Bottom side Elmtree Excalibur A impressed this week in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League and ran out 8-2 winners against Danbury C.
The 2016 M&G Investments Chelmsford Closed Tournament Men’s Doubles Champion Paul Davison was the difference between the two teams and his hat-trick of wins gave Elmtree the advantage.
Davison had to pull out all the stops against the hard- hitting Dave Richardson and he eventually squeezed home 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9). Quite a battle.
Second-placed Bocking trail the leaders Danbury A by 22 points and they could only beat Danbury C 6-4. Rik James was undefeated for Bocking whilst Gary Cattermole was involved in two lengthy five-enders. He beat Eric Green (9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9) but missed out against Steve Whiteley (11-6, 11-5, 13-15, 7-11, 7-11).
Danbury D are making a light charge in Division Two and they have moved into third place by beating Elmtree Excalibur B 10-0. Steve Buer, Chris Buer and Matthew Brown were all undefeated.
James Hicks led Galleywood B to a 7-3 victory over OCs C. Bryn Thomas beat Frank Hodge 5-11, 11-9, 11-2, 8-11, 12-10 in a widely fluctuating five-ender.
In Division Four, Danbury H (Maurice Hardy, Norman Smith and Ivan Chaplin) consolidated second place by beating Chelmsford E 8-2. Chelmsford E (Karl Baldwin, Richard Upson and Richard Baxter) were convincing 10-0 winners over bottom side Hatfield Peverel D whilst Chelmsford D (Jarek Pietraszuk, John Barratt and Jason Clark) ran out 7-3 winners against Hatfield Peverel D even though none of their players were able to get the better of Keith Cullen. In the closest game of the evening Cullen beat John Barratt 3-2 (9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 12-10).
Hatfield Peverel E impressed in Division Five with Andy Simmonds scoring a hat-trick in their 7-3 victory over OCs G. Richard Drozd and Peter Mortensen both picked up two wins. Chelmsford G also won 7-3 against Hatfield Peverel E in a match where no one player remained undefeated. The Chelmsford trio of Michael Whelpdale, Steven Chambers and John Wickens all won twice.
In the CLICK League Handicap Knock-Out Cup there were wins for Buttsbury B and Chelmsford J. Buttsbury’s Chris Stevens and Alex Headley ran out 5-0 winners against Chelmsford H whilst Chelmsford’s Jamie Penkman and Connor Payne defeated OCs J 4-1.