Michael Andrews turned in what was arguably the best performance of the week in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. He beat Rik James (3-1), Alan Burgess (3-0) and Dave Cole (3-2) as OCs A held Bocking B to a draw.

Bocking B could well be the side to beat this year and they added eight points to their tally by beating Elmtree Excalibur A 8-2. Rik James and Gary Cattermole were both undefeated whilst the improving Lee McHugh impressed for the losers as he beat newcomer Josh Sidki 3-2 (3-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 13-11).

Elmtree Excalibur A didn’t fare any better against OCs A and they lost 8-2 again. John Poysden made his mark with two good wins over Brandon Crouchman (3-2) and Terry Dowsett (again 3-2).

Maldon A scored two excellent victories – which were fashioned by the return to top form by Paul Sayer. They beat Elmtree Excalibur A 9-1 -with Paul Sayer and Peter Norcott both winning their three games. Richard Storey scored a fine five-game win over Hamish Innes for the losers.

Maldon also beat Bocking A 8-2 with Sayer again staying undefeated. The hard-hitting Paul Lucas made his mark for Bocking and he scored a fine 3-0 victory over 2012/13 Chelmsford Men’s Singles champion Alex Abbott.

A well-contested match between Bocking A and Galleywood A finished tied at 5-5. Paul Lucas was the standout player – he stayed unbeaten – whilst Lucy Wang impressed for Galleywood, beating Kevin Gowlett 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7). Bocking‘s Simon Webber scored an excellent win as well; he beat John Holland 3-2 (4-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-5, 14-12).

Teamwork saw Chelmsford A through to a 6-4 win over Liberal in Division Two. Mike Johnston, Waseem Qureshi and Alastair Piper all won twice.

Danbury B are currently second and they drew 5-5 with a two-man Elmtree Excalibur B. Gus Heath and Tony Hallett both picked up two wins for the Elmtree team.

Danbury D dropped back to fifth despite beating Elmtree Excalibur C 7-3. The evergreen Ian Whiteside was undefeated for Danbury whilst Lin Attridge impressed for Elmtree Excalibur. She beat Steve Whiteley 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6).

Danbury C jumped up to fourth place by beating Hatfield Peverel A 6-4. Eric Green, Graham Briggs and Neil Want all won twice with Neil Want defeating Dave Calleja 3-2 (7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 12-10) in the closest game of the evening.
Hatfield Peverel B made it seven wins out of seven in Division Three. They raced to a 9-1 win over OCs D as Neil Freeman, Gordon Fairchild and Dave Fiddeman won all nine singles.

Chelmsford B also impressed greatly. They beat Danbury G 9-1 with Keith Martin and Ryan Gooday both staying undefeated. Gooday scored an excellent 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-7) win over Dave Marsh.

Danbury F – Chris Hancox (two wins), Tim Pulham (two wins) and Ken Sheard (three wins) – were 8-2 winners over Hatfield Peverel C, for whom Ray Eldridge won twice.

The match between OCs C and Chelmsford B finished tied at 5-5. Nat Ravlic and Daniel Berry both won twice for OCs whilst Ryan Gooday and Keith Martin both picked up two wins for Chelmsford B. Chelmsford Under-16 Singles champion Daniel Berry fought back from 2-0 down to get the better of Gooday 3-2 (7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 14-12) in the most evenly contested game of the evening. Ryan Gooday just prevailed 3-2 (11-6, 3-11, 11-7, 5-11, 13-11) in another “humdinger” against Frank Hodge.

Leaders Maldon D returned to winning ways in Division Four. They powered home 9-1 against OCs F with Ciaran Whelan and Mervyn Perryman both remaining undefeated, although they only managed to beat Danbury K 6-4. Ciaran Whelan again won his three singles. Norman Hayes was on target twice for the losers – beating the Scholz brothers – Steve and Peter.

Adrian North led OCs E to a 6-4 victory against EPHQ whilst Dave Powell remained unbeaten as Danbury H beat Writtle 7-3. Powell had to retrieve a two-game deficit to get the better of Andy Fox 3-2 (8-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6). EPHQ in turn scored their first win of the season by beating Danbury H 6-4. No single player remained undefeated and EPHQ’s Ian Hockley and Pip French and Danbury’s Dave Goody and Dave Powell all won twice.

In Division Five, Danbury L jumped into second place by beating Hatfield Peverel D 6-4. John Knights completed his hat-trick with a 3-2 (11-7, 4-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-6) win over Alastair Brown.

Maldon E (Steve Lucas, Mervyn Perriman and Brian Dixon) were 7-3 winners over Chelmsford E – good going as none of their players were able to get the better of Adam Pitt.

OCs G ran out 6-4 winners against Galleywood D in a match where David Bishop was undefeated. Mike Morecroft beat Stephen Peacock 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-9) to secure the OCs victory in the last game of the night.

All players are reminded that the 2014-5 Chelmsford & DTTL Individual Championships take place over the weekend of January 30 and February 1 2015 at Hylands School, Chelmsford Road, Chelmsford, CM1 3ET. Late entries will not be allowed this year so all players are reminded to submit their entries to the Tournament Organiser Arthur Clark as soon as possible.

Steve Kerns (press & publicity officer)
November 25, 2014