PITT STUNS ECC  WITH SUPERB HAT-TRICK

Fast-improving Ryan Pitt took top billing in Division two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League this week. Playing for Chelmsford C he produced a sensational performance against ECC B by taking his three singles two-straight against the redoubtable trio of Ken James, Keith Spicer and Trevor Collin as the match finished level, at 5-5.  Pitt can scarcely have played better. ECC's Trevor Collin also made his mark and he scored an excellent 11-9, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7 victory over County Junior star Bradley Hudgell.

Hatfield Peverel B are proving to be the surprise package in this Division and they currently lie in second place behind Writtle A.. Another County Junior Greg Green was their match Winner against E2V as he won his three singles which included a fine 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5 victory over Pip French. With Father Martyn also winning twice they ran out 7-3 Winners. The match between Chelmsford B and Chelmsford D went to form with the B team winning 8-2. Julie Vansertima and Waseem Qureshi both won their three singles. Hatfield Peverel A moved into third place by beating Danbury B 9-1 in a match where John Webber, John Parodi and Dave Carter won all nine singles. However, the team who are setting the pace at present are Writtle A and their points total of 32 out of 40 represents the best in the League to date. The Writtle team of Kevin Worthington, Gary Ward and Trevor Carter gave nothing away as they beat Danbury A 10-0, and just to emphasise how determined they are this Season they came back from 2-0 down to win four of the five games that were decided in the fifth end. The form of Champions ?.

In the first Division Bocking are looking increasingly like the team to beat. A 5-5 draw against a strong Elmtree Graphics A side represented a reasonable result but they hit the Jackpot when they beat early leaders Rawreth A 8-2. Pleasingly for them Rik James appears to be returning to top form and he won his three singles in both matches. Ace-defender Duncan Taylor was responsible for Rawreth's wins, and he beat both Peter Hayden and Kevin Gowlett. Rawreth A added another six points to their total when they beat Maldon B 6-4, good going as Maldon included British League Premier Division star Neil Charles in their line-up. Neil took his three singles whilst John Cleasby added a fourth win as he scored a fine five game success over Charles Sweeney. Maldon A will be pleased with their 7-3 victory over OCs A. Essex Over 60s star Peter Ballard excelled by beating Ryan Savill 11-5, 12-10, 6-11, 13-11 whilst Savill hit back in his second singles when he edged out former Chelmsford Mens Singles Champion Keiran Lally 3-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-5, 12-10. Further down the table Excalibur A scored a vital 6-4 victory over Billericay Sports. An undefeated Gary Young was the difference between the two sides on this occasion.

Division three leaders OCs B scored an important 6-4 victory over third placed Bocking B. It was a close run thing with OCs winning three of the four games that were decided in the fifth end. Richard Jennings stayed undefeated for Bocking whilst Adrian North and Nat Ravlic both won twice for the Old Boys. North came out on top in the night's closest tussle, just downing David Edwards 9-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 14-12. Excalibur B are hot on OCs' shoulders and they had Bill Smith remaining undefeated as they beat Writtle B 7-3. Smith completed his hat-trick of wins with a desperately hard-fought 11-9, 13-15,11-9,  5-11, 11-9 victory over Matt Brown in the last game of the evening. Excalibur C just came out on top 6-4 against ECC E but results did not go to plan. Excalibur's Mike Rostoft had a mixed evening finding himself beaten 11-3, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9 by Colin Blore although he managed to pick up his other two singles, beating Jeff Lewington and Richard Storey. Kevin Smart made his mark by beating both Colin Blore and Richard Storey.

Elmtree Graphics B's Phil Smith won't lose many games in Division four but he met his match in Danbury C's Neil Want who took his three singles. Want beat Smith 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9 whilst Elmtree's Nicola Pippen also came up trumps as she beat last Season's Chelmsford Ladies Singles Runner-Uo Jean Chasmer 3-2. Danbury just shaded the match 6-4. Danbury C added another six points to their total when they beat Danbury D by the same score-line, and this time they had Glenn Laing remaining undefeated. Laing; was tested by Ken Sheard in his first singles before he ran out a 11-6, 12-14, 11-13, 11-1, 11-6 Winner. OCs C top the table in this Division (with 25 points) but they were held to a draw by Danbury D. Mark Boham was the outstanding player and he won his three singles for the Old Boys but Dave Hancox and Paul Durrands both won twice as the match finished all square. Surprisingly for a match which finished tied only two games were decided in a fourth game, the other eight games were all won 3-0. Contrast this with Writtle's 10-0 win over Danbury A in Division two !.

The leaders Danbury G showed their Championship credentials in Division five as they beat Kings Road A 8-2. With Gordon Gatherall and Peter Sun both hitting top form it is difficult to see them struggling at this level. The unorthodox Gatherall completed his hat-trick of wins in the last match of the night but it was a close run affair, and he needed all five games before he saw off Martin Eyles 11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 12-14, 11-3. Eyles had come even closer to beating Peter Sun before he succumbed 9-11,11-6, 12-10, 7-11, 9-11. Kings Road had in turn beaten ECC G 7-3, in a match where Alison Gurner produced something closer to her very best form. Alison beat both Alistair Hill (3-2) and current Chelmsford Ladies Singles Champion Holly Stubbings (3-1), in what was clearly a very high standard of Table Tennis for Division five. Danbury H consolidated second place by beating Chelmsford J 7-3 - with Norman Hayes taking his three singles on this occasion. Further down the table Chelmsford G beat Chelmsford H 7-3, as the fast-improving Stevie Pell won her three singles. Team-mate Hannah Pitt won twice and she just prevailed 11-5, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 in the closest game of the night against Matt Skeoch.

Chelmsford K are making the running in Division Six and they were convincing 8-2 winners over Chelmsford L. They fielded a four-person team in this match and all four players - Matthew Davis, Claire Austin, Tom Lee and Ian Austin were undefeated as they came out on top. The sides most likely to challenge Chelmsford K both added further wins with Hylands A beating Chelmsford L 8-2 and OCs D beating Excalibur E 6-4. Scott Dowsett and Brandon Crouchman were both undefeated for Hylands whilst Mick Hayes led the way for OCs D. Hylands A in turn pulled ahead of OCs D by beating the Old Boys side decisively 8-2.  Both Brandon Crouchman and Scott Dowsett played really well to take their singles as well as the Doubles. Brandon Crouchman beat Mick Hayes 11-9, 11-7, 4-11, 11-6 whilst Scot Dowsett ran out a 11-6, 4-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5 Winner against the same player.

Chelmsford P are the early leaders in the CLICK (Introductory) League and their three person team of Mitchell Carter, Ryan Carter and Jack Osbourne ran out 5-0 Winners against Hylands B. Jack Osbourne was involved in the closest clash of the evening before he surged away in the fifth end to win 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-1 against Jamie Dowsett. 

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League