On inspection of the player line-ups going into the match, an even contest was expected. And so it proved to be when the teams played out a 5-5 draw at Basildon TTC’s new home venue at Bartlett Park.

 The first match of the night saw Mark Stones up against Liam Squirrell. When these two played each other last season, spectators were treated to a 5-set 45-minute epic. However, Liam’s rigorous training over the summer has seen him improve his game even further, resulting in a fairly comfortable 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 victory on the night.

 Next up was an unwell Harry Keys up against Charles Sweeney. Although Harry had picked up a great victory over Charles recently in the Southend Summer league, he wasn’t able to replicate the feat this night. A combination of early season rust and illness meant he wasn’t able to withstand the impressive flowing attacking shots from Charles. Charles put his team 2-0 in front with a 11-7, 12-10, 11-9 victory.

 The next match saw Ian Wall take on Kim Shead. Although Ian had won their previous 3 meetings, it’s fair to say the match-up between these 2 has always been 50-50. With Ian leading 10-8 in the first game, Kim pulled out some fantastic forehand blocks to fight his way back and take the game. Although Ian took the second game, he wasn’t ever able to really get going and struggled to find consistency in his attacking shots. Kim picked up another win for his team with a 12-10, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8 victory.

 Harry against Liam had the expected result of a fairly comfortable win for Liam. Despite some audacious backhand winners from Harry, he wasn’t able to break down the impenetrable wall that is Liam. Liam’s 11-5, 11-2, 11-9 victory saw Hadleigh Forum pull even further ahead.

 Match 5 is when Basildon started to stage their comeback. Mark was up against Kim, having played against each other previous night in the Southend League! Mark took the first game very comfortably but this saw Kim change his strategy and improve his consistency. A combination of Kim’s steady defence with his pimpled rubber backhand and big attacking forehand saw him take the second game. In a close third game, Mark applied a bit more aggression to his top-spinny shots away from the table which saw him take the game 11-8. Mark completed his victory in the fourth game, with the final scores of 11-3, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4.

 Next up was an intriguing encounter between Ian and Charles. Although these two had played each other a couple of times recently at the Basildon Closed (Sweeney w. 3-0) and Southend Summer league (Wall w. 3-2), they hadn’t actually played a league match against each other since 2016. Both players were trying to control the game with attacking shots and touch play and after 2 games, they were level at 1-1. A close third game saw Ian edge ahead and they continued going toe-to-toe. The fourth game turned into an epic, with multiple deuces and several match points saved by Charles with brave attacking shots. In the end, Ian picked up a hard-fought and important victory for his team, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 17-15.

 Match 7 saw Basildon continue their comeback, as Kim had no answer to Harry’s powerful backhand. Harry took the match 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.

 Next up was Ian against his former Brentwood league teammate Liam. As expected, Liam’s consistency and spinny attacks saw him go into the lead. However, Ian adopted a higher risk approach which caused Liam a couple of problems and nearly saw him take the second game as he led 10-9. However, Liam’s class came through in the end as he fought back to win the second game and saw it out comfortably in the third, 11-6, 14-12, 11-5.

 The last singles encounter of the night saw Mark against Charles. Mark’s steady and consistent style saw him take a 2-game lead before Charles started mounting a comeback. He took the third game with a nice variety of controlled play and big attacking shots from both wings. The fourth game continued in a similar vain but Mark managed to dig out a hard fought win 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 13-11.

 The doubles pairings looked to be an intriguing contest on paper. The combination of left-handed Liam and multiple-time doubles champion Charles looked formidable, but Mark and Ian have proved to work well together, having seen them come very close to beating legends Kevin Caldon and Kevin Read in a match the previous season. As expected, the match was very close and Basildon just edged the first game 17-15. The second game saw Basildon storm into an 8-2 lead, only for Hadleigh Forum to fight back and take the game 11-9. This only helped focus the Basildon pairing though, and their greater consistency proved key in winning the next games against their opponents, with the final scores of 17-15. 9-11, 11-8, 11-8.

 The doubles victory for Basildon meant the night finished up with each team picking up 5 points each to start their season. The new Basildon home venue provided fairly playable conditions which allowed for a great night’s table tennis.