Danbury A turn Chelmsford first division table on it’s head

Ninth-placed Danbury A turned the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League first division on it‘s head by beating the leaders Bocking A 6-4. No single player stayed undefeated and Danbury’s Mike Andrews and Antony Greenwood and Bocking‘s Kevin Gowlett and Paul Davison all won twice. Kevin Gowlett who goes from strength to strength did well to beat 2011 Colchester Mens Singles Champion Antony Greenwood after losing the first two ends. OCs B paired both David and Martin Cole together and they overcame Chelmsford A 8-2 and Chelmsford A were also beaten 8-2 by an impressive Maldon B who have moved into second place. Alex Abbott and Hamish Innes were both undefeated. Maldon B added
another six points to their tally by beating OCs B 6-4. David Cole won his three singles but Paul Sayer and Paul Stephens both won twice to give Maldon the upper hand. Cole looked to be in trouble against old rival Paul Stephens after losing the first two legs but the four times M&G Investments Chelmsford Mens Singles Champion dug deep to win 9-11, 8-11, 11-7,11-9, 11-9.

Elsewhere in the first division, Maldon A raced into a 7-0 lead against OCs A after Peter Ballard, Minda Sinkus and Keiran Lally had all won twice. Little had gone right for OCs up to that point and they therefore deserve credit for their perseverance. Brandon Crouchman stopped the rot by beating Keiran Lally 3-0 and Scott Dowsett produced what must definitely be a Contender for the “Win of the Season” by beating Minda Sinkus 3-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9 13-11 – stirring stuff. Terry Dowsett was clearly determined not to go home empty handed in these circumstances and he rounded off a very competitive evening‘s play by beating ace defender Peter Ballard 3-1.

Neil Gooday stood out in division two and his hat-trick enabled Chelmsford B to beat Elmtree Excalibur C 8-2. Neil received excellent support from Julie Vansertima and Alistair Piper who both won twice whilst Richard Hiskey picked up two wins for the Elmtree side. Hatfield Peverel A and Liberal drew 5-5 in a match where Liberal’s Steve Pennell remained undefeated whilst second-placed Elmtree Excalibur B look as if they could well be amongst the honours as they beat Hatfield Peverel B 8-2. Former Chelmsford Mens Singles Finalist John Holland and  Peter Mynard both won their three singles. Writtle B’s Matthew Brown impressed as Writtle beat ECC B 7-3. He completed his hat-trick with a hard-fought 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 13-11 win over Gary Brignall. ECC C also produced a strong performance to beat Liberal 8-2 – with Colin Blore and James Hicks both taking hat-tricks.

Danbury B have marked their cards as the team to beat in division three. They made it six wins out of six by beating second-placed Elmtree Excalibur D 7-3. Tim Pulham and Neil Want were both undefeated. Pulham sealed off an excellent performance by his side by defeating Tony Hallett 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9 in the last game of the night. Gordon Fairchild was undefeated as Chelmsford D beat OCs D 7-3 and he received good support from Keith Martin who won twice. Former leading first division player Dave Richardson showed up well for Danbury C in their 5-5 draw with OCs C. He won his three singles. OCs C in turn made it three draws in six games by drawing with Danbury E. Graham Briggs won three
times for Danbury but Adrian North (two wins), John Watts (two wins) and Jack Crook (one win) were all on target for the OCcs side. Further down the table ECC D scored their first win of the Season and a very convincing one it turned out to be. They beat Danbury E 9-1  with Richard Storey (three wins), Neil Thompson (two wins) and Peter Layzell (three wins) all hitting top form.

Writtle C (Frank Neill, Andy Fox, and Colin Griffiths) were the week‘s big winners in division four, defeating Hafield Peverel D 10-0. Andy Fox secured an opening game 11-6, 11-8, 16-18, 10-12, 11-8 victory over Andy Simmonds and this seemed to set the tone for the evening. Writtle C gave nothing away after that. Hatfield Peverel D also missed out against Danbury J, succumbing 8-2. Robert Kneale won his three singles and Adam Morrison and Chris Hancox both won twice. ECC E are the current leaders and an undefeated Allan Thompson led them to a 7-3 win over Danbury H. Colin Barham won twice which included a hard-fought 9-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 win over Mick Robinson. No single player stayed undefeated in the match between Danbury G and Danbury J  although Danbury J ran out 7-3 winners. Dave Powell won twice for the G side whereas Adam Morrison, Chris Hancox and Robert Kneale all picked up two wins for Danbury J.

In division five OCs F (Frank Hodge, Nat Ravlic and Tom Barker) dominated against Chelmsford H in their 10-0 win whilst Danbury J were almost as dominant as they beat OCs E 9-1. Kevin Willis and Philip Crudgington were both undefeated. Tom Adam picked up OCs’ success by getting the better of Trevor Palmer 14-12, 11-9, 11-8. Elmtree Excalibur F shaded their match 6-4 against Chelmsford H. Elmtree’s Wiktor Delimat and Keith Pallett and Chelmsford’s Daniel Thomas all won twice.

OC’s J picked up their first win in the CLICK League by beating Felsted Royal British Legion 5-0. This match featured the closest game of the Season and Harvery Russell came up trumps against Ashley Butler after a titanic struggle. The scores of 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 23-21 tell their own story. The leaders ECC G also won 5-,0 and Ben Clifford and Nathan Blore saw them home against Chelmsford M. Elsewhere, Writtle D beat Chelmsford K 3-2. Peter Windley beat both Callum Webster and Adam Kirchel to ensure Writtle came out on top.

Steve Kerns

Press & Publicty Officer

Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League