A New Year and it was back into league action for the players of the Southend & District Table Tennis League and it was a welcome return to a player who hasn’t played in the Southend league for some time but will be well known to many of our players. Ben Warner made his debut for Rayleigh Mill and it didn’t take long for Ben to remind us what a good player he is as he dispatched his three Matchpoint opponents with the loss of only one game. Colin Chatfield also weighed in with three wins giving the Millers a 6-3 win to kick of 2026. Good wins for the Matchpoint trio of Harry Sawford, Stephen Heard and Debbie O’Neill over Steve Maltby for their three points.

Rawreth B started the year like a team looking to challenge for the title all the way till the end of the season as they opened up 2026 with a 9-0 drubbing of Invicta A, Kim Shead, Keith Adams and Arron Chandler all unbeaten on the night.

There were  also strong wins for both Thorpe Bay teams as the A team beat Brand Identity 8-1 and the B team beat Basildon A 7-2. Hatricks all round for Paul Sayer, Ian Wall, Kieran Skeggs and Keith Willett but some notable consolation wins for Charles Yeung and Les Hoey over Justin Jeffery and David Jacob over Mark Stones.

Rawreth  A also had a debutant playing up from their C team in James Grimston. Grimston picked up a win against Ian Sangster which along with three wins from Chris Penrose and two from Charles Sweeney gave Rawreth a 6-3 win over Stanford A.

The final match of the week was a tight affair as Hadleigh Forum helped by a maximum from Mark Mulley managed to sneak a 5-4 win away to Hockley A, Dan Patynski and Stuart Adshead with two wins each for the home side.

Report by Duncan Taylor

The New Year fixtures kicked off with what could possibly be the title-deciding match. Second place Hockley C entertained the leaders Hockley B. Things were pretty even early on – the B team took the first two rubbers through Dave Colwill and Player of the Match Joe Odegbami. Then the C team levelled it with wins for youngsters Will Evesham and Elliot Brackenbury. The penultimate game of the evening, between Will and Dave, was the most closely fought, with the first two games being won by Dave 18 – 16 and 15 – 13. Will then pulled back, winning the next two, before succumbing 6 – 11 in the fifth. The last rubber of the evening was rather an anti-climax with Joe displaying his supremacy over Steph Haddrell, retaining his 100% record, and closing the tie as a 6 – 3 victory for the B’s. Credit to the youngsters Will and Elliot, who demonstrated excellent play and made the B team fight all the way for their victory, 

Rawreth C could only muster two registered players for their visit to Canvey A, so it was no surprise they went down 6 – 3 to the Canvey team of Ray Wilson, Bob Skews and Lee McGonagle. However, none of the Islanders could get the better of the visitors’ Adi Kamma. Ray Wilson came closest, taking him to a fifth set before losing 7 – 11. 

In a tight match between Wakering A and Basildon B, the outcome wasn’t decided until the final rubber of the match. There were many close contests, with Basildon’s Tony Molisso’s 15 – 13 fifth-set victory over Jeremy Giffin the closest of them all. The final rubber went to Barbara Chabior, giving Wakering a 5 – 4 home win and Barbara the Player of the Match award.

A hat trick from veteran Tony Jacks gave him the POM prize, and also gave his Hadleigh Forum B side a 6 – 3 win on their visit to Mapledene. Tony was aided by two wins for Dave Woolmer and one from Mick Tappenden, whilst Lin Roff got two, and Dawn Baldry one for the home side.

Report by David Barnes

Canvey B have started the new year in Division 2 with a bang as they thumped Hockley E 9-0 and have narrowed the gap significantly between themselves and second placed Matchpoint B. The Islanders, Terry Giddens, Trevor Hayes and Tony Westwell didn’t drop a single set against relegation threatened Hockley although the home team weren’t helped by an injury mid match to Amar Al-Soufi who had to concede his games against Hayes and Giddens. Hockley now sit just one point above bottom placed Basildon C who have played a game more.

