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.
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
Trisha Winter (Invicta B) takes on Des Duffield (Canvey B)
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.
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.
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.
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 2nd leg, before regaining composure and finishing off the 3rd 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 2nd 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.
Eric GreenLin RoffNeil Freeman (left) v David McHattie
Graham Briggs (left) v Peter DavenportAndrea Alleyne v Peter HarversonPeter DavenportSanta’s serving up a very Merry Christmas!
After seven successive wins, Rayne C have tasted defeat for the first time in the Braintree Table Tennis League’s second division.
It was the unpredictable Sudbury Strollers who stopped them in their tracks.
Strollers have had mixed fortunes so far with three wins and two defeats in their first five matches and the team that turned out against Rayne C had lost the previous week against Netts C.
But David Fiddeman (three wins), John Colvin (two) and Dan Sackey (one) got it right this time with a 6-4 win, including a rare defeat for Matthew Brown by Fiddeman.
Strollers currently sit incongruously in second bottom place. But they currently have two matches in hand on the top three teams. If they can turn out this team regularly, a rapid climb up the table is likely.
Black Notley C currently occupy second place, which they enhanced with a 7-3 win over Yeldham Whitlocks A.
Roy Hooper took his three singles for Yeldham but Jamie Brooks, Matt Brooks and Lawrence Grantham won the rest.
Notley’s D team climbed to fourth with a win by the same score against Rayne E. Mel Cooch was unbeaten.
And there was a win at last for bottom team Finchingfield A. Like Strollers, they looked out of place on the bottom rung and jumped two places with a 7-3 win over third-placed Netts D.
It’s only the second time this season that they have been able to turn out last year’s promotion-winning line-up of John Barrett, Peter Clark and Dave Punt (the first time they were together an injury to Clark meant he had to concede two sets). Barrett was unbeaten this time.
In division three leaders Finchingfield B were not playing, which allowed Notley E to move up to within three points after a 9-1 win over Netts E.
Peter Davenport and Dave Parker were unbeaten but Tony McShane can be pleased with a good win over Ken Wilding.
Rayne F, in third place, lost 6-4 to seventh-placed Notley G. Ben Southgate won three, Ricky Moriconi two and the two of them won the doubles.
Rayne G moved up to fourth with a 6-4 win over Sudbury Drifters – Karl Bowden unbeaten – while James Dickson’s three singles helped Yeldham B to a draw with Notley F.
There were straightforward 5-1 wins in the team knockout cup for Netts A and Sudbury Nomads over Rayne’s C and E teams respectively.
Szczepan Ziobro won twice for Netts, while Paul Wellington took the one for Rayne C.
For Nomads, Ken Lewis, Karl Baldwin and new signing Kamil Lentas took one each, while Conrad Gomes scored the one for Rayne E.
There were no problems in the restricted cup for Sudbury Strollers, who beat Notley G 9-0. David Fiddeman, John Colvin and Ian Whipps were only stretched to four games once in the singles sets, when Barbara Turner took a game off Whipps.
The only vaguely close match was Netts D’s 6-3 win over Notley E, where Peter Davenport for Notley and JJ Calisin for Netts were unbeaten.
Of more note was the return after many years away of former league secretary Rupesh Harding in the Netts ranks. He won a singles and both doubles, missing out against Davenport only at 11-8 in the fifth game.
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
Neil WantLiam SquirrellHarry Sawford (left) v Steve MuthDave Marsh v Alan DadswellBlackwater C – left to right – Colin Barham, Peter Davenport and Tina HutchinsonTina Hutchinson
With one more round of matches to play before Christmas things are really hotting up in the title race for the Premier Division of the Southend & District Table Tennis league. I reported last week that there were just two points separating Thorpe Bay A at the top and Rawreth B in second place, well after this week’s results, make that one point.
