Tag Archives: Essex Table Tennis

County Juniors

Squirrell driven nuts

Gallery

Woodham A had the Taylor Pest Control company from Cold Norton to thank for their recapture of pole position in the  Burnham & District Table Tennis League this week. 

Woodham A crushed the resistance of Maldon A this week with a dominant 9-1 victory that sees them back atop of the Division 1 table with a game in hand over joint leaders Mapledene A.  Woodham’s Chris Penrose and Lee McHugh went unbeaten all evening whilst third wheel Kaung Htet Paing won 2 of his 3 singles losing out to the leftie genius of Maldon’s Jon Stokes.  However the real drama came in the Mapledene A versus Cold Norton A encounter where so many of the individual encounters could be a forerunner to this year’s League Singles Final.  Mapledene fielded a very strong trio of Gary Young, Liam Squirrell and Reece Seddon but none of them could ‘topple the Taylor’ as Cold Norton’s top player Duncan Taylor laid down his own marker for the upcoming tournament when he destroyed the Mapledene Galacticos.  ‘Destroyed’ might be a bit harsh as the Taylor versus Seddon battle went to a deciding leg, and when disposing of the Squirrell it look 4 long legs before the deed was done.  The Mapledene trio won the rest of the singles including three 5 setters where Young beat Sam Lowman and Charles Sweeny, and Seddon just edged it against Lowman.  Lowman did pair up with the pest control supremo Taylor to flush out and humanely destroy a Young Squirrell combo in the doubles.  A long and eventful evening that finished up with Mapledene as 6-4 winners, and more importantly no rodents were injured or killed during the event.  In the final Division 1 match of the week Fambridge had to forfeit 3 points as they were a player short.  However that was all they gave up during the short and sweet evening’s sport as both John Poysden and Keith Adams won all their matches including the doubles with the only real trouble coming from Stow’s in form Gary Brignall who took Adams to 5 sets.  7-3 to Fambridge.

A full set of fixtures in Division 2 with no real upsets other than Mapledene C unable to win at Stow C.  Woodham C continue to dominate this Division with yet another high scoring victory as they waltzed passed Blackwater B 8-2 to maintain their 100% win rate.  For Woodham Chris Hancox and Graham Briggs both hit home runs with a hat-trick a-piece plus the doubles.  For Blackwater a notable win for Tina Hutchinson as she picked up a valuable point in a 4 leg victory over Dave Meah.  The less fancied Woodham D side had a great start to their match with second placed Maldon B when Eamonn Hall took the opening match in 5 sets against Dawn Baldry.  But despite another three 5 setters and a very long evening that was all Woodham could muster as Maldon B won out 9-1 in a match where the score belied the competitive nature of the match.  Hat-tricks for Colin Napper and Hamish Innes but only just.  Napper hadn’t dropped a set all night until his final match-up, but then the unique and awkward style of Woodham’s Malcolm Henstock caused him to wobble until the very end of the deciding leg where he finished with aplomb to secure his hat-trick and the player of the match tag.  Innes also struggled against Henstock and again had to go to 5 sets to get the job done but this was just a precursor to his main event when in the penultimate match of the night he had a marathon battle with Hall which included Hall saving 10 match points and having 2 match points of his own.  Eventually Innes won out 16-14 in the titanic deciding leg, and as the two athletes fell to the floor the crowd rose in unison to applaud the sport they had witnessed.  Peter Hance was in great form for his Stow B side winning all his singles in a 5-5 draw with Blackwater A.  Despite this form Hance didn’t make the cut for the doubles which Blackwater won and this secured the draw on the night.  Nicky Reece-Ford won the other points for Stow and was on for his own hat-trick until the final leg of the final match of the evening where he succumbed to the trickery of Alan Scammell.  The Stow D team didn’t make the same selection mistake as their B team.  Tim Pulham scored another hat-trick and paired up with Graham Naggs for the doubles point that saw Stow D beat Maldon D 6-4.  Despite the loss there were some good individual performances for Maldon D and especially Ella Sach’s 3 leg victory over the dogged Tim Huxtable.  Maldon C also selected their high scoring players for the doubles and this ensured a 6-4 victory in their match with Cold Norton D.  Maldon’s talismanic Steve Aspland won all of his singles but was pushed hard by the Nortonians.  He was ably supported by Colin Barrell who won twice and of course teamed up with Aspland for the bonus doubles point.  For Cold Norton Dave Hancox was on good form as he took two wins including the Barrell scalp.  In the final match of the week Mapledene C travelled to Stow C hoping for a good win to keep up their podium ambitions.  In a long and tough encounter the result came down to the final match of the night as the two unbeaten top seeds took to the cauldron for a winner takes all skirmish.  With Mapledene 5-4 ahead, the task of redemption fell upon Stow’s Peter Chastin as he faced Mapledene’s Richard Gill.  Before we got to this point both Chastin and Pete Layzell had won 2 points for Stow, including two 5 setters against Mapledene’s Sue Body.  Layzell had beaten Mike Johnston in 5, and then Body atoned for her defeats with her own 5 set victory over Jean Chasmer.  So it had been a tough night all round and the morning was drawing close so naturally the final encounter went into a deciding 5th set.  As their bodies crumbled Chastin just  held on for an 11-4 final set victory and secured the overall draw that stifles the Mapledene top two challenge.

St Lawrence A put their recent mixed form behind them this week when they overpowered highly placed Blackwater C in a 7-3 victory that sees them solidify their top-of-the-division placement.   Steve King showed his class and determination with 3 fine wins in his singles matches and then teamed up with the vastly experienced Mike Pratley to secure the doubles.  Pratley took 2 singles for himself but wasn’t able to overpower the confident play of Blackwater’s pocket rocket Phil ‘Wild’ West.  West took 4 legs to get passed Pratley but then came from behind to beat Mick Robinson in 5 – two great wins for the Blackwater Buccaneer.  Blackwater E have now eased their way into the runner-up spot following a 10-0 whitewash over a 2-player Woodham E side.  A full house for all the Blackwater trio of David Sage, Peter Davenport and the ever-improving Jo Hart.  In the Maldon derby this week F defeated E in yet another extensive and tough encounter.  The F team’s John Leavett was the undoubted star of the show with 4 wins over the course of the evening including a vary lengthy 5 set comeback victory over James Raymond.  Raymond won his other 2 matches for the E team and Roger Warren matched this for the F side.

 

Pic 1 – Liam Squirrell in action against Duncan Taylor this week

Pic 2 – Colin Napper – taking the player of the match accolade for his Maldon B side

Pic 3 – Hamish Innes (Maldon B) working hard for his hat-trick this week

Pic 4 – Jon Stokes (Maldon A) v Lee McHugh (Woodham A) – as Woodham A go back to the top of the league

County Juniors

Sage tastes success in first season

Gallery

For a fourth year running, a member of the younger generation tasted success in the Clacton and District League’s Handicap Singles Tournament, 24-year-old Matt Sage taking the Gordon Denton Trophy, following in the footsteps of James Denyer, Jason Gale and Russell Hillier.

In a quality final, Division Three Sage (+1), in his first season of League table tennis, defeated another surprise finalist, Sharon Gowlett (-1) from Division Two side Windsor Penguins, 13-11, 11-7, 11-8, employing a series of attacking shots which edged each set by the narrowest of margins.

It was a well-deserved victory for Sage who had impressed throughout with his aggressive play, his only defeat of the day occurring during the Group stage, Sage (-3) surprisingly going down 11-8 in the fifth to his Nomads Bobcats’ team-mate Jack Riddleston (+1).