Hockley E may have finished with two players but Stanford C could only start their match with two against Invicta B. Fortunately for them Vaughan Chambers and Mike Trendell were in fine form Chambers claiming a hat trick and Trendell a brace as they clinched a 5-4 win in the final match of the evening. Sarah Ball got Invicta’s only win with an excellent five set win against Trendell. The win cements Stanford  their mid table place fifth in the league.

Matchpoint B fell foul of injury and sickness losing their top two players Hannah Harbour and John Lott so a much changed team took to the table against Hockley D. Richard Sloman and Ollie Milchard stepped up from the C team to join young Lotte Mills and they were just pipped 5-4 on the night. Sloman was the POTM with a hat trick and Milchard provided the other point coming back from two sets down against Paul Ogden to win the last three sets 15/13 17/15 11/8. The only other five set match was the one between Sloman and Paul Strutt which finished 13/11 in the deciding set. Brian Bissenden joined Strutt in winning two matches and there was a single win for Ogden. No joy on the night for Mills. Hockley are 14 points adrift of Canvey B and 15 adrift of Matchpoint but do have two games in hand on both of them.

Tony Millward led Runnymede to a narrow 5-4 win against Matchpoint C. He not only secured a perfect hat trick but also clinched the match for Runnymede in the final match of the evening. Steve Wisbey provided the other two points for the home side whilst Ollie Milchard got two wins for Matchpoint plus there was a win each for Richard Sloman and Samuel Morgan.

Wakering continued their inexorable march to the Division 2 title with a 7-2 win against bottom of the table Basildon C. A hat trick for Callum Turner and two wins each for Mike Grout and Paul England gave  Wakering the win but there was also a glimmer of light for Basildon in the performance of Wayne Mcalear. He made his debut for the home side having not played for a few years and was rewarded with two good wins against Grout and England. He could prove to be a useful addition to the Basildon team as they fight to avoid relegation.

Team of the Week – Stanford C

Player of the Week – Richard Sloman

Report by Paul Strutt

Our first match of 2026 saw Invicta C travel to Stanford to take on their hosts ‘D’ team.  The outcome was a 7/2 win for the visitors and a good team performance.  Mike Keeble and Steve Lennox both recorded two wins for Invicta.  Their teammate, Harry Venables, had won his first two games, as he took on Stanford’s Martin Winter in the final game of the match.  Martin was also unbeaten at this stage and must have been eyeing up a maximum as he went into a 2-set lead.  Harry, however, had other ideas and hit back to take the next 3 games to complete his hat-trick and take the POTM.

Hockley ‘F’ lost a bit of ground in their pursuit of Invicta at the top of the table, after a narrow, 5/4 win over Evolve ‘A’.  Hockley skipper, Gary Beck, led the way with an unbeaten performance, and he was well supported by George Clark who recorded two wins.  For Evolve, there was a double for Teddy Kent and a win apiece for Harley Dowding and Sasha Syderenko.

The young Hockley ‘G’ side had a good 6/3 win over Matchpoint ‘D’.  There were two wins each for the trio of Perry Lazell, George Higgins and Kris Chankov, with Perry picking up the POTM.  David McHattie was the best on the night for Matchpoint with a brace and Cooper Hill picked up the other point.

Hadleigh Forum ‘D’ have climbed to fourth in the table thanks to a 7/2 victory over Canvey ‘C’.  The ever consistent Jan Thorpe came up with another unbeaten performance, with his teammates Jean Catley and Dean Johnson adding to wins each, although neither could get the better of Canvey’s Steve Kemp.

Evolve ‘B’ welcomed Wakering ‘C’ to the Megacentre, but it was the visitors who returned home with a 7/2 win under their belts.  Jonah Omigie and Oliver Willson recorded a win each for Evolve, but Deepak Nanda, with a maximum, and Joanna Gaudini and Kamil Pachalko with two wins each for Wakering secured the victory.

