Last year’s champions Maldon A are in third place in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. They ran out convincing 9-1 winners against OCs A after Trevor Lloyd and John Poysden had both won their three singles encounters.

However as is often the case in these instances it was the game they lost which made the most interesting reading. Chris Jacob excelled here by defeating Alex Abbott 3-2 (14-12, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7) in the last game of the evening.

Chelmsford A stay top and they showed their class by beating a strong Liberal B side 8-2. Wale Bade and Eddie Ogbebor both won their three singles. Wale defeated Paul Davison 3-2 (12-10, 7-11, 10-12, 12-10, 13-11) in a real humdinger of a game. Steve Pennell impressed for the losers, defeating Ryan Gooday 3-2 (13-11, 5-11, 11-13, 11-5, 11-9).

The leaders Writtle Excalibur A (Matthew Brown, Lee McHugh and Ryan Pitt) didn’t put a foot wrong against Danbury D in division two and ran out hugely impressive 10-0 winners.

Lee McHugh had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Cameron Gray in a marathon encounter. McHugh finally triumphed 3-2 (11-7, 13-11, 21-23, 8-11, 13-11). Matthew Brown won his three singles with an economy of effort, beating Dan Anderson (11-2, 11-7, 11-6), Cameron Gray (11-8, 11-7, 11-8) and George Ashley (11-9, 11-4, 11-8).

Without McHugh in their line-up Writtle also beat Danbry B 6-4. Neil Want stole the show here with three good wins – his third full-house of the season. Want fought back from 2-0 down to get the better of Mathew Brown 3-2 (5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6) in his opening encounter and he never looked back after that.

Brown (78%), Pitt (78%) and McHugh (92%) have all made good starts to the season and Writtle Excalibur A look to be a very good side with depth.

Chelmsford B are second and they impressed by beating Danbury B 9-1. Newcomer Liam Squirrel and Rob Shrimpton both bagged hat-tricks. Shrimpton required all five ends to get the better of Tony Forster (11-9, 5-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-9).

Chelmsford C, led by a hat-trick from Waseem Qureshi (his first of the season), beat OCs C 7-3. Qureshi fought back from 2-1 down to get the better of Tom Barker 3-2 (8-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9).

Third-placed Danbury E impressed in division three by beating Chelmsford D 8-2. Six games were decided in the fifth end and Danbury won five of them. David Gatherall won his three singles again whilst Ken Sheard scored the slightly dubious distinction of being involved in three five-enders on the same night. Sheard beat Jarek Pietraszuk (11-7, 9-11, 3-11, 15-13, 11-6) and Wiktor Delimat (7- 11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7) but he wasn‘t able to complete his hat-trick, missing out 11-3, 8-11, 9-11, 14-12, 5-11 to Mohammed Mohseni.  A special mention here for Gatherall, who has a 100% record – 15/15 wins to date.

Further down the table, Hatfield Peverel C defeated Danbury F 7-3. Trevor Collin, Colin Barham and Dave Carter all won twice but they all missed out against the redoubtable Dave Marsh who scored his first hat-trick of the season.

Hatfield Peverel B stay second with 47 points. They survived a real scare to beat Writtle Excalibur 6-4 – good going as they trailed 4-1 at one stage. Things just wouldn’t go for them and they lost three successive five-enders. Rod Maclennan beat Dave Fiddeman (11-9, 13-11, 5-11, 8-11, 11-9) and Lin Roff excelled to get the better of Neil Freeman (16-18, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9). With Maclennan then getting the better of Gareth Davies (6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 14-12) you can forgive the Hatfield Peverel side for thinking it wasn‘t going to be their night. To their credit they recovered and Gareth Davies eventually sealed their win by defeating Neil Thompson 3-2 (11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7) in the last game of the evening.

