MALDON D WELL SERVED BY NEIL CHARLES

Maldon B turned out a strong team against Elmtree Graphics A in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League first division and it was no surprise that they won 6-4. Mens Singles Champion Neil Charles was again undefeated whilst County Veteran star John Monk won twice. Reagan Nettleingham won twice for the losers and he also gave a creditable showing against Neil Charles before succumbing 11-4, 7-11, 6-11, 8-11. ECC A moved into third place by beating both Writtle A and OCs A 6-4. However, with both sides turning up a player short ECC will be a little disappointed with these performances. Writtle’s Gary Ward beat both Lucy Wang and Peter Lau whilst Old Chelmsfordians’ Paul Davison scored a hat- trick which included a quick-fire 11-4, 11-7, 13-11 victory over Steve Kerns. Excalibur A climbed into fourth spot by beating Elmtree Graphics A 7-3. Excalibur’s Andy Warner won his three singles although he had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Ev Lucas. Andy eventually scraped home 10-12,11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11. Leaders Bocking moved even further ahead by beating Excalibur A 7-3, good going as they only had two players. Kevin Gowlett can’t put a loop (or a forehand kill !) wrong at present and he was again undefeated downing the challenges of Gary Young, Gary Baker and Nigel Lamb. Rik James who appears to be running into good form, also stayed undefeated, and he will be looking to defend his Veterans Crown in the Chelmsford Closed Tournament in February. With OCs A conceding to Bocking, the leaders moved a massive 21 points ahead.

Danbury B have made a slow start to the Season but could yet avoid relegation from division two. With Dave Richardson on top form they beat Liberals 6-4. Chelmsford C also won 6-4, after Mike Johnston, Duncan Elloy and reserve Sam Pitt had all won twice against Excalibur B. Alan Tideswell just beat Mike Johnston 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 13-11, 12-10 in the closest game of the night. Elsewhere, Greg Green was the top player on show in the match between OCs B and Hatfield Peverel B but it wasn’t enough to prevent OCs winning 7-3. Nat Ravlic, Robbie Burton and John Watts all won twice. Greg’s toughest game was against John Watts and he eventually ran out a 7-11, 11-6, 8-11, 13-11, 11-5 winner. Hatfield Peverel A are slipping down the table and a heavy 8-2 defeat against ECC B has worsened their position. Little went right for them as Trevor Collins (two wins), Gary Brignall (three wins) and Keith Spicer (two wins) ran out convincing winners.

In division three, leaders Danbury C found themselves held to a draw by an improving Kings Road team. No player stayed unbeaten and Herbie Smith and Peter Hance from the Danbury team and Alison Gurner and Martin Eyles from the Kings Rioad side all won twice. Second-placed Writtle B did well to beat third- placed Hatfield Peverel C 6-4, very good going after they trailed 4-1. Matthew Brown’s 11-3, 12-10, 11-2 win over Chris Buer changed the flow of the match and Brown eventually sealed victory for the Writtle team by getting the better of Clive Allenby 11-5, 11-7, 12-14, 12-10 in the last game. ECC C also ran out 6-4 winners, beating ECC D. Trevor Roberts won his three singles for the D side but Gary Copsey and James Hicks both won twice for the C team. ECC C’s Holly Stubbings just came out on top 8-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 after a really hard-fought game with Gus Heath whilst Gary Copsey edged out John Wickins 4- 11, 9-11, 11-8, 1-4, 14-12. ECC E also beat ECC D 6-4, after Jeff Lewington and Colin Blore had both won their three singles. Lewington found John Wickins to be his trickiest opponent, and he needed all five games before he won 11-8,11-8, 6-11, 7-11, 11-2.

Hylands School A stay top of division four after their two leading players - Terry Dowsett and Brandon Crouchman had won their seven games against Danbury H. Brandon found Jean Chasmer a difficult opponent and it took him five uncomfortable games before he emerged as a 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8 winner. Elmtree Graphics B are second and they also won 7-3, after Phil Smith and Rod Maclennan had both won their three singles. Things are not looking good for Chelmsford D after they lost 7-3 to Danbury H in the battle of the bottom two teams. Sam Pitt won his three singles but Danbury H still managed to dominate with Kevin Willis, Mick Robinson and Peter Sun all winning twice. Sam Pitt’s game with Peter Sun was the closest of the night with Sam eventually edging home 11-9, 7-11, 14-12, 7-11, 13-11.

Division five leaders ECC F could only draw this week, after Danbury K did well to hold them. Richard Storey predictably won his three singles but Danbury "mixed it" well and Trevor Palmer (one win), John Knights (one win ) and Martin Knights (two excellent wins - his first of the Season in this division as well!) were all on target for Danbury. Trevor Palmer earned Danbury K a share of the points by getting the better of Colin Barham 14-12, 11-4, 11-5 in the last game if the night. EPHQ, 6-4 winners against Hatfield Peverel E moved into third place. Ian Hockley won his three singles and he completed his hat- trick in the last game of the evening by getting the better of Keith Cullen 12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8. Elsewhere, bottom team ECC G did well to beat Hatfield Peverel E 6-4, an excellent result bearing in mind they were a player short. Mohammed Mohseni excelled by winning all three of his singles, and Arthur Clark won twice. Andy Simmonds was the only Hatfield Peverel player to record a win, and he needed four games to get the better of Arthur Clark 11- 5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7. Danbury J had Roger Tiffin to thank as they beat Chelmsford E 7-3. Tiffin won his three singles and he was well supported by Lee McHugh who won twice.

Excalibur D look to be untouchable in division six, and they produced a storming performance to overpower third-placed Great Baddow 8-2. There appears to have been a little kiddology at play here with the Divisional reference on this Scorecard entered as "First" and crossed out to read as "Six". Like the humour lads !. Dave Birkett won his three singles and this included an impressive 11-5, 11-1, 11-7 victory against former Southend League Premier Division player Gary McCarthy. Great Baddow also missed out 6-4 against fourth placed Chelmsford H. Chris High won his three singles and in a grandstand finish Mike Pitt sealed victory for the Chelmsford team by getting the better of Jim McCarthy 11-8, 11-3, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9. The match between OCs F and Chelmsford J finished all square. Charles Eaton won his three singles for the Old Chelmsfordians side whilst Robert Shrimpton picked up two singles for the Chelmsford team. OCs’ David Newman came through a real tussle against Patrick Whelpdale eventually winning 8-11, 6-11, 13-11, 14-12, 12-10.

In the CLICK League the match between Chelmsford O and Chelmsford N went more or less to form, with Chelmsford O winning 4-1. Ryan Gooday, Oliver Hicks and Chris Denyet all picked up wins. Callum Webster responded for Chelmsford N by beating Ryan Gooday 11-9, 14-12, 9-11, 11-9.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all players and Officials