The top two teams in the Premier division both delivered big wins in week 12 of the season keeping the difference between them at the top of the table at a meagre 2 points. First off we had Rawreth B seeing off Stanford A 9-0, a result which doesn’t truly justify the great games played on the night with the game of the night coming as Dan Zeffie and Vivvan Babbar went toe to toe with the Rawreth man coming out on top 11-9 in the 5^th. Thorpe Bay A were in even more miserly mood as they beat Invicta A 9-0 without dropping a game all night.

Elsewhere there was another man of the match performance for Liam Squirrell who took 3 wins for Rayleigh Mill against a Rawreth A team of George Reeves, Eric Green and Kim Shead. Unfortunately for the Millers that was all they had to show from the evening as Rawreth won the remaining 6 games against Rob Harris and Steve Maltby.

The closest game of the week came as Hockley A travelled to Brand Identity and came away with a good 5-4 win. Matt Stringer doing most of the damage for Hockley with three wins, albeit all coming in 5 ends, and Sanjay Saptarshi chipping in with a good two wins against Adam and Richard Jackman, Saptarshi just falling short against Simon Jacob.

Division 1 leaders Hockley B suffered a shock defeat this week at home to Canvey A. Despite another hat trick from their star player Joseph Odegbami, Hockley succumbed 5 – 4. A good all round team performance by Canvey that had two wins each for Peter Cray and Bob Skews, and one for Ray Wilson, means that the leaders have slipped to within catching distance.

Second place Hockley C took full advantage of this slip by winning 8 – 1 against visiting Stanford Le Hope B, effectively closing the gap to the leaders to only two points. Not for the first time this season, Elliot Brackenbury took the Player of the Match prize, not dropping a set the whole match. Team mate Will Evesham was also unbeaten. Rob Salvage managed to overcome veteran Tim Pang to collect the visitors’ only success.

Rawreth C’s large squad is playing dividends as they consolidated third place with a fine 7 – 2 win against Hadleigh Forum B. Yet again Paul Brown was the Rawreth star. Michael Tappenden managed both wins for Forum overcoming both Michael Rigg and David Gatheral. A special mention should be given to Forum’s Jan Thorpe who has returned to our sport this season in Division 3 however, he wasn’t disgraced by his performance in this Division 1 match whilst playing up.

Struggling Basildon B put up a spirited fight against visitors Mapledene, only going down 5 – 4 in the last rubber of the evening. Mapledene’s Lin Roff took the POM accolade, although her two wins were matched both by team mate Andy Seaman and the home side’s Kieran Wood and Chudi Ukpaka. However, Mike Johnston’s single victory was the deciding factor in giving Mapledene the win.

Hadleigh Forum C could only find two players this week. It was no surprise then when visitors Wakering A won 7 – 2. Xi Wei won all his games, although the home side’s Paul Fawell took him very close. Xi’s colleagues Barbara Chabior and Mick Grout won one contest each, but neither could overcome Paul who got both his side’s points.

The top four teams in Division 2 were all in action this week playing each other but there was no change in their league positions as a result.

Leaders Wakering held off third placed Hockley D winning 6-3 and second placed Matchpoint B won by the same score against Canvey B.

Wakering’s win was, as is usually the case, founded on the back of Callum Turner’s performance and he didn’t disappoint with a hat trick. He did, however, drop two sets to Howard Collins eventually winning 11/2 in the decider. Turner was backed up by Mike Grout who also returned a hat trick although he too was taken to five sets by Collins. Collins did eventually get a point for Hockley beating Paul England, you guessed it, in five sets. Brian Bissenden and Paul Strutt followed Collins example both also winning against England.

Matchpoint’s win against Canvey followed a similar pattern with John Lott and Hannah Harbour again providing two hat tricks to ensure the win but they did meet some stern resistance Harbour having to twice survive five set battles against first Terry Giddens and then Trevor Hayes. Lott had to withstand just the one five set match against Giddens but it was quite a match Lott winning the first two sets 11/8 12/10 before Giddens battled back winning the next two 11/9 11/9. The deciding set threatened to go on indefinitely until Lott edged it 18/16. Canvey’s points came courtesy of wins for Giddens, Hayes and Des Duffield all against Colin Barham.

Basildon C’s form in recent weeks has shown a marked improvement with two wins in their last three games and they made it three out of four games after a 6-3 win against Matchpoint C. The evening didn’t start well however as they lost the first two games but then won the next six in succession to turn the match on it’s head and secure the win. Andy Roff was the man behind the win winning all his games and he was backed up by two wins from Dave Walton and one for Victor Galben. Samuel Morgan provided two wins for Matchpoint and took Roff to five sets whilst Zachary Samuels beat Galben for the other point.

The other team at the bottom of the table, Runnymede, turned things upside down in the race to avoid relegation by hammering Invicta B 8-1. The win drops Hockley E (without a game) to one but bottom, moves Runnymede above them but, more importantly, drags Invicta and Matchpoint C into the race. Basildon C remain bottom on 25 points but just two points separate the next four teams Hockley 29 points to Invicta B 31 points. Runnymede’s win was led by the always reliable Tony Millward with a perfect hat trick, Steve Wisbey with his first hat trick of the season and Andrew Humphris with a brace. Andrew St. John got the consolation point for Invicta.

