A strong OCs B side may yet have a say in the outcome of Division Two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League but they were well beaten 8-2 in their first match of the season by an inspired Danbury D.
Ian Whiteside led the way with three wins, which included an excellent five-game victory over Kevin Worthington, while Ken Sheard and Steve Whiteley both picked up two wins.
Ken Sheard defeated Tim Cramphorn 3-2 (6-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-1, 12-10) in one of the most widely fluctuating of contests imaginable. Significantly, Whiteley and Sheard both defeated Steve Northcott.
In a match played early, Liberal drew 5-5 with Elmtree Graphics C. Steve Pennell won his three games for Liberal, while Steve Cheesman picked up two wins for Elmtree Graphics.
Galleywood B had James Hicks to thank as they beat Chelmsford A 6-4. His excellent hat-trick included a five-game win over Ryan Gooday, a 3-0 win over Waseem Qureshi and a 3-0 success against Mike Johnston.
The match between Hatfield Peverel A and Rawreth & Hullbridge B finished tied at 5-5. Hatfield Peverel’s Dave Calleja and Gary Ward and Rawreth’s Simon Jacob and Barrie Delf all won twice. In the last game of the evening, Calleja beat Simon Jacob 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11) to earn his side a share of the points.
Hatfield Peverel C are the early leaders in Division Three. Dave Carter led the way with three wins against Chelmsford C, and Ray Eldridge won twice. Paul Nicol picked up two wins for the Chelmsford side.
Hatfield Peverel B shaded the match 6-4 against Chelmsford B. Victory looked unlikely when the fell 3-0 behind but they fought back with aplomb. Guy McKenzie sealed the win by beating Neil Gooday in five (11-4, 4-11, 11-4, 6-11, 13-11) in the last game of the night. In an even closer game Ryan Gooday defeated Gareth Davies 3-2 (11-5, 12-10, 6- 11, 8-11, 17-15).
OCs D ran out 6-4 winners against Danbury E. David Porter picked up his three singles.
OCs F made a winning start in Division Four. Peter Windley and Tom Barker were both undefeated but Barker in particular had to fight hard to retain that honour. He beat both Norman Hayes (11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8) and Ray Cheung (11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 14-12) in five.
Chelmsford D had Bob Francis to thank as they beat Galleywood C 6-4. Francis completed his hat-trick with a 3-0 (15-13, 11-6, 11-6) victory against Colin Barham.
Division Five saw all three games finish with 7-3 results. Danbury M had Dan Richardson and Cameron Gray unbeaten as they defeated Danbury L, while Chelmsford F’s Richard Baxter led the way as they beat Galleywood D.
Bryan Speller won his three singles which helped Maldon E defeated Elmtree Excalibur E, though Speller had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Martin Hiskey 3-2 (7- 11, 11-9, 11-8, 12-14, 11-6).
In the CLICK League, Lawrence Bartlett and Harry Rogers made a winning start as OCs H beat Chelmsford G 4-1. Bartlett stayed undefeated, while Harry Rogers defeated Peter Davenport 3-2 (10-12, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8) in a very hard-fought opening encounter.
Chelmsford H ran out 4-1 winners against Buttsbury B. Kristian Krejcirik scored two relatively comfortable 3-0 wins for Chelmsford, beating George Cobley 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 and Grant Clark 11-8, 11-8, 11-5.
Steve Kerns (press & publicity officer)
September 22, 2014