Leaders Galleywood A lost 7-3 to Chelmsford B in division 1B of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis after a fiercely fought match.

However, the three games they won means they can’t be caught and they lead Chelmsford B by 14 games with one match to play.

Chelmsford came out on top of two very close opening sets. The hugely improved Victor Chan won a thrilling encounter against James Hicks 3-2 (11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 5-11, 12-10) and a determined Robert Shrimpton edged out Steve Kerns 3-1 (14-12, 3-11, 12-10, 12-10).

With the powerful James Denyer in the Chelmsford side there was no way back for Galleywood and Chelmsford surged into a 7-1 lead. At this point Gary Brignall turned in a great display to beat Chan 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-8) and Hicks edged out Shrimpton after an epic five-ender 11-4, 9-11, 13-11, 4-11, 12-10. Galleywood had done enough to become champions.

Danbury B were in action twice. It was honours even against Writtle B. Gary Cattermole was undefeated for Writtle and he powered through his three singles beating Chris Buer 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-6), Ian Whiteside 3-1 (11-8, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7) and Gus Heath 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-6). Heath edged out Phil Smith 3-2 (11-6, 11-4, 6-11, 8-11, 12-10) in the closest game of the evening.

Hatfield Peverel A ran out 6-4 winners against Danbury B. Scott Dowsett was undefeated with wins over Chris Buer (11-5, 13-11, 10-12, 11-6), Gus Heath (12-10, 11-3, 12-10) and Neil Want (11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6).

Second-placed Chelmsford A were 8-2 losers to Danbury A in division 1A. Only Tulay Dundar of their regular players was available and Vinni Kamma and Paul Nicol stood in. Nicol made his mark with a fine 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 12-10) win over Peter Mynard. Kamma was far from outclassed on his top division debut and he pushed Gary Young before succumbing 3-1 (9-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-5). 2019 M&G Investments Chelmsford Ladies’ Singles champion Dundar raced into a 2-0 lead against Daniel Young before the 2019 Burnham Mens Singles Champion reasserted himself to win 3-2 (5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4).

Galleywood C, the division five champions, turned in a top-class display to overpower OCs H 10-0. Gary Copsey, Mark Glenister and Charlie Craig carried all before them. They also beat Chelmsford H 8-2. Glenister and Craig were undefeated this time although Luke Richardson showed up well for the losers with an excellent 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 13-11) win over Aidan Noguchi.

OCs H were also on the wrong end of a heavy defeat against runners-up Chelmsford G – 9-1. Andy Swales and Sarah Austin were both undefeated. Stuart Wintle was on target in this match for the losers and he beat Josh Bickles in four ends (14-12, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5).

Teamwork enabled Chelmsford J to beat Maldon E 6-4. Rev Matthews, Jacqui Smith and Taku Nerutanga all won twice to counter Denis Crapnell’s hat-trick. Smith defeated Garry Eames 3-2 (11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8) in the closest game of the night.

There was a first defeat for Chelmsford Cougars in CLICK division 2A. James Donald was unbeaten for the Cougars with wins over Sam Mortimer-Ford (11-9, 11-9, 11-5) and Ben Porter (11-6, 5-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-6) but Mortimer-Ford and Porter both defeated Sudheep Kamma in hard-fought encounters. Porter pulled through 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 19-17) whilst Mortimer-Ford won 3-1 (11-8, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9).

It was no surprise that the Doubles was fiercely contested and it was Sam Mortimer-Ford and Ben Porter who won in five ends (11-8, 11-13, 6-11, 11-9, 12-10).

Chelmsford Jaguars ran out 5-0 winners over Chelmsford Pumas. The Pumas will have felt they deserved better losing the first three games narrowly. Josh Bickles set the ball rolling with a 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9) win over Joachin Mapes whilst Annabel Sweeney made her mark with a 3-2 (13-15, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5) win over Saul Chivers.

Chelmsford Cougars returned to winning ways with a 5-0 victory over Chelmsford Tigers. Sudheep Kamma and Harry Chivers were both undefeated. Cameron Waite and Nicholas Grice put up a spirited showing in the doubles before succumbing 3-2 (11-9, 6-11, 5-11, 16-14, 5-11).