Liberal A beat the higher placed Danbury A 6-4 in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League.

David Cole was the difference between the two sides and his hat-trick gave Liberal A the ascendancy. Cole beat Gary Young – the best of the Danbury players 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 13-11).

Maldon A are streets ahead. They lead Chelmsford A by eight points but they also have two matches in hand. Alex Abbott, Trevor Lloyd and John Poysden ran out 10-0 winners over a two-player OCs A.

Liberal B beat Chelmsford A 6-4. Good going, as it was Edward Ogbebor who won his three singles for the Chelmsford team. The all-action Ogbebor fought back from 2-0 down to beat both Simon Webber (9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9) and Paul Davison (9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5).

OCs B scored a good 6-4 win over Liberal C in division two. Adrian Pitt was undefeated for the Liberal side but Robbie Burton and Kevin Worthington both won twice for the Old Chelmsfordians side and this gave them the edge.

Chelmsford C ran out 8-2 winners over OCs C. Mike Johnston and Alastair Piper both bagged hat-tricks whilst Jan Fuller won twice. Fuller beat Tom Barker 3-2 (11-8, 6-11, 6-11, 12-10, 15-13) in the closest game of the night.

The leaders Writtle Excalibur A were held to a draw by Danbury D. Sam Lowman excelled for the Danbury side. He beat Ryan Pitt 3-1 (9-11, 11-1, 12-10, 11-7), Richard Storey 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 12-10) and Peter Layzell 3-2 (11-4, 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8).

The match between Hatfield Peverel A and Danbury C also finished as a 5-5 draw. Gary Ward was on top form for the Hatfield Peverel side. He beat Ian Whiteside 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-9), Chris Buer 3-1 (6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7) and Steve Buer 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-2).

The leaders Maldon B made it 14 wins out of 15 in division three although their 7-3 victory over Chelmsford E wasn’t plain sailing. Ciaran Whelan lost to Keith Martin in four (9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11) and to Connor Payne in five (8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 9-11) and it was left to an undefeated Hamish Innes to ensure that Maldon B ran out 7-3 winners.

Hatfield Peverel C did well to beat fourth-placed Maldon C 6- 4. Trevor Collin led the way with a hat-trick. Colin Barham had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Brian Riedling 3-2 (12-10, 11-13, 4-11, 12-10, 11-9).

Second-placed Writtle Excalibur B pulled further clear of third-placed Hatfield Peverel B by beating them decisively 8-2. Phil Smith led the way with a hat-trick whilst Paul Sturton won twice and only missed out 3-2 (7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-13) against Neil Freeman in the closest game of the evening.

OCs D beat the higher placed Chelmsford D 6-4. Mick Richardson and David Porter won twice for the OCs team to counter the three wins from Wiktor Delimat.

Division four produced four 6-4 scorelines. OCs E lead the way with 95 points although Danbury G, who have 93 points, also have two matches in hand and are in a much stronger position.

OCs E were 6-4 losers to Danbury G. Nat Ravlic won his three singles but Maurice Hardy and Nicky Ford both won twice to give Danbury G the edge. This was Danbury G’s 12th win out of 14.

Maldon D’s Mervyn Perriman was another player who won his three singles but ended up on the losing side. Writtle Excalibur C edged out Maldon D 6-4 and this owed a lot to the three matches that they won at 11-9 in the deciding end.

Neil Thompson beat Tom Elder 3-2 (12-10, 11-9, 10-12, 11-13, 11-9) whilst the luckless Elder also lost to Malcolm Storey (5-11, 15-13, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11). Shirley Carroll was another five-game loser and she missed out against Thompson (15-13, 11-3, 8-11, 8-11, 9-11).

Danbury J were 6-4 winners against OCs F. Terry Dowsett was undefeated for the Old Chelmsfordians side – no surprises there but Dave Hancox and Allan Steel both won twice to give Danbury J a slender advantage.

OCs G (Tanishq Kotwal, David Bishop and James Mitty) beat Maldon D 6-4 although they all lost to Tom Elder. James Mitty had a real battle against Clive Forster where he finally prevailed 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 18-16, 12-10).

Division five leaders Chelmsford F retained their lead by beating third-placed Highwood B 7-3. Newcomer Jon Dyson won his three singles and he received excellent support from Adi Kamma and Amanda Hogger who both won twice. Highwood A stay second. Martin Goddard won his three singles to give them the ascendancy against Hatfield Peverel D in a match they won 8-2.

Highwood A came up short against Highwood B who won 7-3. Nicola Pippen had a great night for the B side. She scored three excellent wins. First she beat Russell Downton 3-0 (11-5, 12-10, 11-3) and then Francis Whitbread by a last-gasp 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 12-10) margin and she rounded of an excellent evening’s work by beating Martin Goddard 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-4).

The match between OCs H and a two player Chelmsford H finished tied at 5-5. Stuart Wintle defeated Dusan Doszkoty 3-2 (11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 11-9) in the closest game of the evening. Doszkoty fared better against Chelmsford J. He won his three singles which included a fine 3-0 (11-9, 11- 3, 11-9) victory over Richard Gardiner. Chelmsford H shaded the match 6-4.

Chelmsford G (Michael Whelpdale, Steve Chambers and Martin Hiskey) were decisive 9-1 winners against Galleywood B. James Higgs was on target for the losers with a 3-0 (11-7, 14-12, 11-9) win over Steve Chambers. Whelpdale beat Higgs 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9) in the closest game of the night.

Danbury Griffins ran out 4-1 winners against Chelmsford Wildcats in CLICK Division 2 C. William Ratcliffe led the way with wins over Ellie White (11-6, 11-7, 11-8) and Georgina Riches (6-11, 4-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-8).