Division two champions Writtle Excalibur A completed their programme with a 6-4 victory over Danbury B, their 15th win of the season.
What appears to have been on paper a routine win was anything but. Writtle surged into a 6-0 lead but inexplicably lost the last four games. Graham Briggs made his mark with a 3-1 (12-10, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4) win over Matthew Brown and David Gatheral defeated Ryan Pitt 3-2 (5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7).
With Danbury now on a roll Neil Want secured a fine 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9) victory over M&G Investments Chelmsford Championships Division two Singles Champion Lee McHugh.
Danbury B did better against OCs C and won 6-4. Want and Tony Forster picked up doubles for Danbury whilst Peter Windley and Ashton Parker both won twice for OCs.
Danbury B were involved in another 6-4 result, this time a defeat against their D side. Simon Lowman won his three singles for Danbury D, downing the challenges of Want 3-1 (10-12, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7), Glen Laing 3-0 (11-4, 13-11, 14-12) and Forster 3-2 (11-13, 11-9, 3-11, 11-3, 11-6).
Simon Lowman was also unbeaten in Danbury D’s 6-4 win over Liberal C. Robin Armstrong won twice for the Liberal side which included a last-gasp (8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9) victory over Dan Anderson.
Danbury C completed their season with a 7-3 win over Chelmsford C. Chris Buer and Ian Whiteside both “signed off for the summer” in style by bagging hat-tricks. Buer had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Alastair Piper where he pulled through 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9).
Danbury A completed their season with an 8-2 win over second placed Chelmsford A in the first division. Eric Green and Dave Richardson were both undefeated for Danbury whilst Paul Nicol impressed for the Chelmsford side. Nicol beat Steve Whiteley 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 1-11, 12-10).
Division three champions Maldon B made it 17 wins out of 18 by beating Danbury E 6-4. Ciaran Whelan with a record of 87% for the season was again undefeated whilst Hamish Innes (who also has an 87% record having played fewer games) won twice. Innes missed out against David Gatheral 9-11, 8-11, 8-11.
Maldon C completed their programme with a 6-4 win over Chelmsford E, good going as all of their players lost to Keith Martin. With a record of 71% Martin is another player who has had an excellent season.
Danbury F, relegated with the relatively high total of 56 points, signed off with a win, an excellent 7-3 victory over Danbury E. Dave Marsh and Nicky Reece Ford both scored hat-tricks with Danbury F winning four of the five games that were decided in the fifth end. Reece Ford beat Tim Pulham (8-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-13, 11-9) and Gordon Gatheral (11-9, 4-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9).
Danbury G have taken the division four title by 11 points from OCs E. Nicky Reece-Ford (81%) has led the way but this week it was Maurice Hardy (67%) who starred with three wins as they beat Maldon D 6-4. Hardy completed his hat-trick with a hard-fought 3-2 (7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8) win over Mervyn Perriman. Shirley Carroll excelled for the losers, winning twice which included a superb 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-2) victory over Reece-Ford.
With Dave Moles staying undefeated, Writtle Excalibur C ran out 7-3 winners over Danbury K whilst Alan Steel and Dave Hancox both scored hat-tricks as Danbury J beat Danbury K 8-2. By a quirk of the fixtures Danbury J had to play Danbury K again a week later and this time a Danbury J side of Scott Perry, Eamon Hall and Dave Hancox won 10-0. Hall had to work hard to beat Denis Balic 3-2 (11-6, 11-5, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6).
Writtle Excalibur D have only won four games although they have still scored a very creditable total of 72 points. They secured their fourth win of the season by beating Danbury K 6-4. Frank Neill was undefeated.
In the Handicap Knock Out Cup Danbury D ran out 5-3 winners over OCs C. Ben Porter (playing off a perhaps slightly generous Handicap of 43) was clearly the difference between the two sides as he beat Chris Jacob (70) 21-17, 21-12, Tom Barker (61) 21-7, 21-7 and Peter Windley (66) 21-17, 21-7.
Hatfield Peverel A (wily campaigners in Handicap Cup competitions) are also through to the next round. They beat Maldon A 5-2. John Parodi (64) won twice, defeating Denis Crapnell (48) 21-14 21-14 and Ross Wheeler (48) 21-19, 21-19. The game between Gary Ward (68) and Mervyn Perriman (59) went all the way to the wire, with Perriman finally clinching it 17-21, 21-12, 24-22.
Chelmsford D (Richard Gardiner, Adi Kamma and Jamie Dowsett) were 6-2 winners in the Division five Knock Out Cup over Danbury A. Adi Kamma had to pull out all the stops to get the better of Alex Porter 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9).