Maldon A continue to carry all before them in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. Setting a pace of which Eliud Kipchoge might be proud they have scored 47 points out of 50.

Alex Abbott, Trevor Lloyd and John Poysden despatched Chelmsford C 10-0. Poysden was pushed to five ends by Cristian Bernado but he surged clear in the fifth end to win 3-2 (11-7, 11-13, 11-3, 7-11, 11-3).

OCs A were a player short against Chelmsford B but did well to draw 5-5. An in-form Terry Dowsett was unbeaten for the Old Chelmsfordians side and he beat Rob Shrimpton 3-1 (10-12, 11-9, 15-13, 16-14) in the best game of the night.

Danbury B excelled in beating Writtle A 8-2. Dan Anderson and Sam Lowman both scored hat-tricks. Lowman had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Matthew Brown 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9).

OCs B turned out a very strong side in division two and their 9-1 win over Writtle C wasn’t a surprise. Kevin Worthington and David Cole both stayed undefeated whilst Gary Ward beat old rival Stephen Northcott 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8) for the losers.

Danbury C also won 9-1, a very impressive result against Maldon C. Steve Buer and Ian Whiteside were both undefeated. The game that Maldon C picked up was also notable. Kelly Yuenyongpknan beat Gus Heath 3-0 (11-7, 20-18, 11-0).

OCs D lead the way in division three with an impressive 30 points out of 40. With Mick Hayes and Dave Porter carrying all before them they beat OCs E 9-1. John Newman picked up the game for the losers, beating Dave Newman (no relation) 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-7).

Danbury E also won 9-1. David Gatheral and Tim Pulham gave nothing away against Danbury J. Dave Goody came up trumps against Gordon Gatheral 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7) for Danbury J.

Danbury H were winners as well. Rising star Ben Porter won his three singles against Danbury F. Porter’s hat-trick included a superb 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-8) victory against Dave Marsh.

Galleywood C stay top in division four but they had to work hard to beat Chelmsford F 6-4. Charlie Craig won his three singles. Revox Matthews and Dusan Doszkoty both won twice for Chelmsford F. Doszkoty battled past Gary Copsey 3-2 (1-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10) and Andy Hanlon 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9).

OCs F ran out convincing 9-1 winners against Chelmsford G. Farooq Ahmed and David Newman both bagged hat-tricks. Luke Richardson was on target for the losers beating Richard Upson 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-6) in the last game of the evening.

Teamwork was the order of the day as Writtle E beat Maldon D 7-3. Malcolm Storey, Dave Moles and Neil Thompson all won twice. Thompson was poised at 2-2 with Garry Eames but he made no mistake in the fifth end winning 3-2 (11-13, 11-9, 2-11, 11-8, 11-1).

The match between Writtle F and Danbury K finished tied at 5-5. David Meah was undefeated for Writtle F. He had to work hard to get the better of Kevin Willis 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7) in his opening encounter.

Division five is a battle between the two Highwood teams at present. They both have 38 points. Highwood A were 10-0 winners against Hatfield Peverel F. Nicola Pippen, Melanie Bonnett and Keith Fitzjohn gave nothing away. Pippen completed proceedings with a 3-2 (11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7) victory against Mick Carter.

Highwood B were also convincing winners – 9-1 against Chelmsford K. Frank Neill and Martin Goddard both won their three singles. Russell Downton won twice and he set the wheels in motion with an opening game win against Peter Davenport 3-2 (11-13, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-9).

Maldon E beat ARU Rhinos 8-2. Brian Dixon gave Maldon a winning start with a last-gasp 3-2 (5-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 15-13) victory against Jordan Corbett.

Buttsbury scored their third win of the season by beating Hatfield Peverel E 7-3. James Hughes and Tomasz Krowlikowski were both undefeated. Hughes had to pull out all the stops to best Davinia Brazier in five (9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 12-10).

OCs M, led by an undefeated Stuart Wintle, were 7-3 winners against Chelmsford J. Wintle completed his hat-trick with a 3-2 (11-8, 11-7, 3-11, 10-12, 11-9) win over Rajesh Dewan.

Teamwork saw Hatfield Peverel D through to a 6-4 win against Danbury L. Grigor Abaryan, Andy Whiley and Richard Drozd all won twice to counter Paul Thirkettle’s hat-trick.

Danbury Dragons, runaway leaders of Division 1 A of the Chelmsford Junior League, made no mistake against Chelmsford Leopards, winning 5-0. Ben Porter and Ewan Hynd were both unbeaten. Hynd came under pressure against Al Lane but he prevailed 3-2 (12-14, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5).

Chelmsford Falcons (Charlie Donald and Alan Jiang) were 5-0 winners against Buttsbury Bears in Division 1B. Donald came through in five sets to beat Ben Brown 3-2 (11-4, 4-11, 8-11, 11-2, 11-8).

Buttsbury Bulldogs in turn beat Buttsbury Bears 3-2. Harry Hutt was undefeated with 3-2 wins against Aidan Tucker (11-7, 12-14, 11-2, 7-11, 11-8) and Ben Brown (8-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10).

Division 1C produced three 3-2 scorelines. Chelmsford Antelopes lead the way with 17 points out of 25 – three wins out of four. George Bilbow and Ravit Dewan shared wins against Nikita Tkachuk and Jeremy Kamau of Chelmsford Eagles but Bilbao and Dewan combined better to take the all-important doubles 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-9).

Jacob Lawrence was undefeated for Buttsbury Beavers against Ramsden Bellhouse. He beat Georgina Riches 11-1, 11-3, 12-10 and Ali Ellis-Austin 11-8, 11-7, 11-8. Lawrence was also unbeaten as Buttsbury Beavers defeated Buttsbury Bats. Lawrence defeated Ryan Beresford-Cole 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 and George Hagland 11-6, 11-5, 11-8.

Chelmsford Elephants (Ben Pickwick and Eddie Pickwick) were 5-0 winners against Chelmsford Wolves in Division 1D. Eddie Pickwick scored a hard-fought opening game win over Jack Doyle 3-2 (11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8).

Buttsbury Badgers, led by an undefeated Oscar Hutt, beat OCs Lions 4-1. Hutt had to dig very deep to get the better of Vyoma Upadhyaya 3-2 (8-11, 18-16, 11-9, 10-12, 12-10).

Buttsbury Bees (Joseph Hutt and Henry Gothard) in turn ran out 4-1 winners against Buttsbury Badgers. Zachary Samuels beat Gothard 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 6-11, 12-10, 14-12) in another thriller.