Maldon A’s Trevor Lloyd – the outstanding player so far in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League – tasted defeat for the first time this week.

After 20 straight wins he was beaten in four ends by Liberal B’s Paul Davison (11-7, 6-11, 8-11, 8-11). Davison also won another hotly contested four-ender against Colin Stallwood (5-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-7) but he missed out over five ends against Alex Abbott (11-7,14-12, 8-11, 11-13, 6-11).

Maldon A duly won 8-2 and they share top place with Chelmsford A, who beat Galleywood A 9-1. Ryan Gooday and Eddie Ogbebor both bagged hat-tricks whilst Galleywood’s sole success stands out a mile. Gary Brignall defeated 2017 M&G Investments Chelmsford Veterans Singles champion Wale Bada 3-0(11-9, 13-11, 11-7).

Galleywood A were only able to field two players against Rawreth A and they paid a heavy price. The Rawreth trio – Babul McLeod, Mike Hayes and Charles Sweeny ran out 10-0 winners.

The match between Liberal A and Liberal B was closer on paper although Liberal A were hindered by only having two players. The B team ran out 6-4 winners. Sam Hume was on top form for the A team and he defeated Adam Buxton 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-6), Paul Davison 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 14-12) and Steve Pennell 3-1 (11-13, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6). Hume looks to be running into top form. Gracie Edwards is looking increasingly comfortable at this level and she scored a last gasp 3-2 (12-10, 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 16-14) victory over Steve Pennell.

Top played second this week in division two and the match went pretty much to form. Leaders Writtle Excalibur A won 6-4 with Lee McHugh leading the way with a hat-trick. With a 94% record this year McHugh has added a level of consistency to his game, and he is proving very difficult to beat.  Chelmsford had to battle hard to stay in contention and they came out on top in the two closest games of the night. Mark Allaway beat Ryan Pitt 3-2 (11-9, 11-3, 9-11, 3-11, 12-10) and Rob Shrimpton defeated Matthew Brown 3-2 (11-5, 12-10, 6-11, 5-11, 11-9).

Danbury C stay third although they were held to a draw by Danbury D. Ian Whiteside was on top form for the C team. He defeated Dan Anderson 3-0 (12-10, 13-11, 11-7), Cameron Gray 3-1 (11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6) and most impressively of all Sam Lowman 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-4).

OCs C scored a fine 7-3 win over the higher placed Danbury B. Peter Windley was the star of the show with three singles wins. The match between Charles Yeung and Ken Sheard could hardly have been closer. Sheard finally “crossed the finishing line” 3-2 (11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, 17-15).

Hatfield Peverel A ran out 8-2 winners against OCs B. Gary Ward led the way with a hat-trick and he received excellent support from Dave Calleja and  John Parodi who both won twice.  Calleja came very close to winning his three singles. He just missed out against ace defender Robbie Burton 3-2 (7-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-5, 10-12).

Maldon B have stamped their authority on division three in no uncertain terms. Their 10-0 whitewash of fifth placed Danbury E was a clinical performance with Ciaran Whelan, Colin Napper and Hamish Innes carrying all before them. They lead second-placed Hatfield Peverel B by a massive 10 points.

Hatfield Peverel  B won this week but their 6-4 success against seventh placed Chelmsford E wasn’t particularly convincing. Keith Martin scored a fine hat-trick of wins for the Chelmsford team. All 3-0 to boot. He beat Dave Fiddeman (11-4, 11-5, 11-7), Neil Freeman (11-9, 11-9, 11-9) and Gareth Davies (11-6, 11-7, 11-4).

With John Holland  leading the way Maldon C ran out 7-3 winners against OCs D. League Chairman Dave Porter made his mark here with a fine 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-9) victory over 2017 M&G Investments Chelmsford Ladies Singles champion Dawn Baldry.

Writtle Excalibur B scored their fourth win of the season with a 9-1 victory over Hatfield Peverel C. Peverel lost all three five-enders. Lin Roff fought back from 2-0 down to beat Dave Carter 3-2 (9-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-9) and Phil Smith came through a relentless battle against Bob Garson (10-12, 15-13, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8). Things just wouldn’t run for the Hatfield Peverel side and Paul Sturton defeated Bob Garson (6-11, 11-2, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9).

The points were shared between Danbury F and Chelmsford D. Chelmsford were hindered by only
having two players and Jarek Pietraszuk and Wiktor Delimat both won twice to earn themselves a share of the points.

Danbury G made it eight wins out of eight in division four. They didn’t put a foot wrong against Danbury H and Maurice Hardy, Nicky Ford and Norman Smith ran out 10-0 winners. They lead the table with a eight point cushion over OCs E.

OCs G beat OCs F 7-3. Terry Dowsett retained his 100% record for the F team and it is difficult to see him losing at this level. Writtle Excalibur C came out on top in an evenly contested match against Danbury H. Dave Powell had to pull out all the stops to beat Neil Thompson 3-2 (9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9).

Chelmsford F have a massive 14 point lead over Galleywood B in division five. Jason Clark was undefeated as they beat Hatfield Peverel D 8-2. Peverel’s Dan Patynski had beaten both Ian Austin and Adi Kamma but he made little impact against Clark. It was a very dominant Clark who ran out a 3-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-7) winner.

Matthew Elliott led the way for Chelmsford J who beat OCs H 7-3. Elliott did well to beat Stuart Wintle – OCs’ best player – 3-2 (11-5, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9).

All players are reminded that the Closing date for entry to the M&G Investments Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Closed Championships is this coming Friday – 15 December 2017. Entries must be sent to the Tournament Organiser Arthur Clark on line or directly. The event takes place at Hylands School, Chelmsford over the weekend of Friday to Sunday 3 to 5 February 2018. Late entries will not be allowed.  An entry form is available in the League Handbook and on line.