Galleywood A won their first match of the season and were greatly indebted to Peter Radford, who scored a fine hat-trick off wins over the Rawreth & Hullbridge A trio of Ben Warner, Chris Jacob and Glen Johnson. Warner was the best of the Rawreth players and he beat both Steve Kerns (3-0) and John Holland (3-1). Chris Jacob also impressed by beating John Holland 3-1 (7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4) and Johnson’s potent backhand called most of the shots as he defeated Kerns 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 12-10). Galleywood shaded the match 6-4.
The top two sides met in Division Two and it was honours shared between Danbury B and Rawreth & Hullbridge B. Newcomer Lewis Ewers made it six wins out of six as he beat all three Rawreth B players – Paul Churn, Matt Rolfe and Simon Jacob.
The match between Elmtree Excalibur B and Hatfield Peverel A also ended in a 5-5 draw. Gary Ward dominated proceedings with a hat-trick wins, whilst Peter Layzell and Richard Storey both won twice.
Danbury D won their second and third matches of the season by beating Liberal (7-3) and Chelmsford A (6-4). Dave Richardson and Ian Whiteside both bagged three wins against Liberal, whilst Whiteside also won his three games in the narrow success against Chelmsford. Alistair Piper did well to beat both Steve Whiteley and Ken Sheard, whilst Whiteley defeated Julie Johnson 3-2 (11-6, 11-8, 4-11, 10-12, 13-11) in the closest game of the evening.
Hatfield Peverel B moved into second place in Division Three by beating Maldon C 7-3. Gordon Fairchild led the way with three decisive 3-0 wins. Reserve Ciaran Whelan won twice for the Maldon side, including an excellent 3-1 (11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6) win over Neil Freeman.
Chelmsford B won their first match of the season, and they had Ryan Gooday and Keith Martin both staying unbeaten as they defeated Danbury E 8-2. Gooday completed his fine trio of wins with a 3-1 (12-10, 11-7, 4-11, 11-9) victory over Herbie Smith.
Danbury E and Danbury G shared the points in their clash. Herby Smith and Norman Smith both won twice for Danbury E, whilst Craig Foster picked up two wins for the G team. Herby Smith fought back from 2-0 down to get the better of Richard Allen 3-2 (10-12, 8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8) in a well contested last game of the evening.
Maldon D lead the way in Division Four with 34 points out of 40 and they overpowered Galleywood C 9-1 this week. Ciaran Whelan (nine wins out of nine) and Steve Scholz (11 wins out of 12) were both undefeated, whilst Colin Napper won twice. David Gatherall was the lone Galleywood winner.
Danbury J’s Kevin Willis, Robert Kneale and Alan Dadswell all won twice as they came out on top against EPHQ (7-3). Five games went the distance and there were some fiercely fought affairs. Ian Hockley got the better of Alan Dadswell 15-13, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 and Kevin Willis defeated Philip French 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9.
The match between OCs F and Danbury H finished tied at 5-5. Tom Brewer won his three singles for the OCs side. Peter Windley (OCs) and Dave Powell (Danbury) both won twice.
Hatfield Peverel D (Alastair Brown, Ron Biggs and Keith Cullen) gave nothing away in Division Five as they hammered Highwood 10-0. Highwood will probably feel hard done by as Kevin Barber only succumbed to Alastair Brown 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11) whilst Russell Downton only missed out in five against Keith Cullen by the unusual scoreline of 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 0-11, 11-13.
A totally different Hatfield Peverel D side also beat Galleywood D 6-4 although none of their players were able to get the better of the impressive Emily Wood, who defeated Andy Whiley (3-0), Pete Taylor (3-1) and Andy Simmonds (3-1).
Chelmsford H had Kristian Krejcirik to thank as they beat Black Notley 3-2 in the CLICK League. He beat Olly Ledwith by a last gasp 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 13-11) margin and Patrick Bugg 3-1 (11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8).
Black Notley A in turn ran out 4-1 winners over Buttsbury B as Patrick Bugg won twice, beating Grant Clark 3-0 (11-7, 11-4. 11-6) and Danny Mitchell 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8).
Black Notley B recorded their second win of the campaign, beating OCs H 4-2. Lawrence Grantham won twice, seeing off Harry Rogers 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8) and Tom Hodge also 3-1 (6-11, 11-9, 14-12, 13-11).
Steve Kerns (press & publicity officer)
October 20, 2014