This week in the Southend Premier Division saw the Thorpe Bay Derby and as you might predict it was the A side that came out on top. That said, Thorpe Bay B came with a strong side determined to test their club mates. Paul Sayer was in great form winning his three games against Matt Spero, Kieran Skeggs and Justin Jeffery, Ian Wall chipped in with two wins and Mark Stones picked up his win against Jeffery, resulting in a 6-3 win for our current league leaders.

Rawreth B kept up the pressure on Thorpe Bay by themselves recording an 8-1 away won at Basildon A. Gary Young with the player of the match honours, a maximum for Arron Chandler and two wins for Kim Shead who missed out on his three courtesy of a good win for Robbie Burton.

Two straight forward wins for Rayleigh Mill and Rawreth A this week as they overcame Stanford A and Hadleigh Forum A 8-1 and 9-0 respectively. George Reeves picked up the player of the match award for Rawreth while Liam Squirrell did the same for the Millers. There was a great win for young Vivaan Babbar over Colin Chatfield and along with his team mate Joshua Freeman, Babbar showed why the future is very bright for Stanford and Essex table tennis. Some outstanding shot making and temperament shown from the Stanford youngsters.

Report by Duncan Taylor

In Division 1 Stanford Le Hope B had a fine 6 – 3 win over visiting Hadleigh Forum B to give themselves a good chance of staying in the division. Rob Salvage was again their hero, winning all his matches, and taking the POM prize. Team mate John Handscombe took two more wins, and Adrian Armstrong one. Anthon Ranjit-Singh was Forum’s stand-out player winning two encounters, including a five-set marathon against Adrian. Mick Tappenden got Forum’s other victory.
Joe Odegbami and Dave Colwill were again in top form for Hockley B as they entertained Basildon B. Both recorded maximums in a 7 – 2 mauling of their visitors. Basildon’s Peter Hilton and Tony Molisso each managed one win.
Rawreth C were too strong for hosts Wakering A. In particular, Trevor Collin was in fine form, easily succeeding in all his games. The home side’s Martin Shaughnessy recorded a fine victory over Paul Brown in an epic struggle that was eventually decided 11 – 9 in the fifth set. His colleague Barbara Chabior had a similar five-set struggle to overcome Rawreth’s Colin Clements, and Paul England also had one win. However, these were the home sides only successes as Rawreth cruised to a 6 – 3 victory.  
Lowly Hadleigh Forum C hosted Mapledene and, once again, were a little too generous with their hospitality, conceding 8 – 1. There were hat tricks for both Andy Seaman and POM Lin Roff. Mark Everard got the home team’s only win, beating Dawn Baldry in four sets.

Report by David Barnes

The big guns were firing on all cylinders in Division 2 this week with Wakering B and Canvey B both recording 9-0 victories which leave them first and second in the table. There seems to be little that can stop Wakering lifting the title but the race is still on for second place. Canvey sit there at the moment but Matchpoint C and Hockley D are still very much in contention.

Hockley D would have been hoping that their team mates in their E team might have taken a few points off Wakering but it wasn’t to be as the leaders cruised to their fifth 9-0 win of the season. Callum Turner, Mike Grout and Paul England returned their usual maximums Turner without losing a set. Richard Kidd did best for Hockley taking Grout to five sets in the last game of the evening but succumbing after leading 2-1.

Canvey B were in even more devastating form as they only lost two sets all night as they demolished Matchpoint C 9-0. Trevor Hayes, Kevin Walsingham and Des Duffield made up the winning team with Hayes securing a perfect hat trick. Roger Sherman took a set off Duffield and Walsingham for Matchpoint. Despite only having won one match this season they do sit two places off the bottom four points clear of Hockley E.

Runnymede continued their remarkable run of form collecting their sixth successive win against Stanford C beating them 6-3 which maintains their sixth position in the league and cuts the gap between them and Stanford, in fifth place, to six points. Needless to say Tony Millward picked up another perfect hat trick with Steve McQuillan recording a brace and Steve Wisbey the other.  Stanford’s points came courtesy of a brace for Vaughan Chambers and one for Mike Trendell. Peter Moxham almost added another but after leading McQuillan 2-0 he succumbed to a five set defeat.

Invicta B against Hockley D turned out to be the closest match of the week with Hockley clinching the match 5-4 in the final game of the evening. Paul Strutt and Brian Bissenden both got two wins for Hockley with Paul Ogden getting the fifth but the star of the night was Invicta’s Andrew St. John who recorded his first hat trick of the season. His toughest match came against Bissenden where he was two sets down before fighting back to win in five. John Blackman got Invicta’s other point.

Team of the Week – Runnymede

Player of the Week – Andrew St. John

Report by PaulStrutt

As we approach the business end of the season, Invicta ‘C’ head the table by 30 points and seem destined to be crowned champions once the final ball is struck.

This week, their opponents were a young Evolve ‘B’ side who, as hard as they tried, had no answer to the greater experience and know how of the league leaders, as they fell to a 9/0 defeat.  Harry Venables was the POTM here for his perfect maximum, with teammates Mike Keeble and David Barlow also unbeaten.

Hockley ‘F’ remain in second place, a position they have occupied for most of the season. Matchpoint ‘B’ were their visitors this week and, with Ross Collins and Gary Beck recording maximums for Hockley, and Graham Gregory adding a double, it was an 8/1 win for the home team.  Matchpoint’s only point on the night came from Cooper Hill, who battled his way to a 5-set victory over Graham.

The match between two mid-table sides, Wakering ‘C’ and Canvey ‘C’ was a much closer affair, ending in a 5/4 victory for the Islanders.  Alternate games were won by each team, until, with the scores level at 4/4, Canvey’s Chong Shing Lam completed his hat-trick with a win over Alwine Jarvis to get his side over the line.  Scott Giddens and Ray Baker both added a point for Canvey, while for Wakering, there were two wins each for Alwine and Nigel Strike.

Stanford ‘D’ have climbed to third place in the table after a 7/2 win over the Hockley ‘G’ juniors.  The ever consistent Martin Winter led the way for them with a 9-set maximum, and he was well-supported by Karen Kempster and Andrew Jessop who both added a double, each losing only to Hockley’s best player on the night, Kris Chankov.  

Report by Dave Woolmer