Press Report

The first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League is certainly being more hotly contested than in recent years. It has become a genuine three horse race and to illustrate this point all three of the leading sides enjoyed four point wins this week. Elmtree Graphics A - Vytas Rybakas, John Holland and Paul Lucas were the most impressive as they hammered Maldon A 10-0. Leaders ECC A were only marginally less successful as they beat Excalibur A 9-1 with Paul Davison and David Cole both remaing undefeated. Rawreth also took all four points as they beat Billericay 8-2, with Duncan Taylor taking his three singles and receiving excellent support from his team-mates Steve Maltby and Charles Sweeney who both won twice. With the season approaching it's half-way stage it really is anyone's guess which side will come out on top next April.

Division two by comparison is rather less competitive as Baddow Village A are streets ahead of their opposition. Even without Peter Barrett they still managed to beat OCs A 9-1. Ray Lawrence deputised and picked up two singles as Waseem Qureshi and Neil Gooday both scored hat-tricks. But, let no one say this match was one way-traffic as seven games went to a deciding end and Baddow Village won six of them. Promoted Bocking A are proving to be the season's dark horses and led by another Kevin Gowlett full-house they drew with Baddow Village B. However, given Baddow's lowly position Bocking may well see this as a poor result. Baddow's Alastair Piper made his presence felt with excellent wins over Richard Jennings and James Mullane. ECC C have been steadily improving in recent weeks and Gary Brignall gave a great performance in leading them to a 7-3 win over E2V Technologies. An undefeated Brignall enjoyed contrasting five game victories : 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 18-16 against Ivan Chaplin and 11-9, 8-11, 3-11, 11-2, 11-0 against Maurice Hardy. On this form he can expect a call-up from his ECC A clubmates !. ECC C also did well to beat Maldon B 6-4 since Maldon were bolstered by the inclusion of Northern Irish Veteran international Jenny Harrison in their line-up. Harrison took her three singles the hard way, beating Gary Brignall, Ken James and Neil Thompson all in five sets. Her match with Brignall could hardly have been closer as she scraped home 8-11, 11-8, 12-14, 12-10, 11-9.

Division three really is up for grabs. In an incredibly low-scoring division Excalibur B top the table with 19 points with the seventh placed team a mere four points behind them. Any side that can string three wins together could suddenly find themselves billed as favourites. Baddow Village D who now have 17 points did well to beat OCs B 7-3 as Steve Back and Gareth Joice both remained undefeated. BUSC B and OCs B are only one point further adrift, tied on 16 points and their match fittingly ended all square. No individual player remained undefeated although BUSC's Robin Armstrong and OCs's Roy Moore and their reserve David Porter all won twice. In another closely fought match ECC D shaded the "ECC derby" beating ECC E 6-4.Simon Webber dominated affairs as he remained unbeaten.

It was bottom side EPHQ who were the big surprise this week in division four, as they beat Elmtree Graphics B 6-4. Francis Whitbread had a mixed night. He found himself well beaten 2-11, 4-11, 8-11 by Melanie Bonnett in his opening singles and in second singles he lost an agonisingly close match 12-10 in the fifth end against Nicola Pippen. However, undeterred by this he fought back magnificently to beat a previously undefeated Tony Vassallo 3-1. Who ever said Table Tennis is a battle of styles wasn't kidding !. Elsewhere Danbury F excelled as they took all four points off Baddow Village E. A Malcolm Jacobs hat-trick which included a very narrow 11-7, 11-13, 8-11, 12-10 13-11 victory over Laura Pyman gave Danbury the ascendancy. Danbury H moved into third place as they beat ECC F 7-3 - Janet Pannell's hat-trick being the main difference between the two teams. Mike Johnston (Baddow Village E) also played well to stay undefeated against OCs C, although it was only enough to earn his side a draw.

Writtle C moved into second place in division five as they hammered OCs D 9-1. There was no stopping Andy Fox, Tony Lambert and Mark Ghafor on this occasion. David Porter, so succesful in division three against BUSC picked up the sole OCs win, a five game success against Mark Ghafor. OCs D also missed out against Hatfield Peverel E, this time 6-4; as Peverel's Colin Powell and Mike Bard both picked up two singles. The other two games in this division, were inter-club affairs. Baddow Village G provided the more unexpected result as they produced a very strong performance to beat Baddow Village F 8-2, their first win of the season. Martyn Chattey's hat-trick led the way and this included a fine 3-2 victory over David Gatheral. Bottom side ECC H also produced a better performance as they gave mid-table ECC G a decent work-out before succumbing 7-3. The ECC G trio - Ian Rogers, Mick Storey and Richard Storey all won twice. On this occasion it was Colin Barham who fared best of the ECC H side as he beat both Ian Rogers and Mick Storey. When the ECC H side of Barham, Lorna Staff and Tom Hill are fortunate enough to all play well on the same night they will surely do far better.

Writtle D, undefeated in division six added two more wins to their portfolio and they are tied with Baddow Village J on 27 points, although with a game in hand the advantage is in their court. Anthony Hill and Wendy Hibbitt combined effectively as they beat Ingatestone/Excalibur Combined 8-2 whilst Martin Goddard remained undefeated as they saw off Baddow Village K 7-3. Baddow Village J were the week's biggest winners as they hammered OCs E 10-0. The Baddow players Rykki Vansertima, Haydn Upson and Philip Twite all played well with Rykki's narrow 9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 14-12 victory over Hector MacFarlane looking to have been the only game where victory looked in real doubt. OCs E did better against Baddow Village L, emerging with a draw. OCs's Nat Ravlic took his three singles whilst Diane Pitt and Jacqui Smith both won twice for the Baddow side. The other two games in this division were all Baddow Village affairs. The H and M sides couldn't be separated as Ron Arthur's three wins for the H side were countered by doubles for Bradley Hudgell and Richard Napper. The M side also notched up their second win of the season as they beat the I side 6-4. Hudgell and Napper were again on form as they recorded wins in all six singles they were involved in.

ECC J stay top in the CLICK League although they tasted defeat for the first time this season by their only realistic challengers Danbury L, who beat them 3-2. James Gatheral was their principal tormentor as he beat Tommy O'Donnell 11-9, 11-9, 11-3 and followed this up with a 7-11, 11-9, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6 victory over William O'Donnell. Full marks to the ECC side for limiting the damage to 2-3 as they came through 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 against Matt Standen and Gatheral in the doubles. Danbury L lost more ground as they also tasted defeat against ECC K. Gatherall was again undefeated in his singles but brother and sister Dacre and Stevie Pell both won once and combined to beat Gatheral and Terry Withers 3-1 in a vital doubles encounter. Baddow Village N are also handilly placed in fourth position with a game in hand and they were convincing 5-0 winners against Baddow Village P. Their tried and tested trio - Andrew Orme, Alex Gill and Alex Stone all contributed to the victory. One place above them OCs F won 4-1 against Ingatestone Boys Club A, Matthew Porter taking his two singles which included an epic 11-7, 7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 12-10 victory over Jamie Urch. OCs F were successful against OCs G, as they notched up a 3-2 win. Matthew Porter and James Stapley both won once although neither of them were able to beat Richard Rock. Excalibur Knights (Chris Butler and Craig Hiskey) recorded their third success of the season as they beat Baddow Village O 5-0. in a match where Kath Austin came very close to recording the O side's first singles win of the season. She fought tooth and nail with Craig Hiskey before succumbing 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 4-11, 6-11.