Miles Bygrave produced a stand-out performance when his Evolve ‘A’ side travelled to take on the Division 3 leaders Invicta ‘C’.  Not only was he unbeaten on the night, but he inflicted the first defeat of the season on Invicta’s Harry Venables.  This came in the final game of the match, described as ‘a thrilling 5-set finale’.  It was a shame that his individual efforts were not rewarded with a victory for his team, but it was not for the want of his teammates trying.  In particular, Nova Narayanan who was on the wrong end of close 5-setters against both Harry and David Barlow.  6/3 the final score in favour of Invicta.

Second placed Hockley ‘F’ kept up their pursuit of Invicta at the top of the table, as they recorded a 7/2 home win over Hadleigh Forum ‘D’.  A perfect maximum from Ross Collins saw him deservedly take the Player of the Match plaudits, and he was ably assisted by his skipper, Gary Beck, who was also unbeaten. For Forum, there was a win each for Douglas Brown and Jan Thorpe.

Canvey ‘C’ entertained Matchpoint ‘D’ and a close match ensued.  Steve Kemp was the hero for Canvey with a 9-set hat-trick, well supported by John Saunders who added a couple of wins.  For Matchpoint there was a double for David McHattie and a single win each for Tina Cook and Gary Crouch.

Ehsan Khan, with a win over Karen Kempster, was the only winner on the night for Evolve ‘B’ when they took on Stanford ‘D’.  Marin Winter and Andrew Jessop both recorded maximums, and Karen won her remaining games to complete an 8/1 win for the away side.

Reports by Duncan Taylor, David Barnes, Paul Strutt and David Woolmer

After taking no chances by turning out their top three players against Sudbury Nomads the previous week, Braintree Table Tennis League leaders Netts A showed their strength in depth when they turned to their second-choice players for their next match against Rayne B – and still came away with an 8-2 win.

Szczepan Ziobro was unbeaten in his first outing of the season while Joe Meleschko won two, as did Charles Calisin, playing up from division two.

It was back to full strength for their next match, or indeed full strength plus one when they introduced Andy Dosher for his first match in Braintree for many years.

He and Paul Davison were unbeaten against Black Notley A but it was James Hicks who had the busiest evening.  He beat Steve Noble 11-9 in the fifth game and Sam Burrows 13-11 in the fifth, but couldn’t quite manage the hat-trick, losing 12-10 in the fifth against Luke Burridge, the only set the team dropped.

Netts B sit in second place after three successive wins, 6-4 against Liberal A, where Adam Clift was unbeaten, 6-4 over Sudbury Wanderers, where Chris Parr was unbeaten, and 10-0 over Notley B where both of them, and Sean Clift, were unbeaten.

Like Netts A, Liberal A have a wide selection of players to call on and most of them were unavailable to face Sudbury Nomads, which was bad news for Nomads as Liberal managed to rustle up a team that would be capable of challenging for the title if they played every week.

Brandon Crouchman and Scott Dowsett won three each and Adam Cuthbert two in their 9-1 win.

Nomads recovered to win their next match, 10-0 against their clubmates the Wanderers.

Colin Moss came closest to preventing the whitewash by taking Richard Fifield to 12-10 in the fifth.

After a slow start to his recovery from a knee operation – one win out of six – former men’s singles champion Steve Kerns had the more familiar return of three wins in Notley B’s draw with Liberal B.

Report by Ron Fosker

The clash in Division One of the Clacton League between the Windsor Club’s top two teams, the Hawks and Eagles, ended all-square with honours even. Andy Vincent remained unbeaten for the Hawks, while there were two each for John Pattrick and Gavin Price of the Eagles.

Pattrick came close to taking his three and denying Vincent his hat-trick, losing 11-9, 6-11, 10-12, 11-7, 10-12 to the Hawks’ number one, with the winning point in the final fifth set coming from a fortuitous net.

Scott Campbell of the Hawks was involved in two five-setters, beating Phil Smith 11-5 in the fifth but going down 11-7 in the fifth to Pattrick.

Elsewhere, the Nomads Lions’ juggernaut continued to motor on,  their 10-0 success against Brotherhood C their fifth whitewash win of the season. But despite three each for Adam Cuthbert, Adam Wilkin and Jason Lloyd, the Brotherhood team nearly snatched a point, Tim Leung going down 11-8 in the fifth to Wilkin, and Graham Playle losing out 12-10 in the fifth to Lloyd.

Nomads Panthers were 9-1 winners against Walton A. There were trebles from John Hatley and Greg Green, and a couple for Denes Somodi. Derek Willis took the Walton point with a victory over Somodi, who was also involved in the closest individual match of the week, edging past Mark Gale 13-11, 7-11, 10-12, 12-10, 12-10.

Trebles from Patrick Cheung and Russell Hillier saw Brotherhood B to an 8-2 success over Windsor Buzzards. James Smith-Daye picked up an 11-8 in the fifth victory over Dave Martin but went down by the same score to Buzzards’ reserve Barry Allen. Ray Chillingworth was the other points-scorer for the Buzzards.

In Division Two, Lily Liu recorded a debut hat-trick at this level in Brotherhood D’s 9-1 success against Windsor Kestrels, as well as sharing an 11-7 in the decider doubles win with Kevin Pryor against Graham and Jackie Bunce. Pryor also took a treble, while Fred Gallone won a couple but narrowly failed to make it three, going down 12-10 in the decider to Allen Denyer.