Thorpe Bay A suffered a rare defeat at the hands of Rayleigh Mill who had both Liam Squirrell and Duncan Taylor in their side this week. It was Squirrell who led the way with three wins against Paul Sayer, Mark Stones and Ian Wall with Taylor picking up wins against Wall and Stones meaning a good 5-4 win for the Millers. Rawreth B clawed one point back on the leaders as they were able to win 5-4 themselves against a depleted Thorpe Bay B team. I say depleted in that they only have two players, that said, two very strong players in Kirean Skeggs and Matt Spero. The Thorpe Bay pair picked up two wins each but couldn’t get the better of player of the match Dan Zeffie. Special mention to Gary Young who played some great table tennis but was so unlucky to lose 14-12 in the 5th to both Spero and Skeggs.
Elsewhere it was a familiar story for Stamford A as a Mitchell Jones hat-trick was all they had to show for their trip to Hockley A, two wins each for Sanjay Saptarshi, Matt Stringer and Dan Patynski for the home side. And finally a really close battle for Invicta A as they just managed to pip Hadleigh Forum 5-4. A real team effort with two wins apiece for Steve Marr and Tony Ayliffe and a good win for Paul Sims over Neil Barker.
The ding-dong battle for the top spot between the two Hockley teams in division 1 continued again this week. Last week the C team closed the gap on the B team, but this week the gap has widened again.
There was no festive spirit when leaders Hockley B visited Stanford Le Hope B. They thumped their hosts 9 – 0 and barely lost a rubber, with maximums from Joe Odegbami, David Colwill and Stuart Adshead.
Hockley C were given a slightly tougher test away to Wakering A. The home side’s pairing of Martin Shaughnessy and Barbara Chabior took one victory each off the second-placed team in a 7 – 2 away win. Veteran Tim Pang and William Evesham each scored hat tricks whilst James Evesham recorded the other win for the visitors.
The contest between the two Hadleigh Forum sides was a keenly fought affair, played in a great spirit, as would be expected between club mates who are also good friends. After six contests the score stood at three all, with all six players having managed a win. However, after this, the B team got the better of their C team colleagues coming out on top 6 – 3. However, it was close, with the final two battles being tense affairs, both only settled in the fifth and final set.
Another one-sided contest took place on Canvey where their A team overcame lowly Basildon B 9 – 0. The home side’s Peter Cray, Ray Wilson and Bob Skews all returned maximums.
The current flu epidemic may have played it’s part in two of this week’s Division 2 fixtures as first Stanford found their squad decimated to the point they could only field Mike Trendell against promotion chasers Matchpoint B ,and Hockley E found themselves without three of their squad albeit they still managed to put out a full team calling on George Clark from their F team to fill the gap.
With no matches for Wakering or Hockley D the focus was very much on the bottom of the table and the clash between Hockley E and Runnymede was crucial for both teams. It turned out to be a significant night for Runnymede who cantered to a straightforward 7-2 win with hat tricks for Steve Wisbey and Andrew Humphris, his first of the season. The evening started well for Hockley with Neal Klyman getting the better of Steve McQuillan but they then lost six games on the trot before John George also beat Mcquillan. Player of the Match Steve Wisbey rounded the evening off beating Klyman. That made it three wins in succession for Runnymede who now sit in a season high sixth position whilst Hockley slip to one but bottom.
Invicta B and Matchpoint C both needed points to push themselves up the table and they produced the closest match of the week Invicta edging it 5-4 so both teams came away reasonably happy. Matchpoint led 2-1 and 4-2 but a late push from Invicta saw them win the last three games to steal the win. Their hero was Trisha Winter whose hat trick included two five set wins against Olly Milchard and Roger Sherman. Winter was actually two sets down against Sherman before fighting back to level and then edge the final set 15/13. Sarah Ball and John Blackman added the extra points for Invicta whilst Samuel Morgan got a brace and Sherman and Milchard one each for Matchpoint. Matchpoint now sit one point above Hockley and Invicta four points above Matchpoint albeit they have played a game more than both their rivals.
Basildon C remain bottom of the table after losing 6-3 to promotion hopefuls Canvey B. They went down fighting though with only one game finishing in three sets. Terry Giddens was the star man for the Islanders with a maximum whilst Tony Westwell added a brace and Kevin Walsingham a single point. Michael Elemide got a brace for Basildon and there was one win for Andy Roff. Canvey move up to third place.