In Round One of the Knock-Out stage, Sage’s handicap advantage (+3) and uninhibited play was enough to defeat Daniel Young (-15), one of the top-ranked players, 11-6, 11-4 in a match played over two-sets.

And Sage followed this with another fine win in the quarter-finals, (on +2) defeating the 2019 champion John Barton (-8) in three-straight.

His semi-final opponent was yet another Division One player, John Hobson, but Sage (+1) displayed a degree of maturity in out-pointing the stylish and vastly-experienced Hobson (-6) 12-14, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9.

Sharon Gowlett had also experienced a demanding day’s table tennis, like Sage qualifying for the Knock-Out stage by virtue of finishing runner-up in her Group.

In Round One, Gowlett (+2) eliminated defending champion Russell Hillier (-8) 11-0, 7-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-0 before, in the quarter-final, defeating fellow-Division Two player John Gallagher in one of the encounters of the day.

With both players being equally matched, their tie went to the wire, Gowlett (+1) edging past Gallagher (-1) 12-10, 13-11, 12-14, 8-11, 13-11, a match as close as the score-line suggests.

And Gowlett made it to the final by defeating Gerry Widnell (+2), another player in his first League season and a player who had surprised everyone, not least himself, in reaching the last four, but eventually succumbing to Gowlett (-8) 11-8, 16-14, 11-9.

Main results – Final : Matt Sage (+1) beat Sharon Gowlett (-1) 13-11, 11-7, 11-8; Semi-finals : Sage (+1) beat John Hobson (-6) 12-14, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9; Gowlett (-8) beat Gerry Widnell (+2) 11-6, 16-14, 11-9; Quarter-finals : Sage (+2) beat John Barton (-8) 11-0, 11-9, 11-0; Gowlett (+1) beat John Gallagher (-1) 12-10, 13-11, 12-14, 8-11, 13-11; Hobson (0) beat Barry Allen (0) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7; Widnell (+1) beat Tom Bryden (-5) 12-10, 6-11, 11-9, 11-1.

Of the sixteen qualifiers from the Groups, eight came from the Third Division, including three juniors, Joe Sherwin, Lucy Carvell and Tom Bryden, and four of the up-and-coming younger generation, JJ Barry, Alex Baldock, Jack Riddleston and, of course, Sage who took pride of place with the victor’s crown.

And the Handicap Singles event once again showed its ability to produce surprise winners, Sage becoming the thirty-second different winner in the Tournament’s forty year history.  

* It was a good week for Mark Gale and Walton C in Division One of the League, the Walton team recording their first win of the season against Walton A, and repeating the 8-2 score-line the following day against Windsor Buzzards.

Gale and Mark Ratcliffe took trebles in the first match, and Paul Meikle a couple, with Gale again unbeaten against the Buzzards, Ratcliffe and Meikle taking a pair apiece.

Walton B were 6-4 winners against Windsor Hawks, Peter Burrows undefeated and Gavin Price taking two. Felipe Rodriguez won two for the Hawks and, with John Barton in the doubles, shared an 11-8 in the decider win against Burrows and John Marshall.

Leaders Nomads Panthers were 9-1 victors against Windsor Eagles, a repeat of their early season score. James Denyer and Gracie Edwards stayed undefeated, with Mel Rampton beating Gill Locke 11-6 in the fifth for the Eagles’ consolation point.

But second-placed Brotherhood A are still hanging on to the Panthers’ coat-tails, this week beating Nomads Lions 7-3, Kevin Gowlett and Gary Young taking maximum points.

In Division Two, Brotherhood D’s relentless push towards the title continued with another success, Sam Plummer and Joe Plummer unbeaten in their 9-1 win over Nomads Jaguars.

Nomads Tigers defeated Brotherhood B 6-4, Denes Somodi winning three and Dave Miller two. The doubles proved unbearably close, Mark Salter and Barry Allen edging home 12-10, 5-11, 11-9, 3-11, 21-19 against Somodi and Miller.

Windsor Penguins beat Walton D 7-3 for a second time this season. Neil Chegwidden was unbeaten while Scott Campbell was denied his hat-trick by Andy Foster who won their individual encounter 11-9 in the fifth.  

James Tindle was Lawford’s unbeaten hero in his team’s 6-4 win against Brotherhood C, but the score could so easily have been 9-1, Brotherhood winning three of the last four matches deuce in the fifth, the closest Paul Metcalf’s 15-13 in the decider victory over Ian Sherwood.

And in a match that’s spanned ten weeks, Windsor Kestrels and Brotherhood C resumed their encounter which had been prematurely ended in November by the illness to Peter Aumord, the final score ending 9-1 to Brotherhood.

In Division Three, leaders Brotherhood E stayed on top after beating Windsor Magpies 7-3, Fred Gallone and Duncan Dunne taking maximum points, whilst their nearest challengers, Windsor Harriers, were pushed all the way before defeating Nomads Bobcats 10-0.

Ruby Gallagher won her three as Brotherhood F defeated Nomads Lynx 8-2, with Lucy Carvell taking a couple but losing out 11-9 in the fifth to Dave Wright. Wright took the two Lynx points.

Brotherhood G recorded two wins to lift them to fourth place in the table. Firstly, in a  match where no player stayed unbeaten, they defeated Nomads Leopards 7-3, Danny Still, Dan Grindrod and Gary Simpson all winning two. And they followed this with a 7-3 success against Nomads Ocelots, this time the Grindrod, Still and Simpson trio all winning three.

And the unfortunate Ocelots suffered another 10-0 defeat, Walton E’s Maggie Earle, Adrian Sexton and Deborah Pallett all taking trebles, a debut League hat-trick for Pallett.

* There will be at least one Division Three side in the semi-finals of the Knock-Out Cup, with Nomads Bobcats and Brotherhood E drawn to play each other in the quarter-finals. The third Division Three side, Brotherhood F, will play top-flight Walton C. The full draw is Brotherhood F v Walton C; Nomads Bobcats v Brotherhood E; Nomads Panthers v Windsor Penguins; Brotherhood D v Windsor Hawks. The matches are to be played during w/c 19th February.

RESULTS

Division 1

Nomads Lions 3 Brotherhood A 7;

Walton C 8 Walton A 2;

Windsor Buzzards 2 Walton C 8;

Windsor Hawks 4 Walton B 6;

Windsor Eagles 1 Nomads Panthers 9.

Division 2

Brotherhood D 9 Nomads Jaguars 1;

Brotherhood B 4 Nomads Tigers 6;

Windsor Kestrels 1 Brotherhood C 9;

Walton D 3 Windsor Penguins 7;

Lawford 6 Brotherhood C 4.

Division 3

Brotherhood G 10 Nomads Ocelots 0;

Windsor Harriers 10 Nomads Bobcats 0;

Brotherhood G 7 Nomads Leopards 3;

Brotherhood E 7 Windsor Magpies 3;

Nomads Ocelots 0 Walton E 10;

Nomads Lynx 2 Brotherhood F 8.

.

Matt Sage

Matt Sage and Sharon Gowlett top of page

County Juniors

The magic of Mapledene

Gallery

Mapledene A fielded possibly the strongest team of the whole season to date for their resounding win over Fambridge this week to storm back to the top of the Burnham & District Table Tennis League.   What a showdown this season is becoming with the potential for a winner takes all finale as the top two sides are scheduled to meet in the final week of the season.

