There was no doubting the star of this week’s Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League matches as Cold Norton’s Neil Want doubled up for the two Division 2 sides winning all 6 of his singles matches plus helping out in the doubles too. You could say the opposition was left Wanting.
With league leaders Cold Norton B being sidelined this week due to illness in their opposition camp Fambridge took the opportunity presented to them and with a 7-3 win over Mapledene B they have taken over pole position as we head into the Xmas Break. The Cold Norton gang won’t be too disappointed as they have 2 games in hand and only a 6 point gap to bridge – but it’s a marker for sure. John Poysden remains massive everywhere he goes as the Over-70s brigade chase him down for his autograph no matter where he plays. This week he was in treble form as he shone for Fambridge with team-mate Mark Stones adding an extra 2 wins for the bulk of the points. For Mapledene B it was the slimline Kieran Skeggs that was hardest to beat as he took excellent wins over Stones and Chris Ballard. Cold Norton C find themselves in particularly unfamiliar high altitude at the halfway mark of the season. Their lofty 3rd place has had team captain Tim Cramphorn ordering extra oxygen for the trials and tribulations ahead. This week they demolished their own A team (albeit a 2 man affair) with a devastating 10-0 victory. Hat-tricks all round for Cramphorn, Kim Shead and Arron Chandler. The final encounter saw a Liam Squirrell inspired Mapledene A settle for a draw with Woodham B. Squirrell naturally went unbeaten all night – he is the nuts after all! But Woodham fought hard and there were braces for both Sanjay Saptarshi and Harry Sawford including notable wins over the tricky Steve Muth.
In Division 2 Cold Norton D move off the bottom spot but still can’t find that elusive first win. This week they drew with Blackwater B largely thanks to Neil Want’s untroubled hat-trick. For Blackwater B Merv Perriman and Gary Smith both had good evenings winning 2 of their 3 singles. Perriman had to come from behind against the much younger Peter Lucraft to win the final 2 legs 11-9 in a very tight finish. The Blackwater A team then encountered Want again in their match later in the week against Want’s regular Cold Norton E team and, as history tends to, his hat-trick antics were repeated. This time he had a little extra help as team-mates Dick Wyman and Rob Harris added points against Neil Thompson and his flashy new bat. So along with the doubles victory that all added up to a 6-4 win for Cold Norton with Noah Sage and Alan Scammell both scoring a brace of wins for Blackwater. A loss that impacts what had been a growing campaign for the Blackwater side. Woodham C edged closer to the leading pack with a very respectable 6-4 win over the consistent Stow Maries B trio. The bouncy Scott Perry was unstoppable for Woodham as he won all his singles and doubles, and he had wing man Tim Pulham pulling in 2 wins to bring up the winning score. Dave Marsh was the best of the Stow side with 2 wins including a notable triumph over Pulham. League Chairman Alan Dadswell was very unlucky not to come away with anything from his singles matches having played 14 out of a possible 15 sets, and having been 10-8 up in the deciding set against Marsh. At least he won the doubles!
Blackwater C continued their romp to the Division 3 Title with a 7-3 win over Maldon D, and for once none of their players went unbeaten as teamwork made the dream work for the leaders as their trio all won 2 singles each. Peter Davenport and the in-form Tina Hutchinson combined for a tricky 5 set doubles bonus point to complete the scoring with thirdwheel Colin Barham adding his 2 singles to the pot. In fact Blackwater showed true champion grit as they won all three of the 5-setters over the course of the evening. Maldon’s James Raymond went home with his head held high with good wins over Barham and Hutchinson, and Shirley Carroll took a notable point from Davenport. St Lawrence got back to winning ways as the Baysiders came in 6-4 victors over Blackwater E. Dave Bateman and Mick Robinson did all the damage with 5 singles wins and then combining for the all-important doubles win. Having scored a blank against Blackwater C John Leavett fared much better against the F variety of Blackwaters as he notched another hat-trick as his Maldon E side came away from the Blackwater Arena with a spring in their step and 10 whole points to boot. Hat-tricks for Leavett, Tim Huxtable and David Park.
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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer
Burnham & District Table Tennis League
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Pic 1 – Neil Want in action this week for his beloved Cold Norton Club
Pic 2 – Liam Squirrell – Mapledene’s master of hat-tricks
Pic 3 – Harry Sawford in winning ways against Mapledene’s Steve Muth.
Pic 4 – Dave Marsh and Alan Dadswell play out their 5 set thriller
Pic 5 – Blackwater C – Destined for the Crown. (Colin Barham, Peter Davenport, and Tina Hutchinson)
Pic 6 – The impressive Tina Hutchinson in action for Division 3 leaders Blackwater C
