BOCKING VICTORY "RESTRICTED" BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON FIXTURE CLASH

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League first division leaders Bocking A had to be content with beating Excalibur A 7-3 this week. Peter Hayden was representing his side in the British League and was therefore unable to attend the Sunday afternoon fixture. The playing of matches on Sunday afternoons needs to be looked at by the League Committee again as it penalises those teams who have players who take part in National competitions. This situation has been deemed to have been acceptable in the past but with more players taking part in National competitions now, perhaps the situation needs examining again ?. Bocking's Rik James and Kevin Gowlett nevertheless turned in top class performances to win all seven games contested and Bocking stay top of the table. ECC A remain third after beating Elmtree Graphics A 6-4. John Holland was responsible for all four Elmtree wins, scoring an excellent trio of singles successes against Sarra Wang, Fred Dove and Lucy Wang.

Hatfield Peverel A produced a strong performance in division two to beat Chelmsford C 9-1. Ryan Pitt equalised for the Chelmsford side by getting the better of Dave Carter but that was far as the Chelmsford side's level of success went. John Gagg and John Parodi were both undefeated. Dave Carter won twice although he had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Mike Johnston 11-6, 11-3, 5-11, 9-11, 12-10. Johnston will undoubtedly consider himself hard done by, as he also missed out 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 10-12 against John Gagg.

In the third division, ECC D made Bocking B pay the penalty for being a player short, and they duly won 7-3. Peter Layzell and Trevor Roberts were both double winners as they both beat Richard Jennings and Dave Edwards. Elsewhere, ECC C turned in a strong all-round team performance to beat Rawreth B 8-2. Gary Copsey took his three singles and Russell Forde and Andy Hanlon both won twice. OCs B just shaded it 6-4 against ECC E. Adrian North won his three singles and John Watts (who won twice) secured the OCs' victory by getting the better of Bryn Thomas in the last singles : 8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5.

Elmtree Graphics B won again in division four and again it was 4-Down Singles Champion Phil Smith who led the way with a hat-trick. Smith had his closest tussle with Bill Wall, eventually easing home in the fifth end : 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4. Elmtree just shaded the match 6-4. Danbury F were much more emphatic winners, and they beat their E side 9-1. Danbury E competed well and four games went to a fifth end. Dave Goody beat Dave Marsh 12-10, 11-8, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8 in the last singles whilst Richard Allen and John Robinson were both undefeated for Danbury F. 

Francis Whitbread (EPHQ) and Sam Pitt (Chelmsford J) both turned in unbeaten performances in division five. Whitbread's trio of successes enabled EPHQ to beat Hatfield Peverel E 6-4. Mike Bard presented the stiffest challenge and Whitbread had to come from behind to win 5-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8. Sam Pitt's performance was also a match-winning one, and he had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Matt Skeoch. Pitt came through a really tough encounter 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 7-11, 16-14 and this helped his team beat Chelmsford H 7-3. 

It was honours even in division six with OCs D drawing against Chelmsford L. Mike Hayes won his three singles for OCs but Will O'Donnell and Mike Pitt both picked up two wins for Chelmsford to ensure that both teams picked up five points. OCs' Richard Newton had to fight back from two games down to get the better of Zak D'Vees 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9.

The CLICK match between OCs F and Hylands B saw both sides fielding three players, something of a rarity in what is usually a 2-a-side Competition. Jack Preston won both of his singles as the OCs F side of Preston, Tom Adam and Ricky Childs ran out comfortable 5-0 winners.

 

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League