Fambridge welcomed Mapledene A to their manor this week and were fielding a strong and experienced side of Mark Stones, Keith Adams, and Bruce Kettle.  In a classic game of table tennis trumps Mapledene A, desperate to close the gap on Woodham A, played a blinder in the younger, but still experienced trio, of Daniel Young, Reece Seddon and Liam Squirrell.    Adams had a great start to the night where in match 2 he took a surprisingly comfortable straight sets win over Young to even up the match at 1-1.  Unfortunately that was the end of the scoring for Adams, and Fambridge, as the younger holy trinity of Mapledene brushed aside all further attempts to halt their progress.  So hat-tricks for Squirrell and Seddon with the only real scare coming from Adams when he took Seddon all the way to a fifth and deciding set.   Cold Norton B look to have secured third spot this season and were just far too good for Maldon A this week.  The Nortonites ran out 10-0 winners on the night although Maldon’s superb lefty Jon Stokes made them work for it with 5 setters against Ian Wall and Eric Green, and then doing the same again with partner Lloyd Bennett-Smith in the doubles.  No cigar for Stokes though but hat-tricks all round for Wall, Green and Sam Lowman.  Woodham B were delighted to be told that their opponents had a player drop out very late on – an extra 3 points but more importantly some extra post-match valuable team bonding time at a local hostelry beckoned.  Imagine their bewilderment on arrival when told Cold Norton A had a) sorted out a replacement, and b) it was Duncan Taylor.  Taylor secured a 9 dart finish across his 3 matches (he didn’t drop a set), although he was at least troubled by Woodham’s hard-hitting Chris Hancox who probably should have nicked at least one leg.  Matching Taylor was Matt Stringer who also recorded a hat-trick including a comeback 5 leg win over Sanjay Saptarshi.  So an 8-2 victory for 3 man Cold Norton A and no extra-curricular fun time for Woodham B.  In the final top division match this week there was no repeat performance from last week’s Stow Maries hero Gary Brignall.  Mapledene B took down Brignall and his Stowmate Matthew Brown for a 9-1 inflated victory despite all the games going to 4 or 5 legs.  Hat-tricks for Mapledene’s rarely seen Keith Willett, and Kieran Skeggs, with Matthew Brown taking his team’s sole point with a 5 leg triumph over Basildon’s finest Mr Paul Brown.

Division 2 had a full fixture list this week with the vast majority of the games being very tight.  Stow D and Cold Norton D saw out a 5-5 draw with Tim Pulham notching another hat-trick in his amazing season to date.  Team-mate Tim Huxtable took 2 excellent wins, and for Cold Norton Terry Hylands had 2 wins of his own.  Then came three 6-4 home wins for Mapledene C, Maldon C, and Stow Maries B.  Mapledene C defeated closest rivals Maldon B but probably needed a bigger scoreline if they wanted to trouble leaders Woodham C.  Barrie Delf was once again the top player of the evening with 4 wins including the doubles.  Maldon C came out on top against Stow Maries C.  Not surprisingly Steve Aspland was yet again the main man for Maldon with 4 wins over the course of the evening.  Maldon’s Garry Eames took a good 5 set victory over the lovable Dave Goody, and Peters Chastin and Layzell took 2 wins a piece for their Stow team.  Stow B had to work harder than expected against Maldon D for their 6-4 win this week.  No problems for the very in-form Peter Hance as he rattled off his 6th hat-trick of the season.  The Maldon trio all took a win home with them and the doubles, but the pick of the victories goes to Marty Englander who somehow got past the ferocious hitting of Nicky Reece-Ford for a noteworthy 5 set triumph.  In a tense and noisy encounter leaders Woodham C held on for a decent 7-3 win over the very tricky Blackwater A.  The match was not without its drama as the Blackwater trio seemed to get under the skin of the leaders – especially when the away side won an edgy doubles match to bring the match score back to 4-3.  Woodham regrouped and managed to focus to bring home the final 3 singles to maintain their 100% record.  Another hat-trick for Graham Briggs despite being taken to late in the decider by Alan Scammell, and 2 wins each for Chris Hancox and David Meah.  Despite being very short of match-fit or available players Woodham D put out a strong team and duly recorded the biggest win of the week.   8-2 against Blackwater B, and this could have been worse for Blackwater but for some amazing play by Noah Sage and then Gary Smith at crucial times.  For Woodham Eamonn Hall was unbeaten with 3 straight set wins, and Gus Heath matched this hat-trick.  Woodham’s third player Peter Mortensen was also on for a hat-trick and despite a tricky encounter with Sage he seemed to have wrapped up the deciding set when 10-7 up with 3 match points to play – but Sage was far from done as he won the next 5 points to pluck victory from the jaws of defeat, or did Mortensen pluck defeat from the wide open jaws of victory?  Then in the doubles a new and rejuvenated Gary Smith emerged – fearless and attacking. Hitting winner after winner he guided his duo to a very unlikely doubles bonus point and very well deserved it was too.

After this week’s defeat Division 3 leaders St Lawrence now have no wins in their last 3 matches and the gap back to the peloton is narrowing.  However it remains unlikely that any of the Blackwater teams will catch the leaders as yet again they continue to take crucial points off each other.  It was Blackwater D that rocked St Lawrence this week with a 6-4 turnover.  All the damage was done by the very reliable Dave Benstead and Jacquie Treacy.  Benstead won all his singles including a notable 5 setter over the legend that is Mike Pratley, and Treacy, despite losing to Pratley, won her other 2 singles and then combined with Benstead for the doubles.  Blackwaters C and E teams fought out a 5-5 draw.  The C team’s Andy Simmonds was in fine fettle with a personal hat-trick, and he was well supported by Deb Ginn with 2 wins – although Ginn did fall to Jo Hart in 4 legs for Hart’s best win of the season by far, and her first brace of wins to boot.  In the final match of the week Woodham E hosted Maldon F.  The match ended in a draw, but only just as Woodham’s Chris Crooks almost took off his hat when he was faced with deuce in the fifth leg against John Leavett in the final match of the evening – but the stoic Crooks held firm for the match-saving win.  Before that moment Maldon’s Ross Kirby had been the main talking point as he rattled his way through the very different playing styles of the Woodham trio for an outstanding hat-trick.

Pic 1 – Duncan Taylor – best ever last minute call up for Cold Norton A  

Pic 2 – Chris Hancox (Woodham B) v Duncan Taylor (Cold Norton A) this week

Pic 3 – The tense and noisy doubles encounter betwixt Blackwater A and Woodham C

Pic 4 – Peter Mortensen (Woodham D) serving at 10-7 in the fifth leg against the plucky Noah Sage

County Juniors

Tony leads Division 3 Cup charge

Gallery

Three teams from Division Three have made it through to the quarter-finals of the Clacton League’s Knock-Out Cup, following this week’s Round One matches, all three winners defeating sides from Division Two.

Brotherhood E take pride of place after their 5-3 win against Lawford, the often under-rated Tony Edmonds defying the years and his tag as the League’s senior player, staying undefeated in his two singles and two doubles.

But the score-line disguises a tough-fought tie, with four of the five Brotherhood wins coming from matches which went the distance, Edmonds involved in three of them.

Both doubles matches went to five, the closest seeing  Edmonds and Tricia Salter (+1) defeat Ian Sherwood and Charlie Denholm (-5) 6-11, 12-14, 11-8, 11-4, 11-9.

It was also 5-3 for Brotherhood F’s Joe Sherwin, Lucy Carvell and Savindu De Silva against Brotherhood C, the ‘F’ team coming back from 3-1 down at the half-way stage. Lucy Carvell (+1) beat Paul Metcalf (-8) 11-6 in the decider to clinch the victory.

