In contrast to the last couple of seasons, when things were tight at the top, a clear pattern has emerged in all three divisions of the Braintree Table Tennis League at the mid-term break.

Unless something goes dramatically awry, Netts A will win division one, Sudbury Wanderers division two and Finchingfield A division three.

They lead by eleven, nine (with a match in hand) and 18 points respectively.

Netts A and last year’s champions Rayne A have kept more or less the same teams as last season: Paul Davison, James Hicks and Andy Holmes for Netts and Maria Boulton, Adam Buxton and Paul Lucas for Rayne.  

Last season Davison averaged 88 per cent, Hicks 75 and Holmes 79 while Boulton, Buxton and Lucas came in at 92, 76, 88 respectively.

The figures this time have Netts on 100, 88, 79 and Rayne on 83, 67, 93.

Not only is Netts’ average average higher, they have also have the substantial backing of new signing Gary Young, so far undefeated.

By comparison, Rayne have lost the services of Lee McHugh, whose 14 wins out of 15 greatly helped their cause last season.

Netts have been the model of consistency, only once failing to win at least eight sets in a match and that was when they had to field a reserve and were restricted to 7-3.

The most important of those matches was when they overcame Rayne by the surprisingly convincing score of 9-1.

Division two has been something of a procession for Sudbury Wanderers with nine wins out of ten and a nine-point lead with a match in hand at the halfway stage.

Ian Shrubsole and Louise Hartshorn, who both returned to the game in 2022 after a lengthy lay-off, are averaging 83 and 73 per cent respectively and with strong support from new signings Natalie Dodd (89 per cent), Colin Moss (83) and David Hitchen (64) they look well set to continue in cruise mode.

Rayne E, the only team to beat them, owe their second place overwhelmingly to Matthew Brown, who has won all 33 singles, plus ten doubles, accounting for 60 per cent of his team’s total.

Finchingfield A have been just as dominant in division three.

An influx of new players enabled the club to enter two teams this year and allowed them to put most of their good eggs in the A team basket.

The addition to their ranks of Dave Punt, a regular division two player in 2023, and Peter Clark, part of the Netts C team that won division three in a canter in 2022, plus John Barrett and Ray Bradford from last season, has given them a solid platform.

They have won eleven out of eleven, all but three by 8-2 or better.

Finally, an encouraging note: the number of juniors flourishing in the third division.

Ten-year-old Ethan Collins leads the way with seven wins out of nine, an average of 77.8, which places him ninth in the division’s rankings.  He’s followed by Lucien Nolan-Bradford, 16, on 73.3, JJ Calisin, also 16, on 71.4, Tom Verrier, 13, on 66.7 and Arun Cochrane, 11, on 55.6

Report by Ron Fosker

After nine wins and a draw in their ten matches, Rayne E have tasted their first defeat in division two of the Braintree Table Tennis League.

It came at the hands of their own D team, who they have recently replaced in second spot in the table, and it leaves only two teams, Netts A in division one and Finchingfield A in division three, still unbeaten.

Matthew Brown contributed his usual three singles but his teammates were unable to follow suit.

Adi Kamma, Dave Moles and Paul Wellington all won twice to give the D team a 6-4 win.

The E team’s other win came in the doubles, where Brown was joined by Dave Allinson, some compensation for the latter after losing his own remarkable record of winning one singles in every other match he has played in.

Rayne E hold on to second place but they fell further behind leaders Sudbury Wanderers, who beat Rayne’s F team 8-2.  Ian Shrubsole and Natalie Dodd were unbeaten.

Emotions were of a different order at the other end of the table where Netts D picked up their first win.

Jack Dearsley made his first appearance of the season and put in an excellent performance to win his three singles, and the doubles with Jimmy Calisin, to lead his side to a 7-3 victory over Black Notley F.

The top two had comfortable victories in division three.

Finchingfield A beat their own B team 8-2, while Sudbury Strollers beat Rayne G 9-1.

The Finchingfield derby featured the first clash between Ray Bradford and son Lucien and it was the 16-year-old who triumphed 11-4, 11-6, 11-8.

Youth was also to the fore in Netts F’s 7-3 win over Notley H where Tom Verrier, 13, and JJ Calisin, 16, took all seven sets between them, a notable achievement particularly as Notley H’s Nigel Parmenter began the evening with 17 wins out of 21.

Netts’ E team also won 7-3, in their case against Rayne H, to lift themselves up a place in the table.

Ray Carter turned out for only the second time this season and his three singles, plus three from Steve Willis, helped Yeldham Whitlocks B to a 7-3 win over Notley I.

Report by Ron Fosker

The top two teams in the Braintree Table Tennis League showed their class as they entered the Christmas break by racking up convincing wins in their final two matches of 2024.

Netts A and Rayne A both had wins of 8-2 and 10-0 to increase the gap between second and third places to 22 points.

Both beat Sudbury Nomads 8-2 while Netts took all ten off their own B team and Rayne did the same to Black Notley A.

Paul Davison, James Hicks and Andy Holmes were on duty in both matches for Netts and it was Hicks, beaten only once before this season, who had a dip in form against Nomads, losing out to both Ken Lewis and Aron Jordan.

They did not have it all their own way against the B team, where they won only four sets in straight games.

Fred Evans was leading two games to one against Hicks before missing out in five and both Joe Meleschko and Szczepan Ziobro stretched Holmes to five.

