Maldon A have retained their title in the first division title of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. They achieved the feat in style by notching up their 12^th and 13^th wins of the season.

Trevor Lloyd (95 %), Alex Abbott (90%), John Poysden (77 %) and Colin Stalllwood (83%) all played their part in a campaign where it was clear from the outset that Maldon were the team to beat. Abbott and Lloyd were both undefeated as they beat Liberal B 9-1. Lloyd avenged his first half defeat against Paul Davison – just. Lloyd prevailed this time 3-2 (7-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10).

Davison was on target for the losers with a quick-fire win over Poysden (11-2, 11-5, 11-6).

Abbott and Poysden were also undefeated as Maldon A beat third-placed Danbury A 9-1. Dave Richardson excelled for the Danbury side here by beating Poysden 3-2 (13-11, 11-8, 11-13, 6-11, 11-7).

Chelmsford A have finished as runners-up. Eddie Ogbebor and Wale Bada were both unbeaten in their 7-3 win over Galleywood A. Ogbebor with 81 % and Bade with 77 % both played very consistently over the course of the season.

Writtle Excalibur A are division two champions. Congratulations are extended to Ryan Pitt (66%), Matthew Brown (82%), Lee McHugh (91%) and Richard Storey (53%). They should do pretty well in the first division next year.

In their match against second-placed Chelmsford A it was Writtle who called the shots and they won 8-2. McHugh and Brown were both undefeated whilst Pitt won twice, only missing out against Robert Shrimpton in four ends (8-11, 6- 11, 11-8, 5-11).

Writtle Excalibur A also beat a strong Liberal C side 7-3. Brown and McHugh were both unbeaten with Brown doing well to get the better of Adrian Pitt 3-2 (9-11, 11-4, 11-1, 6-11, 11-9) in the closest game of the night.

Chelmsford B consolidated second place with a 6-4 win over third-placed Hatfield Peverel A. Good going as none of the Chelmsford players were able to get the better of Gary Ward. Rob Shrimpton, Simon Jarvis and Victor Chan all win twice to give the Chelmsford side the edge.

Hatfield Peverel A were also involved in what must be the most surprising result of the week. They were on the wrong end of a 9-1 defeat against OCs B.  In recent weeks OCs B have shown a marked upturn in form and they “hit the jackpot” here with a superb 9-1 win. Steve Northcott and Kevin Worthington both bagged hat-tricks and Trevor Carter won twice. The hard-hitting Steve Northcott completed his trio of wins with an emphatic 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-1) success against Gary Ward.

The match between Danbury C and Danbury B finished tied at 5-5. Chris Buer won his three singles for Danbury C and this included a 3-2 (3-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8) win over Glen Laing – the best of the Danbury B players.

Liberal C impressed in beating Chelmsford C 8-2.  Andy Huckson and Adrian Pitt both bagged hat- tricks. Huckson had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Julie Johnson in five (8-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9).

Danbury D complete what was a large set of results for this division with a 6-4 victory over Danbury C. Sam Lowman led the way with a very good hat-trick of wins which included a last-gasp 3-2 (11-9, 11-2, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10) victory over Chris Buer. Lowman also defeated Daniel Young 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-8).

Chelmsford D completed their season with a fine 6-4 win over Hatfield Peverel B in division three. Keith Martin won his three singles whilst Richard Baxter chipped in with two wins. Baxter’s two  wins included a fine 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 15-13) victory over Neil Freeman.

OCs D were 6-4 winners against Maldon C. No one player stayed undefeated although Mick Richardson and David Porter (OCs) and Tom Elder (Maldon) all won twice. Adam Yardley was involved in two very tight five-enders. He missed out against Brian Riedling (4-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 11-13) but he came up trumps against Elder (4-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9).

Danbury G, with an impressive 14 wins out of 17 matches, are the division four champions. Nicky Reece-Ford (82%) held this team together and he received solid support from fellow League stalwarts Mo Hardy (65%), Norman Smith (55%) and Ivan Chaplin (40 %). They beat Maldon D 6-4. Mervyn Perriman (with a record of 81%),  another player who has enjoyed a great season, won his three singles for the Maldon side. Perriman eased past Reece-Ford 3-1 (11-8, 11-3, 8-11, 11-5).

