EXCALIBUR STAY ON COURSE

Excalibur B look well on course to win the low-scoring division three of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. A hard-fought 5-5 draw with third-placed Danbury E may not have been the result they were after but it means they retain their four point lead over second-placed OCs B. It was a hard fought match with Danbury surging into a 3-0 lead and then falling behind 5-3 before taking the last two singles to seal the draw. Current League Chairman Norman Smith just prevailed 14-12, 11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 13-11 after a real thriller against Richard Hiskey, his predecessor. Danbury E were even more impressive against former leaders Baddow Village C where they won 7-3. Both Norman Smith and Malcolm Jacobs remained undefeated. OCs B’s aspirations of wining the title were dealt a blow when they were in turn held to a draw by Baddow Village C. Mike Johnston was the Baddow Village king-pin with three excellent wins. Bocking B also fell back as they missed out 6-4 against ECC D despite the fact that none of the ECC players were able to get the better of Barry Pritchard.

ECC B climbed into third place in division two, albeit a massive eleven points behind second-placed Bocking A. An undefeated Bryn Thomas led the way as they beat Hatfield Peverel B 8-2. Baddow Village B, one place further back were also convincing winners as they hammered OCs A 9-1. Adrian Pitt and Alistair Piper both took their three singles whilst Robbie Burton impressed with a fine win over Julie Vansertima. Baddow Village B were also successful against Danbury C, winning 6-4, and this time it was Julie who took her three singles whilst Alistair drew a blank. Danbury C were out of luck against ECC C as well, as they again succumbed 6-4. Ken James stayed undefeated whilst Alistair Hill who fought his way through to the semi-final of the 2-down singles at the M&G Chelmsford Closed Championships failed to get his name on the scoresheet.

Rawreth’s attempt to finish amongst the honours in the first division took another step backwards as they dropped a point in beating bottom side Writtle A 6-4. Gary Ward and Trevor Carter both scored fine wins over Paul Grant with Ward also adding the impressive scalp of Charles Sweeney to his collection. Second-placed Elmtree Graphics A were less charitable as they hammered a two-man Danbury side 10-0. John Holland did not drop an end as he disposed of Chris Jacob and David Jacobs.

Second-placed Danbury H could turn out to be this year’s surprise package in division four. With Neil Want leading the way they beat both Hatfield Peverel C and Baddow Village E 6-4 and they also have a game in hand on the leaders Writtle B who they trail by five points. Writtle B also took three points as they beat OCs C 7-3. Their leading player Matthew Brown again led by example winning his three singles whilst Tony Cohen fared best of the OCs players. His 7-11, 3-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-9 win over Hector Rogers represented the best come-back of the week. Third placed Danbury G did well to beat fourth-placed Baddow Village E 6-4.Team-work was the order of the day here as Dave Goody, Brian Ellis and Dave Powell all won twice and rather surprisingly all managed to lose to a different Baddow Village player.

Writtle C and OCs D were this week’s big winners in division five as they both scored 9-1 victories. David Porter and Brian Shipley (OCs) and Andy Fox and Tony Lambert (Writtle) were all undefeated as their sides beat Baddow Vilage G and Baddow Village F respectively. This result leaves Writtle in third place with 36 points, four behind the leaders Danbury J and two points behind Hatfield Peverel who with two games in hand appear to be in the driving seat. Writtle C were pushed harder by Danbury K, and by Norman Hayes in particular who won his three singles, but team-work in the shape of two wins each for Andy Fox, Tony Lambert and Tony Hill ensured that Writtle took the match 6-4. Danbury K were themselves successful in beating Hatfield Peverel E 6-4. Hayes gave this match a miss but doubles for John Skuse and Paul Oliver enabled them to edge home. Time is running out for bottom-placed ECC H and their 3-7 defeat against Baddow Village F means they face a real battle to avoid relegation. Baddow with Peter Sun and Mike Robinson both winning their three singles were always in charge.

Excalibur D, favourites for the division six title were stopped in their tracks by Writtle D and with this match finishing all square there should now be a fascinating three way battle between Writtle, Excalibur and Baddow Village J to decide the destination of the title. Writtle’s Anthony Hill and Excalibur’s Lou Hopkins and Craig McGarrigle all won twice. Baddow Village J fared better taking four points off both Baddow Village M and Baddow Village I. Rykki Vansertima took his three singles against the M team whilst Sam Pitt took his three singles against the I side. Baddow Village M in turn scored their fourth win of the season with a 6-4 victory over Baddow Village L. Bradley Hudgell and Todd Eden were both unbeaten. The mid-table battle between Baddow Village H and OCs E also finished all square. Nat Ravlic stayed undefeated for OCs and he also won his singles comfortably in his side’s 7-3 win against Baddow Village I. On that showing he looked a little too strong for division six.

Danbury L’s convincing 5-0 win over Ingatestone Boys Club A in the CLICK (Introductory League) means they have closed the gap on the leaders ECC J to three points and they also have a game in hand. Matt Standen and James Gatherall were both on commanding form, both disposing of Ingatestone’s best player Jamie Urch 3-1. The mid-table battle between Excalibur Knights and Baddow Village N was predictably a close match with Excalibur just shading it 3-2. Baddow employed a three-player side and Andrew Orme, Alex Gill and Alex Stone all picked up one singles. ECC K moved into fourth place with their 4-1 victory over Ingatestone Boys Club A. Dacre Pell and sister Steve took three singles with Stevie’s 3-0 reverse against Lee Cranmer being the only game that escaped them. Baddow Village P scored their third win of the season as they beat Baddow Village O 4-1, which also represented Baddow Village O’s second point of the season. Kath Austin excelled for the O team with her 12-10, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 victory over Aled Upson. She also came close to extending Matthew Davis to five ends before missing out 7-11, 11-2, 7-11, 10-12.