Lewis and Karl Baldwin beat Steve Pennell, playing up from the B team, in Nomads’ 8-2 defeat by Rayne A while Maria Boulton, Adam Buxton and Paul Lucas had little mercy on Notley A.

Rayne B moved above Liberal B into third place by beating them 8-2.

In a match where six of the first seven sets went to five ends, Pennell and Victor Chan were unbeaten.

Liberal B fared better against Rayne’s C team, although 5-5 was probably less than they expected.  Adam Cuthbert was unbeaten.

In their other match Rayne B dealt with a two-person Liberal C 9-1 although Garry Fryatt can be pleased with a win over Chan, the player who had put that earlier dent in Hicks’ record.

Liberal C also lost 9-1 to Notley A where Mel Cooch, playing up from division two, scored an excellent – and hard-fought – win over Richard Jennings by 22-20, 6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7.

The only bright spot for the Liberal club over the two weeks was the first win for their A team, although even that was double-edged, as it came over the B team.

As would be expected, Brandon Crouchman was unbeaten for the A team – although James Mullane stretched him to 11-9 in the fifth –  but it was effectively Zak Harrington’s wins over Mullane and Robin Armstrong that turned the match.

Notley B took advantage of Nomads’ two defeats to move level with them in equal fifth place after beating Rayne C 6-4.

Luke Burridge was unbeaten for Notley while Keith Martin and new signing Felix Reeve won twice for Rayne.

Report by Ron Fosker

In Southend Division 1 this week Basildon A leapfrogged Matchpoint A at the top of the table by a solitary point, by virtue of a slightly better result. Les Hoey and Arun Joy were both unbeaten, as Basildon overcame visiting Hadleigh Forum C 7 – 2. Paul Fawell and Mark Everard got one win each for Forum, and Jenne Seibolt got the home side’s other victory.

Matchpoint A’s 6 – 3 home win over Mapledene was a team effort. Player of the match Harry Sawford scored a hat trick, Daniel Stewart won two, and Debbie O’Neil one for the win. Mapledene shared their points, with Dawn Baldry, Bill Smith and Mike Johnston getting one victory each.

In a close fought match between hosts Hadleigh Forum B and Canvey A, no player was undefeated. POM was Canvey’s Ray Wilson, with two successes, a feat emulated by teammate Bob Skews and both Dave Woolmer and Mick Tappenden for the home side. Thanks to Peter Cray’s single victory, Canvey got a 5 – 4 away win.

The closest match of the week in Division 2, and probably by far the quickest, was the clash between Rawreth Megazone D and Matchpoint B. It was decided in the final game of the evening when Gus Heath completed his hat trick by beating Alex Bowden to give his Rawreth team a 5-4 win and provide something of an upset with Matchpoint currently sitting second in the table.

The match itself swung back and forth throughout the evening a 2-1 lead to Matchpoint turning into a 4-3 lead for Rawreth before the scores were levelled at 4-4. The games themselves, however, were short and sweet only one going beyond three sets. Matchpoint were without veteran members John Lott and Dennis Squirrell and it was left to youngsters Bowden, Max Mayo and Lotte Mills to fly the flag. Heath however, had other ideas, claiming his hat trick without dropping a set and he had good backing from Amar Al-Soufi who won a brace. Jaspreet Singh, for Rawreth, couldn’t cope with the youngsters providing Mayo and Mills with single points whilst Bowden also got the better of Al-Soufi to record his second win. Matchpoint do stay second in the table but an early Christmas present for Hockley C who are just two points behind them with two games in hand.

At the other end of the table Stanford C and Invicta B provided another 5-4 encounter but the games turned out to be a lot longer than the Rawreth match with four games going the distance. Stanford got off to a great start going 4-1 up but then saw Invicta close the gap to 4-3 before winning the next game to clinch victory. Tony Papasifakis and Chris Crooks both won two for Stanford with Vaughan Chambers providing the other point. Player of the match, however, was Invicta’s Steve Lennox who won all his games including two five set matches one, a great comeback against Crooks after going 2-0 down. Sarah Ball got Invicta’s other point with a five set win against Chambers. Invicta stay one but bottom with Stanford one place and four points above them.

Hockley D were another side fielding a relatively young line up as they took on a very experienced Canvey B side and it was the old heads who came out on top with a 7-2 victory. Trevor Hayes was the man in form for the Islanders winning all his games but he was taken the distance by Elliot Brackenbury winning 11/6 in the final set. Des Duffield and Terry Giddens both weighed in with braces with Hockley’s points coming from Brackenbury’s win against Duffield and William Evesham’s straightforward three set win against Giddens. Canvey stay in fourth place fourteen points clear of Hockley in fifth.

Last game of the week saw Runnymede take on high flying Hockley C and found themselves on the wrong end of an 8-1 defeat. It was fairly straightforward for the Hockley boys with Paul Ogden taking the POTM honours closely followed by Mike Worship who also won all his games but not until he edged out Steve Wisbey in a five set Christmas cracker! First set went to Wisbey, the next two to Worship before Wisbey levelled the scores. This was a classic game of attack against defence with Wisbey performing miracles to retrieve Worship’s smashes and it gradually captured the interest of the people watching as the scores edged slowly up to 11-11. Last two points to Worship and the applause of the crowd. Earlier Wisbey had recorded Runnymede’s only point beating Paul Strutt in four sets.

