Billericay Leave Nothing To Chance

As we enter the second half of the season Elmtree A continue to great guns at the top of the first division. They recently beat a strong Danbury A side 9-1, with only Keith Phillips being able to score for the visitors by scoring a fine five set win over Paul Lucas, with John Holland and Arthur Rybakas scoring maximums with the minimum of fuss. However Elmtree cam down to earth with a bump, when they were convincingly beaten 8-2 by a full strength Billericay team. Arthur Rybakas lost his first game of the season to Gary Tendler 12-10 in the decider, this ensured Gary scored a hatrick in this encounter. Alex Green and Natalie Bawden had to give second best to Arthur, with Steve Willis and Matt Spero being unable to score on the night. Baddow Village are still going well in the top division, they beat Bocking 8-2, however Bocking could only field one of their regular players in Kevin Gowlet, who beat Neil Gooday and Peter Barrett. Baddow also lost a tight match 6-4 to Danbury B, where Eric Green and Keith Phillips won all their games. Excalibur A have recently picked up some valuable points, losing only 6-4 to Danbury A where only Gary Young was their star player in defeating the experienced Jon Hill and Ian Whiteside. Excalibur were also given a 10-0 walkover by Maldon when they failed to show for their recent match.

In the second division the top two of Writtle A and OC’s A played out a 5-5 draw, no player was unbeaten on the night, although Nikki Kennard’s 11-8 11-5 11-3 win over Gary Ward really caught the eye. OC's recently beat Hatfield Peverel A 10-0, although the scoreline appeared to be a little flattering for the victors. Writtle were recently brought back down to earth, as they were beaten 7-3 by Maldon B, who were without the services of Ray Murray. John Cleasby and Dave Bassett played really well on the night winning all their games. Maldon also recently beat Bocking B 8-2, where Jenny Harrison scored a maximum, it appears that Maldon could make a late charger for promotion. It seems that I have jinxed Alastair Piper in reporting all his recent wins, as he lost all his games in a 7-3 defeat to lowly E2V. Finally Hatfield Peverel B picked up some valuable points in a 6-4 win over ECC B, Guy Mackenzie had a fine 11-6,11-3, 11-4 win over Trevor Collin ( no bad feelings, also Holly Stubbings playing up from division 6 beat Greg Green three straight, and pushed all her opponents all the way.

                     In division three the top of the table clash between Excalibur B and OC's B resulted in a 6-4 win for the visitors. No player was unbeaten on the night, but Nat Ravlic had a very impressive 11-8, 11-2, 11-6 win over Richard Hiskey. Richard Hiskey had a better night against Rawreth B when he won all three against Paul Churn, Stan Owen and Mat Rolfe. OC’S B had a fine 8-2 win over Baddow, where Nat Ravlic and John Watts carried all before them. Baddow D could only field 2 players against Writtle B, and suffered as a consequence in a 9-1 reverse. Frank Neill was the only player who could stop the rot when he beat Chris Hibbit in the first game of the evening. Peter Layzell put in a good evenings work against Danbury D when he beat Glen Laing, Tim Pullham and Jean Chasmer all 3 straight. Norman Smith scored a fine maximum against Excalibur C, but Steve Munday and Michael Rostoff pushed him all the way.

                     It's been a good couple of weeks for Danbury F in division 4, they beat Elmtree F 8-2. Dave Goody won all his games in these two matches, and he was ably supported by Brian Ellis and Dave Powell. Hatfield Peverel C defeated Danbury G 9-1, where only Clive Allenby dropped a singles. However Clive scored a superb maximum against Danbury H, this hatrick of wins included a fine 4 set win over division two standard Gordon Gatherall. Gordon hit back against Baddow E, where he beat Gareth Joyce, Graham Turner, and Bob Francis. Baddow E had a much better night against Danbury G, running out winners 8-2. Gareth Joyce and Graham Turner enjoyed hatricks on this occasion.

                      OC's C have really been enjoying themselves lately in the fifth division, registering two 8-2 victories over Hatfield Peverel D and Baddow F. Mark Bohan remained unbeaten in both these matches, being well supported by team mates Tony Cohen and Dave Porter. Writtle C are also going well in this division, they recently won 9-1 against Baddow G and 8-2 against OC's D. Andy Fox, Tony Lambert and Mark Ghafor all seem to have hit a rich vein of form at the same time. Another side playing well lately are EPHQ, having taken 15 points out of their recent matches against Danbury and OC's D. Ian Hockley and Francis Whitbread appear to be too strong for this division, Hatfield Peverel D recently whitewashed ECC G, Mike Bard, Chris Buer and Lawrence Wilcox being unstoppable on the night. Finally young Adam Pitt had a superb singles win over the redoubtable Hill Dowsett 3 straight in the recent match between Gt Baddow G and Excalibur D.

                        Hatfield Peverel E had a resounding 9-1 win over Danbury K in division 6, with Keith Cullen still finding things very comfortable at this level. Baddow H are still going well in this division, with a recent 10-0 win over their L team and a 8-2 win over Baddow Village K. Richard Upson and Sam Pitt are playing particularly well at the moment. Baddow Village J had a very good 6-4 recent over OC's  E, with the evergreen Fred Henwood scoring a fine maximum.

Trevor Collin