Press Report

ECC A repeated their first half of the season 6-4 victory over Elmtree Graphics A, an important win which ought to go a long way to deciding the outcome of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League first division. A razor-sharp Dave Cole totally dominated the evening, taking all three singles and sharing in a Mens Doubles success. Cole and Steve Joslin's 3-1 Doubles win over John Holland and Vytas Rybakas proved vital as did Joslin's excellent 3-0 victory over John Holland, Chelmsford Mens Singles Runner-Up last season. Fleet-footed Cole produced his best display of the season, downing Chelmsford Mens Singles Champion Vytas Rybakas 3-1, beating John Holland convincingly 3-0 and completing an excellent evening's work with a hard-fought 3-2 win over a battling Paul Lucas. Rawreth A now look to be ECC's closest challengers and they could afford the luxury of leaving out their top three ranked players yet still beating Danbury B 8-2. Duncan Taylor and Charles Sweeney both stayed undefeated as the Danbury duo of Steve Pennell and Jon Hill both got the better of Steve Maltby. Maldon A had Hamish Innes and Peter Ballard firing on all cylinders as they beat Hatfield Peverel A 7-3. Peverel will also be pretty pleased to have scored a point as their reserve John Webber secured their third win by scoring an excellent 3-2 victory over Ray Sutton. Webber who produced a performance far above his usual division four status had also made his mark in his other two singles, taking both County Veteran stars Innes and Ballard to five ends.

Bocking A, the surprise package in division two this season are getting better and better. They are probably too far adrift to seriously challenge runaway leaders Baddow Village A but second place appears to be theirs for the taking. They produced arguably their best display of the year as they beat Danbury C comprehensively 8-2. Their top player Kevin Gowlett again remained undefeated and in the process he avenged Dave Finlayson for his first half defeat whilst Richard Jennings was a revelation beating Finlayson 3-1 and contributing further excellent victories against Peter Hance and Gordon Gatherall. OCs A also impressed by beating an E2V Technologies team containing both Richardson brothers and Ivan Chaplin 6-4. Although Dave and Paul Richardson both won twice, Steve Northcott and Rob Burton countered by also taking two singles and Sundar Balakrishnan added an excellent 3-0 win over Ivan Chaplin. Bryn Thomas, who appears to be playing as well as ever also impressed as he led ECC B to a 6-4 win over ECC C. His 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10 victory over Gary Brignall stood out in his hat-trick of wins.

In division three new side Bocking B are doing very well, and this week they recorded an excellent 7-3 win over Excalibur C. Robin Armstrong enjoyed a hard-fought opening 3-2 victory against Steve Cheesman but really clicked into overdrive in his next two games beating both Ian Butler and Michael Rostoft 3-0. Team-mate Barry Pritchard missed out against the determined Rostoft by the frustrating scoreline of 7-11, 11-2, 10-12, 11-3, 9-11. Danbury E produced their best performance of the season to overwhelm ECC E 9-1. Herbie Smith and Malcolm Jacobs were both undefeated as Danbury called the shots, taking all five games that went to a deciding end. Neil Thompson saved the ECC side's blushes by beating Norman Smith 3-0 to prevent the whitewash. Thompson's battle with Malcolm Jacobs could hardly have been closer with Jacobs eventually winning 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 15-13.

Division four strugglers EPHQ scored a welcome 7-3 win over ECC F as Ian Hockley and Francis Whitbread both stayed undefeated. EPHQ's Calvin Wright just failed to pick up a win, but it wasn't for lack of trying. His third singles against Allan Thompson was a classic as Thompson just edged home 14-16, 11-8, 13-15, 11-5, 15-13. Further up the table second placed Danbury G kept up the pressure on the leaders Writtle B as they beat OCs C 6-4. Dave Goody was their match-winner with three wins. Danbury H were even more impressive hammering Danbury F 9-1 with Neil Want (three wins), Jean Chasmer (two wins) and Janet Pannell (two wins) dominating the action. Elmtree Graphics B are going through a lean spell at present but they won't come closer to achieving a draw than they did against Hatfield Peverel C. Tony Vassallo' s two wins had been matched by Peverel's Dave Fillery and Keith Cullen which left Elmtree's Rod Maclennan to face Jon Fieldsend in the last game of the evening. And what a game they produced. Fieldsend taking a marathon by a 14-12, 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 20-18 margin. I wonder if this led Rod to contemplate whether it would have been less painful to have lost 3-0 ?. This scoreline also represents the closest fifth set that has ocurred in the Chelmsford League since the Sport switched to the 11-Up scoring system.

Division five leaders Hatfield Peverel D dished out the familiar "Green treatment" to ECC G as Father/Son combination Martyn and Greg raced through their six singles as Peverel won 6-4. Hatfield Peverel E made it a double success for their Club as they beat ECC H 6-4. Mike Bard was their match-winner and Colin Powell with two wins provided excellent support. Danbury J's 7-3 win over their colleagues from the J team owed everything to team-work as Kevin Willis, Mark Wheeler and John Knights all won twice. However, none of them were able to make any impression on the canny Norman Hayes whose deft touches and subtle placement still show something of the craft he used to display in the first division some 30 years ago. ECC G produced a "storey of their own" as Richard and Mick Storey (a Cousin and Uncle combination) won five of their six singles in their side's 8-2 win over Baddow Village F. Team-mate Ian Rogers also won twice and he just missed out on recording a hat-trick when he lost 8-11, 13-15, 12-10, 11-5, 13-11 to Peter Sun.

Division six produced two clear-cut victories this week as two of the favourites both produced impressive performances. Rykki Vansertima and Haydn Upson were both on top form as Baddow Village J scored a 9-1 victory over Baddow Village K, whilst Writtle D (Tony Hill, Anne Lockhart and Wendy Hibbitt) carried all before them as they beat Baddow Village I 10-0.

The CLICK League also produced three clear-cut wins this week. Tommy and William O'Donnell (ECC J) won 4-1 against ECC K as Dacre Pell's victory over William O'Donnell was the only game to escape them. ECC J were not unexpectedly too strong for Baddow Village O and won 5-0 although Claire and Kathy Austin gave the O'Donnell brothers a good game in the Doubles and were unlucky not to take the third end. ECC K also tasted success as they beat Baddow Village P 5-0. However, this was no "walk-in-the-Park" with Dacre Pell in particular being made to struggle before he eased home in five ends against both Ben Steed and Tom Lee. Sister Stevie "showed him the way" beating Tom Lee very impressively 3-0 and Ben Steed 3-1.