Report by David Woolmer

The top teams in divisions one and two of the Braintree Table Tennis League may be sailing off into the sunset – Rayne C’s lead in division two is on a par with Netts A’s in the top division – but division three has the makings of a tight run to the finishing line.

At the season’s halfway point, Black Notley E were leading Finchingfield B by 14 points.

The latter had two matches in hand but neither will be straightforward.

One is against Rayne F, who were sandwiched in between the top two, four points behind the leaders but from one more match.

The other is against fourth-placed Netts F, whose team of fast-improving juniors will be no pushover.

Finchingfield looked well set at the start of the season.   They beat Notley E 7-3 in their fourth match and after seven matches had a lead of seven points.

But then came a stumble against Notley H, who held them to a draw, while Notley E finished the half strongly with wins of 9-1, 9-1 and 8-2.

Finchingfield have been led by 17-year-old Lucien Nolan-Bradford, unbeaten in his six matches, while Dave Parker (19 wins out of 20) and Peter Davenport (16 out of 18) have kept Notley E in the hunt.

No such drama for Rayne C who had a lead of 18 points in division two.  With a team of Matthew Brown, Steve Buer, Dave Marsh and Paul Wellington that was no surprise.

Rayne E are adrift at the bottom, but the other eight teams in the division ended the year amazingly within five points of each other.

Rayne D and Notley C led the pursuers, both on 46 points, the latter climbing impressively from ninth place last season.

But Sudbury Strollers, five points behind, have a match in hand while Finchingfield A have gradually moved into contention after losing their first five matches.

Individual averages up to the end of the year (qualification one-third of team’s matches):

Division 2

1 David Fiddeman 9 wins in 9 sets, average 100 per cent; 2 Matthew Brown 22-24, 91.7; 3 Charles Calisin 19-21, 87.5; 4 Dean Andrews 12-14, 85.7; 5= Roy Hooper 20-24, Richard Whiteside 10-12, 83.3; 7= John Colvin 15-20, Matt Stephenson 9-12, 75; 9 Jamie Brooks 17-24, 70.8; 10= JJ Calisin, Lawrence Grantham 10-15, 66.7

Division 3

1 Lucien Nolan-Bradford 18-18, 100; 2 Dave Parker 19-20, 95; 3 Trevor Laird 14-15, 93.3; 4 Ben Southgate 22-24, 91.7; 5 Peter Davenport 16-18, 88.9; 6= Karl Bowden, Dave Whiting 18-21, 85.7; 8 Conrad Gomes 12-15, 80; 9 Tom Verrier 7-9, 77.8; 10 Wayne Wilson 20-26, 76.9

Report by Ron Fosker

If not exactly nailed on, Netts A’s hold on the Braintree Table Tennis League championship title is pretty firmly attached at the league’s halfway point.

With nine wins out of nine, the league champions entered the new year 20 points ahead of the pack, on 57 points to second-placed Black Notley A on 37.

Having combined their A and B teams of last season, Netts have husbanded their resources successfully to ensure they were never found wanting.

Paul Davison, still unbeaten, James Hicks and Andy Holmes, the nucleus of last season’s title-winning team, have again formed the basis, with at least two of them turning out in every match.

The exception was against Rayne B where Joe Meleschko, who has played in six of the nine matches, Szczepan Ziobro, making his only appearance of the season, and Charles Calisin, playing up from division two, comfortably secured an 8-2 victory.

Davison had identified Sudbury Nomads as their most likely challengers pre-season and took no chances when the teams faced each other by turning out his top team, who responded by taking all ten sets.

Nomads are in the pack of four teams covered by four points from second to fifth and will jump up to second if they gain four points from their match in hand, but that is against Rayne A, who will join the chasing pack if they pick up expected points in their two outstanding matches.

The foot of the table has the not unexpected look of two of the promoted teams in the bottom three places.