Team of the Week – Rawreth Megazone D

Player of the Week – Steve Lennox

As we approach the Christmas break in Division 3, it is Basildon A who still head the table and remain unbeaten.

In their latest outing, they were again only able to put out two players, but made light of this as Victor Wei and Andy Roff were unbeaten in their 6/3 win over Hockley E.  Victor was the player of the match but had to work hard to complete his maximum, finally getting the better of Robert Garlick at 13/11 in the final end.

Invicta C kept up their pursuit of the leaders thanks to a 7/2 win over Stanford D.  Keith Baxter led the way with a hat-trick and he was backed up by his teammates Andrew St John and David Barlow with a brace apiece.  The consistent Randy Santiago with a double for Stanford.

Hadleigh Forum D have moved into third place after a 6/3 victory over Rawreth Meggazone E.  Forum skipper Todd Barker is in good form and his unbeaten performance was the backbone of this win. There was good support for Todd from Ivan Arabadzhiev with two wins and Sineh Ball who added a single.  Graham Back was the best on the night for Rawreth with two wins.

So, as we head into the New Year, Basildon A lead the way with 83 points from 12 games, followed by Invicta C with 73 points from 12 games and Hadleigh Forum D who have 56 points from 12 games.

Reports by David Barnes – Div 1 Paul Strutt – Div 2 David Woolmer – Div 3

Vivaan Babbar and Joshua Freeman acquired the two points required by the Buttsbury Bees to lift Chelmsford Junior League (CJL) division 1A despite a 3-2 loss against the Chelmsford Lions. With just one loss from 10 fixtures, the Bees have been the outstanding team in the division though they were pushed hard by the second placed Hutton Hawks who had occupied top spot for seven of the ten weeks of the season. In CJL division 1B, the Chelmsford Leopards earned the three points needed to snatch the title from the second-placed Buttsbury Bears.  Despite Archie Spurrier’s opening game loss the Leopards cruised through the remaining four matches of the fixture to finish the 10-game season on 34 points – two ahead of the Bears.

Chelmsford A moved to the top of division one with a comprehensive 10-0 home victory over the two-man team of Galleywood A thanks to unblemished evenings from Josh Bickles, Saul Chivers and Felix Reeve.  Chelmsford will be feeling the heat from the two Danbury teams hot on their heels who both have the benefit of a game in hand over the leaders.  Second-placed Danbury C could only manage a 5-5 draw with fourth-placed clubmates Danbury B, B’s Sam Lowman earned player of the match honours with wins over Gary Young and Keith Adams though let slip a 2-1 lead against Trevor Lloyd for his only defeat.  B’s Matthew Stringer enjoyed three five-gamers, claiming wins over Adams and Lloyd – despite trailing 2-1 in both – but losing out to Young 12-10 in the pivotal fifth game of their encounter. Bruce Kettle and Eric Green won three apiece in third-placed Danbury A’s 8-2 home victory over Chelmsford B.  Saul Chivers put up the most resistance for the visitors when narrowly losing out to Green 3-2 prior to a 3-1 success over Dave Richardson.

Buttsbury A made it eight consecutive weeks at the top of division two with a 9-1 away win at seventh-placed Writtle B, Jamie Elliott and Evie Knaapen won three matches each while David Gatheral won two.  Gatheral’s treble was denied by a come-from-behind victory for Writtle’s Trevor Carter who had trailed Gatheral 2-1.  Maldon A remain seven points back in second position having also posted a 9-1 victory, this time at home to Danbury F.  Chris Hancox and Colin Napper won three singles matches each though Danbury’s Alan Scammell took a wild opener against Lloyd Bennett-Smith 7-11, 14-12, 1-11, 15-13, 11-9 to deny the Maldon man a treble also. Scammell also pushed Napper close, only going down in a fifth-game decider while Bennett-Smith managed to find a way past Ken Sheard having been 2-0 down. There was a third appearance of the week for Saul Chivers as he joined Chelmsford C for their 8-2 home win over Danbury D.  Chivers and Simon Jarvis both went undefeated and earned good wins over Sanjay Saptarshi and Dan Patynski – though the latter took both players to a fifth-game decider.  Gary Ward fired a fifth hat-trick of the season as his Writtle C side moved up one place to seventh position with a 6-4 away victory over fifth-placed Hatfield Peverel A.  Ward’s teammate John Webber would have won three had it not been for Alastair Piper’s recovery from 2-1 down.  Having sat in tenth place as recently as week 10, Danbury E continue their upward trajectory as three wins for Tim Cramphorn and two each for Dick Wyman and Neil Want saw them to a 7-3 win at Galleywood B. Galleywood’s John Holland won once but lost out in deciding games against both Wyman and Cramphorn. 

Chelmsford D are three points clear at the top of division three following a 9-1 home win over Hatfield Peverel B with closest rivals Buttsbury B earning a ‘lesser’ 8-2 victory over Writtle E.  Adi Kamma and Christopher Denyer hit trebles for Chelmsford while Paul Sturton won all three for Buttsbury,  Writtle D moved up one place to fourth following a 6-4 away win over 10th placed Danbury J thanks to another treble for Matthew Brown, while Cleon Fernandes made it back-to-back hat-tricks for Chelmsford F in their 6-4 win at Danbury G.  Scott Perry was in action for the first time since week eight and he showed no signs of rust though his three victories were in vain as Danbury H lost 6-4 at Old Chelmsfordians C.   