In the final match of the week the plaudits must go to Mike Trendell who was the only player available for Stanford for their game against Matchpoint B but he still turned up and played when the temptation must have been to forfeit the game. Trendell even started his solitary evening with a win against Colin Barham but lost against Lotte Mills and John Lott so at least he didn’t go home empty handed. He might even have doubled that score having taken a two set lead against Mills but she fought back admirably to win the next three sets 11/9 11/9 11/9. This 8-1 win has now given Matchpoint an eight point cushion in second place from Canvey B in third.
Player of the Week – Mike Trendell
Team of the Week – Runnymede
Just two matches played this week in Division 3.
Stanford ‘D’ opened up proceedings with a home fixture against Wakering ‘C’, and it was Martin Winter, with a quick fire hat-trick, who led the way for them. Andrew Jessop added a double, and Toby Cornelius chipped in with the extra point to round off a 6/3 win for Stanford. Joanna Gaudini was the best on the night for Wakering with a couple of wins.
League leaders Invicta ‘C’ have stretched their lead at the top to 20 points following their latest visit to the table. Their opponents this week were Matchpoint ‘C’, who found it tough going, and only Cooper Hill managed to pinch a set in his match against Mike Keeble. Steve Lennox was the POTM here.
Second placed Hockley ‘F’ were unable to close the gap on the leaders, as their match against Hockley ‘G’ had to be postponed due to illness amongst the junior Hockley players.
The match between Hadleigh Forum and Evolve ‘B’ was also postponed due to illness within the Evolve team.
Premier Division report by Duncan Taylor
Division 1 report by David Barnes
Division 2 report by Paul Strutt
Division 3 report by David Woolmer
Liam Squirrell – Rayleigh MillDuncan Taylor – Rayleigh Mill
Over the years, there have been few more determined and dogged competitors in the Clacton League than Mark Ratcliffe of Walton A.
This week in Division One of the League, Ratcliffe chalked up his second hat-trick in as many matches, his unbeaten performance helping to secure his Walton A side a 6-4 success against Brotherhood C.
There were a couple of wins for his team-mate Paul Meikle, which included a 12-10 in the decider success over John Cleasby, while Derek Willis added an important point with an 11-4 in the fifth victory against Dave Miller.
In a match where no player left empty-handed, Brotherhood’s Cleasby, Miller and Tim Leung each won once.
Elsewhere, Brotherhood A were predictable 10-0 victors against bottom team Windsor Buzzards, who were further disadvantaged by being forced to use a guest. Kevin Gowlett, Gracie Edwards and Daniel Young were the winning trio.
It was equally as comfortable for Nomads Lions against Walton B, Ethan Lloyd, Jason Lloyd and Adam Cuthbert all unbeaten in their 10-0 victory.
Andy Vincent and Felipe Rodriguez remained undefeated in Windsor Hawks’ 8-2 success over Brotherhood B. There was a point apiece for Brotherhood’s Simon Smith-Daye and Joe Plummer but Sam Plummer, making a welcome first appearance of the season, just failed to get on the score-sheet, going down 11-5 in the fifth to Scott Campbell.
The Brotherhood Club is dominating Division Two, with their four teams currently occupying the top four places in the table.
Hat-tricks for Mark Boyland and John Gallagher saw leaders Brotherhood G home 6-4 against Windsor Harriers, although the pair failed to take the doubles, losing 11-7 in the fifth to Barry Allen and Isabel Barton. In the only other match to go the distance, Gallagher defeated Allen 11-6 in the fifth.
Bottom team Windsor Kestrels, playing with a reserve, took the opening two matches against second-placed Brotherhood F, Peter Aumord beating Paul Alden 11-4 in the decider and Allen Denyer defeating Tricia Salter 12-10 in the decider. But these were the Kestrels’ only successes, the ‘F’ team running out 8-2 winners, Neil Chegwidden taking a maximum, and Alden and Salter two each.
