The top division of the Burnham & District Table Tennis League was dominated this week by some highly expected hat-trick performances and a few from unusual sources. Whilst in the second division both the leading teams continue to stutter along allowing what was a commanding lead to dwindle ever so slightly allowing just a chink of a glimpse of a chance for the chasing pack to clutch onto their straws of hope.
Leaders Fambridge are really going for it this year and put the sword to Cold Norton C this week in a terrifying 10-0 whitewash that saw Mark Stones record an amazing 9-dart hat-trick of wins, and team-mates Gurj Bhambra and Keith Adams matched the number of wins but they had a bit of resistance along the way. The only singles that went to a deciding fifth set saw Cold Norton’s man-of-the-moment Arron Chandler fightback from 0-2 down to take the match into a final leg shootout, but Bhambra had weathered the Chandler Cyclone and put paid to the brazen attempt at upsetting the Fambridge apple cart. Cold Norton B briefly took top spot this week courtesy of their tough 8-2 victory over Mapledene B. It could have been worse for the Nortonians if Mitchell Jones had made his debut for Mapledene as had been rumoured. As it is the 8 points keep them in touching distance of the rampant Fambridge. A hat-trick for Norton’s boy wonder Sam Lowman, with 2 wins a piece for his comrades in arms Eric Green and Dave Richardson, neither of whom could outwit Mapledene’s Kieran Skeggs. Mapledene A, so long the bookies favourite, may have thrown away their shot this week as they were held to a 5-5 draw by the current champions Woodham A. Mapledene’s talismanic captain Reece Seddon was in dynamite form with a personal hat-trick including a long and hard fought 5 set triumph over Harry Chivers – a potential pre-cursor to this year’s Singles Final. Seddon won out 11-8 in that deciding set, but 3 of the earlier sets had gone beyond deuce indicating just how tight the differences are – a net here, an edge there, and who knows. Whilst everyone else was involved in the tussle for the top spot the two lowest placed teams met in their own Woodham Wooden Spoon Derby as Woodham C took on an understrength Woodham B trio. In a shock start Woodham B went ahead 4-0 before the C team’s Chris Hancox won the first point for his team in a very close straight sets victory over Tony Bonnici. Alas that was it for the C team as the B team romped home with Harry Sawford and Eamonn Hall recording their first ever hat-tricks in Division 1. Hall survived a tight one against Graham Briggs saving 2 match points before closing out the fifth set 12-10 for a dramatic finish. The doubles was also a tight affair with Sawford and Bonnici having to come from 1-2 down against Hancox and Adi Kamma to eventually win out 3-2.
The championship odds for Division 2 have been on a rollercoaster journey over the last few weeks, at one point Stow Maries A looked odds-on for the title until their ill-fated 2-man team draw last week. They needed to right a few wrongs and get back to winning ways this week. Well it was a real ‘Pitty’ when one of their players dropped out on the day for this week’s clash with Cold Norton D, and the 2-man team worked hard but couldn’t repeat the heroics of the week before as Stow went down 7-3, and their odds plummeted just as fast. For Cold Norton D it was a team effort as all 3 players secured a win on the night plus their bonus point for the missing Stowman. Dave Hancox outlasted Peter Chastin in a long 5-setter, Peter Lucraft did the same against Ken Sheard, and Neil Want also took the Sheard scalp. Chastin won his other 2 singles, again both in 5 sets to secure the overall player-of-the-match award, although he was too tired to collect it as the doubles also went to 5 sets giving Chastin a money’s worth evening of the full 20 sets available to him. So with Stow A faltering could Maldon A step up and assert their authority? Well not quite, despite beating Mapledene C they could only manage to gather 6 points along the way. Hat-tricks for both Lloyd Bennett-Smith and Dawn Baldry, with third player Brian Riedling losing out to the Mapledene trio. Woodham D recorded a handsome 8-2 winning score against Blackwater B with both Peter Harverson and Alan Dadswell unbeaten all night in both the singles and doubles formats. For Blackwater Gary Smith and Louis Gunn were able to overcome the challenge from Allan Steel, playing up from Division 3. Gunn needed all 5 sets in his match against Steel, and in the final battle of the night he thought he would repeat that process against League Chairman Dadswell, but the Chairman had other ideas and asserted his authority allowing him to win the final 3 points of the night for a 5th set 11-8 victory. With Blackwater A short of players this week they looked to their C team for embellishment and despite their better judgement picked Mervyn Perriman to represent the A team for the first time this season. Perriman took it all in his stride with 3 comprehensive victories for his A team debut – they love it when a plan comes together! He still didn’t get picked for the doubles though – and opponents Stow B won that easily and it was that point that secured the overall draw. A questionable management decision for sure. For Blackwater Alan Scammell won 2 of his singles, and just lost out to the fierce forehand of Nicky Reece-Ford in a 5 set thriller.
Just a couple of matches in Division 3 this week but both saw decisive victories. St Lawrence bested Blackwater F with an 8-2 win where Mike Pratley and Mike Burton were able to beat all opponents in singles and doubles with David Siggins adding the final point with a singles win over Peter Hughes. Having starred in Division 2 earlier in the week surely a division 3 match would be a stroll in the park for the enigmatic Mervyn Perriman of Blackwater C, and so it proved as he racked up his second hat-trick of the week, and this time he only dropped a single set in the match with Maldon E. Still no doubles though, although his team were victorious this time so no harm done. In support of the one man hat-trick machine Perriman, team-mates Colin Barham and Chris Rolison both won 2 singles, and both lost to the strongest Maldonite John Leavett.
Pic 1 – Fambridge’s Mark Stones racking up his hat-trick against Cold Norton’s Arron Chandler
Pic 2 – Harry Sawford securing his hat-trick for Woodham B against Graham Briggs
Pic 3 – The unlikeliest of hat-tricks for Woodham B’s Eamonn Hall this week
Pic 4 – Peter Harverson winning another hat-trick for Woodham D in his match with Gary Smith
Pic 5 – Alan Dadswell in his last gasp victory over Louis Gunn this week
Pic 6 – Lin Roff versus Dawn Baldry at the Mapledene Arena this week – a possible early showing of the Ladies Singles Final this year?
Report by Eamonn Hall
