Press Report

The new point a game scoring system adopted by the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League brings the Chelmsford League in line with many of the other Leagues throughout the County but unfortunately it isn't too kind on the losing sides. With every single game effectively counting towards a team's end of season total it does encourage the winning sides to push really hard for the maximum possible return. This was evident in division one this week where all three matches played resulted in convincing wins. Danbury B led by undefeated performances by David Jacobs and Jon Hill cruised home 9-1 against Bocking whilst Maldon A served by an Essex County Veteran line-up of Dave Bowles, Peter Ballard and Hamish Innes hammered Excalibur A 9-1. Gary Young's fine win over Ballard being the only game to escape the Maldon side's clutches. Elmtree Graphics A were even more dominant and their very strong side which contained no less than three past and present Essex Junior no. one players - Vytas Rybakas, Paul Lucas and Reagan Nettleingham whitewashed Baddow Village A 10-0.

Division two produced some closer fought battles with ECC B featuring in two of them. They overcame the menace of Peter Brownlow's three wins to hold Hatfield Peverel A to a draw and with an unbeaten Trevor Collin hitting top form they also managed to draw with Excalibur B. Baddow Village B and E2V Technologies also finished all square as Adrian Pitt took his three singles for the Baddow Village side. Pitt's hat-trick of wins included an impressive 12-10, 11-6, 12-10 victory over Dave Richardson, E2V's best player. Elsewhere Billericay turned in two top class performances as they hammered Bocking B 9-1 and they also beat ECC C 8-2. Keith Ashton and Ray Eldridge were undefeated in both matches.

OCs A turned on the style in division three. It was pretty much all one way traffic as Robbie Burton, Steve Northcott and John Watts hammered Danbury E 10-0. Watt's tense 8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9 win over John Robinson was the only game to go to the deciding set.

ECC F turned in two solid performances in division four. Jeff Lewington took his three singles as they beat Danbury G 6-4 whereas their 7-3 win over Elmtree Graphics B owed more to team work as Lewington, Allan Thompson and Mohammed Mohseni all won twice. Nicola Pippen excelled by beating Lewington 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7 whilst Rod Maclennan also showed up well as he beat Allan Thompson 6-11, 12-10.11-5, 9-11, 11-8. Elsewhere, Hatfield Peverel C looked good value as they beat Writtle C 7-3. An undefeated Keith Cullen was their match-winner on this occasion.

Division five produced the closest results of the week. All five matches were keenly contested with EPHQ's 7-3 victory over Hatfield Peverel D perhaps taking pride of place. Ian Hockley's three victories gave EPHQ the edge with his hard-fought 6-11, 12-10, 12-10, 12-10 success against Andy Simmonds being the pick of the night's action. ECC G also ran out as 7-3 winners against Danbury J, whose three victories were notched up by Norman Hayes. The ECC G trio of Mick Storey, Richard Storey and Ian Rogers took it all in their stride all winning twice and adding the doubles for good measure. Baddow Village F also did well to beat Writtle D 6-4, good going as none of their players were able to get the better of Kevin Barber. OCs D on the other hand benefited from having the match's top performer on their side and Nat Ravlic's three singles wins helped them shade the match 6-4 against ECC H. In the match between Hatfield Peverel D and Baddow Village G it finished all square, and it was Peverel's Mike Brad who showed up best taking his three singles with victories over Colin Gooday, Mike Robinson and Phil Twite.

Danbury K were the week's big winners in division six as Peter Sun and Matt Standen gave nothing away in their side's 9-1 win over OCs E. Danbury K added another seven poinbts to their total as they beat Baddow Village L 7-3 as Peter Sun notched up another unbeaten evening's work. It was a case of experience just carrying the way when Baddow Village H overcame Baddow Village K 6-4. Ron Arthur took his three singles for the Veterans whilst Alex Stone with wins over Fred Henwood and Les Webb fared best of the Junior side.