By comparison, Nomads Bobcats breezed through their encounter with Walton D, Matt Sage, Alex Baldock and Jack Riddleston hurrying to a 5-0 victory with something to spare.

Windsor Penguins are only one of two Second Division sides still remaining in the competition. Annabelle Stallwood was their unbeaten heroine in the all-Division Two clash with Nomads Tigers, Stallwood, Scott Campbell and Sharon Gowlett taking it 5-2.

Cup-holders Brotherhood A bowed out 5-0 to Division Two pace-setters Brotherhood D in an encounter where one match was adjudged void because of an incorrect starting handicap and where John Cleasby was forced to concede what turned out to be the final match of the tie.

One top-flight team was guaranteed to go through, and Walton C and Windsor Eagles enjoyed a hard-fought encounter before Walton took it 5-2, five of the seven matches going the distance. Walton skipper Mark Gale was unbeaten in his two singles and one doubles. In a hard-fought opening doubles, Mark Ratcliffe and Paul Meikle (+1) defeated Phil Smith and John Hobson (-1) 11-8 in the fifth. Ratcliffe narrowly failed to win a singles, (on -3) going down 11-5 in the fifth to Hobson (+1) and (on +2) losing 11-7 in the fifth to Mel Rampton (-5).

Division One Windsor Hawks edged it 5-4 against last season’s runners-up, Division Three side Nomads Leopards. Andy Vincent won two singles and, with John Barton (on -11), the final doubles 13-11, 11-6 in a best-of-three match against Bob Jillins and Stu Wilkinson (+2) The closest match of the evening saw Jillins (+2) edge past Barton (-8) 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 11-13, 11-9.

But favourites Nomads Panthers are still in the competition and still looking good after their 5-1 victory over Division Two Windsor Kestrels. James Denyer retained his 100% Cup record this season, in the process sealing the tie (on -13) with a 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 win over Dad Allen Denyer (+3).

* Round Two of the competition takes place during week beginning 19th February. Details of the draw will be circulated by 4th February.

* Next Saturday (3rd February) sees the Handicap Singles Tournament at Windsor’s St James Hall venue. Details of check-in times and other information will be circulated to all competitors beforehand.

RESULTS

Knock-Out Cup : Round One

Nomads Bobcats 5 Walton D 0;

Windsor Hawks 5 Nomads Leopards 3;

Brotherhood A 0 Brotherhood D 5;

Windsor Penguins 5 Nomads Tigers 2;

Brotherhood F 5 Brotherhood C 3;

Walton C 5 Windsor Eagles 2;

Windsor Kestrels 1 Nomads Panthers 5;

Brotherhood E 5 Lawford 3.

Tony Edmonds – Brotherhood E
County Juniors

Hot at the Top!

Gallery

Things are hotting up in Division One of the Clacton League
following two significant results.
Champions for the last ten seasons, Nomads Panthers are facing
one of their toughest challenges, this week losing for a second
time in a month to Windsor Hawks.
The Panthers, who were without James Denyer, still fielded a
high-class trio in Greg Green, Gill Locke and Gracie Edwards, but
fine hat-tricks from Daniel Young and Andy Vincent gave the
Hawks a well-deserved 7-3 victory. The crucial match proved to
be match nine, with Young defeating Green 11-9 in the decider.
And the Panthers’ insecurity was compounded when their nearest
challengers, Brotherhood A, recorded an emphatic 10-0 win over
Windsor Buzzards. Kevin Gowlett, John Cleasby and Martin
Edwards, who was making his first appearance of the season,
were all unbeaten, with only the doubles extended to a fourth set.
The result leaves Brotherhood just seven points behind the
Panthers but with a game in hand.
Trebles for Adam Cuthbert and Charlie Fulcher, and a couple from
Jason Lloyd, saw Nomads Lions home 9-1 against Walton A. Their
closest win was an 11-8 in the fifth success for Fulcher over Dave
Binns. Derek Willis took Walton’s consolation point with a hard-
fought 11-7, 7-11, 14-12, 11-13, 11-8 win over Lloyd.
Walton B took three of the four matches which went the distance
to edge past Walton C 6-4. Pete Burrows was unbeaten, although
he was taken to five by both Mark Ratcliffe and Mark Gale. Gavin
Price won a couple and shared an 11-7 in the fifth doubles win
with Graham Buxton against Gale and Ratcliffe. For Walton, Gale
won two, and Ratcliffe and Paul Meikle one each, Meikle beating
Buxton 15-13, 9-11, 13-11, 7-11, 12-10.
In Division Two, Brotherhood D strengthened their position at

the top with a 10-0 victory over a Nomads Tigers’ side without
Denes Somodi and fielding a guest player. Simon Smith-Daye,
Sam Plummer and Joe Plummer all stayed unbeaten. Colin
Webber took Smith-Daye to the limit before going down 11-5 in
the fifth, whilst the Plummer brothers were pushed by Dave Miller
and reserve Bob Jillins in the doubles, eventually taking it 11-6 in
the decider.
Windsor Penguins had an excellent 7-3 result against Lawford,
Scott Campbell and Neil Chegwidden each recording trebles.
Campbell defeated Charlie Denholm 11-6 in the decider, the same
score by which Chegwidden beat Richard Spence. Denholm and
Spence took a point each for Lawford, with Denholm and Ian
Sherwood winning the doubles.
The Penguins followed this with a 6-4 success against
Brotherhood B, although the Brotherhood side was hampered
when Barry Allen was forced to concede two matches. Scott
Campbell was again unbeaten for the Penguins, beating Mark
Salter 9-11, 7-11, 15-13, 11-6, 11-9 in the encounter between
the team’s leading players.
Andy Foster and Paul Woolnough remained unbeaten, and Mo
Hardy took two, as Walton D beat bottom team Windsor Kestrels
8-2, the same score as their early season encounter. For the
Kestrels, Debra Found beat Hardy 11-7 in the fifth and, with
Graham Bunce who only played in the doubles, shared a doubles
success against Foster and Hardy.
In Division Three, pace-setters Brotherhood E won 10-0 against
a Walton E side fielding a guest. Fred Gallone, Tricia Salter and
Tony Edmonds were the winning team, Edmonds involved in the
only five-setter of the match, beating Adrian Sexton 11-5 in the
decider.
Tom Bryden, JJ Barry and Joe Sherwin of Brotherhood F were too
good for Nomads Ocelots, winning 10-0. The closest match was
the doubles, Bryden and Barry defeating Anne Bonny and James
Horsler 11-6 in the fifth.
And, in a third 10-0 result, the Bobcats defeated the Lynx in an
all-Nomads clash, Alex Baldock, Matt Sage and Jack Riddleston
taking maximum points. Riddleston just getting the better of
Gerry Widnell 11-7 in the fifth.
Finally, Brotherhood G beat Windsor Magpies 7-3, Dan Grindrod
taking three, and Danny Still and Gary Simpson two apiece. Dave

Sweetland won a couple for the Magpies and, with Alan Rutledge,
beat Grindrod and Simpson in the doubles.

