GREEN TURNS IN SUPERB PERFORMANCE FOR HATFIELD PEVEREL B

The week's top clash in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League took place in Division two where the leading two sides - Hatfield Peverel B and Writtle A met, and fittingly the match ended all square. Hatfield Peverel's fast improving Essex County Junior representative Greg Green had a dream evening and he won all three singles downing in succession Trevor Carter, Paul Cuming and Gary Ward to complete an excellent night's work. Green's victory over Cuming couldn't have been closer and he just prevailed 12-10, 10-12, 13-11, 11-9 whilst Neil Freeman added to Writtle's woes by winning twice which included an excellent 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7 victory over Gary Ward.  

It doesn't look like being a particularly good Season for Danbury A, and they lost again, succumbing narrowly 6-4 to Hatfield Peverel A. John Gagg dominated affairs scoring three good wins against Eric Green, Tony Forster and Dave Calleja. Elsewhere Essex no. six Junior Bradley Hudgell turned on the style as he led Chelmsford C to a 6-4 victory against E2V whilst E2V also ran out 6-4 Winners themselves when they beat ECC B. Dave Richardson won his three singles, and this included a very hard-fought opening game success against Trevor Collin where he pulled through 15-13, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8. After a round of very closely fought matches Chelmsford D turned out to be the most clear-cut Winners in this Division, and they beat Danbury B 7-3. Dean Andrews and Barry Pritchard were both undefeated.  

In the first Division last year's Runners-Up ECC A slipped back after losing their first match of the Season. Maldon A came out on top 6-4 with Keiran Lally (one win), Paul Sayer (two wins) and Peter Ballard (two wins) all contributing, although none of the Maldon players were able to get the better of the evergreen David Cole. Lucy Wang was a fine five game Winner over Keiran Lally whilst in another top class encounter Cole saw off Paul Sayer 11-6, 16-14, 15-13. Maldon added another six points to their total when they beat Chelmsford A and this time it was Chelmsford's excellent new acquisition Aaron Fennell (he played a handful of games last year) who beat all three Maldon players. Fennell beat Sayer 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9. Further down the table Maldon B saw off Billericay 6-4 with the unorthodox Chris Jacob leading the way with three wins whilst Billericay's new signing - County no. two Junior Mark Mulley fared best of their players as he beat both Dave Bassett and Brian Riedling. Playing one short Maldon B had to give second best to Excalibur A who were bolstered by the inclusion of Glenn Johnson who won both his singles. Johnson looked very impressive as he beat Ray Murray 11-7, 11-7, 11-4. 

ECC E were the week's big Winners in Division three as they beat Rawreth B 8-2. Bryn Thomas with three wins was their best player and he received excellent support from Jeff Lewington and Colin Blore. In the closest match of the evening Blore just prevailed 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 10-12, 12-10 against Ken Field. Excalibur B won 7-3 against ECC D with Richard Hiskey and Kevin Smart both remaining undefeated whilst their colleague Linda Murray had an evening she won't want to remember. She lost all three games in the fifth end, succumbing narrowly to John Wickens, Trevor Roberts and Clive Harding. Club-mates Excalibur C were also successful and they edged home 6-4 against ECC C. Dave Moles secured their victory in the last game of the evening, by beating Alistair Hill 11-8, 11-5, 11-8. ECC's Andy Hanlon hit top form and he took his three singles which included an impressive 11-6, 7-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-7 victory over Michael Rostoft

Elmtree Graphics B's 7-3 victory over Writle C in Division four produced one of the longest matches of the Season with five games decided in the fifth end and only one game decided three straight. Elmtree will be very pleased with their 7-3 victory, fashioned as is often the case by their leading player Phil Smith. Writtle's newcomer Malcolm Kenstock won twice and he pushed Smith hard before falling away in the decider. Smith eventually prevailed 4-11, 11-7, 11-8, 4-11, 11-2. Elmtree were also successful against OCs C, winning 6-4. Smith sat this match out, but in came Fred Button and he won his three singles all by a 3-0 margin. Danbury F did well to beat Chelmsford F 7-3, in a match where Dave Marsh led the way. He took his three singles with his closest battle coming against Dave Parker where he pulled through to win in the fifth end 13-11, 8-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6.

Division five produced the week's only 10-0 result, with ECC F taking the honours. The Storeys - Richard, Mick and Malcolm were all on top form as they hammered Chelmsford H. A couple of weeks later and ECC F added another seven points to their tally as they beat Chelmsford G 7-3 despite only having two players. This time Richard and Mick Storey stayed undefeated. Chelmsford J made Hatfield Peverel E pay for being a player short and ran out 8-2 Winners, with Sam Pitt taking both of his singles. Sam's closest encounter was against Colin Powell and he needed all five games before he pulled through 10-12, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8. Elsewhere, Danbury G did well to beat EPHQ 6-4 in a match where Danbury's Peter Sun stayed undefeated and his team-mate Kevin Willis won twice. Willis had his work cut out but he eventually came through to beat Francis Whitbread 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 6-11, 13-11 in the opening game.

You can't keep Brandon Crouchman and Scott Dowsett out of the news at present and the Hylands School A players impressed again, as they beat Chelmsford M (6-4) and Great Baddow (7-3) in Division six. Brandon Crouchman remained undefeated in both matches whilst Scott Dowsett won five of his six singles only losing out to Chelmsford's Jacqui Smith 11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 14-12, 10-12.

In the CLICK (Introductory) League Excalibur scored a convincing 5-0 win over Hylands B as Craig and Martin Hiskey both remained undefeated whilst the other two games finished with 3-2 scorelines. Hylands B just shaded it against Chelmsford Q with Jamie Lawrence winning his two singles in a match where Max Allen came up trumps as he beat Jack Lindsell 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 10-12, 15-13. Lastly, OCs F led by an undefeated Tom Adam complete this week's results as they beat Chelmsford O 3-2.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League