Press Report

ECC G have taken a firm hold on division five of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League after beating second-placed Excalibur D 7-3. Excalibur started well, racing into a 2-1 lead but it was the ECC side who eventually hit top form. The improving Richard Storey excelled as he won his three singles in style whilst Ian Rogers added two vital wins. Baddow Village F in turn consolidated third position by beating OCs D 6-4, a result helped slightly by the fact that OCs fielded an ineligible player. With a full team OCs D fared better, and Nat Ravlic led them to A 7-3 victory against Danbury J. Bottom side ECC H continue to struggle and they missed out 7-3 against Baddow Village G. Mike Robinson won his three singles, although his success over Vicky Stredder by a 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 14-16, 11-2 margin was far from straight forward. EPHQ, don't look capable of maintaining a challenge for promotion this season, and although they beat OCs D it was by the narrowest possible 6-4 scoreline. Their leading player Ian Hockley was up to the task, and he won his three singles.

Last year's Champions ECC A made it seven successive wins in the first division as they beat Rawreth A 7-3. Neil Charles was again their "strong-man" as he annexed his three singles convincingly 3-0. Senior British League Division One player Tony Halling comes with a formidable reputation but he made little impact against Neil who brushed him aside 11-4, 11-8, 11-4. Bocking A recorded their second win of the season, as they beat Writtle A 7-3. And as you might expect, Rik James and Peter Hayden were again involved. They both raced through their three singles to leave the Braintree side in charge. The mid-table battle between Baddow Village A and Danbury B fittingly ended all square. No single player stayed undefeated whilst no one went home empty-handed either. Baddow Villager - Neil Gooday and Danbury's Dave Jacobs and Ian Whiteside all picked up two victories.

It was "business as usual" in the second division as the two leading teams - Danbury C and Billericay both won. Danbury in particular, look to really have the "bit between their teeth" at present as they hammered ECC B 9-1. Keith Spicer's excellent win over Dave Finlayson was all ECC could muster, as Andrew Halling and Keith Phillips both turned in undefeated performances. Billericay in fact lost ground, as they were "only" able to beat Baddow Village B 7-3. This was still a reasonable effort against a strong Baddow Village side in what was a fiercely contested match, where five games were decided deep in the fifth end. The Billericay trio - Keith Ashton, Marilyn Bawden and Ray Eldridge who all won twice will all feel they received good value for their evening's efforts. Maldon B were also convincing winners as they beat Excalibur B 9-1. On this occasion, Lee Prentice and Dave Bassett both took their three singles whilst Richard Hiskey picked up the Excalibur success with a fine victory over Northern Ireland Veteran International Jenny Harrison. BUSC B will want to forget their match against ECC C, as they failed to get onto the scoresheet. Right from the first game when Simon Webber got the better of Robin Armstrong by a nail-biting 18-16 in the fifth end, it was the ECC side who were calling the shots and the Council side of Webber, Gary Brignall and Ken James eventually ran out 10-0 winners.

OCs A are looking increasingly like the team to beat in division three. Their impressive 9-1 win over ECC D was fashioned by hat-tricks from Steve Northcott and John Watts whilst Roy Moore contributed two valuable wins and only missed out 13-11 in the decider against Peter Layzell. The bottom half-of-the-table battle between Baddow Village C and Danbury E went to form as Baddow Village C ran out as 7-3 winners. Mike Johnston took his three singles, whilst the up-and-coming Junior Bradley Hudgell won twice. Bradley isn't the first player to have found Jean Chasmer a difficult opponent to break down and he missed out over five hotly contested ends. Bottom side, Excalibur C recorded their first win of the season as Baddow Village D paid the price for being a player short. Michael Rostoft won his two singles to give Excalibur the 6-4 advantage they badly needed.

Ingatestone Excalibur recorded their second victory of the season, in division six as they beat OCs F 8-2. Jamie Cheesman picked up his three singles, whilst Veteran Coach Dowsett and James Dale both won twice. OCs' James Stapley scored an excellent 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 13-11 success over Dowsett, probably the best performance of the evening.

In the CLICK League the 4-1 win for OCs H over Baddow Village O stood out. Kane Lambert was on excellent form for the "Old Boys" as he beat both Aled Upson and James Austin and with Jack Preston he had a share in a doubles win. OCs G were also 4-1 winners over Excalibur Knights, although this result was perhaps marginally less surprising. Alex Law won both of his singles whilst Andy Law added a victory over Martin Hiskey. It was Craig Hiskey who was on target for the Knights as he came through narrowly 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 against Andy Law, a case of "breaking the Law" perhaps !. Further up the table, Baddow Village O consolidated third position as they beat Baddow Village N 3-2. All four players picked up one singles, and therefore the 3-1 doubles win that Claire Austin and Aled Upson achieved against Brendon Crouchman and Darren Laverty eventually proved decisive.