There were further victories for the two outstanding division four teams – Hutton A and Maldon B, just eight points separate the two with the two Buttsbury teams trying to keep within touching distance.  Maldon B blitzed Danbury M 10-0 with Chris Ravenhill, Marty Englander and Brian Riedling filling their Christmas stockings with full compliments of wins – the deadly trio have now fired trebles in each of the last three Maldon B fixtures which is an identical statistic to that of Hutton A’s Alex Ware and Oladapo Owolabi who both unbeaten in the 7-3 away win at OCA D.  There were wins for both Buttsbury teams who sit in third and fourth – third placed Buttsbury D earned an 8-2 home win over Danbury K, in his first appearance of the season Gary Carr won all three of his singles matches while Alex Wilson earned two wins for the visitors. Frances Hutt dropped just one game as she fired a treble as fourth-placed Buttsbury C won 6-4 on the road at Galleywood D.  Galleywood’s Nick Rounce won the only five-gamer of the evening though the fixture was delicately poised at 4 matches apiece before Oscar Hutt then Frances Hutt won the last two matches of the night. Following four defeats in their last five matches, Hatfield Peverel C were back to winning ways with a 6-4 home win over Chelmsford G in a match which featured a first treble of the season for Samuel White.  White’s first hat-trick was certainly no ‘gimme’ as he had to come through fifth game deciders against both Mark Nolan and David Parker. Something had to give in the fixture between Danbury L and Highwood A with both teams going into the clash on the back of four consecutive defeats.  Unfortunately Highwood went into the fixture a player down though ace Melanie Bonnett won all three of her matches and was the sole point scorer for the visitors as Danbury ran out 7-3 victors.

There is no change for the top three teams in division five as leaders Hutton B, second placed Buttsbury E and third placed Maldon C all earned home wins.  There were three wins apiece for Vicente Beco and Gheorghe Nita as well as two for Jago Ware as Hutton B cruised to a 9-1 victory over Highwood B while Shirley Carroll and James Raymond were unbeaten in Maldon C’s 9-1 home success over the two-person Hatfield Peverel F team.  Lyndon Bubb fired a fourth hat-trick of the season as Buttsbury E were given a tough time by Galleywood E before securing a 6-4 home win.  Bubb had to recover from 2-0 down against Wayne Smithies and also saw a 2-0 lead against Darren Wright disappear before securing fifth-game deciders.  Hatfield Peverel D remain fourth and Writtle F fifth following a 5-5 draw between the two sides which saw two wins apiece for Writtle’s Michael Anthony and Ron Tam as well as Peverel’s Andy Simmonds and Bruce Wickham. Match of the night was Simmonds beating Tam by an epic-looking 11-9, 15-17, 14-16, 11-6, 18-16.  Following five straight defeats, OCA E are now unbeaten in their last three fixtures following a 7-3 victory over Anglia Ruskin.  ARU’s Douglas Bawuah was again the shining star as he beat Stuart Wintle in three, Suzanne Shaw in four and edged Matthew Potter in five (9-11, 11-2, 9-11, 15-13, 12-10). There was a first treble of the season for Jacqui Smith in Chelmsford H’s 9-1 away win at Hatfield Peverel E.  Smith had to recover from 2-1 down against Alastair Brown while teammate James Grindlay dropped just one game for his three wins in what was his first treble since week one against the same opposition.

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Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League

For results, fixtures, stats and more please visit https://www.tabletennis365.com/chelmsford

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Windsor Falcons and Windsor Eagles were involved in the closest match of the week in the Clacton League’s Handicap Cup competition, the Falcons fighting back from 3-1 down to win their Group D tie 5-4.

In the deciding final doubles, Kelvin Olano and Ferdy Rodriguez (+3) beat Gary Cattermole and John Pattrick (-8) in three-straight to seal the win.

Olano remained unbeaten whilst Windsor stalwart Rodriguez took a crucial win in match seven to give the Falcons the lead for the first time in the match, (on +3) winning 11-2, 11-9 against Cattermole (-10).

In the other Group D match, John Gallagher continued his excellent form for Brotherhood C, undefeated in his side’s 5-2 win over Windsor Buzzards.

It was Brotherhood’s second win of the competition and they look almost certain to qualify, with the second qualifying place dependent on a winner-takes-all match between the Falcons and the Buzzards in their final Group match.

In Group A, both Brotherhood F and Nomads Bobcats enjoyed 5-0 wins, Joe Sherwin, Lucy Carvell and Ruby Gallagher of Brotherhood F cruising to victory over Holland Vulcans, while Nomads Bobcats defeated a two-player Nomads Jaguars.

These wins guarantee Brotherhood F and the Bobcats a place in the Knock-Out stage of the competition.

Brotherhood D kept their Cup hopes alive in Group B with a 5-3 victory over Windsor Magpies. The Brotherhood team were never headed in an encounter where all bar one of the individual matches were settled in four sets.

Group C has turned out to be a massive non-event, with Windsor Penguins and Nomads Ocelots automatically going through having never hit a ball in anger, qualifying because their opponents have conceded their matches.