The match between Chelmsford D and OCs D finished tied at 5-5. It will be the OCs side who will be the more satisfied with the result. They came out on top in all four games that went to a fifth end which enabled them to counter Wiktor Delimat’s hat-trick of wins. David Porter did well to recover from 2-0 down to get the better of Mohammed Mohseni 3-2 (10-12, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-9).

Leaders Danbury G beat second-placed OCs E 6-4 in division four to retain their 100% record. They lead by five points. Nicky Ford (89%) shaped the victory with a hat-trick of wins although it was the second win of the evening for Adam Yardley which really stood out. Yardley defeated League President Norman Smith 3-2 (11-6, 10-12, 11-5, 7-11, 21-19).

OCs F were clear-cut 8-2 winners over the higher placed Danbury J. Terry Dowsett and Farooq Ahmed were both undefeated. Ahmed completed an excellent hat-trick of wins by getting the better of Allan Steel 3-2 (8-11, 3-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-7).

Writtle Excalibur C ran out 7-3 winners over bottom side Maldon D. Neil Thompson, Dave Moles and Steve Siggs all won twice although they all lost to Bryan Speller.

Maldon D have utilised the services of no less than nine players in seven games and they may need a more settled side if they aren’t going to be relegated.

OCs G scored their second win of the season by beating Writtle Excalibur D 6-4. David Bishop led the way with three victories.

Danbury H (Dave Goody, Richard Alleen and Dave Powell) were 9-1 winners over Danbury K. Goody completed his hat-trick of wins by beating Mick Robinson 3-2 (15-13, 9-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6) in a well contested last game of the evening.

Chelmsford F (50 points) lead the way in division five although they have played two more games than second-placed Highwood A. They produced a very strong performance to beat fourth-placed Highwood B 9-1. Ian Austin (three wins), Jon Dyson (three wins) and Jason Clark (two wins) all played their part. Melanie Bonnett replied for the losers by beating Jason Clark 3-1 (9-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-5).

Hatfield Peverel D scored their first win of the season by beating Anglia Ruskin University 7-3. Paul Mulley bolstered the Peverel line up and his unbeaten return gave them an advantage. With eight players utilised so far this is another side who have called on a lot of personnel.

Chelmsford G were excellent 8-2 winners over Galleywood B. Martin Hiskey and Steven Chambers both won their three singles. Chambers fought back from 2-0 down to defeat Nathan Blore 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8).

Chelmsford J, led by a Matthew Elliott clean-sheet, beat Chelmsford H 8-2. James Hughes won twice and he had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Ben Jackson over five widely fluctuating ends (11-6, 3-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-9).

West Maldon scored their fifth win of the season in division 1A of the CLICK League. Oliver Wylie was undefeated as they beat OCs Lions 4-1. Fraser Heard scored a very hard-fought 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 13-11) victory over Noah Sage for the losers.

Danbury Dragons stay second and they beat Black Notley 5-0. Dan Atkinson and Ben Porter were both undefeated although Porter had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Elliot Game 3-2 (11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6).

Galleywood D (26 points) are pulling clear in division 1B of the CLICK League. Vineeth Kamma and Charlie Craig took all five games against second-placed Chelmsford Leopards. Kamma has a 100% record to date. Chelmsford Leopards also lost 3-2 to Danbury Griffins. Dan Atkinson won both of his singles 3-0, beating Max Trye (11-6, 13-11, 11-7) and James Donald (11-4, 11-7, 11-6).

Chelmsford Jaguars did well to beat Buttsbury Beavers 4-1. Nyree March starred for the Jaguars, beating both Oscar Hutt and Aidan Tucker 3-0.

All players are reminded that the Closing date for entry to the M&G Investments Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League Closed Championships is Friday 15 December 2017. Entries must be sent to the Tournament Organiser Arthur Clark on line or directly. The event takes place at Hylands School, Chelmsford over the weekend of Friday to Sunday 3 to 5 February 2018. Late entries will not be allowed.  An entry form is available in the League Handbook and on line.