{"id":4416,"date":"2026-03-08T14:35:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T13:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=4416"},"modified":"2026-03-08T14:38:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T13:38:48","slug":"battle-for-division-2-crown-hots-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/2026\/03\/08\/battle-for-division-2-crown-hots-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle for Division 2 crown hots up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Division 2 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League the battle for supremacy was heightened this week as Blackwater A moved within 1 point of long time leaders, and bookies favourites, Maldon A.  These two behemoths of the division meet each other later this month in what is being billed as \u2018The Battle of Blackwater\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackwater A, and their variety box of styles and rubbers, have been slowly closing in on long time Division 2 leaders Maldon A.  Following this week\u2019s 10-0 drubbing of Stow Maries B Blackwater are now within a point of the leaders and are busily prepping their tactics and sharpening their pimples for the title defining clash later in March (tickets have already sold out for this one).  The Blackwater trio of Noah Sage, Denis Balic, and Neil Freeman all hit trebles this week with Stow\u2019s Dave Marsh putting up the most resistance with 2 five setters and a long 4 set loss to Balic.   This Blackwaterian crew certainly have the momentum \u2013 let\u2019s see if the have the bottle and nous to finish the job.  Elsewhere in the division Steve Aspland led his Maldon B side to a decent 6-4 victory over Dick Wyman\u2019s Cold Norton E.  Aspland notched a hat-trick only really struggling in a comeback 5 setter against Wyman senior.  James Raymond won 2 points for the B team on his call up, with young Oscar Wyamn holding his nerve in a tasty 5 set victory for Cold Norton over Garry Eames.  The Wyman \u2018twins\u2019 then combined for a comfortable doubles point to keep the score respectable.  Maldon C hosted Woodham C and in a friendly encounter they all agreed that a draw was the best outcome all round.  The star player was Woodham\u2019s Tim Pulham with a hat-trick of singles even though he survived a mighty comeback from Dawn Baldry to eventually overcome his foe in 5 sets.  Woodham\u2019s Dave Penrose had a busy evening playing 19 out of the maximum 20 legs available to him.  He came through in 5 sets against both Baldry and Brian Riedling but lost out in 4 to Maldon\u2019s best player on the night Marty Englander.  Baldry and Englander paired up for the ever-so-close and ever-so-important doubles point \u2013 only squeezing through 12-10 in the decider \u2013 to ensure the draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Division 3 we have already reported that Blackwater C have secured the title with weeks to go.  This week they continued their winning form with a 7-3 turnover of Shirley Carroll\u2019s Maldon D.  Gary Smith was back in action and he hit his customary treble and was ably supported by Colin Barham and Andrea Alleyne with a brace of wins each. Smith was out for revenge against arch nemesis Tim Huxtable who had robbed him of his 100% win rate only a few weeks earlier \u2013 it wasn\u2019t going very well for Smith when he found himself 2-1 down and looking down that uncomfortable but oddly familiar barrel of Huxtable bragging rights.  Smith had a word with himself, sorted out his serves, pulled his sleeves up and battled his way to a \u2018revenge never tasted sweeter\u2019 5 set victory \u2013 oh the relief!  Huxtable did get some revenge though as he and partner James Raymond somehow took the doubles off the Blackwater Galactico duo of Smith and Alleyne.  The battle for second place is a bit of a damp squib \u2013 with neither of the protagonists showing much spirit in these crucial weeks.  With Maldon D dropping points at the champions surely Blackwater D would take advantage.  Instead of a much need boost Blackwater D travelled to Woodham D and came away battered and bruised following a 6-4 loss.  Woodham\u2019s Simon Thomas remains in great form and hit yet another hat-trick with minimal resistance from his opponents.  Thomas was well supported by Chris Crooks who edged past Jacqui Treacy 12-10 in the fifth, and beat Dave Benstaed in 4 set, losing only to Jason Bush.  To cement their win Thomas and Crooks squeezed past Treacy and Bush 11-9 in the final set in the doubles.  Mixed emotions for the remain Blackwater sides this week as the E team laid down a perfect set of 9 singles victories but somehow then lost the doubles in a 9-1 win over St Lawrence with hat-tricks for Phil West, Kath Little, and Deb Ginn \u2013 with Mick Robinson and Nigel Brand taking the unexpected doubles point for the Baysiders.  Blackwater F struggled against a rampant Maldon E trio in an 8-2 reverse that saw Maldon\u2019s John Leavett record his 6th<\/sup> hat-trick of the season.  For Maldon Keith Thompson was in great form winning both his sides points with victories over Kym Eames and Patrick Coyne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we eagerly await the battle of the giants in Division 1 the middle order is being decided.  Cold Norton C have been the surprise package this season and continue to rack up the results.  This week they saw off the depleting challenge of Woodham B with an 8-2 win.  Kim Shead was on top form and hit his third hat-trick of the season that included a tough 5 set battle with leftie Harry Sawford.  In fact Sawford had the busiest night of anyone playing in four 5 setters for just the single point against Martin Archie which he won 12-10 in the fifth after saving 4 match points when 6-10 down in the fourth leg.  Supporting Shead were Archie and Arron Chandler who both won a brace.  Woodham\u2019s Peter Harverson taking a notable 5 set victory over Chandler.  As much as Cold Norton C have impressed this year, Cold Norton A have underwhelmed.  This week they drew with bottom placed Stow Maries and had Arron Chandler playing up to thank as he hit a treble of singles and combined with Steve Maltby for the extra doubles point.  For Stow Richard Storey and Adi Kamma both hit two wins beating Neil Want and Maltby, with Ken Sheard adding the final point to secure the draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

____________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eamonn Hall, Press Officer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burnham & District Table Tennis League<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

____________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 1 \u2013 Neil Freeman leading from the front for his Blackwater A side<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 2 \u2013 Kim Shead with another top flight hat-trick this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 3 \u2013 Kim Shead taking his hat-trick against Peter Harverson this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 4 \u2013 Arron Chandler taking a treble for Cold Norton A this week<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pic 5 \u2013 Tim Pulham versus Marty Englander in the battle of the unbeatens this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Neil Freeman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kim Shead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kim Shead v Peter Harverson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Aaron Chandler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tim Pulham (left) v Marty Englander<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    <\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In Division 2 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League the battle for supremacy was heightened this week as Blackwater A moved within 1 point of long time leaders, and bookies favourites, Maldon A.  These two behemoths of the division meet each other later this month in what is being billed as \u2018The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4422,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416\/revisions\/4422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.essextabletennis.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}