BOCKING ARE CROWNED CHAMPIONS

Bocking, leaders of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League First Division for most of the Season are the 2007-8 Champions. They captured the title in style by beating Chelmsford A 8-2 with Rik James and Kevin Gowlett both staying undefeated. Richard Jennings, deputising for the injured Peter Hayden added a fine victory against Peter Barrett. Further down the table Excalibur A gave themselves a great chance of avoiding relegation by holding Maldon A to a draw. This match was a hard-fought affair in which no single player stayed undefeated or went home empty-handed. Gary Young and Gary Baker both won twice for Excalibur A and Hamish Innes won two singles for Maldon. Maldon's  Paul Stephens came through the closest encounter of the match, beating Nigel Lamb 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10.

Division two Champions Writtle A were given a good run for their money by Chelmsford D. Gary Ward won his three singles to ensure that Writtle won 6-4, whilst Barry Pritchard picked up excellent wins over Kevin Worthington and Trevor Carter for the losers. Danbury A have made an immediate return to the top Division, and they hammered Chelmsford C 9-1 to make sure of second place. Ian Whiteside and Tony Forster were both undefeated whilst Adrian Pitt scored the solitary win for the Chelmsford side, a fine 3-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 victory over Eric Green. E2V Technologies look as if they will be relegated and their 7-3 defeat against Chelmsford B leaves them nine points adrift of Chelmsford D. Little went right for them in this match as an undefeated Waseem Qureshi led his side to victory. Waseem impressed against Dave Richardson winning 11-6, 16-14, 11-7.

Excalibur C remain on course to win the low-scoring Division three, and they lead this competitive Division by six points despite only having scored 109 points from seventeen matches. They again won 6-4, beating ECC C. Richard Hiskey led the way by taking a clean sweep of his singles whilst Bill Smith won his sole singles the hard way. He had to retrieve a two game deficit to beat Russell Forde 5-11, 6-11, 11-9, 20-18, 11-9. ECC E pulled up to within one point of second placed OCs B after beating Bocking B 8-2. Bryn Thomas and Jeff Lewington were both undefeated.

Danbury C with two games in hand, look to be strong Favourites to win Division four. They made no mistake in beating bottom side Writtle C 8-2 with Glenn Laing and Gordon Gatherall leading the way. Further down the table Danbury E gave themselves a great chance of avoiding relegation by beating Chelmsford E 7-3. Brian Ellis was their match-winner. After getting the better of Steve Back 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9 he went on to beat John Barrett and Bill Wall. Chelmsford E in turn went on to score a convincing 8-2 victory over Danbury F. Bill Wall and Frank Neill won their three singles on this occasion.

The match in Division five between second placed Danbury G and Chelmsford H produced something of an upset with the relegated Chelmsford side holding Danbury to a draw. John Knights won his three singles for Danbury whilst Adam Pitt and Matt Skeoch both won twice for the Chelmsford side. Danbury H fared better, and they beat Chelmsford G 8-2. Rob Kneale (three wins), Tony Reece-Ford (two wins) and Bill Puxley (two wins) dominated. ECC F, beaten so comprehensively by the Champions Kings Road A made no mistake against EPHQ, winning 9-1. Richard Storey and Malcolm Storey were both undefeated, whilst Mick Storey only missed out against Francis Whitbread.

Danbury J have been crowned as Division Six Champions after they scored their fourteenth win of the Season over Chelmsford M. Congratulations to Trevor Palmer, John Knights and John Skuse who ran out 8-2 winners. Hylands School A, with three games in hand could yet secure second place. They stayed in contention with Chelmsford K by beating Chelmsford L 8-2. Scott Dowsett and Brandon Crouchman were both undefeated. Chelmsford K were also successful and they beat Great Baddow 9-1. Tom Lee, Matt Davies and Ian Austin dominated this match.

Hylands School B did well to beat Excalibur Knights 3-2 in their CLICK League clash. Jamie Dowsett led the way and he beat both Michael Salter and Martin Hiskey. Jamie’s win against Martin Hiskey was the tightest of the match, with Jamie just clinching victory 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 13-11, 12-10. However, Hylands were unable to make the same impression against Chelmsford N and were well beaten 5-0. Sarah Austin and Robert Shrimpton were both undefeated for the Chelmsford N side.

 

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League