  • Entries for the Handicapped Singles Tournament, which takes
    place on Saturday 3rd February at Windsor’s St James’ Hall,
    should be sent to either Tony Oswick or Peter White. The closing
    date for entry is Saturday 27th January. The entry fee is £4.00.
    Full details have been sent to all players.
    RESULTS
    Division 1
    Walton B 6 Walton C 4;
    Brotherhood A 10 Windsor Buzzards 0;
    Nomads Panthers 3 Windsor Hawks 7;
    Walton A 1 Nomads Lions 9.
    Division 2
    Windsor Kestrels 2 Walton D 8;
    Windsor Penguins 7 Lawford 3;
    Brotherhood B 4 Windsor Penguins 6;
    Nomads Tigers 0 Brotherhood D 10.
    Division 3
    Brotherhood F 10 Nomads Ocelots 0;
    Windsor Magpies 3 Brotherhood G 7;
    Nomads Bobcats 10 Nomads Lynx 0;
    Brotherhood E 10 Walton E 0;
    Brotherhood G 3 Brotherhood E 7.

    County Juniors

    Brignall is on fire

    Gallery

    As we pass the halfway mark of the season the title likelies are becoming ever more apparent in the Burnham & District Table Tennis League.  St Lawrence are firm favourites in Division 3  as the Blackwater teams continuing to scupper each other.  Woodham C have a stranglehold in Division 2, and it’s now looking like a 2 horse race to the finish in Division 1 betwixt the Galacticos of Mapledene A and the surprise package that is Woodham A.  Let the fun begin!

    Leaders Woodham A continued their amazing streak of form with a convincing 10-0 whitewash victory over the usually competitive Cold Norton A.  Hat-tricks for the recent steady trio of Chris Penrose, Harry Chivers and Lee McHugh in a result that solidifies Woodham’s title credentials and condemns Cold Norton to a mid-table finish.  Fambridge bounced back after their recent unexpected losses with a 2-man 7-3 win over the resurgent Woodham B.  Fambridge’s John Poysden and Mark Stones went through the card without dropping a set, a much needed fillip for the team.  Mapledene A hosted the bottom team Stow A and were looking to keep in touch with Woodham A.  However they hadn’t allowed for the Stow pocket rocket that is Gary Brignall.  Brignall was literally on fire – he saw off Peter Barrett 12-10 in the fifth set, then did the same to Babul McLeod, and finished off with a 4 set victory over Steve Muth.  That is right up there with the performance of the season!  Unfortunately Brignall was dropped for the doubles so that was the end of the scoring for Stow as Mapledene cleaned up the rest of the matches for a 7-3 victory.  This would normally be seen as a good points tally but with Woodham racing away the gap is widening each game.  The wily John Monk was the star turn in the final Division 1 match this week.  His hat-trick helped Mapledene B secure an away draw against Cold Norton C.  For Cold Norton both Arron Chandler and Kim Shead picked up a couple of wins.

    A full schedule of matches this week in Division 2 with the leading teams all picking up big wins.  Runaway leaders and the still unbeaten Woodham C took a straightforward 10-0 win over the bottom placed team Maldon D.  The singles were all straightforward as Woodham’s trio of Malcolm Henstock, Dave Meah and Graham Briggs all recorded hat-tricks.  However, the doubles was far from straightforward as Maldon’s Ella Sach and Chris Ravenhill put up a proper fight and took Meah and Henstock all the way to a deciding leg.  In a freezing cold venue Mapledene C almost matched the leaders but just fell short of the whitewash against Blackwater B as Neil Thompson managed to beat Richard Gill to register a point for his Blackwater team.  For Mapledene Barrie Delf and Lin Roff went unbeaten in singles and doubles.  Blackwater’s Noah Sage put in a good shift losing out to Gill and Roff in 5 sets, and then going all  the way in doubles with partner Thompson.  In the Maldon derby this week the podium hopefuls Maldon B faced their own C team.  In a very competitive match the B side emerged victorious but the C team boasted the player of the match as C team stalwart Steve Aspland won all his singles including two long 5-setters against Colin Napper and Hamish Innes.  That completes Aspland’s ninth player of the match award for the season so far, but for once the dynamic duo of Aspland and partner Colin Barrell fell short in the doubles in another tight 5-setter as Napper and Dawn Baldry won out 11-8 in the deciding set.  Elsewhere in the Division Blackwater A picked up a fine 7-3 victory over Woodham D with the loopy Neil Freeman unbeaten all evening and ably supported by the tricky Alan Scammell with 2 wins of his own.  Peter Mortensen put up the most resistance from the Woodham trio with 2 wins on the night including a topsy turvy 5-setter with Scammell.  Stow C had the busy Peter Chastin to thank for securing their 6-4 win over Cold Norton D.  Chastin won all his singles and combined with his mother Jean Chasmer for the all-important doubles bonus point.  The Stow B and D teams fought out an honourable draw in the final match of the week.  With their top player Peter Hance unavailable Stow B brought in Tony Forster and what a great replacement he turned out to be.   Forster won all 3 of his matches and even came from behind against the tricky Graham Naggs for a 5 set victory.  For the D team Tim Pulham and Ken Sheard won 2 matches each and then combined for the match-saving doubles win.

    St Lawrence remain comfortable leaders at the top of Division 3 despite being held to a draw this week at Maldon E.  However, some might say the Blackwater Club is doing itself a misjustice as their teams keep taking points off each other so that the 3 Blackwater teams in the Division continue to fight it out for the runner-up slot.  This week Blackwater D faced Blackwater E and despite the artic conditions inside the venue managed to run out 7-3 winners.  David Smith and Benstead racked up all their points as they went unbeaten in singles and combined for the doubles with the only real hiccup being the E team’s Ron Tam’s resistance in his encounter with Smith, forcing him to go all the way to 5 long sets.  For St Lawrence Mike Pratley was back to his usual winning ways registering another hat-trick.  For Maldon E Arthur Shadforth and James Raymond both won their other singles and then combined to get one back on Pratley as they won out in the doubles after 5 long sets.

     

    Pic 1 – Harry Chivers leads the way for Woodham A in his win over Steve Sawyer of Cold Norton A

    Pic 2 – Dan Patynski (Woodham B) versus John Poysden this week  

    Pic 3 – Neil Freeman (Blackwater A) v Peter Mortensen (Woodham D)

    Pic 4 – Gary Brignall – Stow A – performance of the week

    Pic 5 – Division 1 table – as it stands

    County Juniors

    A week of Shocks and Crocks

    Gallery

    In a week blighted by injuries Woodham A solidified their ‘New Kidz on the Block’ reputation in the Burnham & District Table Tennis League with a thunderous victory against current champions Fambridge.  They are now firm favourites for the title as all concerns about fleeting glory and lack of depth have been dashed with impressive result after impressive result. 

