Press Report

The top three teams continue to set a boiling hot pace in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. A mere two points now cover the top three sides with ECC A leading the way with 35 points from ten matches. Elmtree Graphics A currently in second place enjoyed two handsome victories as they beat Danbury B and Excalibur A both by 9-1 margins. Mens Singles Champion Vytas Rybakas and Paul Lucas were undefeated against Danbury whilst Vytas and John Holland were unbeaten in the match against Excalibur. Tony Forster will remember the match against Elmtree for his superb 12-10, 13-11, 12-10 victory over Holland. Elmtree's victory against Excalibur was notable as Excalibur's side included the formidable Colin Carslake in their line-up. He was successful against Ev Lucas and just missed out twice, 12-10 in the decider against Rybakas and 11-9 in the fifth end against Holland. Third placed Rawreth A also picked up two wins, hard fought 6-4 successes against Maldon A and Danbury A. Tony Halling was their match-winner against Maldon, whilst Hamish Innes (the best of the Maldon players) came through an epic encounter 11-13, 13-11, 13-11, 7-11, 15-13 against George Reeves. Danbury A turned out a top-class line-up of John Monk, Stuart Gibbs and Dave Jacobs and Rawreth did well to come out on top. A rare appearance from current Southend Mens Singles Champion Ryan Savill gave Rawreth the edge as he took his three singles but Danbury turned out to be "a tough nut to crack". John Monk (who won twice) scored a superb 3-1 win over Tony Halling and Danbury Captain Jacobs scored an equally fine 11-9 fifth set victory over George Reeves. If Rawreth can persuade the powerful Savill to play more regularly then many neutral observers will favour them to take the title. Meanwhile, leaders ECC A managed to beat bottom side Writtle A 8-2, but this was far from plain-sailing. With Kevin Worthington beating Steve Joslin 3-0 and Trevor Carter getting the better of the ECC reserve Gary Brignall 3-1 ECC looked in trouble with the score poised at 3-2 in their favour. Fortunately for them "Super-sub" Brignall made his mark with a 3-1 victory over Worthington and a superb 3-0 success over Gary Ward (last year's 2-Down Champion) to enable ECC to take all four points.

Elsewhere Danbury A consolidated fourth position with a 5-5 draw against Maldon A as Kevin Read won his three singles. Ray Sutton excelled for Maldon by getting the better of Peter Saunders and he also gave Read quite a scare before succumbing 11-8 in the fifth end. Hamish Innes couldn't match Read, losing 3-1 but he enjoyed emphatic 3-0 wins over both Jacobs and Saunders. Danbury were also at pains to dipsose of their B team 6-4 in a match where the form book counted for nothing. Steve Pennell showed he has no respect for reputations as he beat both Kevin Read and Chris Jacob, and Jon Hill added an excellent win over Read. It was left to David Jacobs to hold his side together as he won his three singles. Writtle's brave fight to avoid relegation may well come to nothing but it won't be for lack of effort. Gray Ward won twice in their 7-3 defeat against Excalibur A who had an undefeated Matthew Fasanya to thank for their victory. Writtle's Brian Cook was the narrowest of losers, succumbing 12-10 in the fifth end against Tim Pang.

The Baddow Village road-show marches on in division two and they now have the massive total of 36 points out of a possible 40. So much for the much repeated maxim that this division is traditionally the closest in the League. Peter Barrett, Neil Gooday and Waseem Qureshi took all the singles as they brushed Hatfield Peverel B aside 9-1. Neil Freeman nevertheless put up a terrific fight extending both Gooday and Barrett to a fifth end. Promoted Bocking A are proving to be the division's surprise factor. Another impressive win, 7-3 against ECC C has seen them move into a comfortable second place. The enigmatic Kevin Gowlett, whose impressive repertoire of shots surpasses many first division players took his three singles which included an opening game 3-0 success over Brignall. Danbury C who had Peter Hance and Dave Finlayson undefeated were 9-1 winners against E2V Technologies who worryingly are now just one point off the relegation zone. Second to bottom Baddow Village B, will be pleased with their 6-4 win against ECC B especially as none of their players were able to get the better of Bryn Thomas. Maldon B added four point to their total by drawing twice, against OCs A and Danbury C. In both games they had to compete against a player who stayed unbeaten as John Watts (OCs) and Dave Finlayson (Danbury) both scored hat-tricks. Watts's 3-1 victory over Maldon's Jenny Harrison by a 11-9, 11-9, 2-11, 13-11 scoreline looks to have been the pick of the action.

In contrast to division two, division three is a very low scoring affair. Excalibur B lead the way with 25 points from ten games whilst ECC D are currently in third place with a paltry 19 points from ten matches. Not surprisingly a mere two points covers second placed Baddow Village C and seventh placers Excalibur C. At the top end of the table Excalibur B look to be taking charge of the division and new signing Gary Young (the Clacton Mens Singles Champion no less) led them to a 6-4 victory over ECC D. They added another three points to their total as they beat ECC E 7-3, an undefeated Richard Hiskey taking on the role of match winner on this occasion. Baddow Village C, with a game in hand are currently in second place although their recent form has dipped. They were only able to draw against a two-man ECC E and they missed out 6-4 against ECC D. Duncan Elloy who took all five singles was easily their outstanding performer in these matches. Excalibur C recorded their fourth draw of the season as they rescued a 5-2 deficit against Danbury E. Michael Rostoft sealed their share of the points with his 13-11 in the fifth set win over Malcolm Jacobs in the last game of the night, after he had also been successful by this scoreline against Herbie Smith. There was less joy for Excalibur C against OCs B where they lost 6-4. OCs's Roy Moore was on tip-top form as he took his three singles, his 11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6 success against Rostoft being particularly impressive.

