Old Chelmsfordians A, who are joint second-placed in division two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League were the week’s big winners, notching up a morale-boosting 10-0 win over Chelmsford C. Robert Burton, Steve Northcott and John Watts were all undefeated in a top-class performance. The leaders Chelmsford A also ran out as 10-0 winners, beating ECC B. Their experienced trio of Waseem Qureshi, Bradley Hudgell and Peter Barrett carried all before them.
In division one, second-placed Rawreth A fell back, losing 7-3 to Maldon A. Minda Sinkus (three wins), Paul Stephens (two wins) and John Cleasby (two wins) all played well for Maldon whilst Rawreth’s Charles Sweeney also bagged two victories. Third-placed ECC A were 7-3 winners over bottom side Hatfield Peverel A. 2011 M&G Investments Chelmsford League Mens Singles Runner- Up Steve Joslin won his three singles comfortably.
Elmtree Excalibur C had few problems beating Danbury D 9-1 in division three. Father and son duo Phil and Mark Smith both won their singles whilst Steve Munday picked up two wins which included a last-gasp 11-4, 5-11, 11-2, 6-11, 12-10 success against Herbie Smith.
In division four leaders Danbury E suffered a major set-back, losing 7-3 to their G side. Team-work won the day, with Lee McHugh, Graham Briggs and Peter Orriss all winning twice to counter Gordon Gatherall’s hat-trick.
Danbury E will feel very hard done by, they lost an unprecedented six games in the fifth end. Graham Briggs made his mark by defeating Dave Hancox 13-11, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9. Elmtree Excalibur D are very much in contention in second place, and they had the M&G Investments Chelmsford 2011 four down Singles Champion Richard Hiskey to thank as they beat Danbury F 8-2. He received good support from Tony Vassallo and Rod Maclennan who both won twice. Rawreth moved up to fourth by beating OCs C 8-2. Paul Churn led the way with a full-house. The match between Writtle C and ECC E was a closer fought affair and ended tied at 5-5. Colin Barham won his three singles for the County Council team whilst Frank Neil and Colin Griffiths both won twice for Writtle. Writtle C fared better against Danbury E and they won 6-4. Brian Steward’s hat-trick tipped the match in their favour. Steward had to pull out all the stops against Gordon Gatherall, and he eventually triumphed 11-5, 11-13, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5 in a tight last game of the evening.
Runaway leaders Elmtree Excalibur E were convincing 9-1 winners over Hatfield Peverel D in division five. Andy Seaman (three wins), Steve Cheesman (three wins) and Tony Hallett (two wins) gave little away and Peverel had to wait until the last game of the night when Gareth Davies beat Tony Hallett 7-11, 14-12, 12-10, 11-7 to pick up their win. Danbury K called the shots against their J team, winning 7-3. Norman Hayes and Craig Foster both bagged three wins.
Chelmsford F were the big winners in division six. They had Matt Davis and Ian Austin undefeated as they beat Chelmsford G 9-1 and they also beat Chelmsford H 10-0. This time Matt Davis, Chris Denyer and Ian Austin were all unbeaten. Further down the table OCs E beat Chelmsford H 7-3. Matthew Porter’s three wins tipped the scales in their favour. OCs’ Frank Hodge won twice and he did well to fight back from 2-0 down to get the better of Michael Whelpdale 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 in the last game.
Second placed OCs H scored an excellent 5-0 victory over third-placed Writtle in the CLICK League. Charlie Mariner and Daniel Berry were both undefeated, with Charlie Mariner getting the better of David Meah 8-11,
11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10 in the closest game of the night.
Steve Kerns
Press & Publicity Officer
Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League