{"id":3579,"date":"2025-02-11T12:24:58","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T11:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=3579"},"modified":"2025-02-11T12:27:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T11:27:27","slug":"top-two-continue-domination-as-season-moves-into-final-third","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/2025\/02\/11\/top-two-continue-domination-as-season-moves-into-final-third\/","title":{"rendered":"Top two continue domination as season moves into final third"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There were three one-sided results in division one<\/strong> of the Chelmsford League this week as leaders Danbury C won 9-1 at Danbury A, second placed Chelmsford A won 9-1 at Chelmsford B and fourth placed Danbury B blasted Writtle A 10-0.  Keith Adams and Gary Young won three each in Danbury C\u2019s victory, A team\u2019s Chris Penrose earned the sole point for the hosts with a 3-0 triumph over two-match-winner Paul Davison.  None of the matches in the Chelmsford derby went more than four ends with Simon Jarvis and Aidan Lees securing trebles and Josh Bickles winning two.  Dan Anderson, Sam Lowman and Ian Wall were all flawless in Danbury B\u2019s 10-0 victory over Writtle A.  Anderson was well pushed by Matthew Brown but triumphed 11-8, 9-11, 19-21, 11-5, 11-9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In division two<\/strong>, leaders Buttsbury A were back to winning ways with a 9-1 home victory over OCA B, Evie Knaapen celebrated receiving an invitation to play in both the U15 and U17 National Championships with three wins with Robert Burton getting in on the act with a treble also.  Maldon A are 15 points back from top spot with a game in hand and they earned a good 8-2 home win over Danbury E.  Chris Hancox and Colin Napper were both unbeaten for the hosts with Lloyd Bennett-Smith just missing out in a cracking match with Neil Want (11-9, 11-9, 5-11, 7-11, 12-14). Alastair Piper (3 wins) and Julie Johnson (2 wins) didn\u2019t let the lack of a teammate stop them from boosting Hatfield Peverel A (5th) to a 6-4 win over Chelmsford C (3rd). Chelmsford\u2019s Adi Kamma fought back from 2-0 down to win the opener against Julie Johnson though Johnson held her nerve later in the evening to beat Dusan Doszkoty 11-13, 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9. Doszkoty had earlier lost out 12-10 in the fifth against Piper.  Three wins were not enough for Ian Whiteside\u2019s Danbury F as they fell to a 6-4 loss against Danbury D.  Two wins each for David Penrose and Peter Harverson helped the D\u2019s take the evening\u2019s honours.  Gary Ward and John Webber did the business again for Writtle C in their 7-3 win at Writtle B.  Ward had to fight back from two games down against Richard Storey while Phil Smith won one of B\u2019s three points with a 11-13, 11-8, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelmsford D lead the way by two points in division three<\/strong> with a game in hand over closest rivals Buttsbury B as both teams posted victories in Week 21.  Christopher Denyer and Keith Martin fired hat-tricks as the leaders beat Danbury J 9-1 with Danbury\u2019s Peter Harverson winning 3-2 over Alex Tkachuk before pushing Keith Martin to five games.  Paul Sturton and Harry Sawford were both undefeated as Buttsbury B earned a nice 7-3 away win over the tricky Danbury G trio Mervyn Perriman, Louis Gunn and Denis Crapnell.  Gunn will be disappointed to be on the wrong side of a 15-13 fifth game scoreline in his match with Harry Sawford, while Crapnell beat Jeremy Giffin in five.  OCA C (11th) got the better of Writtle E (12th) thanks to doubles from Richard Baxter, Richard Upson and Tom Barker. All three OCA players were denied trebles by losing fifth game deciders to their opponent – Colin Barham doing the damage on two occasions (against Upson and Barker) while Baxter was undone by Dave Moles 19-17, 14-12, 11-13, 9-11, 3-11.  There were three 3-0 victories for Hatfield Peverel B\u2019s Neil Freeman as his team won 6-4 on the road at Danbury H.  Teammate Gareth Davies was undefeated in his two matches while Freeman teamed with Gary Simmons to recover from 2-1 down to take the doubles encounter against Scott Perry and Gordon Gatheral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third placed Buttbury C did themselves and the chasing pack a huge favour by winning 7-3 at division four<\/strong> leaders Hutton A on Friday night. Joshua Freeman led the way for Buttsbury C with three wins with Lucy Elliott backing him up with two. Second placed Maldon B could not take advantage of the Hutton slip up as they fell to a 7-3 away loss to a Russell Hall inspired OCA D, while Danbury K sit fourth following three wins from Dave Powell and two apiece for Richard Allen and Dave Hancox in an 8-2 victory over Chelmsford G. It was a \u2018wonderful world\u2019 as Lewis Armstrong trumpeted [sic] his way to three wins in Galleywood D\u2019s 7-3 home win over Danbury L.  Armstrong beat Ken Wilding in three, Greg Cooper in four and Paul Thirkettle in a fifth game decider. Neil Wood scored a treble in Hatfield Peverel C\u2019s 6-4 home win over Danbury M. Wood\u2019s toughest contest of the night was against Peverel\u2019s Steve Martin which was not decided until the fifth game, Martin lost a very close match with Samuel White (10-12, 18-16, 11-9, 11-9) who broke the 4-4 tie in the fixture before Wood earned the win for the hosts in the final match of the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connor Casey went undefeated as division five<\/strong>\u2019s Anglia Ruskin University won their first league fixture of the season in quite unconventional circumstances as they beat Hatfield Peverel D by a rarely seen 5-4.  In one of the few fixtures played where both teams fielded a player short, Casey beat Bruce Wickham in three, then teamed with Kingsley Omo-efe for a 3-1 doubles win before holding on for victory over Andy Whiey 3-2 in the crucial final contest of the evening. There was yet another treble for second-placed Buttsbury E\u2019s Lyndon Bubb in the 6-4 home win over Hatfield Peverel E.  Bubb beat Philip West over three close games, Kath Little in four before getting the better of Davina Brazier in a see-saw contest which ended 9-11. 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9. Maldon C\u2019s Shirley Carroll fired a hat-trick in her side\u2019s 6-4 loss to seventh placed Highwood B, Maldon remain fourth while Highwood sit seventh. Steve Peacock and Doug Blaber each won three as Galleywood E scuppered Hatfield Peverel F\u2019s hopes of a third league win of the season. Blaber\u2019s three-win evening proved more difficult to achieve than his teammate\u2019s as he was taken all the way by Peter Hughes and David Benstead. Two wins apiece for Paul Aarons and Michael Anthony helped third placed Writtle F beat sixth placed Chelmsford H 6-4 at home to keep themselves in the title race. Chelmsford\u2019s James Grindlay and Shengbing Zhu won two each for the visitors with an entertaining evening on Paradise Road seeing six five-gamers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n