    After last week’s defeat to Woodham A Fambridge were probably not relishing such a quick return visit and rightly so.  Fambridge juggled their squad but Woodham stuck to the old adage of never change a winning team – and boy did it pay off.   Fambridge found themselves 8-0 down before they troubled the scoreboard – a position they may never have been in before.  Both Harry Chivers and Chris Penrose won all their matches – Penrose needed to go beyond deuce in the fifth set to eventually taste victory over Keith Adams, and Adams was injured late on in proceedings so unfortunately had to concede his match with Chivers.  Lee McHugh was the third leg of the Woodham Holy Trinity and he had beaten both Adams and Bruce Kettle in straight sets before succumbing to the experience of Fambridge Captain John Poysden in the penultimate match of the evening.  A final result of 9-1 to Woodham and a sporting shockwave that troubled the local Richter scale.  The second injury of the week occurred in the Cold Norton derby where the A team hosted the B team, and this one may have impacted the final result.  Cold Norton B came through with a 6-4 scoreline in their favour courtesy of some excellent wins from Sam Lowman and Ian Wall.  Dave Richardson had already beaten Charles Sweeny for one point and then received a walkover point for his final match with Duncan Taylor that had to be scratched for an injury scare.  It was this point that secured the overall victory that keeps Cold Norton B secure in 3rd spot.  Maldon A picked up a good haul of points against Cold Norton C as both Derek Balding and Lloyd Bennett-Smith picked up hat-tricks.  Balding has only lost once this season and is in the reckoning for the coveted most valuable player trophy if he can continue to rack up enough matches.  Despite their incredible singles form, Balding and Bennett-Smith are clearly less adept in the doubles department as they got swept aside in 3 quick legs by Cold Norton’s Dick Wyman and Tim Cramphorn.  Maldon’s Colin Napper edged his match with Wyman to complete the scoring for Maldon in the final 7-3 victory.  At the bottom of the table there was another repeat fixture from last week as Stow A hosted Woodham B.  It is not clear what was said to the Woodham players that evening but they clearly took inspiration from their A team victory earlier in the week and managed to repeat the 9-1 scoreline – surely the best two results of the season for the Woodham Club.  For Woodham Dan Patynski was on fire with 3 comprehensive singles victories that gave him his third player of the match award for the season.  His partner in crime Sanjay Saptarshi was equally successful with 3 singles victories but he was made to work hard for this as Stow’s Gary Brignall took him all the way to a fifth set in the opening match of the night with some excellent aggressive play.  Despite an awful doubles performance the week before Woodham persevered with the Patynski / Saptarshi doubles pairing and this week they were unstoppable and the faith in them was restored with a quickfire straight sets win.  Often for Woodham B that’s where the scoring stops but this week saw Eamonn Hall rack up a could of wins for his team for his first brace of the season in Division 1.  Hall seemed to find all the right answers in the battle of the mathematicians with Stow’s Peter Chastin – well only in the fifth set, it had been very cat-and-mouse up until then as both players measured and assessed each other’s strengths and weaknesses.  For Stow Brignall stopped the whitewash coming from behind to beat Hall in a testing 4-setter.

    Woodham C continue to set the pace in Division 2 and it would be easy to dismiss their 8-2 victory over Stow B this week as a straightforward win.  It was anything but!  Five of the individual matches went to a deciding fifth leg, and only one match all evening was settled in straight sets.  Woodham’s David Meah put in a star turn for his team with a hard-fought hat-trick of singles and a bonus doubles point with partner Chris Hancox.   In a rollercoaster 5 setter with Stow’s Peter Hance Meah faced several match points as the fifth set went all the way to 14-14 before Meah somehow mustered the will to win.  In fact that was Hance’s only defeat of the evening as he was able to squeeze passed Hancox in 5, and Adi Kamma in 4 sets.  The real story though has to be the incredible fighting spirit of Stow’s Nicky Reece-Ford.  He lost out to Meah in 5 sets having led 2-1, then fought back against Kamma to square up at 2-2 before succumbing 11-9 in the final set, and then in the very last match of the evening against Hancox he again fought back to even up proceedings at 2-2, and then took a 10-1 lead and was evidently on his way to a much deserved point. But hold onto your horses and stop counting those chickens.  Hancox, staring at defeat down both barrels, relaxed and just started hitting everything – boom, boom, boom.  11 points on the bounce for the most incredible recovery since Lazarus opened his eyes and asked if Spurs had won anything yet.  With a perfect win record and such gumption within the squad it is hard to see Woodham being caught this season.   Maldon B continue to fight to close the gap on Woodham and this week they were able to beat Cold Norton D 7-3 with a Colin Napper hat-trick.  Dawn Baldry chipped in with 2 good wins and Shirley Carroll playing up for the B team scored an excellent 5 set win over the dogged Gordon Gatheral.  Maldon C recorded the same result against Blackwater B with all their points coming from an unbeaten night for Steve Aspland and Colin Barrell for all their 7 points.  Stow D upset the alphabetical apple cart as they overturned their own C team with a fine 7-3 triumph.  The D team’s Tim Pulham continued his great vein of form as he went through the card unbeaten and untouched with 3 straight sets victories.  Pulham was ably wingmanned by Ken Sheard with 2 wins and Graham Naggs chipping in with a decent 5 set win over Jean Chasmer.  For Stow C Pete Layzell was on good form as he defeated both Naggs and Sheard for a worthy brace.  The Woodham D versus Maldon D encounter was the most dramatic of the week as the Woodham starlet Alex Wilson was badly injured in the middle of his opening game against Ella Sach and had to be rushed off to A&E.  We all wish Alex a speedy recovery and hope to see him back playing once his body has healed.  So with Wilson incapacitated Woodham found themselves 4-1 down after just 2 games.  Maldon’s Marty Englander and Shirley Carroll were both able to get the better of Peter Mortensen so were able to take a 5-2 lead with just 3 games to go.  Mortensen and Alan Dadswell came from behind in the doubles against Englander and Sach to win the final 2 legs both 11-9 to keep the match alive.  Continuing the theme Mortensen came from behind against Sach to make it 4-5 going into the final match.  Carroll took a 2-1 lead against Dadswell and looked like she had wrapped up the victory, but Dadswell wasn’t quite done and clawed his way back into contention before seeing out the deciding leg 11-7 to secure a share of the spoils.  When interviewed after the match an emotional Dadswell dedicated that victory to his injured team-mate.

    It was a busy week for the Woodham Club as their E team turned out twice in Division 3 this week but unfortunately had missed the rousing team talk and failed to register a win.  First up, the delightful Blackwater C trio dispatched them with a convincing 8-2 victory and another player of the match trophy for Kath Little.  Little came from behind to eventually beat Woodham’s best player Peter Harverson in 5 sets.  Harverson won his other matches to record his teams 2 points, with Blackwater’s Deb Ginn and Phil West both scoring a couple of points a-piece.  Later in the week the same Woodham trio travelled to Maldon E and whilst statistically they fared a little better this was wholly down to Maldon fielding a 2 player side.  But if you are a player down then its good to have two of your best and this is what they had in Arthur Shadforth and James Raymond – both recording excellent hat-tricks and of course combining for the doubles – an excellent nights work as they won 7-3!  Blackwater E maintained their push for a podium finish this year with a tight 6-4 victory over the Maldon E side.  For Blackwater the under-utilised Jason Bush was the clear star as he went unbeaten in singles and doubles, including a tight 5 set victory over Arthur Shadforth.

    Pic 1 –Chris Penrose (Woodham A) – on hat-trick duty this week  

    Pic 2 – Dan Patynski (Woodham B) with a player of the match performance this week  

    Pic 3 –Chris Hancox (Woodham C) in his epic comeback against Nicky Reece-Ford this week

    Pic 4 –Dan Patynski and Sanjay Saptarshi (Woodham B) – the dynamic duo

    County Juniors

    Lions on the March

    Gallery

    Nomads Lions continued their quest for a top three place in Division One of the Clacton League with a 7-3 win over Walton B. There were hat-tricks for Adam Cuthbert and Martyn Green, although it was a narrow 12-10 in the decider for Green against Gavin Price. Price and John Marshall picked up a point each for Walton, and shared a doubles success.

    Leaders Nomads Panthers fielded a reserve against Walton C but still ran out 8-2 winners, James Denyer and John Hatley unbeaten. Mark Gale and Paul Meikle picked up a point each for Walton.

    Windsor Hawks v Windsor Eagles ended all-square, the first draw of the season for both teams. Mel Rampton with three and Phil Smith with two were the Eagles’ points-scorers, whilst Andy Vincent took a couple for the Hawks.