In Group E, it’s looking good for Brotherhood B who recorded a second win in the competition, 5-1 over Walton D. Simon Smith-Daye and Joe Plummer were unbeaten, with only Adrian Sexton’s (+2) narrow 11-9, 12-10, 14-12 success against Sam Plummer (-11) preventing a Brotherhood whitewash.  

The final fixture in the Group between Walton A and Walton D now looks pivotal, with the winner likely to progress.  

Brotherhood H lead Group F following a walk-over win against Brotherhood G and are near-certain to qualify for the round of the last sixteen.  

But Nomads Tigers had to field a guest against Walton C, who unsurprisingly won 5-1, leaving the Tigers needing probable victory against Brotherhood H in their final Group match to qualify.

Windsor Kestrels and Nomads Lions both preserved their 100% records in Group G knowing that, when they meet in their final match, they will both already have qualified.

The Kestrels were 5-1 winners against fellow-Division Two team Brotherhood E, the result somewhat surprising considering both teams had similar handicap grades. Debra Found and Jackie Bunce were unbeaten, Found (-3) recovering from a horrendous start to edge out Tony Edmonds (+1) 2-11, 3-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 in the closest encounter.

There was not a lot of grade difference either in the all-First Division meeting between Nomads Lions and Windsor Hawks. Despite losing both doubles, it was the Lions who triumphed 5-2, taking two of the three matches which went the distance, one of which was Adam Cuthbert’s (-5) 12-10 in the decider victory over John Barton (+1).

In Group H top-flight Brotherhood A were too good for Third Division Holland Hurricanes and, despite losing the opening doubles, ended as comfortable 5-1 winners.

Cup-holders Walton B are still hanging in there following a similar 5-1 score-line victory over Lawford. Mark Ratcliffe and Paul Meikle (-3) took time to get into gear in the opening doubles, eventually winning 0-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-7 against Ian Sherwood and Richard Spence (+1) in the tightest match of the tie.

Walton B will now have to beat the Hurricanes in their final Group match if they are to succeed in their ambition to become the first team since 1991 to retain the trophy.

* With the Clacton League now taking a two-week break, the League’s Media Team would like to take this opportunity to wish all players, supporters and followers of the League a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

RESULTS

HANDICAP CUP

Group A

Holland Vulcans 0 Brotherhood F 5;

Nomads Jaguars 0 Nomads Bobcats 5.

Group B

Windsor Magpies 3 Brotherhood D 5.

Group C

Nomads Panthers 0 Nomads Ocelots 5 (w/o).

Group D

Windsor Buzzards 2 Brotherhood C 5;

Windsor Eagles 4 Windsor Falcons 5.

Group E

Brotherhood B 5 Walton D 1.

Group F

Brotherhood G 0 Brotherhood H 5 (w/o);

Walton C 5 Nomads Tigers 1.

Group G

Nomads Lions 5 Windsor Hawks 2;

Brotherhood E 1 Windsor Kestrels 5.

Group H

Lawford 1 Walton B 5;

Brotherhood A 5 Holland Hurricanes 1.

Report by Tony Oswick

There was a lot of action this week in the Burnham & District Table Tennis League.  The League positions remain stable but this week saw some stand out individual performances across all the Divisions.  None more so than an amazing, and based on form, very unexpected hat-trick from Blackwater’s Simon Quelch who came into his match with Stow B on just over 50% win rate and wiped the floor with 3 of the steadiest players in the Division.  What a performance!

Fambridge returned to action this week following their mid-season break and came away with a close fought 6-4 victory against Cold Norton A that keeps them in top spot.   Despite the win for Fambridge the real talking point was the phenomenal form of Cold Norton’s star player Kevin Read.  Read was able to beat all 3 Fambridgonians coming from behind against both Gary Young and Keith Adams to secure his hat-trick, and then teamed up with the very in-form Arron Chandler for an impressive doubles bonus point against Young and Adams.  Form to note from Read as we head into the various Essex League closed championships.  For Fambridge two wins a piece for Young, Adams and Mark Stones.  Contrasting fortunes for the Woodham and Mapledene Clubs as they went head to head in two matches on Thursday evening.  Mapledene A travelled to Woodham C in confidence, inspected the arena, took to the table, and then stole all the points in a 10-0 drubbing.  The closest match of the night saw Woodham’s Graham Briggs take George Reeves to a deciding set but alas he could not finish the job as Reeves secured his hat-trick.  This points haul sees Mapledene A within touching distance of leaders Fambridge with a game in hand – it’s all to play for.  Woodham A travelled the other way and arrived at the Mapledene venue looking slightly more like their B team than the regular A team.  Opponents Mapledene B are an altogether tougher opponent so they knew they had their work cut out if they wanted to stay in touch with the leading pack.  Woodham took a decent lead in the opening rounds of singles with regular A teamer Chris Penrose relatively untroubled in his matches with Colin Chatfield and Anthon Ranjit-Singh.  For Mapledene the exceptional Keith Willett kept the score honest with 2 excellent wins over Dan Patynski and a comeback 5-setter against Sanjay Saptarshi.  Patynski edged through against tricky penholder Chatfield 12-10 in the 5^th set.  So 4-2 up at the break for Woodham but it had been a battle.  Woodham took the doubles, but then Chatfield kept the interest alive with another superb performance to trick and best Saptarshi over 5 topsy turvy legs.  The penultimate contest saw the two unbeaten juggernauts take to the ring.  Willett came out firing on all cylinders and took a close opening set 11-9, but this just focused the Penrose game to such an extent that he rattled off the next 3 sets to take the player-of-the-match accolades.  Patynski then beat Ranjit-Singh in the final match for an overall 7-3 victory for Woodham A.

