Shockwaves at the very top of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League this week as leaders Cold Norton B fell to a very strong Woodham A side leaving the door open for Fambridge to sneak in and steal the spoils.
Until this week Cold Norton B had gone unbeaten in Division 1 and their pursuit of retaining their championship crown looked firmly on course. But then up pop Woodham A with a trio of Dans, and Cold Norton became undanned as Woodham took home a 6-4 away victory. The ‘Danage’ was all done by Dans Young and Zeffie who both took a hat-trick of singles victories. Dan Zeffie had the trickiest evening with two 5 setters against Ian wall and Sam Lowman, and a hard fought 4 set battle with Dave Richardson. Despite this singles domination the Dans were unable to add the doubles point losing out in another 5 setter against the prickly pairing of Lowman and Wall. Woodham’s third Dan (Piglet) was unable to add to the scoring but was delighted to witness his team’s dominance. Fambridge Supremo John Poysden was heard to say that this was their best week yet – and they didn’t even play. Just 4 points now separates the top dogs – with all to play for ahead of their sold-out season defining clash scheduled for early March. It was a good week for the Mapledene Club as both their Division 1 sides were victorious. Mapledene A were back to winning ways against Cold Norton C with Steve Muth leading the way with a commendable treble in the 6-4 win. Glenn Johnson, playing up for the A team, picked up a brace of wins and the rarely used Dan Patynski picked up a point against Tim Cramphorn. For Cold Norton C Arron Chandler picked up 2 wins and just lost out to Muth in a 5 set thriller. The busiest player of the night was Cold Norton’s Martin Archie who played a full bag of 15 legs for just the single win 11-9 in the fifth over Patynski. Mapledene B had a good 7-3 win over Stow Maries A. Their points haul came courtesy of the Jacob brothers who cleaned up in both singles and doubles. Simon Jacob didn’t drop a leg all evening, whereas David Jacob came back from the brink of defeat against Stow’s Gary Brignall to take the last 3 legs in a testing 5 setter.
Blackwater A now lead the chasing pack in Division 2 but leaders Maldon A still have a 10 point gap on the peloton. Blackwater A faced a tough Woodham C side this week but still came away with a hefty 8-2 victory. Denis Balic and Neil Freeman both notched trebles with the only real resistance coming from the effervescent Scott Perry who took Freeman to 12-12 in the 5th set before caving in. Having lost to Tim Pulham in 5 sets Blackwater captain Alan Scammell reversed his fortune with a 5 set triumph over Alan Dadswell. Scammell and Freeman then took the doubles to complete the scoring. Leaders Maldon A just continue to saunter along seeming unbothered about the chasing pack. This week, despite some resistance, they plundered through Blackwater B in what could have been a whitewash victory but unfortunately Denis Crapnell was injured in an off-the-table incident at the venue and couldn’t compete in the final match – so a 9-1 victory for the divisional leaders with hat-tricks for Lloyd Bennett-Smith and Colin Napper, with 2 wins for Crapnell plus the void match. Mapledene C combined for a 6-4 win over Cold Norton E but their trio were thoroughly undone by the Cold Norton superstar Dick Wyman who won all 3 singles and combined with grandson Oscar Wyman for the doubles. The closest match was an enthralling 5 setter with David Woolmer where Wyman senior had to come from behind the keep his treble intact. In the final match of the week Cold Norton D couldn’t maintain their winning form as they succumbed to Maldon B in a 7-3 loss. Maldon’s Steve Aspland was back to his best form with a superb unbeaten evening that included a doubles victory with regular partner Colin Barrell. Barrell picked up 2 singles points, as did Cold Norton’s Neil Want.
The wheels have definitely come off for Division 3’s top player Gary Smith – not content with giving up his unbeaten status last week, this week he loses twice – surely he cant lose all 3 next week? Despite Smith’s hiccup his team of divisional Galacticos still came through with a 7-3 victory that keeps them out of touch at the top of the table. Smith didn’t go down easy as he lost out in two almighty 5 set battles against both Simon Thomas and Chris Crooks plying their trade for Woodham D. Lots of long matches in this encounter with Andrea Alleyne just nipping ahead at the death against Thomas in the deciding set to help her along her way to a hat-trick of wins, and the Woodham pairing of Jean Chasmer and Crooks held on for a morale boosting 14-12 final set doubles victory. The star of the show though was the vastly improved Tina Hutchinson who was able to wrap up all her matches without the need for any deciding sets – a fine performance indeed. Blackwater D have seemingly locked in the runner-up slot and pressed home their advantage with an 8-2 comfortable victory over St Lawrence. St Lawrence’s Mike Burton was on great form winning his first 2 matches, as had Blackwater’s Dave Benstead, so when they met it was a ‘best on best’ showdown. Benstead took an early 2-0 lead but Burton fought back with all his northern grit on show. At 10-10 in the fifth leg the game was precariously balanced and by 12-12 the crowds were on tenterhooks. Benstead held his nerve and was able to finally douse the Burton fire as he came through 14-12 – what sport that was! That close fought victory gave Benstead his hat-trick and the player of the match bragging rights. Blackwater’s other players, Jacqui Treacey and David Sage, wrapped up the scoring with a brace of wins each. In the only Blackwater derby of the week The E team outplayed the F team to maintain the alphabetical hierarchy in their 8-2 triumph. Wildman Phil West was on song with an unbeaten and largely untroubled evening of dominance, and was ably supported by his wingwomen Deb Ginn and Kath Little with 2 wins a piece. For the F team Dave Gardner had a notable victory over Deb Ginn, and Anne Brewer took a point off Kath Little.
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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer
Burnham & District Table Tennis League
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Pic 1 – Division 1 Table – February 2026.
Pic 2 – Simon Jacob – unbeaten this week for Mapledene B.
Pic 3 –Denis Balic of Blackwater A with another Division 2 hat-trick.
Pic 4 – Neil Freeman with another treble for his beloved Blackwater A side
Pic 5 – Chris Crooks of Woodham D and Savile Row infamy
Report by Eamonn Hall
