SAYER TURNS UP THE HEAT

There was a shock for the division one leaders Bocking A in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League when they were well beaten 7-3 by Maldon A, only their second defeat of the Season. They were without Rik James but with 2009 Chelmsford Mens Singles Champion Dave Cole in their line-up they would still have been hopeful of achieving a decent recent. Paul Sayer caused them the most problems winning his three singles which included a superb 11-4, 8-11, 15-13, 12-10 victory over Cole. Sayer also turned on the style against Kevin Gowlett winning comfortably 11-7, 11-7, 11-4.

Elsewhere, Maldon B had Neil Charles to thank for their 5-5 draw against OCs A as he won his three singles. The two bottom sides – Danbury A and Writtle A also fought out a well contested 5-5 draw, a result that does neither team any favours. The evergreen Ian Whiteside, the newly crowned Chelmsford Over 60s Champion led the way by winning his three singles.

Division two leaders Chelmsford A (Waseem Qureshi, Peter Barrett and Bradley Hudgell) predictably beat bottom-placed Excalibur 9-1, although Bill Smith made his mark courtesy of his fine win over Hudgell. Greg Green was also on top form and he took his three singles as Hatfield Peverel B held their A team to a draw. The match between second-placed Chelmsford B and third-placed Liberal also finished all square after Steve Pennell had won twice for Liberals and Adrian Pitt and Alastair Piper had both picked up two singles for the Chelmsford side. Danbury B are making a determined bid to avoid relegation and this gained further impetus as they beat OCs B 7-3 this week. Dave Richardson (three wins), Paul Richardson (two wins) and Ivan Chaplin (two wins) all played a part in this success.

In division three the match between the two bottom-placed sides - Excalibur C and Kings Road A finished all square. Michael Rostoft won his three singles for Excalibur but this was countered by Rob Hayne and Alison Gurner who both won twice for the School side. There was little to cheer about for Excalibur C when they faced Danbury C. They were well beaten 8-2 after Herbie Smith and Norman Smith had both won their three singles.

Hylands School A are literally walking away with division four and they turned in yet another strong performance this week as they hammered Hatfield Peverel D 9-1. Terry Dowsett and Brandon Crouchman were both undefeated whilst Scott Dowsett won twice. Danbury G did well to beat Chelmsford D 7-3. An undefeated Dave Marsh was their match-winner whilst John Robinson won twice and he only missed out against John Barrett by a tantalising 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 13-15 margin. It was honours shared when OCs D played Danbury F - the match finished level. League stalwart Roy Moore won his three singles. This match was also unusual for a drawn game - nine singles were decided three-straight.

Second-placed Writtle C slipped back in division five when they were beaten 7-3 by Chelmsford E. Adam Pitt was the architect of this win and he recorded a well-executed hat-trick of wins which included a hard-fought 8-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 victory over Andy Fox. Fourth placed EPHQ also missed out, their sixth defeat of the Season when they lost 6-4 to Chelmsford F. Ian Hockley won his three singles for the Police side but Paul Nicol, Matt Davis and Tom Lee hit back as they all won twice for the Chelmsford team. Bottom side ECC G did well to draw against Danbury J. Chelmsford Tournament guru Arthur Clark enjoyed a good night beating both Roger Tiffin and Tony Reece-Ford but none of the ECC players could match former first division player Norman Hayes who won his three singles three-straight.

Second-placed Danbury L were the big winners in division six hammering Chelmsford H 9-1 and OCs F 10-0. Chris Hancox and Graham Briggs were both undefeated and Lee McHugh won twice in the match against Chelmsford whilst Hancox and Briggs were joined by John Skuse as the Old Chelmsfordians side were "put to the sword". Chelmsford J shaded their match 6-4 against bottom team Writtle D although none of their players were able to get the better of Owen Jordan.

Chelmsford O just came out on top 3-1 in their CLICK League clash against Chelmsford N. Ryan Gooday was successful in the closest game of the night, as he came back from 2-0 down to beat Calum Webster 5-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3, 12-10. Leaders Hylands School B (Philip Bigland, Jamie Dowsett and Tom Baker) retained their lead (they are eight points ahead) as they beat Chelmsford L 5-0. Jamie Dowsett had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Joe Land 11-8, 3-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League