Fine performances by Maldon B and ECC’s Mark Mulley
Maldon B were the week’s big winners in Division One of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League, defeating Elmtree Excalibur A 9-1. John Monk and Keiran Lally were both undefeated whilst Keith Adams with a fine 3-1 (7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 14-12) victory over James Denyer was the only Elmtree player to register a success.
OCs A beat ECC A 6-4 to make it three wins out of three although it was ECC’s Mark Mulley who impressed. He recorded a trio of excellent wins, downing the challenges of Brandon Crouchman (3-0), Terry Dowsett (3-1) and Peter Hayden (3-2).
Last year‘s Champions Maldon A also made it three wins out of three by beating Danbury B 7-3. Their top player Alex Abbott made it nine wins out of nine whilst Paul Sayer also bagged a clean-sheet. The big shock took place in the doubles – 2012-13 M&G Investments Chelmsford Men’s Doubles Champions Paul Sayer and Alex Abbott were defeated 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-9) by Tony Halling and Charles Sweeney.
ECC A beat their B side 6-4. John Holland was again outstanding for the B side racing to convincing wins over Lucy Wang, Reuben Okai and Steve Kerns whilst Ken James made his mark as well. He secured an excellent 3-0 (13-11, 11-9, 13-11) win over Reuben Okai.
Rawreth and Hullbridge made it two wins out of two in Division Two. Paul Churn was undefeated as they beat Danbury D 7-3. Danbury’s Steve Whiteley beat Simon Jacob 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7) in the night‘s only five-setter.
There are no scorecards in this week from Division Three, which will give Hatfield Peverel B a chance to reflect on the fact that they top the table. Unbeaten after four games they lead the way with 29 points out of a possible 40. Gordon Fairchild (8/12 wins), Neil Freeman (5/6 wins) and Gareth Davies (7/9 wins) have all made good starts to the season.
ECC F produced a very good performance to beat Writtle B 8-2 in Division Four. Allison Millard and Peter Sun excelled by both defeating Matthew Brown. Allison defeated Matthew 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8) and Peter Sun came out on top by an even closer 3-2 (6-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9) margin.
OCs E ran out convincing 10-0 winners over Elmtree Excalibur D. Daniel Berry won a titanic first game 3-2 (10-12, 12-10, 12-10, 2-11, 11-9) against Martin Hiskey and the victory seems to have galvanised his team-mates. Berry, Charlie Mariner and Frank Hodge stormed through the next nine games to win 10-0.
The match between OCs E and OCs D finished all square. Adrian North and Stuart Wintle won twice for the E side and Daniel Berry and Frank Hodge both won two times for the D team. Daniel Berry had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Charles Yeung 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11) whilst Stuart Wintle defeated Frank Hodge 3-2 (10-12,11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 13-11). Adam Pitt was the difference between the two sides as Chelmsford D beat Danbury L 6-4. Jennie Crapnell made her mark with wins over Trevor Palmer and Richard Allen.
With no scorecards to report on in Division Five, Maldon D are the early leaders with two wins and 18 points out of 20. Colin Napper (6/6 wins), Steve Scholz (5/6 wins), Ryan Sach (3/3 wins) and Peter Scholz (2/3 wins) have all made a strong showing in their first two matches.
The CLICK League saw both matches decided 3-2. Buttsbury A were 3-2 winners over Chelmsford J. All four players – the Chelmsford duo of Jake Whybro and Harry Isaacs and the Buttsbury pair – George Cobley and Billy Mitchell won one singles and in a very well contested deciding doubles – Cobley and Mitchell came out on top 3-1 (11-6, 12-14, 19-17, 14-12) to seal a hard-earned victory.
A three-player Chelmsford G side (Callum Day, Kristian Krejcirik and Sarah Bell) beat Felsted 3-2 although Felsted’s Nicholas Butler won his two singles. Callum Day and Sarah Bell sealed their victory by fighting back from 2-0 down to win what was another hard fought doubles encounter against Arthur Green/Nicholas Butler 3-2 (9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8).
Steve Kerns, Press & Publicity Officer
Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League (October 14, 2013)