Stow B kicked off the Division 2 fixtures with a solid 7-3 return against Blackwater B.  A brace of wins each for the regular Stow B trio of Peter Hance, Dave Marsh, and Nicky Reece-Ford.  They were flabbergasted however at the form of the excellent Simon Quelch who managed to beat them all in his player of the week hat-trick performance securing his team’s 3 point haul.  The hardest victory being a deciding set 11-9 triumph over the very awkward and very fit Dave Moles – although I won’t make a mountain out of it.  But what of the doubles, surely Quelch’s dominance in the singles would carry through to the doubles format – well not at all, he was ruthlessly ignored and left to officiate as his team-mates fell in straight sets.  As Tina Hutchinson and Louis Gunn left the playing arena all they could hear was the crowd chanting “you’re getting sacked in the morning”.    Stow A missed their chance to go top of the Division despite their 6-4 victory away to Woodham D.  They remain 3 points behind leaders Maldon A but have now caught up on their fixtures backlog – this battle is predicted to go all the way to the final weeks of the season.   Ryan Pitt, with his tactical and mesmerising play, was the stand out player for Stow with a treble in his singles matches.  Peter Chastin contributed with 2 victories including a 5 set comeback win over the awkward Mal Henstock.  For Woodham everyone won one singles match – Henstock and Scott Perry bested Ken Sheard, and the ever-improving Peter Harverson got the better of Chastin over 4 long rally-filled sets.  Henstock and Perry did combine for an unexpected doubles bonus score – going into the fifth and final set it looked ominous for the Woodham duo having just been trounced 11-1 in set 4 by the more experienced Pitt/Chastin combo – but I am told they laugh in the face of adversity and knuckled down to grind out the deciding set 11-9.  Cold Norton D were back to winning ways after a run of unexpected poor form.   The unfortunate victims were Stow C who ended up on the wrong end of the 8-2 scoreline.   Old Nortonians Terry Hyland and Peter Lucraft did the most damage as they rallied through the card without a hint of a loss across both formats – their form raised 7 points with the extra score coming courtesy of Roy Gandy’s lone victory over Jean Chasmer.  For Stow both Pete Layzell and the lovable Dave Goody were able to conquer the Gandy counterhitting for their disappointing 2 point haul.

Allan Steel continued his remarkable comeback year with his seventh treble on the bounce to maintain his 100% win rate in Division 3 as his 2-player Woodham E managed a tight 6-4 victory over St Lawrence.  With the only on-table victory on the night for the Baysiders going to Dave Bateman with a straight sets victory over Diane King.  Steel hit a very comfortable ‘9-dart’ hat-trick and appears to be a significant level above the peloton in this Division.  King had to work much harder as she overcame David Siggins in 4 sets, and then just squeezed past Nigel Brand 12-10 in the fifth.  Blackwater D and Maldon E played out a 5-5 stalemate with Maldon’s John Leavett involved in all the tasty action.  With the scoring remaining close throughout it was Leavett who was involved in all 3 of the 5-setters, losing out to Peter Davenport in the final match of the night having run out of steam he will be disappointed to have thrown away the final leg 11-1 for Davenport to even up the match at the death.  However earlier in proceedings Leavett had edged his other 2 singles with an 11-9 decider against Ron Tam, and then an even tighter victory over David Sage – this one going to 12-10 in the final leg.  You might have thought Leavett would have had a rest and saved himself for his final singles but no up he jumped for the doubles with partner Ross Kirby – luckily that only went to 4 sets before the Maldon duo secured the win.  Kirby won 2 of his singles for the player-of-the-match accolade, just losing out to Sage in 4 sets.  In this week’s Maldon derby D beat E in a 7-3 thriller.  The D team’s young buck Arthur Shadforth and the E team’s experienced stalwart John Leavett both were unbeaten going into the final match of the night and both eager to lift the Maldon Bragging Rights Cup.   Well for the crowd that stayed ‘til the bitter end the wait was worth it as Leavett used all his experience to take the lead at both 1-0 and then reclaim it at 2-1 despite suffering a deuce in the 3^rd set.  But the Maldon youth were far from down and out as Shadforth’s exuberance and determination powered him through the important 4^th set and then, with the hours ticking by, he continued this form into the deciding set to snatch the cup from Leavett’s grasp with an 11-8 last set victory.  The youthful element of the crowd went wild with appreciation.  Shadforth and Matt Copsey won the doubles, and third player Luca Riedling contributed with 2 good wins over Brian Dixon and Patrick Coyne.  Coyne beating Copsey for his team’s final point.

Pic 1 – Simon Quelch in his hat-trick victory over Nicky Reece-Ford

Pic 2 – Woodham E’s Allan Steel breaking records in Division 3

Pic 3 – Player-of-the-match Chris Penrose (Woodham A)

Pic 4 – George Reeves styling it out for his hat-trick this week

Pic 5 – Maldon’s John Leavett so close to the Bragging Rights Cup this week….

Report by Eamonn Hall

Merry Christmas to all our readers!