Sudbury Wanderers, the division two champions, are two places up from the bottom, having secured some strong results for a newly promoted side.

Notley B, unexpectedly promoted from second place, have found life tougher but have picked up a couple of draws and are only just behind Liberal B, a combination of last season’s B and C teams.

Individual averages (qualification one-third of team’s matches):

1 Paul Davison 15 wins in 15 sets, average 100; 2 James Hicks 20-21, 95,2; 3 Aron Jordan 13-15, 86.7; 4= Alistair Hill, James Mullane, Ian Whiteside 7-9, 77.8; 7 Luke Burridge 18-24, 75; 8 Andy Holmes 8-11, 72.7; 9 Richard Fifield 16-24, 66.7; 10 Sean Clift 17-27, 62.9; 11 Zach Harrington 13-21, 61.9; 12 Steve Noble 11-18, 61.1; 13 Chris Parr 16-27, 59.3; 14= Steve Pennell 10-18, David Razzell 5-9, 55.6; 16 Joe Meleschko 9-17, 52.9; 17= Karl Baldwin, Neil Freeman 11-21, 52.4; 19 Adam Clift 12-24, 50; 20 Sam Burrows 10-21, 47.6.

Report by Ron Fosker

Champions Netts A completed the first half of the season in the Braintree Table Tennis League with another win to give them nine out of nine.

But they had to work hard to overcome Liberal A, who for only the second time this season turned out both Scott Dowsett and Adam Cuthbert.

They won twice each to limit Netts’ margin of victory to 6-4, the closest so far.

Netts were grateful to an in-form James Hicks, who won his three singles, plus the doubles with Andy Holmes, although it was a knife-edge victory over Cuthbert, who stretched him to 13-11 in the fifth game.

With Netts B and Sudbury Nomads inactive, Black Notley A took advantage to jump back up to second place with a resounding 9-1 win over Sudbury Wanderers.

Luke Burridge and Steve Noble were unbeaten while David Hitchen took the one for Wanderers.

At the other end of the table, Notley’s B team could not quite do enough to lift themselves off the bottom rung.  They succumbed 6-4 to Rayne B, despite three wins from Steve Kerns, recovering from the unexpected nil return in his previous match.

In division two, Rayne D moved up to second place with a 6-4 win over Notley D. Dean Andrews and Peter Rickwood won two each for Rayne, while Graham Chinnery and Matt Stephenson did likewise for Notley.

Rayne D take over second spot from Notley C, who tumbled 8-2 to Sudbury Strollers, for whom David Fiddeman and John Colvin were unbeaten.

Finchingfield A jumped up two more places with a 7-3 win over Yeldham Whitlocks A.

James Grimston tasted defeat for the first time in Netts C’s 7-3 win over Rayne E when Charles Calisin got the better of him.

Netts’ E and F teams shared the points when they faced each other.

Adrian Boeriu and Tony McShane were the E team’s main scorers, with two each, but Tom Verrier held the F team together with his three singles.

At the top Notley E pulled further away from Finchingfield B, who were again without a match, by dispatching their own F team 8-2. 

The headlines nearly belonged to the F team’s Wendy Day, who had a match point in her favour when two games and 11-10 up against Dave Parker.  But the vital point was lost and Parker preserved his record of one defeat in his seven matches so far.

Notley G jumped up two places by beating Rayne G, the team immediately above them, 9-1 while Sudbury Drifters moved up one with a 7-3 win over Notley H.

Report by Ron Fosker

Eleven wins and two losses, the record of both Thorpe Bay A and Rawreth B as we head into the festive break. In the final week before Santa arrives Thorpe Bay A won 9-0 and Rawreth B won 7-2 meaning the difference at the top of the table is that Thorpe Bay lead by a meagre three points and sets us up for a great second half of the season. John Poysden, Ian Wall and Mark Stones were largely untroubled by Matchpoint A dropping just three legs in their match while an unfamiliar looking Rawreth B line up of Jamie Elliott, Kim Shead and Arron Chandler were victorious against Brand Identity. Neil Barker and Martin Turner picking up good wins against Chandler and Shead.

