Unbeaten Sweeney’s flying high
Charles Sweeney took the starring role as Danbury B edged out Rawreth A 6-4 in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League. An undefeated Sweeney defeated George Reeves 3-2 (7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 12-10), whilst George Reeves hit back by beating Kevin Read 3-2 (6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 2-11, 11-9).
Danbury B also ran out winners against Rawreth A by a 7-3 scoreline. Kevin Read and Charles Sweeney were both undefeated on this occasion. Danbury B drew 5-5 with Maldon B. John Monk was undefeated for the Maldon side whilst Danbury’s three “combination” bat players – Steve Buer (one win), Keith Phillips (one win) and Andrew Halling (two wins) all played their part in their side’s effort.
Danbury A were convincing 9-1 winners over Elmtree Graphics A. Michael Andrews and Antony Greenwood were both undefeated and Ian Whiteside won twice.
Bocking are still on target to win the division and they beat Maldon A 7-3. Paul Davison, Kevin Gowlett and Jon Hill all won twice to counter the three victories Alex Abbott picked up for the Maldon team. Jon Hill excelled – he beat Paul Sayer 3-2 (11-9, 4-11, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10) and Hamish Innes by the same scoreline (4-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-4, 11-9).
Elmtree Excalibur B are edging towards the Division Two title and they scored their 12th win of the Season by beating Hatfield Peverel A 6-4. Scott Dowsett led the way with a hat-trick of wins over John Webber, Neil Freeman and Gary Ward, while Lee McHugh beat both Ward and Freeman.
The match between ECC C and Chelmsford A finished as a 5-5 draw after Peter Lau had won his three singles for the ECC side. Lau beat Waseem Qureshi 3-2 (9-11, 11-4, 5-11, 11-6, 14-12) in the closest game of the evening.
Liberal gave a strong performance to beat Chelmsford B 9-1, Barry Pritchard (two wins), Steve Pennell (three) and Robin Armstrong (three) all played a part in this success.
OCs B have been dominant from start to finish and with a record of 19 wins out of 19 they are runaway leaders of Division Three. Steve Northcott| (three wins), Nat Ravlic (two) and Robbie Burton (three) were all target as they defeated Maldon C 9-1. Steve Northcott was given a scare by Shirley Carroll before he scraped through 3-2 (11-7, 8-11, 8-11, 11-5, 12-10).
Elmtree Excalibur C are looking good for second position – and they beat Danbury H 7-3. Steve Cheesman, Paul Sturton and Rod Maclennan all won twice. Danbury’s John Robinson got the better of Steve Cheesman 3-2 (6-11, 9-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9) in the closest game of the night.
The match between ECC D and Danbury F finished tied at 5-5. Richard Storey won his three singles for the ECC team.
In Division Four, Elmtree Excalibur D did well to beat the higher-placed Chelmsford D 7-3. Wiktor Delimat and John Marshall both remained undefeated.
Danbury K picked up their third win of the season – a good one – 6-4 against Hatfield Peverel C. Ray Eldridge stayed unbeaten for Hatfield Peverel while the evergreen Norman Hayes got the better of Andy Simmonds 3-2 (11-4, 11-3, 4-11, 9-11, 14-12).
OCs G consolidated second place in Division Five by beating Highwood 7-3. Peter Windley and Tom Barker both picked up hat-tricks. ECC G missed out 6-4 against Chelmsford F although it was ECC’s Victor Chan who won his three singles. Chan had a real struggle in his first singles – beating Mike Pitt by a last gasp 3-2 (11-13, 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 14-12) margin.
Buttsbury B look to be the most likely winners of the CLICK League. They scored a vital 4-1 victory over Buttsbury A – the leaders of the division – and they now face the challenge of using their games in hand to overhaul the leaders. Joseph Mendoza (two wins) and Daniel Cunnew (one win) led Buttsbury B to this hard-fought victory.
Buttsbury B – represented by Nathan Fray and Joseph Mendoza also ran out 5-0 winners over Buttsbury C. Danny Mitchell in turn led Buttsbury A to a 3-2 win over Chelmsford H, while Buttsbury A (George Cobley and Billy Mitchell) were 5-0 winners against Buttsbury C.
Steve Kerns (March 31, 2014)