The Brotherhood J v Nomads Jaguars fixture ended all-square, a first drawn match of the season for both teams. Andy Hart with a hat-trick and Chris Petrou with two took the Jaguars’ points. For Brotherhood, Joe Sherwin won two, Lucy Carvell and Ruby Gallagher one each, with Sherwin and Gallagher sharing a doubles success. The first match of the evening was the only one to go the distance, Carvell beating Bob Jillins 11-8 in the fifth.

Three for Kelvin Olano-Harper, two for Paul Woolnough and a first win of the season for Paul Stanton was enough to give Windsor Penguins victory over Windsor Harriers. And the Penguins made it 7-3 thanks to an 11-7 in the decider doubles win for Olano-Harper and Stanton over Ferdy Rodriguez and Isabel Barton in the contest’s closest match.  

In Division Three, leaders Brotherhood H defeated Brotherhood E 7-3. Dan Grindrod took his maximum, with Gary Simpson and Danny Still taking two each. Jack Hillier of the ‘E’ team recorded fine wins over Simpson and Still.

Gary Stallwood and Gerry Widnell notched up trebles for Holland Hurricanes in their 9-1 victory over club-mates Holland Lancasters. John Smith-Daye won two but lost out to Dave Wright, 11-5 in the decider.

Three for Dominic Joannou, two for Anne Bonny and one for Mark Taylor, plus a Joannou/Bonny doubles win, gave Nomads Leopards a 7-3 victory against Holland Vulcans. Derek Foxley took two for the Vulcans, whilst James Horsler won one but went down 11-7 in the fifth to Bonny.

RESULTS

Division 1

Windsor Hawks 5 Windsor Eagles 5;

Nomads Panthers 9 Walton A 1;

Brotherhood C 0 Nomads Lions 10;

Windsor Buzzards 2 Brotherhood B 8.

Division 2

Windsor Penguins 7 Windsor Harriers 3;

Brotherhood D 9 Windsor Kestrels 1;

Brotherhood J 5 Nomads Jaguars 5.

Division 3

Holland Hurricanes 9 Holland Lancasters 1;

Brotherhood E 3 Brotherhood H 7;

Nomads Leopards 7 Holland Vulcans 3.

Report by Tony Oswick

Finchingfield B’s apparent stroll to the Braintree Table Tennis League division three title received an unexpected jolt last week when they were held to a draw by mid-table Black Notley H.

After seven successive wins since the start of the season, the league leaders found their hosts a tough nut to crack.

Seventeen-year-old Lucien Nolan-Bradford kept his unbeaten record – now 18 out of 18 – but was given a tough examination by Wayne Wilson, who bowed out only at 12-10 in the fifth game.

Two wins for Wilson and one each for Harry Wilson and Peter Foster, plus a doubles win for the Wilsons gave Notley a share of the points.

Things were stirring behind the leaders as well where the teams in second and third place faced each other.

Notley E and Rayne F had both won six out of seven and it was the former who came out on top 7-3 to bring the two teams level.

Peter Davenport and Dave Parker were unbeaten, but Davenport had to come back from two games to one down against Dave Whiting and Parker from 2-0 down against Conrad Gomes.

At the other end of the table, the bottom two played each other with Sudbury Drifters picking up their first win of the season.

An unbeaten Ian Whipps led them to a 6-4 win over Netts E.

Rayne G had a 10-0 win over Yeldham Whitlocks B while Netts F’s young warriors picked up a 7-3 win over Notley G.

Frank Chapman, 18, James Howard, 17 and Annabel Dix, 12, picked up two wins each.

Ben Southgate accounted for Notley’s three wins, but he was stretched to four games by Dix and five by Chapman and Howard, clinching a win against Howard only at 17-15.

In division two, Netts and Notley featured in two D v C matches and in both cases the C team came through 6-4.

Charles Calisin was unbeaten for Netts C against Notley D while Jamie Brooks took his three singles in Notley C’s win over Netts D.

The other match in the division was a draw between Yeldham A and Rayne D.

Lorraine Burgess made a welcome return for Yeldham after a lengthy injury lay-off but Dean Andrews’ three singles ensured Rayne shared the points.

A very tight set of matches in the top Division of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League allows Cold Norton B to strengthen their lead without lifting a racket.  Blackwater A are on the hunt in Division 2, and Blackwater C return with a bang after being held cheekily held last week.

Two draws and a tight 6-4 victory for Cold Norton A courtesy of the bonus doubles point show how close the middle teams are within the league this year – the luck of selection and the clash of styles is evident every week.  A 2 player Cold Norton A were able to hold Mapledene A to a credible 5-5 draw despite the rampant Liam Squirrell beating both Kevin Read and Chas Sweeny.  Read and Sweeny won all their other singles and obviously paired up for the doubles victory against George Reeves and the Rampant Squirrell.  In their second match of the week Cold Norton A travelled the short distance to Woodham B and got off to a disastrous start when the awesome Sanjay Saptarshi thrashed Matt Stringer 3-0 in the opening match.  Luckily Cold Norton’s fit and well again Duncan Taylor was on hand to smooth things over with two victories over Graham Briggs and Eamonn Hall – both matches being perhaps more difficult than expected as the Woodham boys put up a decent fight.  The teams went in even at the break with Hall putting in a clinical performance to beat Neil Want in straight sets.  With Stringer barrier hopping for the evening Taylor was called into Doubles action and he decided to play fast and furious – hitting winners for nearly every shot.  His partner, Want, was allowed to serve but that was about all he was allowed to contribute as the Taylor assassination went largely unchecked and the important point was secured in record time.  With a slender lead secured it was all down to the final 3 singles.  Want found some form against Briggs as their topsy turvy match went into a deciding leg.  Briggs remained the most focussed as his opponent was left Wanting and brought the match to a 4-4 stalemate.  That didn’t last long as a relaxed Stringer stormed through Hall with an exhibition of forehand and back loops, so the match was left to the one they had all come to watch – Saptarshi versus Taylor.  Taylor had found his mojo now and was in full winning mode, so much so that despite hitting a few decent winners Saptarshi was blown away for Taylor’s clean sweep of the evening leaving Cold Norton as the 6-4 victors.  On the other side of the Woodham arena their was treble action for two of the Woodham A players.  Daniel Young was in inspirational form for his unbeaten evening across both singles and doubles, whereas Woodham debutant Dan Zeffie had a night to forget as lost all of his singles in long hard fought battles – he lost in 5 to Matt Stringer having been 2-0 up, lost in 5 again to Kim Shead, and was a bit quicker when losing to Arron Chandler in 4 sets.  The Woodham management have issued the standard vote of confidence in Zeffie and predict many a future hat-trick to follow.  Woodham’s Chris Hancox took an excellent point off the very tricky Shead to help Woodham secure the draw.