Rayleigh Mill find themselves in third place in the table and their lofty position is mainly due to the unbeaten start to the season for Liam Squirrell. They were without Squirrell this week but still managed an 8-1 win over Invicta A with Duncan Taylor and Colin Chatfield winning their three and Steve Saywer picking up the other two, just coming up short against Steve Marr.

In the battle of the West we saw Stanford really do a number on Basildon A with Mitchell Jones, Vivaan Babbar and Joshua Freeman winning all their games in a 9-0 victory and in the final game of the week Rawreth A beat Brand Identity 7-2. Kevin Read was in good form and his three wins were backed up by three from Eric Green and there was a single win for the mercurial Charles Sweeeny over Richard Jackman.

The two protagonists at the top of the Division 1 table, Hockley B and Hockley C, were both playing at home on the same night this week. I guess it made it easy to see how each other were progressing. As it turned out, both teams finished 8 – 1 winners, so their league positions remain unchanged moving into the New Year. 
Leaders Hockley B spoiled Christmas for their opponents Wakering A. Joe Odegbami and David Colwill were both unbeaten, whilst Stuart Adshead took two, succumbing to Wakering’s Martin Shaughnessy.
Second place Hockley C entertained lowly Hadleigh Forum C. Player of the Match Will Evesham and Elliott Brackenbury had maximums, with Stephanie Haddrell adding two more, losing out to Forum’s Paul Fawell.
Elsewhere, Rawreth C continue to make a strong showing. This time around they overcame visiting Mapledene 7 – 2 thanks to a hat trick from James Grimston and two victories each from Gary McCarthy and David Gatheral. Single wins from the visitor’s Dawn Baldry and Mike Johnston gave them a little seasonal cheer.
Bottom side Basildon B gave themselves an early Christmas present with their first win of the season at home to Stanford Le Hope B. Chudi Ukpaka made a rare appearance for them and rewarded his inclusion with three wins in his side’s 6 – 3 victory. Peter Hilton got two more and Tony Molisso one. Rob Salvage was Stanford’s best player, recording two successes, with Adrian Armstrong getting the other one for the visitors.

No doubt about the match of the week in Division 2 as league leaders and title favourites Wakering took on second placed Matchpoint B. Unbeaten Wakering have swept all before them this season whereas pre – season favourites Matchpoint have got off to a slower start than might be expected and trailed Wakering by five points going into this match. Wakering also have a game in hand. A big chance then for Matchpoint to reduce that deficit and if the occasion wasn’t big enough already, this also saw the clash of two unbeaten players Callum Turner of Wakering and Hannah Harbour of Matchpoint.

A close match would have been forecast for this one and that is how it turned out albeit most of the games were settled in three sets. The early sparring saw the sides locked at 2-2 and then the clash of the unbeaten Turner and Harbour took centre stage. A five set thriller? No, far from it as Harbour demolished Turner in straight sets 11/7 11/8 11/9. She is now the only unbeaten player in the division. This result would have raised Matchpoint’s hopes of victory but instead it prompted another upset as Paul England overcame the always hard to beat John Lott in five sets. With three games left  Matchpoint edged ahead again as Harbour beat Michael Grout but two more wins for Turner and England gave Wakering a 5-4 victory and they now sit six points clear of their rivals plus that game in hand.

Canvey B solidified their position in third with a 6-3 win against Invicta B Trevor Hayes recording a maximum supported by two wins for Des Duffield and one for Kevin Walsingham. Andrew St. John, Trisha Winter and Keith Baxter all picked up a point each for Invcita.

