Stow B kicked off the Division 2 fixtures with a solid 7-3 return against Blackwater B. A brace of wins each for the regular Stow B trio of Peter Hance, Dave Marsh, and Nicky Reece-Ford. They were flabbergasted however at the form of the excellent Simon Quelch who managed to beat them all in his player of the week hat-trick performance securing his team\u2019s 3 point haul. The hardest victory being a deciding set 11-9 triumph over the very awkward and very fit Dave Moles \u2013 although I won\u2019t make a mountain out of it. But what of the doubles, surely Quelch\u2019s dominance in the singles would carry through to the doubles format \u2013 well not at all, he was ruthlessly ignored and left to officiate as his team-mates fell in straight sets. As Tina Hutchinson and Louis Gunn left the playing arena all they could hear was the crowd chanting \u201cyou\u2019re getting sacked in the morning<\/em>\u201d. Stow A missed their chance to go top of the Division despite their 6-4 victory away to Woodham D. They remain 3 points behind leaders Maldon A but have now caught up on their fixtures backlog \u2013 this battle is predicted to go all the way to the final weeks of the season. Ryan Pitt, with his tactical and mesmerising play, was the stand out player for Stow with a treble in his singles matches. Peter Chastin contributed with 2 victories including a 5 set comeback win over the awkward Mal Henstock. For Woodham everyone won one singles match \u2013 Henstock and Scott Perry bested Ken Sheard, and the ever-improving Peter Harverson got the better of Chastin over 4 long rally-filled sets. Henstock and Perry did combine for an unexpected doubles bonus score \u2013 going into the fifth and final set it looked ominous for the Woodham duo having just been trounced 11-1 in set 4 by the more experienced Pitt\/Chastin combo \u2013 but I am told they laugh in the face of adversity and knuckled down to grind out the deciding set 11-9. Cold Norton D were back to winning ways after a run of unexpected poor form. The unfortunate victims were Stow C who ended up on the wrong end of the 8-2 scoreline. Old Nortonians Terry Hyland and Peter Lucraft did the most damage as they rallied through the card without a hint of a loss across both formats \u2013 their form raised 7 points with the extra score coming courtesy of Roy Gandy\u2019s lone victory over Jean Chasmer. For Stow both Pete Layzell and the lovable Dave Goody were able to conquer the Gandy counterhitting for their disappointing 2 point haul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allan Steel continued his remarkable comeback year with his seventh treble on the bounce to maintain his 100% win rate in Division 3 as his 2-player Woodham E managed a tight 6-4 victory over St Lawrence. With the only on-table victory on the night for the Baysiders going to Dave Bateman with a straight sets victory over Diane King. Steel hit a very comfortable \u20189-dart\u2019 hat-trick and appears to be a significant level above the peloton in this Division. King had to work much harder as she overcame David Siggins in 4 sets, and then just squeezed past Nigel Brand 12-10 in the fifth. Blackwater D and Maldon E played out a 5-5 stalemate with Maldon\u2019s John Leavett involved in all the tasty action. With the scoring remaining close throughout it was Leavett who was involved in all 3 of the 5-setters, losing out to Peter Davenport in the final match of the night having run out of steam he will be disappointed to have thrown away the final leg 11-1 for Davenport to even up the match at the death. However earlier in proceedings Leavett had edged his other 2 singles with an 11-9 decider against Ron Tam, and then an even tighter victory over David Sage \u2013 this one going to 12-10 in the final leg. You might have thought Leavett would have had a rest and saved himself for his final singles but no up he jumped for the doubles with partner Ross Kirby \u2013 luckily that only went to 4 sets before the Maldon duo secured the win. Kirby won 2 of his singles for the player-of-the-match accolade, just losing out to Sage in 4 sets. In this week\u2019s Maldon derby D beat E in a 7-3 thriller. The D team\u2019s young buck Arthur Shadforth and the E team\u2019s experienced stalwart John Leavett both were unbeaten going into the final match of the night and both eager to lift the Maldon Bragging Rights Cup. Well for the crowd that stayed \u2018til the bitter end the wait was worth it as Leavett used all his experience to take the lead at both 1-0 and then reclaim it at 2-1 despite suffering a deuce in the 3rd<\/sup> set. But the Maldon youth were far from down and out as Shadforth\u2019s exuberance and determination powered him through the important 4th<\/sup> set and then, with the hours ticking by, he continued this form into the deciding set to snatch the cup from Leavett\u2019s grasp with an 11-8 last set victory. The youthful element of the crowd went wild with appreciation. Shadforth and Matt Copsey won the doubles, and third player Luca Riedling contributed with 2 good wins over Brian Dixon and Patrick Coyne. Coyne beating Copsey for his team\u2019s final point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pic 1 \u2013 Simon Quelch in his hat-trick victory over Nicky Reece-Ford<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pic 2 \u2013 Woodham E\u2019s Allan Steel breaking records in Division 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pic 3 \u2013 Player-of-the-match Chris Penrose (Woodham A)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pic 4 \u2013 George Reeves styling it out for his hat-trick this week<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pic 5 \u2013 Maldon\u2019s John Leavett so close to the Bragging Rights Cup this week\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Reece-Ford-v-Quelch-Dec-24.jpg\")
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