The story in Division 2 is the rising fortunes of the Blackwater A side as they edge closer to the top 2 each week.  Another good win this week has them closer to the podium than the peloton chasing them, and that’s 4 wins out of the last 5 matches with the other being a draw – so watch this space..  Maldon A stay out in front following an 8-2 victory over Cold Norton E – trebles for the reliable Hamish Innes and Lloyd Bennett-Simth with third wheel Colin napper falling to the divergent styles of Dick Wyman and Tony Forster.  Wyman had a long and tough evening, playing the maximum 15 legs across his three matches for just the single win over Napper.  Second-placed Mapledene C fell to the various charms offered by the Stow Maries B side.  Stow’s Peter Hance was the driving force behind his team’s 7-3 win with a perfect evening where he really only struggled against the feisty Pat White where he needed to use all 5 legs to come out on top – this was the final match of the night so it could have been well past Hance’s bedtime by then.   With Mapledene dropping points Blackwater A closed in on their podium position with a very respectable 7-3 turnover of the Maldon B trio.  In a ‘Dusty Bin 3-2-1’ performance it was Denis Balic with the hat-trick action that did most damage, but he was ably supported by Alan Scammell with 2 wins and Neil Thompson playing up for the final singles point with his 3-0 win over Garry Eames.  Woodham’s hard-hitting Chris Hancox was the difference between the Woodham C and Blackwater B sides this week.  With everyone else taking points off each other it was left to Hancox to smash his way through the Blackwater barrier, dropping just the one set all evening in the 6-4 win.  Maldon C are remarkably low in the division for some of the talent they have registered.  This week they scrambled a draw against Cold Norton D largely thanks to a fantastic treble form Marty Englander including a notable victory over Neil Want.  In support of Englander’s efforts Dawn Baldry notched 2 good wins to help secure the draw.  Want atoned for his earlier loss to Englander by pairing up with Terry Hyland to take the doubles away from Baldry and Englander.

After last week’s unexpected draw for Division 3 leaders Blackwater C it was back to normal this week as they crushed Blackwater F in a chilling 10-0 whitewash.  An unbeaten night for the C team trio of Andrea Alleyne, Gary Smith and Neil Thompson.  Thompson coming through the hardest match of the night as he got the better of Keith Thompson over 5 sets of intense match play.  Blackwater D continue there vain attempts to keep pace with their rampant C team and this week recorded a 7-3 victory over Blackwater E with Roger Tiffin once again the star player with an unbeaten evening of ping pong.  Deb Ginn was the best of the E team winning both of her other matches.  Tim Huxtable was in fine fettle for Maldon E with 3 decent wins against Woodham D.  The Woodham side were just unable to penetrate the Huxtable unorthodox defence.  With Joh Leavett chipping in with 2 wins the final scoreline was 7-3 to Maldon E.  St Lawrence were back to winning ways this week against a 2-player Maldon D side.   It was like going back in time to the early 1970s for this match as former Mens Champion Mick Robinson took on Former Ladies Champion Shirley Carroll – with Carroll narrowly coming out on top some 50 years later.  Luckily for Robinson his team-mates fared better and both Mike Burton and Dave Bateman were undefeated all evening as St Lawrence won out 8-2.

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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer

Burnham & District Table Tennis League

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Pic 1 – Daniel Young completing his hat-trick for Woodham A against Matt Stringer this week

Pic 2 – Sanjay Saptarshi with no answer against the skills of Duncan Taylor

Pic 3 – A Burnham debut to forget for Dan Zeffie – seen here against Arron Chandler.

Pic 4 – Neil and Keith bash it out in the Thompson Battle this week.

Pic 5 – The unbeatable Chris Hancox in destruction mode this week.

There’s little to choose between Windsor Magpies and Walton C in Division Three of the Clacton League, and the two mid-table teams enjoyed another tight scrap this week, sharing the four matches which went the distance.

There was a maximum for the ever-reliable Magpies’ skipper, John Plummer, which included an 11-9 in the fifth win over Lynette Sparks and an even closer 12-10 in the fifth win over Maggie Earle.

But alas for Plummer, Walton took the match 6-4, Sparks and Earle both winning twice, Earle edging past Dave Sweetland 12-10 in the fifth, with Deborah Pallett taking a crucial point against Alan Rutledge, 4-11, 11-9, 13-15, 14-12, 11-4.