Basildon C recorded their fourth win in six games but they still find themselves bottom of the table after they picked up a surprise 5-4 win at Stanford C. 3-1 down at one stage they fought back to lead 4-3 before the match was decided in the final game of the evening between Basildon’s Michael Elemide and Stanford’s Randy Santiago. Elemide won in straight sets to clinch the win. He and Victor Galben won two games each for Basildon plus one for Dave Walton whilst Vaughan Chambers and Jake Santiago shared the points for Stanford.

Just six points now separate the bottom five teams in the division with, strangely, bottom club Basildon C the in-form team. The team just above them, Hockley E, must be hoping for a similar run of form and they will be encouraged by a nerve jangling 5-4 win against fellow relegation rivals Matchpoint C. The opening six games left the teams level at 3-3 before Matchpoint edged ahead as Richard Sloman completed a POTM performance by beating John George in straight sets. Hockley were not to be denied however as firstly Richard Coulon levelled the match beating Zach Samuels before George Clark became their hero. Called up from their F team he had lost his earlier matches but hit form in this one as he beat Blake Stewart in straight sets. Coulon and George both won two games for Hockley whilst Samuels provided the fourth point for Matchpoint.

Team of the Week – Basildon C

Player of the Week – Hannah Harbour

Another week when only two matches were possible.

Stanford ‘D’ have climbed to third place in Division 3, level on points with second placed Hockley ‘F’, thanks to a 6/3 win over Canvey ‘C’, although Hockley have played two games less.  Another Player of the Match performance from Martin Winter for Stanford, his third in as many weeks, was backed up by Andrew Jessop’s maximum.  For Canvey, there was a win each for Scott Giddens, Andy O’Rawe and Chong Lam.  

Hadleigh Forum ‘D’ were hampered by the lack of a third player when they visited Wakering ‘C’.  Despite the best efforts of Forum’s Jan Thorpe, who dropped only one set on his way to a maximum, the Wakering trio of Kamil Pachalko, Stew Mills and Joanna Gaudini took the remaining games to register a 6/3 win for the home team.

The other two scheduled fixtures this week had to be postponed because the home venues of Hockley ‘G’ and Evolve ‘B’ were not available to them.

Reports by

Duncan Taylor – Premier Division

David Barnes – Division 1

Paul Strutt – Division 2

David Woolmer – Division 3

Two successive 9-1 wins have taken Black Notley E to the top of division three of the Braintree Table Tennis League.

They followed their win over Netts E by beating Rayne G by the same score.

Ken Wilding and Peter Davenport were unbeaten while Ian Rubens earned Rayne’s point with a win over Jacqueline Smith at 11-9 in the deciding game.

The win takes Notley E six points ahead of Finchingfield B, who have a match in hand.

Notley teams were also successful in the other two matches in the division.

The F team overcame Sudbury Drifters 7-3 where Sudbury’s new signing Graham Turner won his three singles, all in straight games.

Notley H had a 6-4 win over Yeldham Whitlocks B, for whom Steve Willis was undefeated, including a victory over Wayne Wilson, beaten only three times in 21 sets up to that point.

It was close, though: 8-11, 15-13, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9.

In division two, leaders Rayne C were back in normal mode after their first defeat the previous week by recording an 8-2 win over Notley D.

Rayne’s new signing James Grimston, making only his second appearance of the season, was unbeaten, just as he had been in the first.

Netts D moved to within touching distance of second place but could only muster four sets against Yeldham A.

Roy Hooper and Doug Sanders took Yeldham’s six sets between them, three for Hooper, two for Sanders plus the doubles.

Rayne D follow two points behind after a 6-4 win over Sudbury Strollers.

It’s the fifth time in seven matches that Strollers have had a 6-4 scoreline, three in their favour and two against.

After registering their first win the previous week, Finchingfield A made it two in a row with a 7-3 victory over Netts C

Peter Clark took his individual record to its logical conclusion.  After winning none in his first outing, where he had to retire injured, he has now won one, two and three in his next three matches.

In division one, Sudbury Nomads moved up to second place after a 9-1 win over Notley B.