    Dave Martin of Windsor Buzzards defeated Walton A’s Dave Binns in the opening match of the encounter, but that was the Buzzards’ sole success, Derek Willis and Colin Dearman notching up hat-tricks in Walton’s 9-1 victory. The closest match saw Binns come back from two sets down to beat Pete Bloomfield 6-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6.

    In Division Two Brotherhood D and Brotherhood B shared the four matches which went the distance, the ‘D’ side edging the encounter 6-4. Simon Smith-Daye took three and Kevin Pryor two, with the pair sharing a crucial 11-5 in the fifth doubles win against Mark Salter and Paul Alden. James Smith-Daye ended pointless, losing close in five to both Salter and Barry Allen. Salter won two for the ‘B’ team.

    Lawford were comfortable 10-0 victors against bottom team Windsor Kestrels, a result which puts Lawford just five points behind Brotherhood D at the top. Alex Dunne, Charlie Denholm and Ian Sherwood were the winning Lawford threesome.

    Daryl Lott made only his third appearance of the season for Nomads Jaguars and his treble was instrumental in his side’s 6-4 win over Walton D. Kevin Hogg’s two for the Jaguars included an excellent win over Andy Foster. Clive Allenby won two for Walton and took Lott close before going down 11-8 in the decider.

    No-one stayed unbeaten as Brotherhood C beat Windsor Penguins 6-4 in a tie where only two matches were extended to a fourth set. For Brotherhood, Mark Boyland and Mark Beckham each won two, Boyland losing to Scott Campbell and Beckham to Neil Chegwidden. For Brotherhood, Campbell and Chegwidden both won two, Chegwidden going down to Boyland and Campbell going down to Beckham.

    Nomads Tigers defeated Nomads Jaguars 8-2, Denes Somodi unbeaten, with Mike Wellum and Dave Miller each taking two. Chris Petrou won the two Jaguars’ points, whilst Kevin Hogg so nearly picked up another, going down 12-10 in the decider to Wellum.

    In Division Three, the all-Windsor clash between the Harriers and the Magpies ended 7-3 in favour of the Harriers, Isabel Barton remaining unbeaten. The Harriers suffered only their second doubles defeat of the season, Dave Sweetland and John Plummer beating Barton and Jenny Higgins in four.

    Five of the matches between Brotherhood F and Walton E went the distance, Brotherhood edging a tight match 6-4. Joe Sherwin emerged unbeaten, his closest match being an 11-6 in the fifth win against Maggie Earle. Lucy Carvell won two but lost 11-6 in the fifth to Earle, whilst Ruby Gallagher won one but went down 12-10 in the decider to both Earle and Adrian Sexton.  

    There were debut League hat-tricks for Jack Riddleston and Alexander Baldock in Nomads Bobcats’ 9-1 win over Nomads Ocelots. But Anne Bonny of the Ocelots had the satisfaction of an excellent 11-5, 12-14, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7 win over Matt Sage.

    Nomads Leopards were forced to field a guest player against Nomads Lynx but were still good enough to win 7-3, Dominic Joannou and Bob Jillins unbeaten.

    * The draw for Round One of the Cup sees Cup-holders Brotherhood A face a tough tie against current Division Two pace-setters Brotherhood D. In the only all-Division One tie, Walton C take on Windsor Eagles. The full draw is : Nomads Bobcats v Walton D; Windsor Hawks v Nomads Leopards; Brotherhood A v Brotherhood D; Windsor Penguins v Nomads Tigers; Brotherhood F v Brotherhood C; Walton C v Windsor Eagles; Windsor Kestrels v Nomads Panthers; Brotherhood E v Lawford. The matches are to be played during week beginning 22nd January.

    * The Handicapped Singles Tournament takes place on Saturday 3rd February at Windsor’s St James’ Hall venue, and entries should be sent to either Tony Oswick or Peter White. Entry will  be limited to 32 players on a first-come basis. Full details have been sent to all players and are also on the League’s website.

    RESULTS

    Division 1

    Walton C 2 Nomads Panthers 8;

    Windsor Buzzards 1 Walton A 9;

    Windsor Hawks 5 Windsor Eagles 5;

    Nomads Lions 7 Walton B 3.

    Division 2

    Walton D 4 Nomads Jaguars 6;

    Brotherhood D 6 Brotherhood B 4;

    Lawford 10 Windsor Kestrels 0;

    Brotherhood C 6 Windsor Penguins 4;

    Nomads Jaguars 2 Nomads Tigers 8.

    Division 3

    Nomads Lynx 3 Nomads Leopards 7;

    Windsor Harriers 7 Windsor Magpies 3;

    Walton E 4 Brotherhood F 6; Nomads Ocelots 1 Nomads Bobcats

    Adam Cuthbert of Nomads Lions
    County Juniors

    Stanford continue in style

    Gallery

    Division 1 leaders Stanford Le Hope A made a bright start to the New Year. A 6 – 3 win away to Hockley C  extends their lead at the top to two points. Mitchell Jones was again their POM, easily winning all his matches. Dave Hancox added two and Peter Weatherall one. Hockley’s David Chenery, Aaryan Vatsa and Joseph Odegbami each won one.

    Second place Invicta A overcame Brand Identity B 5 – 4 despite skipper Tony Ayliffe suffering with the flu. Mick Grout had an outstanding night for the visitors, taking the POM award and winning all his matches. However, two wins apiece for Steve Marr and Lee Marson and one from Tony won it for Invicta.

    Bottom side Hadleigh Forum C recorded their first win of the season beating Canvey A 5 – 4. Ray Wilson will feel a little aggrieved having won all his contests for the visitors. However two each for Satwant Gill and Graham Farmer and one from Mark Everard saw the home side over the line. Jo Hills got Canvey’s other success.

    Rawreth Megazone C could only muster two players for the visit of Lentern. It was a case of “what might have been” as the visitors won 6 – 3. Gary McCarthy won two and team mate Colin Clements one for the home side. Paul Sims was unbeaten for Lentern.

    A Bob Skews hat trick led RESSC to a 6 – 3 win at Rawreth Megazone D, who also couldn’t find a third player. George Davis won two, and Charlie Kauders-Boothby one, for the home side.

    The match between Mapledene and Hadleigh Forum B had to be postponed because Mapledene’s premises were not available.

    Division 2

    The New Year started with a bang for Debbie O’neill who picked up her first maximum of the season leading her Matchpoint B team to a 6-3 win against Invicta B. It was a match that could have been closer with three games going to five sets but two of those went in favour of Matchpoint to give them the edge. O’neill was pushed all the way by Mike Keeble who also lost another five set match to Ben Murray. Jack Riley’s brace backed up O’neill’s hat trick to add to Murray’s single point. For Invicta Mike Keeble eventually got a win defeating Riley whilst Sarah Ball and Keith Baxter also grabbed a single win each.

    Biggest surprise of the week was Basildon B’s 9-0 thumping of Runnymede only their second win of the season. Andy Roff’s opening five set win, 15/13 in the decider against Andrew Humphris, must have inspired the ‘New towners’ to begin the New Year in style and they continued in fine form after that with Jenne Seibolt and Graham Bland proving just too strong for their opponents. Only Bland’s second match of the season and a POTM performance.

    Elsewhere in the league leader’s Matchpoint A came away with an expected 7-2 win against bottom club Rawreth Megazone E but the scoreline didn’t tell the whole story. Apart from James Elliot, who recorded the perfect hat trick, team mates Jeremy Giffin and Lucy Elliot were pushed all the way by Rawreth’s Richard Kidd, Amar Al-Soufi and Jaspreet Singh with five matches going the full distance. Three of those matches involved Matchpoint’s Lucy Elliot who managed one win against Singh but Jeremy Giffin did better winning both his five set matches before completing his hat trick. This performance should give Rawreth some confidence as they enter the second half of the season.