Kelvin Olano-Harper of Windsor Penguins beat Tom Bryden of Brotherhood J 11-5 in the fifth on his way to his sixth treble of the season. But two each from Bryden and Ruby Gallagher, one from Lucy Carvell, and a Bryden/Joe Sherwin doubles win was enough to give the ‘J’ team a 6-4 victory.
Trebles for Kevin Pryor and, in a second outing of the season, Adi Kamma, were enough to give Brotherhood D the 7-3 win against Nomads Jaguars. Pryor had a tough tussle against Chris Petrou before emerging an 11-9 in the fifth winner, whilst Pryor and Kamma took a close doubles, 11-8 in the fifth, against Petrou and Andy Hart.
In Division Three, the top-of-the-table clash between Brotherhood H and Holland Hurricanes ended in victory for Brotherhood but, with both teams forced to field a guest player, the winning score was an unusual 5-4. Gary Stallwood stayed unbeaten for the Hurricanes but Brotherhood took a crucial doubles, Dan Grindrod and Owen Woollard, in only his third appearance of the season, defeating Stallwood and Ian Gwillim 11-7 in the fifth.
Peter Evans recorded a hat-trick for Holland Lancasters but it was Nomads Leopards who ran out the winners, Doug Green and Dominic Joannou each taking two in their team’s 6-4 victory. Dave Wright picked up a point for the Lancasters, edging past Anne Bonny 11-9 in the decider.
Mike Wellum of Nomads Ocelots was another to stay unbeaten but end up on the losing side, the Ocelots, playing with a guest player, going down 6-4 to Windsor Falcons. Gary Barnes, Nigel Rolph and Nikki Hayes each took one for the Falcons, Hayes defeating Hazel Blanche 11-6 in the fifth in the closest contest.
Finally, Brotherhood E were 9-1 winners against a Windsor Magpies’ side also fielding a guest player. Jack Hillier and Rodney Betts each won their allocated two matches, Hillier edging past Dave Sweetland 11-4, 3-11, 14-12, 11-13, 11-9. Magpies’ skipper John Plummer saved his side’s blushes by winning the final match of the evening against Tony Edmonds.
* The draw for the Group stage of the Handicap Knock-Out Cup, which takes place during the first three weeks of January, has been made. Holders Nomads Lions have been drawn in a three-team Group which includes the young guns of Brotherhood J from Division Two, and Lynette Sparks’ Walton C team from Division Three. The most intriguing of the Groups sees four teams from the Windsor Club – the Hawks and Eagles of the First Division and the Penguins and Kestrels of the Second – drawn in the same Group.
Full details have been sent to all players. This information can also be found on the League’s website.
The top teams in Divisions 2 and 3 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League showed who is boss this year with wins over their nearest and not so dearest rivals in two top of the table clashes this week.
Fambridge did all they could this week to edge closer to Division 1 League leaders Cold Norton B and keep the battle for supremacy honest. Fambridge eclipsed Stow Maries A 10-0 to record their first whitewash of this season. An unbeaten evening of sport for the Fambridge trio of Bruce Kettle, John ‘England’s Finest’ Poysden, and Mark Stones. Cold Norton B also registered a high scoring win as they demolished their own C team with a much harder energy sapping 8-2 victory that included 3 individual matches going all the way to a deciding leg. Cold Norton’s Dave Richardson had just pipped the tricky Kim Shead in the fifth set early on in the proceedings so he was confident going into final match of the night against very awkward Martin Archie. Archie gave him a great fright by quickly taking a 2-0 lead before Richardson fought back to even the match up. The final and deciding leg was nip and tuck throughout before Archie slipped in the last few points for his team’s only singles victory of the evening. The most surprising result of the night though was a shockingly simple doubles win for the Cold Norton C duo of Shead and Tim Cramphorn who won out in straight sets against top pairing of Eric Green and Ian Wall. Green and Wall need not be too disheartened though as they both registered another hat-trick in the singles to maintain their high win rates for this season. Daniel Young and Harry Sawford both went undefeated as Woodham A dispatched Cold Norton A 8-2. The third Woodham player, Chris Hancox, was unlucky not to register more than his win over Steve Sawyer as he lost out in 5 against both Rob Harris and Steve Maltby.
