Hylands School A showed that they have every intention of achieving promotion to the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League by beating third-placed Liberal 10-0. Their senior statesman Terry Dowsett was pushed by Steve Pennell all the way to 11-13, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9 in the first game but he survived and his team went on to notch up an excellent victory. Scott Dowsett won his three singles whilst his team-mate Chelmsford Junior Champion Brandon Crouchman excelled. He didn’t drop a game, dismissing Barry Pritchard, Robin Armstrong and Steve Pennell all three-straight. Liberal fared better against ECC B and won 6-4. Pritchard and Pennell both won twice to counter Gary Brignall’s double. Further down the table Chelmsford B had Julie Vansertima and Alastair Piper both unbeaten as they beat Hatfield Peverel B 7-3. Julie had to pull out all the stops to get the better of John Gagg 18-16, 3-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-9 in the closest game of the night.

The big question in this division would appear to be whether Hylands can get on level terms with the leaders Chelmsford A. At present Chelmsford hold a 20 point lead over Hylands but Hylands have three games in hand – a battle which could quite easily go all the way to the “proverbial wire”. Chelmsford A had both Bradley Hudgell and Waseem Qureshi undefeated as they beat Chelmsford C 7-3. The two singles wins achieved by Chelmsford C also stood out –James Austin and Duncan Elloy both beat Peter Barrett. Austin in particular, really battled bravely and he fought back in stirring style from 2-0 down to defeat the redoubtable Barrett 6-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8.

Bocking took a step closer to the first division title by beating Maldon B 7-3. Dave Cole stayed undefeated and he downed the challenge of the recently crowned Southend Mens Singles Champion – Alex Abbott 11-9, 11-7, 16-14. Kevin Gowlett again demonstrated what a fine Season he is having and he beat both Paul Sayer and Peter Ballard. Maldon B in turn beat Excalibur A 7-3. Alex Abbott led the way with three wins whilst Excalibur’s Nigel Lamb made his mark. He beat Paul Stephens 4-11, 11-6, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7. Bottom side Hatfield Peverel A were well beaten 9-1 by Maldon A. Jon Hill and Minda Sinkus both scored hat-tricks for Maldon.

Excalibur B consolidated second place in division three by beating OCs B convincingly 9-1. Ian Rattray and Bill Smith both won their three singles whilst Lin Attridge won twice. Lin edged out Adrian North 11-8, 5-11,
10-12, 11-7, 11-9 in the closest game of the evening. Danbury B were also convincing winners and they had Glen Laing undefeated as they beat ECC C 8-2. Peter Layzell was responsible for both ECC successes. He beat both Gary Copsey and Richard Storey.

It was honours shared in division four between Danbury H and OCs C. Dave Goody and Dave Powell both won twice for Danbury whilst David Porter and Mick Hayes repeated the feat for the Old Chelmsfordians side. Danbury F had Dave Marsh to thank as they beat OCs C 6-4. The game between David Porter and Richard Allen was widely fluctuating and it was Porter who eventually came out on top 9-11, 11-2, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4. Danbury H’s 7-3 win over bottom side Writtle C went pretty much to form. Craig Foster and Brian Ellis both scored hat-tricks for Danbury although Ellis had to battle back from 2-0 down to get the better of Colin Griffiths 6-11, 4-11, 13-11, 11-7, 12-10. Writtle C did however make their mark against second-placed Elmtree Excalibur D, and they will have been pleased to have picked up four games. Writtle’s Frank Neill scored an excellent win over Tony Vassallo.

Elmtree / Exclalibur E lead division five by a massive 35 points and even more impressively they have a game in hand on second-placed Hatfield Peverel E. This week they made short work of third-placed Chelmsford E, running out convincing 9-1 winners. Steve Cheesman and Tony Hallett were both unbeaten and John Marshall won twice. Danbury K were halted in their tracks by the lower-placed ECC F. ECC’s Peter Sun won his three singles whilst Allison Barker chipped in with wins over Janet Pannell and Philip Crudgington as ECC won 6-4 – their third win of the Season. Hatfield Peverel (three generations of the Carter family) just shaded it 6-4 against Hatfield Peverel D. Predictably Dave Carter won his three singles, although he was tested by Keith Cullen, before he sneaked home in the fifth end 11-5, 7-11, 13-15, 11-6, 11-8.

Chelmsford F (100 points) have stamped their mark on division six and by beating Elmtree Exclalibur E (10-0), Hylands School B (8-2) and Writtle D (7-3) they lead the way by 20 points from OCs F and Writtle D who both have a game in hand. Matt Davis, Chris Denyer and Sarah Austin were all unbeaten for Chelmsford in their win over Elmtree Excalibur whilst Matt Davis impressed in their 8-2 victory over Hylands School. He defeated Six-Down Singles Champion Jack Crook 11-8, 10-12, 11-3, 11-4. Ian Austin led the way against Writtle D and his hat-trick of wins included a 15-13, 8-11, 13-11, 11-5 victory over Martin Goddard who won twice for Writtle.

Writtle E remain in third place in the CLICK League despite beating Chelmsford L 5-0. David Meah and Peter Windley both won their three singles. OCs G stay top and they had an undefeated George Mastin to thank
as they beat Chelmsford J 4-1. Ryan Gooday picked up Chelmsford J’s win and he battled through to beat Fred Mastin in five very close ends: 11-8, 12-14, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8.

Steve Kerns
Press & Publicity Officer
Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League