Elsewhere, three for Dan Grindrod and two for Gary Simpson, plus a shared doubles win, saw leaders Brotherhood H safely home 6-4 against Windsor Falcons. Gary Barnes’ couple for the Falcons included an unexpected victory over Simpson, while Nikki Hayes and Nigel Rolph each took one.

Holland Hurricanes, 8-2 winners against a Brotherhood E side fielding a guest, are now clear in second place. Gary Stallwood was unbeaten for the winners, while Tony Edmonds’ two points for the losers included an 11-7 in the decider success against John Smith-Daye.

The Leopards also fielded a guest in the all-Nomads clash with the Ocelots and, unsurprisingly, went down 7-3. Mike Wellum remained unbeaten to win his two while his Ocelots’ team-mate, Andrew Cousins, edged past Anne Bonny 11-7 in the fifth but lost out to Doug Green. Green won two for the Leopards and Bonny one.

Dave Wright and Peter Evans were undefeated in Holland Lancasters’ 7-3 win over club-mates Holland Vulcans, although it was the tightest of tight 7-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-9, 13-11 victories for Wright against Bob Keefe.

In Division One, Kevin James, Gill Locke and Denes Somodi of Nomads Panthers were 10-0 winners against Brotherhood C, Brotherhood’s captain, Martin Edwards, unfortunately forced to concede two of his singles through injury.

No-one stayed unbeaten as Walton A got the better of Windsor Hawks 6-4. Mark Gale, Derek Willis and Paul Meikle each won two for Walton, both Gale and Meikle defeating Andy Vincent in five. Felipe Rodriguez won two for the Hawks and Scott Campbell one, the pair also sharing a doubles win, but Vincent failed to record a victory for the first time this season.

Despite a maximum from Pete Burrows, it was a similar 6-4 score-line for Brotherhood B against Walton B, Patrick Cheung, Russell Hillier and reserve Mark Boyland all winning two for Brotherhood. Walton’s Graham Buxton had an interesting evening, sharing an excellent doubles victory with Paul Newbould against Cheung and Hillier, being edged out 4-11, 8-11, 11-7, 17-15, 12-10 by Hillier, and then going down 11-4, 3-11, 13-11, 11-7 to Boyland, this after being 10-1 up in the third set.

But the all-Windsor clash between the Eagles and Buzzards ended in less dramatic fashion, the Eagles winning 10-0, Gary Cattermole, Phil Smith and John Pattrick remaining unbeaten. Pattrick’s 11-9 in the fifth victory against Dave Martin was the closest match of the tie.

In the all-Brotherhood match between the top two teams in Division Two, hat-tricks from Mark Boyland and John Gallagher saw the ‘G’ team home 7-3 against the ‘F’ team. But it was a tighter encounter than the score-line might suggest, with Brotherhood G winning four of the five matches which went all the way. Gallagher was involved in three of them, beating Paul Alden 11-9 in the decider, Neil Chegwidden 12-10 in the decider, and sharing an 11-9 in the fifth doubles win with Boyland against Chegwidden and Mark Salter.

John Colvin, Charlie Denholm and Ian Sherwood of third-placed Lawford recorded a comfortable 10-0 victory over Windsor Kestrels, with just three matches extended to a fourth set. It was the first whitewash result in the Division so far this season.  

Brotherhood J are now clear in fourth place after taking the final four matches of a hard-fought encounter with Brotherhood D. Joe Sherwin took three, Ruby Gallagher two and Tom Bryden one in their 7-3 victory. Five of the matches went the distance, Bryden losing 11-9 in the decider to Kevin Pryor and 11-8 in the decider to Fred Gallone. But Sherwin defeated Gallone 11-4 in the fifth, Gallagher beat Lily Liu 11-7 in the fifth, with Sherwin and Gallagher taking the closest of them all, 13-11 in the fifth in the doubles against Pryor and Gallone.  

It was also 7-3 for Windsor Penguins against Nomads Tigers, thanks to trebles from Kelvin Olano-Harper and Paul Woolnough.  Tom Wilkin, Matt Sage and Alex Baldock won one each for the Tigers, Wilkin taking both Olano-Harper and Woolnough the distance but ultimately unsuccessful.

But there was a reverse of fortune for the Nomads and Windsor Clubs as the Jaguars defeated the Harriers 8-2, Andy Hart and Chris Petrou leading the way with hat-tricks. Bob Jillins’ win for the Tigers was also the closest match of the contest, 14-12 in the fifth against Isabel Barton.

* Details of the Knock-Out Cup competition which begins in the New Year will be circulated by 15th December at the latest.

RESULTS

Division 1

Brotherhood C 0 Nomads Panthers 10;

Windsor Eagles 10 Windsor Buzzards 0;

Walton A 6 Windsor Hawks 4;

Brotherhood B 6 Walton B 4.

Division 2

Windsor Kestrels 0 Lawford 10;

Windsor Penguins 7 Nomads Tigers 3;

Brotherhood G 7 Brotherhood F 3;

Brotherhood D 3 Brotherhood J 7;

Nomads Jaguars 8 Windsor Harriers 2.

Division 3

Windsor Magpies 4 Walton C 6;

Brotherhood H 6 Windsor Falcons 4;

Holland Lancasters 7 Holland Vulcans 3;

Nomads Ocelots 7 Nomads Leopards 3;

Holland Hurricanes 8 Brotherhood E 2.

