Press Report

There was no mistaking the outstanding performance in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League this week. It was Rawreth's ace-defender Duncan Taylor who walked off with the prize for his superb three-straight wins over Bocking's Rik James and Peter Hayden. However, as impressive as Taylor's performance was it couldn't prevent Bocking winning the match 6-4. Hayden and James both won twice whilst Kevin Gowlett chipped in with one victory, a very impressive 3-1 success over Burnham Mens Singles Champion Kevin Read. Elmtree Graphics A moved a step closer to taking second place as they beat Excalibur A 8-2. Their main-stays Vytas Rybakas and John Holland were both undefeated although Vytas had his work cut out in defeating Nigel Lamb 14-12, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9.

The second division saw all four matches go to form with the bottom three sides all losing 8-2. Baddow Village B always had the upper-hand against Excalibur B as Ray Lawrence and Alastair Piper both won their three singles. Likewise Bocking stay in second to bottom place after they went down against Maldon B. Neither Dave Bassett or Gary Cattermole gave anything away. ECC B remain in third to bottom place and they too lost 8-2, to their colleagues ECC C. Simon Webber and Gary Brignall were both undefeated. Spare a thought for third-placed Hatfield Peverel A, their impressive total of 93 points is easily the best of any third placed team in the League, yet they still find themselves some way adrift of the top two sides - Billericay and Danbury C . This week their top player Peter Brownlow was undefeated as they saw off E2V Technologies 7-3. Ivan Chaplin fared best of the E2V players and he beat both Dave Carter and John Parodi in five ends.

This week's most vital match in division three took place at the bottom of the table. Although Excalibur C beat Danbury E 7-3, it may well be insufficient to save them from relegation. They still trail Baddow Village C by three points and the Baddow side have two games in hand. It was Excalibur's Dave Moles who outshone his team-mates as he stayed undefeated. Danbury E fared far better against Baddow Village D and they shaded the match 6-4. They certainly didn't play like a team cast adfrift at the bottom of the table and of the six games that went to a fifth end they won the last four of them. Neil Want enjoyed a full evening's play, all three of his matches were decided in the fifth end and he won twice, beating Steve Back and Frank Neill. Elsewhere Danbury D jumped into a season's best third place by beating Writtle B (7-3) and ECC D (8-2). Peter Hance was undefeated in both matches whilst Norman Smith provided excellent support winning five of his six singles. His only defeat was over five ends against ECC's Trevor Roberts.

The week's big shock in division four took place at the County Hall. Runaway leaders ECC E suffered their first defeat of the season as they were well beaten 7-3 by third-placed Danbury H. Glen Laing was on superb form for Danbury and he completed a memorable hat-tricks of wins by beating Gary Copsey 10-12, 13-11, 14-12. 7-11, 11-9. Russell Forde, the Runner-Up in the Four Down Singles at the M&G Investments Closed Tournament also found the going tough, and he succumbed to both Laing and Herbie Smith. It was honours shared in the clash between third-placed Danbury H and fourth-placed Danbury G. Dave Powell won his three singles for the G side but Herbie Smith hit back by beating both Brian Ellis and Dave Goody. Baddow Village E impressed by beating the higher placed Danbury G 6-4. This time, another of the stars of the Closed Tournament - the Four Down Singles Champion Bradley Hudgell was found wanting and he was beaten over five ends by Dave Goody. It was a mixed night for Goody, he excelled to beat both Hudgell and Graham Turner but found himself edged out over five ends by Bob Francis, the Baddow Village number three's sole win of the evening. Hatfield Peverel C couldn't have met Elmtree Graphics B at a worst time. They were a player short and Elmtree turned out one of their strongest line-ups. Peverel's Martin Green impressed by fighting back from 2-0 down to defeat Phil Smith 7-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 12-10 but he met his match in Fred Button. He was no match for Button's heavy-chop as Button sailed home 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 as Elmtree eventually won 7-3 . 10-0 scorelines have been something of a rarity this season but second-placed OCs C managed it as they outplayed bottom side Writtle C. John Watts, Nat Ravlic and Adrian North were all undefeated.

The "ECC G show" continues in division five and the leaders made no mistake as they beat Hatfield Peverel D 8-2 and EPHQ 6-4. Mick Storey and Ian Rogers were both unbeaten against Hatfield Peverel although EPHQ in the shape of Ian Hockley offered more resistance. Hockley completed his hat-trick with a hard-fought 12-10, 11-9, 4-11, 7-11, 11-5 win over Rogers. Bottom side ECC H scored their third win of the season, beating Writtle D 6-4. Cecil Butcher took his three singles and Lorna Staff provided excellent support by beating both Wendy Hibbitt and Kevin Barber. Elsewhere, Baddow Village F did well to hold the higher placed OCs D to a draw in a match where no single player stayed undefeated. None of the Baddow Village players were able to get the better of David Porter but Richard Upson's two wins plus single victories for Sam Pitt and Haydn Upson enabled them to share the points.

The division six match between ECC J and Baddow Village L was well contested. It featured seven Junior players and six of these won games as the match ended tied at 5-5. The closest match of the night featured Matt Skeoch and Stevie Pell and it was Matt who edged home 16-14, 11-4, 6-11, 8-11, 11-9. Chelmsford's new Under 14 Singles Champion Adam Pitt won twice but he missed out against Dacre Pell over five fluctuating ends. Dacre eventually won 11-5, 8-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6. Baddow Village K retained third place as they beat OCs F 8-2. Eric Clift and Alex Stone were both undefeated. It was Stone who came under the most pressure to retain his unbeaten record for the evening and he just did enough to beat James Stapley 11-13, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5, 12-10 in his final singles encounter.