Life at the wrong end of a division is never much fun, but things have just brightened up for two teams in the Braintree Table Tennis League.

Black Notley H recorded their first win in division three and while Netts E’s win was their second, it was an out-of-the-blue success against the division’s second-placed team.

Notley H’s win came against fourth-placed Finchingfield B by 8-2, although to be fair the opposition were without most of their big guns.

Nigel Parmenter was their mainstay as he has been for most of the season.  His three wins took his total to 17 out of 21.

Jill Canning chimed in with two wins as did Mike Smith, to end his unusual barren spell.

Netts E’s only victory so far had come at Notley H’s expense, which made their success against a far from negligible Sudbury Strollers side – Peter Abbott, Geoff Barrett and Tim Matthews – particularly notable.

David Montgomery was the architect of victory.  He is also on a good run, his three singles taking him to 13 wins in his last 15.

Lindsay Dodd won twice and the two combined to win the doubles for a 6-4 scoreline.

Division leaders Finchingfield A had a harder time of it than usual when Yeldham Whitlocks B stretched them to 6-4.

Whitlocks’ Steve Willis scored wins over Ray Bradford and Chad Rose while James Dickson lost to them but surprisingly got the better of Dave Punt.

Dickson, a junior at the Colne club many years ago, is one of quite a number of players who have come back to the game after dropping out after their junior years.

He picked up a bat again after the village was given a table via a grant from the league and Table Tennis England.  He has so far knocked up a number of useful wins, but success against Punt, a player with an 85 per cent average, was definitely the pick of them.

Eleven-year-old Arun Cochrane is just starting his junior career and he stood in the way of victory for third-placed Notley G in their match with Netts F.  He won his three singles for the first time in his nascent career to enable his side to share the points.

Conrad Gomes was the man in form in Rayne H’s draw with Notley I.  He remained unbeaten for the first time this season.

Report by Ron Fosker

Merry Christmas to all our readers!

Southend Division 2 promotion hopefuls Canvey B were dealt a blow to their ambitions by Rawreth Megazone D who just pipped them 5-4 in a tight encounter this week. Three matches went the distance and the lead swapped back and forth Canvey going 2-0 down, then leading 3-2, down 4-3 and then levelling at 4-4. Just as well for Rawreth that Gus Heath stepped up to play that final game as he beat Tony Westwell in straight sets, completed a perfect hat trick and took the POTM award to boot. Heath was supported by a win each for Richard Kidd and Amar Al-Soufi whilst Trevor Hayes got a brace for Canvey plus a point each for Westwell and Kevin Walsingham. Canvey stay fourth as a result and Rawreth sixth.

Big winners of the week were league leaders Stanford B who duly swept aside their own C team 8-1. Rob Salvage and Adrian Armstrong were both unbeaten, albeit Armstrong was taken to five sets by Martin Winter and Vaughan Chambers, and Russell Bright picked up a brace but fell to Chris Crooks in another five set match for the C team’s consolation point.

In another inter club match Matchpoint B beat their C team 7-2 with John Lott and Max Mayo recording hat tricks and Samuel Morgan getting the remaining point. Mayo was taken to five sets by Alwine Jarvis and Oliver Milchard and it was they who picked up the C team’s points both beating Morgan. Matchpoint B stay second in the table 19 points behind Stanford.

Hannah Harbour of Hockley D has been in fine form in recent weeks and this continued as she picked up another hat trick against Invicta B. Team mate William Evesham matched this performance with his own maximum and together with a point from Elliot Brackenbury they ran out 7-2 winners. It wasn’t all straight forward as Harbour was taken to five sets by John Blackman and Evesham did likewise extended by Blackman and Mike Keeble. Hockley go fifth nine points behind Canvey whilst Invicta stay one but bottom of the table.

Team of the Week – Rawreth Megazone E

Player of the Week – Gus Heath

Report by Paul Strutt

In Division 3 another week and another win for league leaders, Basildon C, making it 10 wins on the trot.  Dave Walton fired a hat-trick in their latest match against Hadleigh Forum D, well supported by skipper Andy Roff with a double and Ross Letham who chipped in with a single win. 6/3 being the margin of victory.  Todd Barker with two wins was the best on the night for Hadleigh.

Second placed Invicta C closed the gap at the top, but by only one point following their 7/2 win over Rawreth Meggazone E.   Keith Baxter took the POM honours with a maximum, with his wingmen Brendan Raja and David Barlow adding a brace apiece.  For Rawreth there was a win each for Graham Back and Mike Webb.

Canvey C recorded only their second win of the season when they travelled to Hullbridge to take on Matchpoint D.  Captain Ray Baker led the way, turning in an unbeaten performance and with Che Martin and Stephen Parker each adding a pair, it was left to Matchpoint’s Richard Sloman to add an air of respectability to the final score with a double of his own. Finally, a youthful Evolve team found things a bit too hot to handle when they took on Stanford D.  whose trio of Randy and Jake Santiago plus Andrew Jessop made no mistakes and a 9/0 whitewash ensued.  Mention should be made however of Evolve’s Ben Berwick who pushed both Jake and Andrew to a deciding set before falling short.