Perfect records are pretty rare in the Chelmsford League but few people will be surprised that Terry Dowsett finished the season with a 100% record (47 wins out of 47). His trio of wins enabled OCs F to beat OCs G 6-4.

Dowsett showed some of the ability that has taken him to the Chelmsford League Men’s Singles Final (as well as to six Men’s Singles victories in the Braintree League) as he downed the challenges of David Bishop (11-8, 11-4, 11-7), James Mitty (11-2, 11-5, 11-5) and Tanishq Kotwal (11-6, 11-4, 11-5).

Writtle Excalibur C and  Danbury H fought out a well contested 5-5 draw. Danbury  H will probably consider that they came out of the match with the better result as they won the three five-setters. Scott Perry beat Alan Offord 2-11, 11-5, 10- 12, 11-8, 11-6 whilst Perry and Dave Powell won the doubles (against Malcolm Storey and Offord) 6-11, 11-6, 3-11, 11-6, 11-9 and Dave Goody beat the luckless Offord 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3.

Nat Ravlic was undefeated as OCs E beat Writtle Excalibur D 8-2. Brian Steward won twice for the Writtle side although he missed out against Ravlic 3-1 (3-11, 13-11, 1-11, 7-11).

There was a seemingly surprising defeat for second-placed Highwood B in division five and their 7-3 setback against Chelmsford H means that they might well be overhauled by Chelmsford G who only trail them by one point but have a match in hand. Dusan Doszkoty led the way with three wins for the Chelmsford side whilst Jacqui Smith and Ben Jackson both won twice. Smith scored a fine 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6) victory against Nicola Pippen whilst Jackson also beat Nicola. His win was by a last-gasp 11-4, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11 margin.

Highwood B did better against Galleywood B and won 6-4. Melanie Bonnett, Keith Fitz-John and Nicola Pippen all won twice. Perhaps the most eye-catching  win here was the hard-fought 3-2 (11-5, 12-10, 5-11, 9-11, 11-9) win for Keith Fitz-John against Mark Glenister. The match between OCs H and Chelmsford J finished tied at 5-5. Stuart Wintle and Harry Rogers won twice for the OCs side whilst Richard Gardiner picked up a hat-trick for Chelmsford J.

There were 3-2 wins for Buttsbury Bears and Danbury Dragons in division 2A of the CLICK League. Tom Picton and James Hughes both won once against the leaders Galleywood Eagles although neither of them were able to beat Aidan Noguchi.

Ewan Hynd (Danbury Dragons) won his two singles against Galleywood Hawks and a “share” in a doubles success with Ben Porter gave them the victory. Hynd and Porter beat Charlie Craig and Vineeth Kamma by a nerve-tingling 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11) margin.

Galleywood Eagles returned to winning ways against Danbury Dragons with their leading player – Aidan Noguchi (94%) winning twice to lead them to a 4-1 victory. Noguchi beat Conor Hall 3-1 (11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 11-3) and Ben Porter 3-0 (11-4, 13-11, 11-7).

Black Notley Buccaneers (with 30 points out of 40) lead the way in division 2B of the CLICK League. They beat Buttsbury Beavers 3-2, good going as neither Jonny Evans or Elliot Game were able to beat Alex Headley. In the closest game of the night Headley defeated Evans 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8.

Buccaneers also made no mistake in beating Chelmsford Leopards 5-0. Game and Evans completed the “whitewash”.

There was a 4-1 win for Buttsbury Bulldogs against Buttsbury Beavers with James Green leading the way with two wins. He beat Ben Brown 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7) and Daven Muldal 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 13-11).

Results went pretty much to form in division 2C of the CLICK League. Second placed Buttsbury Badgers beat Black Notley Barracudas 4-1. Ben Brown won twice to give Buttsbury Badgers the ascendancy. He beat Nicholas Grice 3-0 (12-10, 13-11, 11-8) and Patrick Sweeney in a really hotly contested encounter 3-2 (7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10).

Buttsbury Beavers (Aidan Tucker and Oscar Hutt) ran out 5-0 winners against Chelmsford Wildcats and the Wildcats were also on the wrong end of a 5-0 defeat against Chelmsford Pumas (Joachin Mapes and Ned Ryder).