Press Report

ECC A took a step closer to retaining their Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League first division title by beating a strong Maldon A side 9-1. The score may have flattered them considerably but any team that can take all four points off a Maldon side containing Ray Murray, Hamish Innes and Peter Ballard surely deserve to be crowned Champions. Steve Joslin and Steve Kerns were both undefeated with Maldon's success coming via Peter Ballard's excellent 3-2 win over the M&G Chelmsford Closed Mens Singles Champion David Cole. Kerns's opening game success, a roller-coaster 5-11, 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 13-11 ride against old rival Ray Murray turned out to be the night's closest encounter. Second-placed Elmtree Graphics A dropped a point against lowly Hatfield Peverel A. Although John Holland and Vytas Rybakas took their six singles Ev Lucas suffered something of an off-night losing his three games, which meant that Elmtree had to settle for a 6-4 success. At the other end of the table Writtle A gave themselves every chance of avoiding relegation as they beat Billericay 7-3, a result that enabled them to leap-frog over their opponents. It was a great all-round Writtle performance, as Gary Ward scored three vital wins, Kevin Worthington won twice and Brian Cook picked up an excellent win against Brian Cole.

Division two leaders Baddow Village A remain near-certainties to win this division, but surprisingly found themselves beaten for a second week running. This time it was their B team who "threw a spanner in the works", winning 6-4. Adrian Pitt took his three singles whilst Alistair Piper won twice which included a magnificent 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 10-12, 12-10 victory over the M&G Chelmsford Closed 2-Down Singles Champion Peter Barrett. Bocking remain a safe second and from 2-3 down they came through strongly to beat E2V Technologies 7-3. Kevin Gowlett and Richard Jennings were both undefeated. Hatfield Peverel B who have slipped down the table in recent weeks scored a welcome 6-4 win over ECC C, after a very hard fought match where the last four games were all decided deep in the fifth set. Peverel's Neil Freeman completed an excellent hat-trick with a 11-8 fifth game success over Gary Brignall in the vital last match of the evening. ECC B stay fourth after beating a two-man Maldon B 9-1. Bryn Thomas and Keith Spicer were both undefeated whilst Maldon's Brian Riedling impressed by scoring a fine 3-2 win over Trevor Collin.

ECC D produced their best performance of the season in division three as they crushed Excalibur C 9-1. Simon Webber and Peter Layzell didn't put a foot wrong as they both scored hat-tricks whilst John Wickins added two wins, missing out only against Michael Rostoft. The clash between Danbury E and OCs B was a closer fought affair. Danbury's Herbie Smith took his three singles whilst Roy Moore and John Watts both won twice for the Old Boys as the match finished all square.

Writtle B look to have taken charge in division four. Against Baddow Village E they showed the benefits of having strong reserves to call upon - Andy Fox (three wins) and Tony Lambert (two wins) joined forces with Hector Rogers (three wins) as Writtle ran out comfortable 7-3 winners. Time appears to be running out for bottom-placed team EPHQ who have nevertheless scored 24 points, highly respectable for a team propping up a division. However EPHQ will have been disappointed with their showing against Hatfield Peverel C having lost 7-3. Although Francis Whitbread won twice an out-of-sorts Ian Hockley failed to get his name on the scoresheet as the Peverel side (Keith Cullen, Chris Ciniglio and Jon Fieldsend) all performed to the peak of their powers. Elmtree Graphics B have also slipped down the table in recent weeks and by drawing with ECC F they too find themselves uncomfortably close to the relegation zone. Their leading player Tony Vassallo took his three singles, but ECC's Allan Thompson and Jeff Lewington hit back as they both won twice.

Hatfield Peverel D, long-time leaders of division five made no mistake as they beat bottom side ECC H 9-1. M&G Closed Chelmsford Division 4-Down Champion Martyn Green was predictably unbeaten and Dan Pigeon followed suit. ECC's Colin Barham replied with an excellent win over Essex Junior County representative Greg Green. Writtle C look like they will have to settle for third place, although by beating Baddow Village G 9-1 they kept up the pressure on the two teams above them. Andy Fox and Mark Ghafor were both unbeaten in this success. ECC G moved into fourth place having hit a rich vein of form. Mick Storey, Ian Rogers and Richard Storey had matters pretty much their own way as they hammered OCs D 10-0, and they added three more points to their total a week later as they beat Hatfield Peverel E 7-3. Richard Storey's three wins ensured the ECC side were always in control in this match.

In division six Writtle D pulled up to within one point of Baddow Village J when they beat their rivals 6-4 in the top-of-the-table clash. And what an unusual match it was. Writtle stormed into a 4-0 lead before Baddow fought back in style to level the scores at 4-4, courtesy of two excellent victories for Sam Pitt over Martin Goddard and Kevin Barber. Anne Lockhart gave Writtle the advantage again as she beat Phil Twite 3-0 and in a stirring finale Martin Goddard came through a very hard-fought five ender 11-6, 9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6 to beat Rykki Vansertima. Elsewhere the ubiquitous Bradley Hudgell left his mark in every match he played in. The M&G Closed Chelmsford 6-Down Champion was undefeated as he led Baddow Village M to 6-4 wins over Baddow Village K and Ingatestone-Excalibur Combined and for good measure he also stayed undefeated as Baddow Village K saw off Baddow Village I 6-4. In yet another all Baddow Village clash the honours finished all square as Baddow Village H drew with Baddow Village L. Ron Arthur stayed undefeated for the H team but Eric Clift and Dianne Pitt hit back as they both won twice and Mick Pitt added a vital victory in the battle of the no. threes with a hard fought win over Les Webb.

With two more wins CLICK leaders ECC J issued a clear statement of intention to Danbury L - "Catch us if you can". Brothers Tommy and William O'Donnell were pretty much in control as they beat Ingatestone Boys Club 5-0, but OCs G led by Richard Rock presented a more formidable challenge. Richard who won both his singles came close to adding the doubles as well. The father/son combination of Richard and Nick Rock just missed out 6-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 7-11 against a battling Tommy and William combination. There was something of a shock when third-placed ECC K found themselves well beaten 5-0 by Baddow Village N. Three matches went to a fifth end and the inform Baddow Village side took all of them - Alex Stone and Andrew Orme both playing really well in the process. ECC K also had a fight on their hands as they just managed to beat OCs F 3-2. Dacre Pell took both his singles, but what a battle he had against Matthew Porter. Dacre eventually edged home 5-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-4, 14-12 having to dig really deep to cross the finishing line first. And further down the table Ingatestone Boys Club A (Nick Searles and Jack Moss) scored their fifth win of the season as they beat Baddow Village D whilst Baddow Village P (Ben Steed and Tom Lee) were 4-1 winners against OCs F.