Report by Dave Woolmer

Lowly Holland Hurricanes of Division Three produced one of the surprises of the week in the Clacton League’s Handicap Cup competition with a 5-4 victory over an experienced and determined Lawford trio.It was no breeze for the Hurricanes in their Group H match who, after leading 2-0, lost the next four matches to fall behind 4-2 to Lawford’s Charlie Denholm, Richard Spence and Ian Sherwood.

The Hurricanes needed to win all three remaining matches to take the tie and, with the same handicap applying to all three matches (Hurricanes +2, Lawford -11), Ian Gwillim defeated Spence, Pam Cousins defeated Sherwood, before Gwillim and Widnell took the final doubles against Denholm and Spence 10-12, 11-2, 11-3 to clinch an unlikely 5-4 victory.

The second match in the Group saw reigning Cup-holders Walton B up against 2023 Cup-winners Brotherhood A. Walton took an early 3-0 lead and looked comfortable but Brotherhood’s Kevin Gowlett, John Cleasby and Russell Hillier bounced back to take five hard-fought matches on the trot and the tie 5-3. Two of those wins proved extremely tight, Gowlett and Hillier (-3) taking the middle doubles 12-10 in the fifth against Mark Gale and Paul Meikle (+1), and, in a scratch-match, Cleasby defeating Gale, also 12-10 in the fifth.

By contrast, Group A produced two 5-0 results, Brotherhood F defeating Nomads Tigers, none of the matches extended beyond a third set, and Nomads Bobcats beating fellow-Division Three side Holland Vulcans, Alex Baldock’s (-6) 11-5 in the fifth win over James Horsler (+1) the closest match of the encounter.

Windsor Harriers lead the way in Group B after their 5-1 success against Brotherhood D. Barry Allen and Isabel Barton (+1) had a vital 11-6 in the decider doubles win over Martin Edwards and Tricia Salter (-3), with Allen (+1) finishing off the tie with an 11-5 in the decider win over Paul Alden (-1).

Nomads Ocelots and Windsor Penguins benefitted from walk-over wins in Group C, but both Windsor Buzzards and Brotherhood C had to fight hard for their wins in Group D.

In an all-Division One all-Windsor clash, the Buzzards were 5-2 victors against the Eagles, the Buzzards losing both doubles but winning five singles, three of which went the distance. Andy Cawley (+2) sealed the deal with an 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6 victory over Gary Cattermole (-8).

Captain John Gallagher was Brotherhood C’s only unbeaten player as his Second Division side overcame Third Division Windsor Falcons 5-2, his 10-12, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 success against Kelvin Olano the pick of the encounters in a match played off scratch.   

Another all-Division one clash in Group E ended in a 5-2 victory for Brotherhood B against Walton A, Sam Plummer unbeaten in his one singles and two doubles.

But the Walton A side bounced back in their second match, often having to retrieve a twenty-point-plus handicap disadvantage to defeat Third Division Nomads Leopards 5-1.

It was a second 5-1 defeat for the Leopards who, earlier in the week, had lost to Division Three Walton D, Nomads’ Mark Taylor and Cieran McCallan (+1) beating Maggie Earle and Adrian Sexton (-8) 11-8, 15-13, 9-11, 5-11, 11-6 in the opening doubles for their side’s only win of the match.  

Division Three Brotherhood H had a great scrap with the old hands of Division One Walton C in Group F, ending as narrow 5-4 winners. In a see-saw match, Brotherhood led 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3, before Harindu De Silva and Owen Woollard (+1) clinched the tie 6-11, 11-0, 11-6, 11-6 with a doubles win over Graham Buxton and Paul Newbould (-8). Crucially, Brotherhood won all three doubles.

After losing the first doubles of the match, Paul Hume, Martyn Green and Adam Wilkin of Nomads Lions got their side’s Cup campaign off to a good start in Group G with a confident 5-1 win over potentially difficult opponents Brotherhood E.

But in an all-Windsor clash, Division One Hawks were only able to field two players against Division Two Kestrels and so it was little surprise the Kestrels took the tie 5-0.

* Winning teams are reminded they must send the result sheet to Tony Oswick within twenty-four hours of the match being played. Results and tables will be up-dated and can be viewed each Thursday and Sunday during the Cup weeks on both the League’s website (‘Knock Out Cup Results’) and Facebook pages.

* The only League match played was a bottom-of-the-table clash in Division Two where Brotherhood G won four of the five matches which went the distance to win 8-2. Danny Still’s treble included an 11-7 in the decider win over John Plummer, while Dan Grindrod’s three included an 11-7 in the decider win against the unfortunate Plummer, as well as an 11-4 in the decider success over Dave Sweetland. Still and Grindrod took the doubles 11-6 in the fifth against Plummer and Sweetland.      

RESULTS

HANDICAP CUP

Group A

Brotherhood F 5 Nomads Jaguars 0;

Nomads Bobcats 5 Holland Vulcans 0.

Group B

Brotherhood D 1 Windsor Harriers 5;

Windsor Magpies 5 v Holland Lancasters 0 (w/o)

Group C

Windsor Penguins 5 Nomads Panthers 0 (w/o);

Nomads Ocelots 5 Holland Mosquitos 0 (w/o).

Group D

Brotherhood C 5 Windsor Falcons 2;

Windsor Eagles 2 Windsor Buzzards 5.

Group E

Walton D 5 Nomads Leopards 1.

Walton A 2 Brotherhood B 5;

Nomads Leopards 1 Walton A 5.

Report by Tony Oswick