Hatfield Peverel B, long-time leaders of division three of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League, completed their fixtures with a 7-3 win over OCs E.
Neil Freeman led the way with a hat-trick and he rounded off his season with a 3-1 (11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4) victory over Charles Yeung – the best of the OCs players.
That result gives Hatfield Peverel B a total of 120 points – 16 points behind the winners Chelmsford C who produced a storming second half of the season, winning all their matches.
Chelmsford C’s regular players were the model of consistency with Robert Shrimpton (83%), Mark Allaway (75%), Paul Nicol (74%) and Victor Chan (67%) all having seasons they will want to remember.
Writtle Excalibur A were 6-4 winners in division two against Hatfield Peverel A. Teamwork was the order of the day here with Lee McHugh, Ryan Pitt and Peter Layzell all winning twice whilst Gary Ward picked up two wins for Writtle. Ryan Pitt fought back from 2-0 down to beat John Gagg 3-2 (8-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9) in the pick of the night’s action.
Rawreth B were deserved winners of this division with 131 points and their challenge was spear-headed by Kim Shead (92%) who was supported by Paul Churn (61%) and Gus Heath (68%).
Second place is still up for grabs and Galleywood A (113 points) could still be caught by OCs B (105 points), who have two matches outstanding.
In division one, runaway Champions Maldon A amassed 151 points. Their three leading players – Colin Stallwood (84%), Trevor Lloyd (83%) and Alex Abbott (83%) all played exceptionally and they are very deserved winners.
Congratulations are extended to Colin Stallwood on his recent Men’s Singles success in the Clacton Championships – his third successive win in this event – a fine performance from a very strong field.
Liberal A are a distant second on 105 points but they can be overtaken by Bocking who have 102 points but still have a match outstanding against Rawreth A.
Bocking played twice this week in a determined effort to catch up with their backlog of fixtures. Both matches were two-a-side affairs. They lost 5-4 to OCs A for whom Brandon Crouchman won twice. In the battle of the number ones Crouchman defeated David Cole 3-2 (8-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 13-11). Bocking also beat OCs A 5-4. OCs’ Chris Jacob scored a fine 3-2 (11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 9-11, 12-10) victory over Gary Cattermole but he missed out 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-13) to Oli Reynolds.
CLICK leaders Galleywood C were on the wrong end of a 4-1 defeat against Buttsbury C. Toby Kelly was the architect of the Buttsbury victory beating Lewis Wilson 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 11-4) and Rio Teplizki 3-1 (8-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-9). With a record of 95%, Kelly has had an exceptional season and one hopes he is able to play in the main League next season.
OCs J are in second and they powered to a 5-0 win over Buttsbury B. Harry Rogers and James Mitty were both undefeated. Black Notley B ran out 3-2 winners over their A side. Elliot Games won both of his singles and he shared in a 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 17-15) doubles win with Nicholas Grice against Nick Scofield and Rowan Champney to seal his team’s victory.