KINGS ROAD 'A' TURN IN TWO COMMANDING PERFORMANCES

Danbury G's challenge to win division five of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League is all but over after they faltered badly against their clubmates Danbury H, losing heavily 8-2. Danbury's H League stalwart Norman Hayes won his three singles and Rob Kneale and Tony Reece-Ford both won twice. To compound what was a miserable night for Danbury G they lost all four games that were decided in the fifth end. Whilst Danbury G were struggling, leaders Kings Road A were displaying the form of Champions. Having fielded a settled side all season they have shown a marked improvement and here they hammered both Chelmsford H and Chelmsford J 10-0. Rob Hayne, Alison Gurner and Martin Eyles were unbeaten in both matches and they were not extended to a fifth game on a single occasion. Kings Road A's total of 135 points from seventeen games is also the best in the League to date, with only division two leaders Writtle A (who have an equally impressive total of 130 points from sixteen games) likely to overhaul it.

Billericay, in desperate need of points to avoid relegation from division one looked to be onto a good thing as they moved into a 3-1 lead against ECC A, who were without the services of their leading player David Cole. A win for Billericay would also have effectively meant the end of ECC's challenge to finish second. However, ECC hit back in determined style with Essex Veterans first team star Lucy Wang beating both Mark Mulley and Ray Eldridge whilst reserve Keith Spicer recorded an excellent 11-6, 12-10, 14-12 victory against Matthew Fasanya.  A battling ECC side eventually notched up a 7-3 success. Maldon A, who are in sixth place have paid the price for having too large a squad. They beat both Rawreth A and Elmtree Graphics A 6-4 and you can't help thinking that if their top players had played more regularly they would be in contention for honours. Newcomer Paul Sayer turned on the style against Rawreth which included an excellent 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10 victory over Stuart Gibbs whilst Keiran Lally won his three singles against Elmtree Graphics A and this included a fine 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9 win over John Holland.

Writtle A, runaway leaders of division two were duly crowned Champions when they beat ECC B 9-1. Even ECC's Two-Down Singles Champion Keith Spicer struggled and he was beaten by both Kevin Worthington and Gary Ward. Newcomer Paul Cuming missed out 3-1 against Spicer but he demonstrated just how potent his top-spin game can be as he destroyed Trevor Collin 11-5, 11-5, 11-2. Hatfield Peverel A were the latest side to take a battering from E2V's in form Dave Richardson, and Dave scored three more good wins over the Peverel trio of players - Peter Brownlow, John Gagg and John Parodi. Hatfield Peverel nevertheless remained in control and ran out 7-3 winners. The clash between Chelmsford B and Chelmsford C finished level, and it was a triumph for the B team's Alastair Piper who scored three good wins over his team-mates which included an excellent 11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 13-11 victory against Adrian Pitt. Chelmsford C were also held to a draw by Chelmsford D and this time it was the D team's Duncan Elloy who dominated the evening scoring three excellent wins against Barry Pritchard, Robin Armstrong and Dean Andrews.   

In a  week of closely fought matches in division three, ECC E's 8-2 victory over ECC D has seen them climb into second place behind Excalibur B. Colin Blore and Allan Thompson both stayed undefeated. Leaders Excalibur B were hard pushed to beat Hatfield Peverel C 6-4. Richard Hiskey, so often their top player did not have a good night and he lost to both Jon Fieldsend and Clive Allenby. The undefeated Fieldsend's hat-trick was earned the hard way and he beat both Bill Smith and Linda Murray 12-10 in the decider. It was honours shared between ECC C and Writtle B in a match where Writtle's Matthew Brown remained undefeated. Andy Hanlon fared best of the ECC players and he beat both Chris Hibbitt and Brian Cook.The Excalibur C versus OCs B clash also finished all square with an undefeated Michael Rostoft denting OCs hopes of finishing second. Rostoft completed an excellent evening's work by beating John Watts 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 17-15 in the last game of the evening to earn Excalibur a share of the points.

With no Scorecards received from the top three teams, it was bottom placed Writtle C whose 6-4 victory against Hatfield Peverel D which caught the eye, in division four. Keith Cullen won his three singles for Hatfield Peverel D but Andy Fox and Tony Lambert both won twice to give Writtle the edge. Lambert will be well pleased with his night's work and he beat both Chris Buer and Steve Buer at 12-10 in the deciding end. Writtle C picked up another four points by losing 6-4 to Danbury E, and this time it was Malcolm Henstock (who only won once against Hatfield Peverel D) who took the starring role. Henstock scored three good wins over Robert Kneale, Craig Foster and Brian Ellis. The match between Hatfield Peverel D and Chelmsford E finished all square, after Keith Cullen had turned in another undefeated performance whilst the derby battle between Chelmsford E and Chelmsford F also finished level at 5-5. John Barrett won his three singles for Chelmsford E and David Parker and Stuart Skippings both won twice for Chelmsford F.

Division six leaders Danbury J moved a step closer towards claiming the title by beating OCs D convincingly 8-2. John Knights (two wins), Trevor Palmer (three wins) and Martin Knights (two wins) all played their part in what was another fine team performance from the "Champions elect". Hylands A with the fast improving Brandon Crouchman and Scott Dowsett both undefeated, beat Chelmsford M 8-2, and if they are able to win their three outstanding matches convincingly they could yet find themselves in a position for promotion. The teams above them both won, with Chelmsford K beating OCs D 6-4 and Chelmsford M getting the better of Chelmsford L 8-2. Paul Nicol and Jacqui Smith were both undefeated for Chelmsford M whilst Chelmsford K utilised the services of a four man side, and Tom Lee, Matt Davies, Claire Austin and Ian Austin all played a part in their success.

 

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League