Report by Tony Oswick

An honourable draw in the battle betwixt the top two teams in the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League keeps Cold Norton B well on track to retain their title, and finally Blackwater C have been tamed (ish) in Division 3. 

The clash of the titans finished in an respectable draw this week as Fambridge came from 2-5 down to squeeze out a draw against league leaders Cold Norton B.  It was a mish mash of results as everyone came away with a win, and John Poysden, Keith Adams and Ian Wall all took a brace.  A key component of any table tennis match is to ensure you have your tried and tested racket, customised to your grip, preferred rubbers and style of bat.   As you leave for each match you always do your final checks as you close the door behind you –  phone, keys and bat.  Given his failure to implement these simple rules it was a miracle that Fambridge’s Bruce Kettle managed to get to grips with his temporary weapon of choice and completed a very notable straight sets win over the in form Sam Lowman in his final match of the night.  A great effort, and at last a dent in the previously unblemished win record of the leaders.  Mapledene B have snuck into 3^rd place courtesy of a 6-4 win over Cold Norton A largely inspired by a Kieran Skeggs hat-trick including a 4 set victory over the extremely talented and consistent Kevin Read.  Read won his other matches and combined with erstwhile traveller Arron Chandler for the extra doubles point.  Mapledene’s penhold magician Colin Chatfield won the tightest contest of the night with a 17-15 deciding set win over the unlucky Kim Shead.

In Division 2 Maldon A climbed back into second spot following their 7-3 win in the latest Maldon derby against their own B side. Hat-tricks for both Lloyd Bennett-Smith and Hamish Innes and a bonus point as Ross Kirby defeated Garry Eames in straight sets following his earlier 5 set losses to Steve Aspland and Colin Barrell – it’s coming!  Barrell and Aspland naturally took the bonus doubles point as they always do.  Woodham C seem to have found their bouncebackability mojo of late following some recent crushing defeats.  This week they saw off a very strong Cold Norton E side featuring both Dick Wyman and Steve Maltby.  The Woodham star in the 6-4 victory was the bandana extremist Tim Pulham who went undefeated across all 4 of his matches keeping his win ratio well above the 70% mark so far this season.  There was some joy for Cold Norton’s youngest player, Oscar Wyman, as he recorded his first win of the season as his game continues to improve.  Wyman jnr came from behind in his match with Jeremy Giffin to win 11-7 in the final set.  Giffin was not deterred by this unexpected loss as he channelled his disappointment into his next game and recorded an eye-catching win over Steve Maltby – swings and roundabouts.  Blackwater B eased their way out of the relegation zone with a notable 8-2 score over Maldon C with trebles for both Merv Perriman and Roger Slade.  Maldon’s Chris Ravenhill scored the only singles point for his team with a straight sets win over Louis Gunn.  The tightest and I assume the longest match by far of the evening saw Perriman taken all the way to a fifth and final set against Brain Riedling – unfortunately none of the umpires fully understood how to implement the Expedite rules so the game ran on and on and on.

Finally Blackwater C have had a difficult match as they march towards the Division 3 title.   This week Woodham D got stuck into the Blackwater trio and were actually 4-3 up going into the final straight of singles matches.  Blackwater captain Gary Smith could see the unbeaten run drifting away as he fell 2 sets down against Chris Crooks but the spirit of Blackwater is strong and he summoned his inner strength to turn that match around and square the overall score at 4-4.  David McHattie then bettered Diane King to put the Blackwaterarians 5-4 in the lead and back in control with trump card Colin Barham coming up in the final match.  But Woodham were having none of it, as Simon Thomas ignored the Blackwater confidence and fired off a quick straight sets victory to ensure the Blackwater win column wasn’t troubled for one week at least this season.  Blackwater D registered a comprehensive 8-2 winning margin over St Lawrence A with hat-tricks for Jacquie Treacy and Roger Tiffin.  David Sage chipped in with a couple of wins, just losing out to Dave Bateman in the other match.  Blackwater E Wildman Phil West was trigger happy this week with an impenetrable treble, including a tight 5-setter against Peter Hughes as his side ran out 7-3 winners against Blackwater F.  Deb Ginn won her first 2 singles but then lost out to Peter Hughes as he avenged his earlier 5 set loss with a turnaround 5 set victory.  Jo Hart was victorious in the other 5 set match as she defeated the E team’s Anne Brewer 12-10 in the decider.

Pic 1 – Fambridge’s Bruce Kettle and his random bat antics

Pic 2 – Woodham’s Tim Pulham plus his lucky Bandana

Pic 3 – Cold Norton E’s Wyman Twins in action this week

Pic 4 – Blackwater’s Gary Smith pulling a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Pic 5 – Wildman Phil West of Blackwater E fame in treble popping action this week.

Report by Eamonn Hall

• 

The notion that Sudbury Nomads could wrest Netts A’s Braintree Table Tennis League crown off them lasted only until the two met head to head in the sixth week of the season.

It was then that the champions put the pretenders firmly in their place – with a 10-0 victory.

Netts had used six different players in their first five matches, but in this match for the first time they brought together their A team of last season, Paul Davison, James Hicks and Andy Holmes.

The result was that their opponents rarely got a look in.  Ken Lewis stretched Davison to five games and Richard Fifield did likewise to James Hicks, but they both went down 11-5 in the decider.

Of the other sets, three were decided in four games and five in three.

Black Notley A have proved to be something of a surprise package so far.  Fifth last year, as Notley B, they moved up to second place with a 7-3 win over Rayne B.

