BOCKING BACK IN THE DRIVING SEAT

After a couple of recent shaky results Bocking have reasserted themselves at the top of the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League after scoring a superb 9-1 win over second-placed Rawreth A, a result that means that they have almost certainly won the title this year. Rawreth turned out a strong team of Kevin Read, Charles Sweeney and Stuart Gibbs but they were blown away with Read’s opening win over Kevin Gowlett all the Southenders could muster. Dave Cole and Rik James were both undefeated whilst Gowlett also hit top form. He beat Stuart Gibbs 11-4, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6 - a tremendous win in anyone‘s book. Excalibur did well to hold a strong Maldon B side to a draw. Of particular interest here was a first outing in the Maldon colours for 2002 Chelmsford Mens Singles Champion Cris Sladden who is making a return to the Sport after a six year lay-off. Needless to say - Cris capped his return with an unbeaten performance. Third-placed ECC A produced their best display of the Season to beat Maldon A 7-3 with Peter Lau producing the goods - big time. Peter beat Paul Sayer over five ends and then outplayed Lee Prentice 3-0 and came close to picking up a third win as well. Peter just missed out 3-11, 11- 7, 10-12, 11-9, 7-11 to Hamish Innes.

Second-placed Chelmsford B suffered their third loss of the Season in division two, a heavy 8-2 defeat against ECC B, although they still look favourites to secure the Runners-Up spot. Little went right for Chelmsford as Keith Spicer and Gary Brignall both win their three singles for ECC and Trevor Collin won twice. Trevor Collin opened proceedings with a 12-10, 10-12, 11-7, 10-12, 11-7 victory against Al Piper and that pretty much shaped the evening’s action. Third-placed Liberal paid the price for being a player short against Excalibur B and had to settle for a 5-5 draw. Excalibur’s Richard Hiskey beat both Barry Pritchard and Robin Armstrong. Danbury B’s revival has seen them climb off the bottom of the table but further progress was halted by Hatfield Peverel B who beat them 6-4. John Gagg won his three singles for Hatfield Peverel and he clinched the victory for his team with a last-gasp 6-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 12- 10 win over Dave Richardson in the last game of the night.

Writtle B suffered a set-back in division three when they were well beaten (7-3) by ECC E. Colin Blore and Bryn Thomas were both undefeated for ECC. This result allowed Hatfield Peverel C (who have played a game more) to jump above Writtle which they did by beating Danbury D 6-4. Peverel’s win was very much a triumph for team-work with Steve Buer, Peter Mynard and Clive Allenby all winning twice. Elsewhere, ECC C ran out 7-3 winners over Excalibur C after James Hicks won his three singles for the County Council side. Hicks downed the challenge of Michael Rostoft, Excalibur’s best player : 14-12, 11-13, 11-2,12-10.

All-conquering Hylands School A (Brandon Crouchman, Terry Dowsett and Scott Dowsett) pulled even further ahead in division four, beating Danbury F 10-0. Second-placed Bocking B also picked up a big win (a 9-1 success) against a two-man Danbury H after Richard Jennings had stayed undefeated, but, third-placed Elmtree Graphics B fell back. They lost 7-3 to Chelmsford D. Sam Pitt excelled, and he picked up the valuable scalp of Four Down Singles Champion Phil Smith 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 on the way to winning his three singles.

The week’s big game in division five saw third-placed EPHQ pull two points back against Writtle C after beating them 6-4. An undefeated Ian Hockley was the difference between the two sides and he never looked back after beating Frank Neil 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9 in the opening game of the night. Danbury J also won 6-4, beating a two-man Danbury K team. Norman Hayes won both of his singles which included a 14-12, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7 victory over Trevor Palmer.

Great Baddow stay in third place in division six after beating Chelmsford H 7- 3. Jim McCarthy and Tony Hallett both stayed undefeated. OCs E led by an unbeaten Jack Preston also won 7-3, defeating Chelmsford K. Preston came out on top 5-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9 against Ryan Carter in the closest game of the night. OCs F moved up to fifth place by beating Writtle D 8-2. Dave Newman and Dave Burke both won their three singles.

Both CLICK games produced 4-1 results. Chelmsford N (Chris Denyer, Oliver Hicks and Ryan Gooday) beat Excalibur F 4-1 although it was Martin Hiskey’s win for the losers over Ryan Gooday that stands out here. Hiskey battled through after a marathon encounter to win 17-19, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9. Chelmsford M (Daniel Thomas and Bradley Sullivan) ran out 4-1 winners against Chelmsford L. Sullivan had his work cut out before he got the better of Jack Crook 11-9, 11- 8, 12-14, 12-10.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League