Davison is determined not to be relegated

The two sides trying desperately to avoid being relegated from the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis league met this week and Danbury A (63 points from 17 games) and OCs A (60 points from 16 games) couldn’t be separated, and the match finished tied at 5-5. Paul Davison was the top player on show and his hat-trick included a hard-fought 8-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-7 victory over Danbury’s Antony Greenwood. Chelmsford A will almost certainly be demoted. They were well beaten 10-0 by the leaders Maldon A (Chris Jacob, Peter Ballard and Neil Charles). The match between Bocking A and ECC A did not go to plan. Bocking’s 6-4 win sounds quite routine but there were shocks galore. ECC ‘s David Evans and Lucy Wang both beat Chelmsford Veterans Champion Rik James and for good measure they both beat Kevin Gowlett as well. Evans scarcely missed a shot as he beat James 13-11, 16-14, 5-11, 11-9 - one of the best wins of the Season in anyone’s book. ECC were unable to build on the good form of Evans and Wang and the normally reliable Steve Kerns suffered three defeats, missing out heavily 3-0 against both James and an undefeated Peter Hayden and also losing to Kevin Gowlett over five ends, despite taking a 2-0 lead. Elmtree Graphics A had County Junior first team star Matt Mulley to thank as they beat Excalibur A 6-4. Of note here were Gary Baker‘s two wins for Exclaibur, which included a fine 12-10, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9 victory over Paul Sayer.

Division two Champions Writtle A completed their Season in style, by hammering Chelmsford B 9-1, a result that flatters them slightly as it included five fifth game wins. Kevin Worthington and Gary Ward both won their three singles whilst in a re-match of the memorable Ladies Singles Final played on the M&G Investments Chelmsford Finals Night Debbie Auvache gained revenge over Julie Vansertima by a 8-11, 12-14, 11-8, 11-8, 14-12 margin. Elsewhere, Ryan Pitt took an impressive hat-trick as Chelmsford C beat Hatfield Peverel B 7-3. Pitt’s third win against Martyn Green was his trickiest and he had to fight back from 2-0 down before triumphing 4-11, 12-14, 12-10, 13-11, 11-7.

Champions Hylands School A, the outstanding team in division three made short work of Danbury D, winning 10-0. Terry Dowsett, Brandon Crouchman and Scott Dowsett were all undefeated, with only Terry Dowsett coming under real pressure. Terry had to pull out all the stops to get the better of old rival Peter Hance 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 12-14, 11-9. Danbury C who have made a steady improvement after a slow start to the Season had Dave Richardson to thank as they beat OCs C 6-4. The improving Nat Ravlic made his mark, beating both Pip French and Mo Hardy. Writtle B finished a clear second and they completed their programme by drawing with ECC E. Bryn Thomas and Colin Blore (ECC) and Writtle’s Trevor Carter and Hector Rogers all won twice. Colin Blore had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Hector Rogers 11-1, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10 in the closest game of the night. ECC E gained another seven points by beating ECC D 7-3. Bryn Thomas won his three singles.

In division four third-placed Rawreth edged out second-placed Excalibur C 6-4.
No single player dominated and Excalibur’s Richard Hiskey and Steve Mundy and the Rawreth duo - Mike Worship and Paul Churn all won twice. Danbury F had Dave Marsh to thank as they beat OCs D 7-3. He raced through his three singles with 3-0 victories over David Porter, Mick Hayes and Charles Eaton. Leaders Elmtree Graphics B pulled further away by beating Danbury E 6-4. Phil Smith took his three singles although his son, the Four Down Singles Champion Mark Smith suffered one defeat. He was unable to hit his way through the often impenetrable half-volley defence of Gordon Gatherall, losing 6-11, 8-11, 10-12.

Division five leaders Danbury K turned in a determined display to beat Danbury H 10-0 - Graham Briggs, Lee McHugh and Peter Orriss were all undefeated. Second- placed Excalibur D were also convincing winners, and they beat Chelmsford F 9- 1. John Marshall, Steve Cheesman and Tony Hallett won all their singles. In a week of clear-cut wins in this division, third-placed Danbury G beat Danbury J 8-2, with Brian Ellis and Dave Powell both winning their three singles.

Second-placed OCs F were 7-3 winners in division six, against Hylands School B. Dave Newman won his three singles and he was well supported by Charles Eaton (two wins) and Dave Burke (one win). Jack Crook fared best of the Hylands School players and his two wins included a hard-fought 11-9, 14-12, 9-11, 11-6 win over Charles Eaton in the last game of the match. Writtle’s 6-4 victory over Chelmsford J was very much down to team-work. Martin Goddard, Mike Meah and Dan Meah all won twice.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League