Blackwater A missed an opportunity to go top this week as the two top teams met in the Bragging Rights Battle of Division 2. The Blackwater trio welcomed the unbeaten league leaders Maldon A across the metropolis and into their West Maldon lair – Galatasaray it may not be but the heckles were up for sure. Maldon took an early lead with tight straight set wins for Colin Napper and Lloyd Bennett-Smith but once the nerves had settled the rudderless Blackwater side fought back with wins for Denis Balic and Neil Freeman. Maldon took the next 2 matches to lead 4-2 going into the lucky-dip doubles. The doubles journey matched some of the rollercoasters seen along Maldon Promenade over the years with no team being able to capitalise on any slender lead and so a fifth and deciding set was required. The experienced pairing of Napper and Bennett-Smith came through 11-6 to ensure at least a share of the spoils was secured. Just as well as Freeman took the next match against Dawn Baldry to tighten the gap, before the trusted Maldon stalwart Napper declared his side the winners with a 4 set battling triumph over the stoic Denis Balic. So with the match won perhaps Captain Bennett-Smith relaxed a little too much against the young whipper-snapper Noah Sage as he found himself in an almighty 5 set battle with 3 of the legs going way beyond deuce. So after a long and tense evening these two were still at it 12-12 in the deciding set – did they not want to get home before midnight? In the end the youth of Sage was too much for the energy starved Maldon supremo and the final point went to Blackwater for a 4-6 defeat but pride intact. Maldon C recorded the same winning margin over Stow Maries B with hat-tricks for the inform Marty Englander and the effervescent Dawn Baldry. Stow’s Dave Marsh had a fun evening playing 19 out of a maximum 20 ends – with 1 win in the singles and a cracking doubles win with Peter Hance 12-10 in the fifth! Neil Want was the star turn in the match between Woodham C and Cold Norton D with a troubled hat-trick. A straight sets win over Allan Steel but with each leg going beyond deuce and then an almighty topsy turvy battle with tricky lefty Pete Harverson that was only secured 11-9 in the fifth. Despite Want’s brilliance his team lost again leaving Cold Norton D as the only team in the league without a win this season. 6-4 to Woodham in the end with Steel and Harverson taking two points apiece. Cold Norton E had that Squelchy feeling this week after encountering the growing prowess of Blackater B’s rarely spotted, but very effective, secret weapon that is Simon Quelch. This week Quelch was in indefatigable form as he dispatched all of his singles opponents for a well earned star player badge. The most difficult match being a tasty 5-setter with Dick Wyman where The Quelchmeister recovered from 0-2 down to wear down his opponent to win out 11-9 in the decider. Wyman and Tony Forster were in fine fettle on the night recording 2 wins each as part of the overall drawn encounter.
In Division 3 second placed Blackwater D had a chance to impinge upon the growing lead built up by Blackwater C. Well it didn’t go to plan as the D team were royally trounced by the superb C team in a 9-1 victory where David Benstead managed a win for the D’ers to avoid the whitewash blushes. Very few of the matches were easy so at least there was some fight and spirit shown. Hat-tricks for Peter Davenport and of course for the Division’s top player – Mr 100% still – Gary Smith. Maldon D took a decent 7-3 win over Blackwater E with a treble for James Raymond, 2 wins for Shirley Carroll and his first win in Burnham for David Park. Despite only having two eligible players Woodham D still edged out a 6-4 win over Blackwater F. A hat-trick for the elegant Chris Crooks and 2 very good wins for Diane King.
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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer
Burnham & District Table Tennis League
Pic 1 – Eric Green in unstoppable action for Division 1 leaders Cold Norton B_________________________________________
Pic 2 – Cold Norton’s Martin Archie in his win over Dave Richardson this week
Pic 3 – Louis Gunn and Simon Quelch in Doubles Trouble for Blackwater
Pic 4 – Dave Marsh hogging the table at Maldon TTC this week versus Chris Ravenhill
Pic 5 – The very tight half-way table for Division 2
Louis Gunn (left) and Simon Quelch
Eric GreenMartin ArchieDave Marsh v Chris Ravenhill
