Hamish Innes leads Maldon B to convincing 9-1 victory.

Division One leaders Maldon B showed their all-round strength in the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. Their top player Alex Abbott missed the match against ECC A yet they still ran out 9-1 winners.

Hamish Innes was one of the two Maldon players who scored an excellent hat-trick of wins over Lucy Wang, Mark Mulley and Dave Evans. Paul Sayer repeated the feat. Innes beat Evans 3-2 (11-8, 4-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9) in the closest game of the night. Maldon A stay in third place and both Keiran Lally and Adam Brewer were undefeated as they beat Chelmsford A 8-2. OCs A have slipped down the table in the last month and they lost 7-3 to Danbury A this week. No single player stayed unbeaten as Danbury’s Eric Green, Ian Whiteside and Michael Andrews and OCs‘ Brandon Crouchman all won twice. Terry Dowsett made his mark as well. He beat Michael Andrews 3-1 (11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-9).

Division Two leaders Elmtree Excalibur B will be looking forward to Division One play next season – they don’t look like being caught. Peter Mynard, Mark Smith and Phil Smith all won twice in their 7-3 win over Chelmsford C although none of their players were able to beat the impressive Robert Shrimpton (the 2012 Essex Schools Under 19 Singles Champion) who won his three singles for the losers. Shrimpton defeated Phil Smith 3-2 (7-11,11-6, 6-11,12-10,12-10) in the hardest fought game of the evening.

Chelmsford C fared better against Hatfield Peverel B. This time Shrimpton and Duncan Elloy won twice although all three Chelmsford players missed out against Steve Buer.  Combination bat player Buer completed his hat-trick by getting the better of Robert Shrimpton 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9) in the last game of the night to earn his side a draw.

ECC B look good for second place. Simon Webber led them to an 8-2 win against Writtle B by winning his three singles whilst Gary Brignall and Ken James both won twice. ECC B weren’t so successful against Hatfield Peverel A and this time they lost 6-4. Peverel’s John Parodi and Dave Carter and ECC’s Gary Brignall and Simon Webber all won twice.

Second-placed Danbury C turned in a strong performance in Division Three to beat Rawreth 8-2. Dave Richardson and Ivan Chaplin both won their three singles. Third-placed Elmtree Excalibur D also won 8-2 to keep the pressure on their rivals with Steve Cheesman and Tony Hallett both winning their three singles. Danbury’s Herbie Smith beat Rod Maclennan 3-2 (7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 12-10) after a particularly hard-fought five-game match.

In the top of the table clash in Division Four the leaders ECC E beat second-placed Chelmsford E 6-4. Allan Thompson, Colin Barham and Jeff Lewington were all unbeaten for ECC. Elsewhere, ECC F beat Danbury H 8-2. Peter Sun and Mohammed Mohseni both won their three singles with the ECC side doing well to win all four games decided in the fifth end.

Bottom side EPHQ did well to draw against Elmtree Excalibur E. Steve Mundy was unbeaten for Elmtree whilst Calvin Wright and Ian Hockley both won twice for EPHQ.  Mundy fought back from 2-0 down to get the better of Ian Hockley 3-2 (8-11, 7-11, 11-2, 14-12, 14-12) in a very well contested opening game of the evening.

Division Five leaders Chelmsford F were stopped in their tracks 6-4 by third-placed Danbury K. No single player remained unbeaten in what was a very competitive match with Chelmsford’s Mark Brown and Danbury’s Kevin Willis and Philip Crudgington all winning twice.

Richard Baxter beat Kevin Willis in a real hum-dinger of a game: 3-2 (10-12, 12-10, 10-12, 11-8, 12-10)  – they don’t come much closer.

Second-placed OCs F took full advantage by beating Elmtree Excalibur F 9-1. Tom Barker and Frank Hodge were both undefeated. The match between Highwood and OCs G finished tied at 5-5. OCs’ George Mastin won his three singles which included a last-gasp 3-2 (11-6, 15-13, 5-11, 3-11, 12-10) victory against Ann Lockhart.

Chelmsford K, who are currently placed third in the CLICK League were given a testing game by fifth-placed BNCA, before winning 3-2. Jennie Crapnell won her two singles to ensure that they won the match but she had to pull out all the stops to get the better of George Wallis 3-2 (5-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10). Calum Webster was pushed even harder to get the better of William Brazier. He eventually won 3-2 (5-11,12-10, 8-11,11-8,12-10).  OCs J (Harvey Russell and Steven Turner) ran out 5-0 winners against Chelmsford M.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League