Division four is also a low scoring affair, although Writtle B who top the table will be finding life increasingly to their satisfaction. A Matthew Brown hat-trick enabled them to beat Danbury H 6-4. Brown's narrow 3-2 victory over Neil Want in the last game of the night eventually sealed the Writtle victory. Second placed Danbury G added seven points to their tally as they hammered EPHQ 9-1 and followed it up with a 6-4 win over Danbury F. Dave Powell was unbeaten in both games with Glen Laing adding excellent support against Danbury F as he beat both Ken Sheard and Richard Allen. In third place Baddow Village E did well to beat fourth placed Hatfield Peverel C 6-4. Ryan Pitt who won his three singles proved to be the difference between the two sides. Elmtree Graphics B suffered contrasting fortunes. Represented by Rod Maclennan, Tony Vassallo and Nicola Pippen they made short work of Danbury F winning 9-1. A week later and they were on the wrong end of a four point defeat, beaten 8-2 by OCs C. Maclennan again did well to beat both Tony Cohen and Stuart Wintle although he missed out 3-2 against an undefeated Alan Offord.

Hatfield Peverel D made it nine wins out of ten in division five. Father and son duo Martyn and Greg Green took all seven games they were involved in as Peverel beat Baddow Village G 7-3. Martyn was given a scare though by Steve Clift who stormed into a 2-0 lead before succumbing 10-12, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4. Danbury J with wins over two of the lower placed sides have jumped into second position. Tom Pulham was undefeated as they beat ECC H 8-2, whilst their win over Baddow Village F was a closer affair. Six games went to a decider with Danbury coming out on top in four of them. Mark Wheeler stayed undefeated just coming out on top 5-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9, 12-10 after a real thriller against Peter Sun. The improvement of the young Baddow Village G side in recent weeks has been encouraging. Steve Clift who had given Martyn Green such a scare carried on where he led off scoring an excellent hat-trick over the Danbury K trio of Norman Hayes, John Skuse and Ross Wheeler. Clift's victory over former first division player, the wily Norman Hayes by a 6-11, 2-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-9 margin being a particularly gutsy effort. It also enabled Baddow to enjoy a fine 6-4 victory. ECC G produced the week's big shock in this division, a crushing 9-1 victory over Danbury K, one place above them in the table. You wouldn't have thought it on this occasion as Mick Storey, Richard Storey and Ian Rogers ran riot.

The experienced Excalibur D side appear to have taken charge in division six. An 8-2 win over Baddow Village M and a 6-4 success against Ingatestone Excalibur Combined has seen them open up a two point lead over Baddow Village J with a match in hand. Keith Fitzjohn was undefeated in both matches whilst Michael Wood (Ingatestone Excalibur Combined) who beat Craig McGarrigle, and Bradley Hudgell (Baddow Village) who defeated Lou Hopkins and Craig McGarrigle showed up well for the losers. Baddow Village J scored their eighth win of the season as they beat Baddow Village L 7-3, the ever improving Rykki Vansertima again taking his three singles. However, they are coming under increasing pressure from Writtle D. Writtle added three points to their total as they beat Baddow Village M 7-3. Martin Goddard, Wendy Hibbitt and Ivor Cooper all won twice to counter Bradley Hudgell's excellent trio of wins. The inform Bradley Hudgell was back in action for Baddow Village I against Baddow Village H and he was again undefeated, his three wins giving Baddow Village I the ammunition to run out 7-3 winners. Perhaps the match of the night here featured Essex no. one Under 13 Girl Hannah Pitt and her grandfather Fred Henwood, won by Hannah by a nail-biting 11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 4-11, 12-10 margin. Further down the table OCs E found themselves held to a draw by Ingatestone Excalibur Combined. Their top player Nat Ravlic was just that little bit too strong for his younger opponents on this occasion although two wins for both Michael Wood and Stewart Hiskey enabled Ingatestone Excalibur to share the points.

Danbury L drew level with ECC J on 37 points at the top of the CLICK (Introductory) League after beating Baddow Village P 5-0. Matt Standen and Ben Bailey gave little away winning their four singles all by 3-0 margins. Excalibur Knights notched up the division's next most impressive performance as they were also successful against Baddow Village P, this time by a 4-1 scoreline. Chris Butler took both of his singles with Ben Stead on target for Baddow as he got the better of Craig Hiskey 3-2. Excalibur had Butler to thank against OCs F as well, as he again took his two singles and partnered team-mate Hiskey to a vital 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8 doubles victory against Nicholas Rock and Kane Lambert. Excalibur Knights just managed to shade this match 3-2. Finally, OCs G recorded their second win of the season as they beat Baddow Village P 3-2 as Richard Rock with two singles wins took on the role of match-winner.