Press Report

Newcomers West Maldon (represented by Glen Laing, Tim Huxtable and Marc "Chips" Haines) have taken division three of the Central Essex Summer League in convincing fashion, and their points total of 29 out of a possible 35 gave them a four point margin over second-placed Baddow Village C. Leading the table from the outset they always looked the most likely Champions and having finished their matches first it would have required Baddow Village C to have taken a maximum 15 points from their last three games to have overhauled them. Baddow Village C finished strongly with 4-1 wins over both Danbury D and Hatfield Peverel C but they had left themselves an insurmountable task. Ryan Pitt was unbeaten against Danbury whilst his replacement Bob Francis repeated the feat against Hatfield Peverel. In a battle of two of the division's best players Ryan ran out an impressive 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 winner over Danbury's Peter Sun.

Division two Champions Baddow Village A retained their 100 % record for the season as they made it seven wins out of seven by beating Hatfield Peverel B 3-2. This turned out to be their toughest match of the season as Michael Johnston scored the vital win, a last gasp success over Neil Freeman. Trailing 8-2 in the fifth end Johnston looked dead and buried but somehow came back to seal a superb victory, one that was to give his team the distinction of being the only side in the League with a 100 % record over the season. Excalibur A finished a clear second after whitewashing Fambridge 5-0. Steve Cheesman and Michael Rostoft rattled through their singles taking all four games three-straight. Danbury B finished their season on a high as well although they were hard-pushed to see off their lowly C side 3-2. Brian Ellis was responsible for all three wins beating John Skuse and Norman Hayes and teaming up with Mark Wheeler to take the doubles. Excalibur B sealed third place with a 4-1 victory over Fambridge. Ian Butler won both of his singles although Fambridge's Alex Voyce made his mark with a 3-1 victory over Dave Moles.

Hullbridge A duly captured the first division title although they were brought down to earth by an inspired Stock A. The hard-hitting Trevor Collin was on inspired form as he beat both Nigel Lamb and George Pavitt. Keith Spicer contributed an excellent win over Lamb as well and it was a relieved Lamb and Pavitt doubles combination who scraped home 11-9 in the fifth end to restrict the margin of defeat to 3-2. Knowing that they needed to produce a good performance to be certain of taking the title Hullbridge made no mistake in disposing of Danbury A 5-0. Lamb and Pavitt didn't have it all their own way but never looked like losing a game. Hullbridge B and Stock who finished third and fourth fittingly produced a closely fought match in a game where all four players picked up one singles. This time Collin was involved in a real thriller, just getting the better of former team-mate Kevin Smart 15-13 in the decider. This helped Stock shade the match 3-2. Hatfield Peverel A have looked a shadow of their usual selves this Summer and they completed a lacklustre campaign with a 4-1 defeat against Hullbridge B. Winning three games in the deciding end may have flattered Hullbridge slightly but this was nevertheless a very good performance by the Southend League side. Tim Pang opened proceedings with an excellent 12-10 fifth set win over John Parodi and Kevin Smart produced an even better 11-7 in the deciding set victory over John Gagg as Hullbridge rammed home their advantage.