Gary Young scores his second hat-trick of the season against Maldon A

Elmtree Excalibur A have made a strong finish to the season in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. Gary Young in particular has been on top form this last few weeks.

For the second week running he won his three singles against the leaders Maldon A. Young beat Paul Sayer 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8) and Alex Abbott 3-2 (8-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7) as the match finished drawn for the second time. Young was also undefeated as Elmtree edged out ECC A 6-4. He had to dig deep to beat Mark Mulley 3-2 (11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8).

ECC A in turn beat Danbury A 6-4 although it was Danbury’s Michael Andrews who won his three singles. Andrews got the better of Steve Kerns 3-2 (5-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8). Maldon B had James Denyer to thank as they drew 5-5 with OCs A. Denyer defeated Brandon Crouchman 3-2 (8-11, 20-18, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9) after a marathon encounter and he also had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Robbie Burton 3-2 (7-11, 11-3, 5-11, 11-8, 12-10).

Danbury D and Chelmsford A have been promoted from Division Two whilst third-placed ECC C finished the season with a resounding 9-1 win over Hatfield Peverel A. James Hicks and Colin Blore were both undefeated.

Writtle B also ran out 9-1 winners. Matthew Brown and Gary Ward were both on target as they defeated Hatfield Peverel B. Hatfield Peverel B fared marginally better against Danbury C, despite losing 8-2. Dave Richardson and Steve Whiteley both won their three singles encounters.

Elmtree Excalibur D are the runaway winners of Division Three. They completed their fixtures in style by beating Danbury F 10-0. Steve Cheesman, Tony Hallett and Scott Dowsett were all unbeaten. OCs B also ran out 10-0 winners. Frank Hodge, Tony Vassallo and Nat Ravlic had few problems beating ECC E.

The match between Danbury E and Hatfield Peverel C was a closer fought affair. Hatfied Peverel C ran out 6-4 winners. Dave Fiddeman’s hat-trick was the difference between the two sides. Fiddeman beat Nicky Reece-Ford 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-9) in the opening encounter, which turned out to be the closest fought game of the night.

Maldon C (Tom Elder, Dawn Baldry and Brian Riedling) are the Champions in Division Four after completing their season in style by beating ECC F 10-0. At the other end of the table EPHQ will need a sudden upsurge in form top avoid relegation. They did well to beat Elmtree Excalibur E 7-3 in a match where Ian Hockley won his three singles. Calvin Wright also won twice and this included a 3-2 (6-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-13, 11-9) win over Nicola Pippen.

OCs C stay third and they put pressure on second-placed Danbury G by beating Writtle C 9-1. Roy Moore and David Porter both won their three singles. The match between OCs D and Danbury G finished all square. John Robinson won his three singles for Danbury although he only beat Daniel Berry by a last-gasp 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 12-10) margin. Adrian North secured the draw for the OCs side by beating Richard Allen 3-2 (7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 6-11, 12-10) in the last game of the night.

OCs E’s hopes of promotion from Division Five were dealt a heavy blow when they were well beaten 9-1 by Hatfield Peverel E. Daniel Berry was OCs’ only winner as the Hatfield Peverel trio of Jon Fieldsend, Bryan Speller and Keith Cullen all hit top form. OCs F (Josh Watts, Peter Widley and Tom Barker) ran out 7-3 winners over OCs G although none of their players were able to get the better of Stuart Wintle.

OCs KEGS ran out narrow 3-2 winners over Chelmsford B in the CLICK League. Chelmsford’s Harry Isaacs won both of his singles, beating Aswin Siam 3-1 (11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9) and Harry Clark 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-9).

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicity Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League