Gary Young wins his three games against the League leaders

Writtle retained their lead in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League although they were hard pushed to beat Elmtree Excalibur A 6-4.

The hard-hitting Gary Young was on top form for Elmtree and he recorded a fine trio of wins over Kevin Worthington, Peter Radford and Paul Cuming. OCs A recorded what was somewhat surprisingly only their second win of the season.

Their top player David Cole was the architect of the victory with a hat-trick which included a very hard-fought 3-2 (14-12, 15-13, 3-11, 8-11, 11-9) victory over another former leading Essex player – Paul Lucas.

ECCA stay in second place although they were hard pushed to beat ECC B 6-4. Steve Joslin defeated Rik James 3-2 (8-11, 12-10, 11-3, 4-11, 13-11) in what was the top game of the night.

Chelmsford A hold on to second place in Division Two. Waseem Qureshi won his three singles as they beat Hatfield Peverel B 8-2 and he received solid support from Mike Johnston and Julie Johnson who both picked up two wins. Elsewhere, Writtle B did well to beat ECC C 6-4, especially as it was ECC’s James Hicks who won his three singles.

In Division Three there were hat-tricks for Robert Burton (OCs B) and the Elmtree Excalibur C pairing of John Tendler and Ian Rattray. OCs B ran out 6-4 winners over ECC D whilst Elmtree Excalibur C beat Danbury F convincingly 9-1.

Second-placed Danbury H were held to a draw by sixth-placed Chelmsford D in Division Four. Dave Goody won his three singles for the Danbury side but Adam Pitt picked up two wins for Chelmsford and he came close to beating Dave Goody in the last game of the evening. Goody sneaked home 3-2 (4-11, 11-7, 1-11, 13-11, 11-8).

Danbury G had Dave Marsh to thank as they beat Writtle C 7-3.Marsh completed his trio of wins with a last gasp 3-2 (10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-1, 11-9) victory over Brian Steward. Danbury G didn’t fare so well against Hatfield Peverel D. Dave Carter and Ray Eldridge both won their three singles as Hatfield Peverel shaded the match 6-4.

Elmtree Excalibur E emerged as 6-4 winners over OCs D. Rod Maclennan and Paul Sturton both picked up three singles wins. Sturton defeated Dave Porter 3-2 (11-7, 9-11,11-9, 6-11, 11-8) in an evenly contested opening encounter. Maldon C remain the team to beat in this division and they made it nine wins from 14 starts by beating Elmtree Excalibur E 7-3. League stalwart Tom Elder led the way with three wins. Paul Sturton impressed by beating Brian Riedling 3-2 (11-8, 13-15, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3).

Danbury J (Mick Robinson, Norman Hayes and Roger Tiffin) were the week’s big winners in Division Five. They powered home 10-0 against Chelmsford G whilst second-placed Danbury K were well beaten 8-2 by Chelmsford E. Ian Austin led the way with three wins and he received excellent support from Ryan Gooday and Sarah Austin who both won twice.

It wasn’t Danbury K’s night and they had to battle hard to claim the two wins they eventually picked up. Philip Crudgington prevailed 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10) against Sarah Austin whilst John Knghts had to battle all the way to get the better of Ryan Gooday 3-2 (2-11, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9).

Elmtree Excalibur F relied on a solid team performance to get the better of OCs G 7-3. Keith Pallett (two wins), Keith FitzJohn (two wins), Wiktor Delimat (one win) and Martin Hiskey (one win) all played their part in the success.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League