anderson and Wall firing trebles together for the first time this season.

Standings div 1: 1:  Chelmsford A 35 points (from 5 matches), 2: Danbury A 35 points (5 matches), 3: Danbury C 34 points (5 matches).

Division 2

A 6-4 away win by Hatfield Peverel A at Old Chelmsfordians B was enough to move them to the top of division two, Martin Archie and Alastair Piper fired trebles in the same fixture for the first time this season.  Maldon A continue to maintain a challenge at the top following an 8-2 home win over Writtle C. Hamish Innes reminded us that Maldon’s success this season will not only depend on Lloyd Bennett-Smith and Derek Balding, by firing the only treble of the contest.  Gary Ward was once again the toughest nut to crack in the Writtle C lineup – he won two of his three matches. Writtle B were the biggest movers in the division this week despite being held to a 5-5 draw at home by Galleywood B.  Writtle’s Trevor Carter won two matches but was beaten in five by Mark Taylor who won all three of his.  Taylor had taken a 2-0 lead before the Carter fight back to square the match only for Taylor to take the decider 12-10. A second treble of the season for Ian Whiteside and doubles for Ken Sheard and Alan Scammell were enough for Danbury F to see off their clubmates Danbury E 7-3, Neil Want was the only player to see success for the E side – denied a treble by Whiteside in the fifth.

Standings div 2: 1: Hatfield Peverel A 37 points (6 matches), 2: Buttsbury A 36 points (from 5 matches), 3: Maldon A 32 points (5 matches).

Division 3

To date, no team has taken control of division three this season with the top seven teams separated by only five points at the end of week six.  Just one of those seven sides remain undefeated this season – Writtle D – who sit in fifth having played a fixture less than those around them.  Chelmsford D currently sit top of the division despite being held to a 5-5 draw with sixth placed Danbury G. Danbury’s Denis Balic was the only undefeated player though it was no easy night for him as both Adi Kamma and Mike Johnston took him to five games. Buttsbury B occupy second place following trebles from Harry Sawford and Wudong Liu in a 9-1 win at Chelmsford E. Things are not always as they seem in table tennis results and a look at the match detail suggests the scoreline may have been closer had the hosts been able to get their noses over the line in some, if not all, of the four five-game matches they found themselves on the losing end of. There was a fourth treble of the season for Gary Copsey in Galleywood C’s 5-5 home draw with Hatfield Peverel B. Peverel’s Neil Freeman had an unexpectedly quiet night with just one win though he was denied a second by win-machine Copsey who took their deciding game 15-13.  Gareth Davies looked good for Peverel with another two wins but went down 3-1 to Copsey in the evening’s opener. A third 5-5 draw this week in division three to report on is Chelmsford F’s home clash with Danbury J, there were no flawless performances though Danbury’s Terry Hyland took ‘player of the match’ honours for his two wins – it could have been better for Hyland had he not conceded a 2-1 lead against Dion Fernandes. A second treble of the season for Gus Heath boosted Danbury H to a 7-3 win over Writtle E. Heath was untouchable in winning his three matches – failing to drop a game.

Standings div 3: 1:  Chelmsford D 37 points (6 matches), 2: Buttsbury B 36 points (6 matches) 3: Galleywood C 35 points (from 6 matches),

Division 4

A second treble by Roger Patient in as many weeks wasn’t enough to see victory for his Highwood A side who fell to a 6-4 loss at the hands of Old Chelmsfordians D.  Russell Hall and David Newman both won two matches for the hosts but Patient dropped just one game in his encounters with the OCA duo.  David Bishop gave Patient his biggest test of the evening – only succumbing to the Highwood ace in the deciding game. Like Patient, Neil Wood fired a back-to-back hat-trick as Hatfield Peverel C edged out Galleywood D 6-4. Lewis Armstrong won two for Galleywood, his second a 3-2 win over Samuel White which saw a tense 21-19 fourth game go the way of White.  John Manning scored yet another double for Danbury L in their 6-4 away win at Chelmsford G. Chelmsford’s Atharv Gupta won twice for Chelmsford and handed Manning his only loss of the night in the evening’s opener.

Standings div 4: 1:  Hutton A 36 points (from 5 matches), 2: Maldon B 35 points (5 matches), 3: Danbury L 31 points (6 matches).

Division 5

Having had to wait 568 days for a win, Hatfield Peverel F secured their second successive victory via a 6-4 scoreline at Anglia Ruskin. There was no hat-trick hero David Benstead in the line-up this week, perhaps still basking in last week’s glory, but Peter Hughes, Barbara Kirby and Alastair Brown all won two apiece to keep the party going for at least another week. Douglas Bawuah won all three of his matches for hosts ARU. Joshua Freeman won both of his matches as leaders Buttsbury E beat the two-person team of OCA E 7-3 at home. OCA E’s ‘Forfeit’ lost all three of their matches for the fourth fixture in row…!  Hutton B are hot on the heels of Buttsbury with the luxury of a game in hand following their 10-0 demolition of Galleywood E.  Lee Vallis, Charlie Gould and Peter Moxham did the damage – Vallis without dropping a game. Maldon C are third in the table following a 7-3 home win over Hatfield Peverel E, James Raymond fired treble number three for the season as Shirley Carroll and Brian Dixon chipped in with wins. Andy Simmons was back in action for Hatfield Peverel D as his treble contributed to his side’s 6-4 home win over Chelmsford H.  Writtle F beat Highwood B 7-3 thanks to a third Michael Anthony hat-trick of the season and two wins apiece for Paul Aarons and Ron Tam.  Tam hit a double for the fourth successive match.

Standings div 5: 1:  Buttsbury E 48 points (from 6 matches), 2: Hutton B 40 points (5 matches). 3: Maldon C 37 points (6 matches),

Chelmsford Junior League division 1A

Two wins apiece for Noah Middleton and Jago Ware were enough for the Hutton Hawks to re-take top spot from the Buttsbury Bees in a 5-0 victory over the Hutton Harriers.  Middleton moves to three victories from six this season while Ware has won four from six.

Standings div 1A: 1: Hutton Hawks 21 points (from 6 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bees 18 points (5 matches), 2: 3: Chelmsford Lions 13 points (5 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 1B

There were another two victories for Theo Rugg though his Hutton Hammers lost out 3-2 at home to the Buttsbury Bears.  The contest came down to the all-important doubles matchup with Rugg and Leon Smith getting back on level terms against Zac Berry and Ethan Ferris having found themselves 2-0 down, only for Berry and Ferris to take the decider.

Standings div 1B: 1:  Hutton Hyenas 19 points (6 matches), 2: Chelmsford Leopards 16 points (from 5 matches), 3: Chelmsford Jaguars 13 points (5 matches).

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Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League

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