Karl Baldwin and Aron Jordan were undefeated, while Neil Freeman ensured Notley B did not go home empty-handed by getting the better of Richard Fifield.

Nomads are on 49 points, with the next four teams all bunched up behind them: Netts B, who have played one more match, on 48, Liberal A on 47, Notley A 44, and Rayne A, who have a match in hand on the two teams above them, on 39.

Rayne A suggested they could soon move up by beating Netts B 6-4.  John Andrews was unbeaten.

Notley A and Liberal A faced each other, and took home five points each.

No one won all three or lost all three. Steve Noble for Notley, Alistair Hill and Ashley Skeggs for Liberal took two each.

Rayne’s B team ended a run of five defeats by overcoming Sudbury Wanderers 6-4, despite three wins from Wanderers’ Colin Moss.

Report by Ron Fosker

There were just five re-scheduled matches in the Clacton League this week and, in Division One, Windsor Eagles consolidated their top half table position with a 6-4 victory over Walton B.

Gary Cattermole, Gavin Price and John Pattrick all took a couple for the Eagles, while Pete Burrows saved Walton’s blushes with an undefeated three, also sharing a doubles success with Graham Buxton against Cattermole and Pattrick.

In Division Two, Brotherhood G end the first half of the League season at the top of the table, finishing with an 8-2 success over Nomads Tigers. Mark Boyland won his three, with Paul Metcalf and Mark Beckham each winning a couple. Tom Wilkin took the Tigers’ two points while Matt Sage came close against Metcalf, eventually going down 12-10 in the decider.

Brotherhood F and Lawford enjoyed a competitive evening’s table tennis, Brotherhood’s Mark Salter in top form to remain unbeaten and, in the process, inflict a first defeat of the season on John Colvin. But it was Lawford who emerged 6-4 victors, Colvin and Charlie Denholm each taking two and Ian Sherwood picking up a crucial 11-9 in the fifth win against Tricia Salter.

Windsor Falcons caught up on their fixtures with two matches in Division Three, although both ended in defeat.

Their all-Windsor clash with the Magpies ended in a 7-3 victory for the Magpies, John Plummer winning three, Alan Rutledge two and Dave Sweetland one. Both of Rutledge’s victories were five-setters, 11-6 in the decider against Nikki Hayes and a nail-biting 16-14 in the decider against Nigel Rolph. Matt Thomas won two for the Falcons and Rolph one.

The Falcons also went down in their second match, 8-2 to Brotherhood E. There were hat-tricks here for Brotherhood’s Jack Hillier and Tony Edmonds, while Rodney Betts won two but lost to Gary Barnes. However, the Falcons had the minor satisfaction of winning a doubles match for the first time this season, a close 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9 for Barnes and Nigel Rolph against Hillier and Edmonds.

RESULTS

Division 1

Walton B 4 Windsor Eagles 6.

Division 2

Brotherhood F 4 Lawford 6;

Nomads Tigers 2 Brotherhood G 8.

Division 3

Windsor Falcons 3 Windsor Magpies 7;

Brotherhood E 8 Windsor Falcons 2.

Report by Tony Oswick

It was the Team Handicap quarter-finals in the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League this week and despite a significant change in the scoring rules the higher ranked teams came through with just one quarter left to play.  Holders Cold Norton B continue to dominate this event with yet another 5-0 victory.  In fact rumour has it that there isn’t a player alive that can remember when they even lost an individual game in this format such is their prowess. 