    In contrast to the last game the closest match of the week, Basildon A’s 5-4 win at Canvey B, was surprisingly straight forward as no less than seven games were decided in straight sets. Still with Christmas in mind Les ho-ho Hoey recorded another perfect hat trick whilst team mate Arun Joy brought some belated New Year joy winning two. Failing to add to their tally was Stephen Walters who missed out in the only five set match of the evening conceding a 2-1 lead to Tony Westwell. Andrew Murray picked up two wins for the Islanders with Des Duffield adding the fourth.

    Player of the Week – Debbie O’neill

    Team of the Week – Basildon B

    No sooner had the Christmas and New Year celebrations ended before it was time for competition to
    resume in Division 3.
    League leaders, Matchpoint ‘C’ got off to a great start in their match against Rawreth Megazone ‘F’
    and raced into a 4/1 lead before Megazone rallied to win the last 4 games for a 5/4 victory. For
    Matchpoint there were 2 wins each for Lotte Mills and Max Mayo, including a fine win for Max over
    the experienced Jan Thorpe. Both Jan and Ethan Nunn recorded 2 wins for Megazone and it was
    Ethan who clinched the match in the final game of the night, beating Max in 4 sets. Graham Back
    was the other point winner for Megazone.
    Canvey ‘C’ kept up the pressure on the top teams with a 6/3 win against Hadleigh Forum ‘D’.
    Another POM performance and hat-trick here for Trevor Hayes, ably assisted by Stephen Parker who
    was also unbeaten. A win apiece for the Forum trio of Todd Barker, Sineh Ball and Douglas Brown
    over John Saunders.
    Second in the table, Stanford ‘D’ took on the juniors of Evolve and, to no great surprise, came away
    with a 9/0 win. Vaughan Chambers was the POM with a ‘perfect maximum, with unbeaten
    performances also from Andrew Jessop and Peter Moxham, although Peter had to dig deep in his
    game against Aaron Price, recovering from the loss of the first two sets to crawl over the line at
    13/11 in the decider.
    The Hockley ‘F’ juniors came up against Stanford ‘C’ and another whitewash was on the cards as
    Stanford reeled off the first 8 games with minimum fuss. However, Albie Richardson had other ideas
    and he stopped the rot, beating Mandy Till in 4 sets and, in doing so, recorded his first win of the
    season. Well done Albie! Randy Santiago was the POM here for Stanford with skipper Mark Farley
    also unbeaten.

      County Juniors

      Chivers delivers Shivers

      Gallery

      Harry Chivers and his Woodham A side are finally catching up on their postponed matches and following this week’s result are now joint favourites for the Burnham & District Table Tennis League Division 1 title alongside the Galacticos of Mapledene A.

      The majority of the league action this week took place on a cold and very wet evening at Champions Manor Hall in South Woodham – it’s on days like these that you really appreciate playing an indoor winter sport.  The two top division encounters saw two of the top contenders fight it out and the two bottom placed teams doing battle for that wooden spoon.  It’s fair to say there was a lot more tension in the top of the table clash and a lot more frivolity at the other end of the hall.  Woodham A have been the surprise package this year and continue to recruit well.  They remain the only top side with a 100% win rate and are looking like real contenders.  This week they welcomed current champions Fambridge into their manor – with both sides introducing their latest signings.  Woodham welcome back Harry Chivers and Fambridge revealed Reuben Okai as their latest marquee signing.  The two debutants met in game 3 with the match even at 1-1, and Chivers clearly won the battle of nerves as he came out all guns-a-blazing for a quick fire 3-0 victory.  4-2 at the break and Okai had notched his first point in a comeback 5-setter against Lee McHugh.  He went on to take another good scalp in the form of the unbeaten Chris Penrose but his team-mates could not cope with the continued pressure from the Woodham trio eventually losing out 7-3 with McHugh beating Mark Stones in the final match of the evening, and Chivers delivering the goods with a season debut hat-trick.  So Woodham maintain their unbeaten run and are now just 6 points behind leaders Mapledene A with a game in hand – let’s see how Fambridge react to this defeat in the return fixture next week.

         Woodham B took on bottom placed Stow Maries A in the Wooden Spoon Cup and got off to a flier as they took an early 3-0 lead before Stow’s Richard Storey came from behind to take the final two legs 12-10 against the hard-hitting Chris Hancox to finally trouble the scoreboard.  It was 4-2 at the break as Sanjay Saptarshi won his second match against Peter Chastin, and Gary Brignall scored Stow’s second point in an excellent straight sets victory over Dan Patynski – although one leg did go to 17-15.  Brignall and Storey absolutely stormed through the doubles to close the gap even further and then in the first of the run in matches Chastin outlasted Hancox in a 5 set clash of styles thriller to even things up at 4-4.  All to play for in the last two matches and Storey soon found himself 2-1 up against Patynski and looking for his team to sneak into an overall lead.  To his credit Patynski persevered with his rolling technique and it all finally clicked into gear and he was able to dominate the final 2 legs to put Woodham back in the ascendency. In the final match Brignall got off to a great start and took a surprise first leg lead before Saptarshi tweaked his concentration and got his block working correctly – once this was under control Brignall had lost his first set advantage and Saptarshi finished out the match for his hat-trick and to secure the overall victory for Woodham.

      In Division 2 the Stow B side also travelled to Woodham and left with a decent 6-4 victory with Peter Hance unbeaten.  The opening game for Hance was the toughest of the night as he and Trevor Collin went toe-to-toe for the first 4 legs before finding themselves at deuce in the deciding 5th leg.  Hance had 6 match points on the trot – and if you believe Collin all of these resulted from nets and edges, whereas in truth it was only 5.  Eventually Hance had enough of the games and won out 18-16.  Collin showed great fitness levels playing a full 15 legs in the singles with 2 victories in his remaining games and then teaming up with Alex Wilson for a 4 set doubles.  The only other point for Woodham came from Alan Dadswell’s triumph over Dave Marsh.  With Hance picking up a hat-trick he needed the support of Nicky Reece-Ford with 2 wins and Marsh picking up a point against Wilson for the overall victory.  The only other league match over Xmas saw Maldon B victorious in the Maldon derby with their D side.  Comfortable hat-tricks for B team regulars Dawn Baldry and Colin Napper and they wrapped up the points with a doubles bonus point for the overall 7-3 result.  In the toughest match of the evening the D team’s Ella Sach looked like she had thrown away a 2-0 lead against James Raymond only to shake off the cobwebs and take the decider with a comfortable margin.

      On a sadder note, the Burnham & District Table Tennis League would like to share their condolences with the Knights family for the recent loss of long term Treasurer and Committee member Martin Knights.  He was a great friend to many, and a great servant to our league – he will be sorely missed.

      Pic 1 – John Poysden (Fambridge) versus Harry Chivers (Woodham A) – action from this week

      Pic 2 – Gary Brignall (Stow A) trying to find a way past the block of Sanjay Saptarshi (Woodham B)

      Pic 3 – Dave Marsh (Stow B) losing out to the fighting fit Trevor Collin (Woodham D)

      Pic 4 – Fambridge’s new signing Reuben Okai in action at Woodham this week

      Pic 5 –  Martin Knights RIP – Burnham League Legend