The evening was a personal triumph for Steve Noble, who outscored his teammates, something he had not managed this season – or for the whole of last season.

He won all three singles as well as the doubles with Luke Burridge.

At the other end of the table there was a first win for Sudbury Wanderers, 7-3 over Liberal B, which lifted them from ninth to seventh.

Fifield, who turned out for Nomads the following day, was unbeaten this time.

Division two’s reputation for close results continued with a 5-5, two 6-4s and even top team Rayne C joined in with a closer than might have been expected 7-3 win over seventh-placed Yeldham Whitlocks A.

Behind them, Notley C were held to a draw by Finchingfield A – the first time the latter have avoided defeat – but nonetheless moved up to second place in view of Netts D’s 6-4 defeat by Rayne D.

Jamie Brooks was unbeaten for Notley C and Dean Andrews for Rayne D.

Sudbury Strollers introduced new signing David Fiddeman, but his three singles were not enough to stave off a 6-4 defeat by Netts C.

In division three Finchingfield B maintained their 100 per cent record with a 7-3 win over Notley G.

Lucien Nolan-Bradford kept his own unbeaten record but was stretched to 11-9 in the fifth by Ben Southgate.

Behind them, an unbeaten evening for Tim Townsend and Dave Whiting gave Rayne F an 8-2 win over Sudbury Drifters to keep them in second place.

Notley E moved ahead of their own H team by beating Netts F 7-3 – Netts’ first defeat – while the H team were being held to a draw by Notley F.

Dave Parker was unbeaten for Notley E.

Yeldham Whitlocks B meanwhile picked up their first win of the season, 8-2 over Netts E, where Steve Willis was the only one to beat Tony McShane.

There have been many famous double acts over the years but Mark Gale and Allen Denyer performed a magic trick worthy of Penn and Teller in taking the honours this week in the Clacton League’s Drawn Doubles Tournament held at Windsor’s St James’ Hall venue.

Having finished bottom of their Group, Gale and Denyer grew in confidence and stature in the later stage of the Tournament to finish with a flourish, winning their four Knock-Out matches to take the title, in the final (on -5) defeating John Gallagher and Matt Thomas (+1) 5-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-8, 11-3.

It was a marvellous comeback for the winning pair after losing their three Group matches, which included a defeat by Gallagher and Thomas who actually topped the Group. But Gale and Denyer gained strength as the Tournament progressed and entered the Knock-Out stage displaying cool heads, clear thinking and an abundance of steady table tennis play.

The final proved to be a see-saw match which ebbed and flowed throughout, largely depending on whether Gale and Denyer’s consistency could claw back the handicap deficit quickly enough. And an excellent start in the final set saw them retrieve their handicap at 2-all to ensure success for this unlikely, but thoroughly deserving, pair of winners.

In Round One of the Knock-Out stage, Gale and Denyer had  eliminated the pairing of Barry Allen and Lily Liu, who’d excelled to finish top of their Group, winning 11-4 in the fifth in a match played off-scratch.

After which, in the quarter-final, they edged past Graham Playle and Derek Foxley by the narrowest of margins in one of the tensest matches of the Tournament, taking it 11-7, 7-11, 1-11, 12-10, 13-11, a match also played off-scratch.

And, in their semi-final, Gale and Denyer defeated the talented young pairing of Joe Sherwin and Ruby Gallagher, the Brotherhood J team-mates who had coincidentally and randomly been drawn together. The winning score was 11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 13-11 in another scratch-match.

In the other half of the draw, Gallagher and Thomas showed commendable team-work, as they had all day, and were never taken to a fifth set in winning their three Knock-Out matches, in the semi-final (on +1) easing through to the final by defeating John Barton and Ferdy Rodriguez (-6) 11-4, 11-2, 9-11, 11-2.

The Tournament, which was played on a handicap basis, saw a number of close matches, with the pairing of Russell Hillier and Anne Bonny looking particularly impressive before (on +1) being edged out at the quarter-final stage 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 15-13 by Joe Sherwin and Lucy Gallagher (-3), while Scott Campbell and Lucy Carvell looked extremely competitive before being eliminated (on -6) by John Gallagher and Matt Thomas (+1) at the same quarter-final stage.

But no match was closer than the Round One match of the Knock-Out stage where Graham Playle and Derek Foxley (+1) scraped past Mark Salter and Bob Jillins (-1) 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 14-12.

Although the League had previously run a Drawn Doubles Tournament between 1988 and 1993, this was the first time it was run in its current format, with the pairs drawn at random at the start of the day’s play, with the initial matches played in Groups of four and with their positions in the Groups determining their Knock-Out stage opponents.

It was a credit to all 32 players who took part that they entered into the spirit of the new Tournament. And it was refreshing that the players were spread across all three Divisions, with twelve coming from each of the First and Second Divisions, and eight from Division Three.  

League Report

After dropping just one point in their first five matches, it was an important week in Division One of the League for Nomads Lions, with fixtures against both their title rivals.

Their first match against reigning champions Nomads Panthers ended all-square, Paul Hume taking two, and Ethan Lloyd and Charlie Fulcher one each. But none of them could get the better of James Denyer who was in unstoppable mood and remained unbeaten. Greg Green’s two points for the Panthers were wins in five against Lloyd and Fulcher.