Cold Norton B are on course to repeat the heroics of last season and retain both the League Title and Team Cup trophy – they haven’t dropped a game in this particular event for a few years now so despite some gallant efforts from the Mapledene trio their fate seemed sealed before the first ping or pong of the evening.  The Cold Norton team struggled a bit in the doubles where both matches went to a deciding leg.  In the opening match Eric Green (-17) and Dan Anderson (-12) appeared to have the measure of the Mapledene duo Lin Roff (-6) and Bill Smith (-4) with a seemingly comfortable 21-16 first leg.  But making better use of their 10 point advantage in leg 2 they took control of the match with a powerful 21-12 win.  But as we have seen previously this Cold Norton side have talent and patience in abundance and they rallied in the final set and waited for the right opportunities, dampening the Mapledene challenge and spirit allowing them to prevail 21-13 for the hardest fought opening point of the night.   Cold Norton then took the first trio of singles all in straight sets, before another troubling doubles that followed the same pattern as the opener.  Sam Lowman (-18) and Green taking the opening leg against Roff and Dave Woolmer (-6), relaxing too much and comfortably losing the 2^nd leg, before regaining composure and finishing off the 3^rd leg – game, set and match Cold Norton.  The team to avoid for sure.

There were two games being played alongside each other at the Blackwater Arena – firstly in a Blackwater derby the plucky Blackwater F side had been pitted against their own A team which gave rise to some chunky handicaps.  Another 5-0 victory, but every game here was close with the handicaps providing a very even playing field with perhaps the better players being able to hold their nerve come the business end of the matches being the difference.  Three of the matches went to deciding legs – both doubles, and the singles match between Alan Scammell (-3) and Anne Brewer (+11).  Having won the 2^nd leg and been ahead all the way through the final leg Brewer could and should have wrapped this one up to avoid the team whitewash.  At 20-18 she had 2 match points but just couldn’t get over the line – and Scammell the Scamp rattled off 4 points in a row to quash the F team hope.  The A team’s Neil Freeman (-6) had to give away 15 points to David McHattie (+9) and he was made to work hard to catch up the handicap in both legs as he won the nailbiter 21-18, 23-21.  In the other singles Noah Sage (-3) had to overcome a tough opponent in Jason Bush (+2) and he only caught up the handicap at the death in each leg but still prevailed 21-19, 21-18 in a another close encounter. 

Across the arena runaway Division 3 leaders Blackwater C welcomed Division 1 opponents Woodham B.  Another very close encounter despite the eventual 5-1 winning scoreline for the Woodham side.  Across the 6 matches, 4 went to 3 legs and the other 2 matches saw the losing player get to 19 points in both legs – so another nod to the handicapping committee, although Blackwater might say an extra point or two wouldn’t have gone amiss.  Mervyn Perriman (-2) scored the only point for Blackwater as he outwitted Eamonn Hall (-5) for a double 21-19 bragging rights win.  For Woodham Graham Briggs (-8) and Peter Harverson (-5) went unbeaten but only just.  Andrea Alleyne (+3) had match point at 20-19 in the decider against Harverson but then ponged when she should have pinged, and Peter Davenport (+1), with his excellent serving, looked to be in control against Graham Briggs until he hit the opposite of a purple patch that allowed Briggs to quickly catch up his handicap in the final leg and surpass his opponent before Davenport pulled himself together and started to compete again – unfortunately the damage had been done and Briggs came through shaken but not stirred.  The final match saw Hall redeem himself after being out-tacticked by Perriman – but again it was nip and tuck as Alleyne used her handicap to build up a challenging lead for Hall to chase down.  Both times it came down to the final few points as Hall won through 22-20, 21-19.  Just as well it finished there as the available playing time was running out for sure.

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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer

Burnham & District Table Tennis League

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Pic 1 – Eric Green hits another winner for Cup favourites Cold Norton B

Pic 2 – Linn Roff of Mapledene fame doing her best to thwart the Cold Norton onslaught

Pic 3 – It’s a real stretch for Neil Freeman in his handicap marathon with David McHattie.

Pic 4 – Graham Briggs needed all 3 sets against Peter Davenport

Pic 5 – From the jaws of victory – Andrea Alleyne and Peter Harverson doing battle this week

Pic 6 – A serving masterclass provided by the creaking knees of Blackwater C’s Peter Davenport.  

• 

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 3^rd 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