Hylands School A are looking good for promotion to the top division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. Two convincing wins, over ECC B (10-0) and Hatfield Peverel C (8-2) marks them out as the inform team at present. Six times Braintree Mens Singles Champion Terry Dowsett, returning from injury was undefeated in both matches, as was Chelmsford Junior Champion Brandon Crouchman whilst Scott Dowsett picked up four wins from his six singles, only missing out against Chris Buer and Steve Buer. Writtle B had Trevor Carter to thank as they beat Hatfield Peverel B 6-4. Carter scored an impressive hat-trick of wins over the three John’s – Webber, Gagg and Parodi. Hatfield Peverel A fared less well against Liberal and they were well beaten 9-1. Steve Elmes and Steve Pennell both scored hat-tricks for Liberal. The leaders Chelmsford A have had trouble fielding a full team week in week out and they did well to beat OCs A 6-4. Waseem Qureshi stayed undefeated although 2011 Chelmsford two-down Champion Bradley Hudgell suffered defeat at the hands of Robert Burton.

In division one Maldon A edged out Maldon B 6-4. Minda Sinkus’s hat-trick was the main difference between the two sides although John Cleasby made his mark with a superb 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7 win over Paul Sayer. Rawreth consolidated second place with a very convincing 10-0 win over bottom side Hatfield Peveral A. John Poysden, Charles Sweeney and Kevin Read were all unbeaten for Rawreth. Danbury A beat the higher placed ECC A 7-3. ECC reserve Simon Webber made his mark by getting the better of Anthony Greenwood in five ends, good going as Greenwood beat both of the ECC regulars Dave Evans and Steve Kerns 3-0. Gary Young was on good form for Elmtree Excalibur A as they drew with Writtle A. Young saw off Paul Cuming 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8.

ECC D look to be home and dry in division three. James Hicks was again undefeated as they beat second-placed Elmtree Excalibur C 7-3. Elmtree’s wins had to be earned the hard way and Phil Smith came up trumps against Bryn Thomas by a last-gasp 11-7, 7-11, 4-11, 11-4, 14-12 margin. Elsewhere, Danbury D relied on solid team-work to get the better of ECC C 7-3. Nicky Reece-Ford, Peter Hance and Norman Smith all won twice. Nicky fought back from 2-0 down to beat Peter Layzell 8-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 in the last game of the night. Bocking B recorded their fourth win of the Season, by getting the better of OCs B 6-4. David Edwards and Roy Hooper both won twice for Bocking to counter Adrian North’s hat-trick. North completed his hat-trick by getting the better of Edwards, by fighting back from 2-0 down to win 9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6. Danbury C, often slow-starters to the Season scored an excellent 7-3 win over Danbury B. Mo Hardy, Ivan Chaplin and Pip French all picked up two victories. Glen Laing with wins over Ivan Chaplin and Mo Hardy was the best of the Danbury B players.

Fourth-placed Chelmsford D were the big winners in division four. They beat the team one place below them – ECC E 9-1. Gordon Fairchild and Dave Parker were both undefeated. Fairchild set the tone for the evening by getting the better of Jeff Lewington 14-16, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5 in the first game of the night. Leaders Danbury E were impressive 8-2 winners over Chelmsford D. Gordon Gatherall and Dave Hancox were both unbeaten. Chelmsford D in turn returned to winning ways by beating Rawreth 6-4. Dave Parker, John Barrett and Robert Shrimpton all won twice. Shrimpton had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Matt Rolfe 11-4, 6-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-9. There was little cheer for bottom side Writtle C who were beaten 8-2 by Danbury G. Danbury’s Lee McHugh dominated proceedings by scoring a hat-trick whilst Andy Fox also showed up well. He beat Peter Orriss 11-13, 11-9, 5-11, 18-16, 11-8.

Division five leaders Elmtree Excalibur E (Tony Hallett, Steve Cheesman and John Marshall) made no mistake against bottom side OCs D, and they ran out as 10-0 winners. They look certainties for promotion after adding another eight points by beating Chelmsford E. Chelmsford’s Bob Francis made his mark here with an excellent 11-6, 13-11, 5-11, 11-8 victory over Steve Cheesman. Tony Hallett was undefeated for the Elmtree side.  ECC F had Peter Sun unbeaten as they beat Hatfield Peverel D 6-4. Sun completed his hat-trick by getting the better of Keith Cullen 9-11, 12-10, 12-10, 15-13 in a very hard-fought last game of the evening. Dave Carter’s expected “full-house” tipped the balance in Hatfield Peverel’s favour as they beat Chelmsford E 6-4. Carter beat Chelmsford’s top player Bob Francis 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 in the best game of the night. The match between EPHQ and Danbury K finished tied. Francis Whitbread and Calvin Wright both won twice for EPHQ whilst Craig Foster picked up two wins for Danbury. EPHQ’s Francis Whitbread had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Roger Tiffin 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 14-12.

In division six OCs F and Writtle D are tied in pole position on 71 points. Both sides picked up convincing wins this week. OCs F had Mick Parkhurst and Farooq Ahmed undefeated as they beat Elmtree Excalibur F 9-1 whilst Writtle D led by an unbeaten Kevin Barber beat Elmtree Excalibur F 8-2. Writtle D added another nine points by defeating Hylands B 9-1. Hylands’ Tom Barker impressed with a 12-10, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7 win over League stalwart Russell Downton.

Writtle E and OCs G lead in the CLICK League, but, OCs with two games in hand are the favourites. OCs beat ECC G 5-0, courtesy of unbeaten performances from Fred Mastin and George Mastin. Writtle were similarly dominant, defeating OCs J 5-0. David Meah and Peter Windley both won their games. Chelmsford K edged out OCs J 3-2. Kirstie Lamb and Josh Watts both won once for Chelmsford although neither of them could get the better of Liam England. Josh Watts beat Harvey Russell 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 14-12 in the closest game of the night.

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