But in the Lions’ second match, it was Brotherhood A who took the honours 7-3. Daniel Young was Brotherhood’s unbeaten hero, with Kevin Gowlett adding a couple and Gary Young taking a point by overcoming Adam Cuthbert 11-9 in the fifth. Paul Hume’s two for the Lions included a close 11-9 in the fifth win over Gary Young, whilst Ethan Lloyd’s point was an even closer 12-10, 10-12, 13-11, 7-11, 12-10 against the same player.

And with the Brotherhood trio of Gracie Edwards, Kevin Gowlett and Daniel Young taking all ten points against Brotherhood B earlier in the week, it means the Brotherhood A team have leap-frogged to the top of the table for the first time this season, four points ahead of the Lions.   

Elsewhere, Windsor Hawks beat Brotherhood C 8-2, Andy Vincent and Scott Campbell taking trebles. John Barton took one point for the Hawks but was denied a second by Brotherhood’s Graham Playle who took their individual match 12-10 in the decider.

Walton A chalked up a first win of the season, 8-2 over Windsor Buzzards, Mark Ratcliffe starring with a maximum. Derek Willis and Paul Meikle each won two for Walton whilst, for the Buzzards, there was one each for Andy Cawley and Andy Foster, Foster edging out Willis 12-10 in the fifth. Encouragingly, it was good to see Windsor’s Ray Chillingworth back in table tennis action taking part in the doubles.

Brotherhood J have settled well to life in Division Two, this week beating Windsor Kestrels 8-2, their fourth victory of the season. Tom Bryden stayed undefeated, while there were two each for Lucy Carvell and Ruby Gallagher. The two closest matches of the evening involved Windsor’s Peter Aumord, beating Gallagher 11-9 in the fifth but losing by the same score to Bryden. 

Brotherhood F were 6-4 victors against Windsor Penguins, Mark Salter unbeaten, Neil Chegwidden taking two and Tricia Salter one. Kelvin Olano-Harper won two for the Penguins and, with Paul Woolnough, took the doubles against Chegwidden and Mark Salter, the Penguins’ first doubles win of the season and Brotherhood’s first doubles defeat.

Brotherhood D beat Windsor Harriers 7-3 in an encounter where none of the matches were settled in three, and with seven going the full distance. For Brotherhood, Kevin Pryor took three, Fred Gallone two and Lily Liu one, with Barry Allen taking a couple for the Harriers and Ferdy Rodriguez one.

By contrast, although the Lawford v Brotherhood G match ended all-square, only three individual matches were extended to a fourth set, the remainder settled in three. John Colvin recorded a treble for Lawford whilst there were a couple each for Brotherhood’s Mark Boyland and John Gallagher.

In an all-Nomads’ clash, the Jaguars’ Andy Hart was the stand-out player, remaining unbeaten in his side’s 7-3 success against the Tigers. Chris Petrou picked up a couple, as did Tom Wilkin for the Tigers.

In Division Three, a Danny Still hat-trick and two for Dan Grindrod saw Brotherhood H home 6-4 against Walton C. Lynette Sparks’ two for Walton included an 11-9 in the fifth win over Grindrod but she failed to get the better of Still, going down 11-7 in the fifth. There was a point each for Walton’s Adrian Sexton and Deborah Pallett, Pallett edging past Tony Woollard 11-4 in the fifth.

Holland Hurricanes won the three individual matches which went the distance to record a 7-3 success over Windsor Falcons, Gary Stallwood winning three, Gerry Widnell two and John Smith-Daye one. Matt Thomas won two for the Falcons and Nigel Rolph one, with Gary Barnes unfortunate not to get on the score-sheet, going down 14-12 in the decider to Widnell. The doubles was also ultra-close, Widnell and Smith-Daye edging past Thomas and Barnes 12-10 in the decider.

Three for Andrew Cousins, two for Hazel Blanche and one for Norman Jacobs was good enough for Nomads Ocelots to take the win 6-4 against Holland Vulcans. For the Vulcans, Derek Foxley picked up two, James Horsler one, plus Foxley and Bob Keefe took the doubles.

Dominic Joannou won his three and Anne Bonny two, including a 12-10 in the fifth win over Alan Rutledge, as Nomads Leopards beat Windsor Magpies 6-4. John Plummer won two for the Magpies.

Finally, no-one stayed unbeaten in the drawn match between Brotherhood E and Holland Lancasters. Joe Hillier and Jack Hillier each won two for Brotherhood, as did Peter Evans and Dave Wright for the Lancasters.

* The Windsor Club’s Quiz Evening is being held this coming Saturday (29th November) at the Brotherhood Hall, 7.00 pm for a 7.30 pm start. For more information, or to enter a team, get in touch with Jenny Higgins (Tel : 07790 240566). 

RESULTS

Division 1

Nomads Panthers 5 Nomads Lions 5;

Windsor Buzzards 2 Walton A 8;

Brotherhood A 10 Brotherhood B 0;

Windsor Hawks 8 Brotherhood C 2;

Nomads Lions 3 Brotherhood A 7.

Division 2

Windsor Harriers 3 Brotherhood D 7;

Lawford 5 Brotherhood G 5;

Nomads Tigers 3 Nomads Jaguars 7;

Brotherhood F 6 Windsor Penguins 4;

Brotherhood J 8 Windsor Kestrels 2.

Division 3

Windsor Falcons 3 Holland Hurricanes 7;

Walton C 4 Brotherhood H 6;

Holland Vulcans 4 Nomads Ocelots 6;

Brotherhood E 5 Holland Lancasters 5;

Nomads Leopards 6 Windsor Magpies 4.