Week ending Friday 7 March 2025
Burnham & District Table Tennis League – Stow Maries Triumph in the Battle of Maldon
There was some decisive action at the top of Division 2 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis League this week as the top two contenders went head-to-head in a potential winner takes all battle in sunny Maldon. Both teams have been struggling of late with points being dropped willy nilly, but this was the main event and both teams were raring to go. There were some great individual contests but Stow upped their game and by winning 3 out of the last 4 matches they secured the decisive 7-3 triumph that should see them land the divisional crown.
The next couple of weeks are crucial in the 3-way battle for the Division 1 Championship as Mapledene A play both of the top teams in a season-defining 5 day period. Although mathematically still very possible for Mapledene to catch the leading pair they will need to win virtually every game to do so – and that’s gonna be an almighty effort against the calibre of opposition they still have to face. So to the top two teams – Fambridge and Cold Norton B separated by a whisker, with Fambridge in the ‘points in the bag’ comfy chair for now. Both teams recorded impeccable 10-0 whitewash victories this week to edge closer to the victory podium. Fambridge steamrollered Woodham C with hat-tricks for their 3 stars – Gary Young, Mark Stones and Bruce Kettle. Although Young was given an almighty fright in the opening match when the hard-hitting Chris Hancox went into a swift 2-0 lead before Young could gather his thoughts and composure and mount a fightback that saw him come through in 5 sets. Hancox proved the most difficult opponent all evening with a further 5 set battle with Bruce Kettle – but as with Young the experienced players come through these tests! Cold Norton B had a more straight forward win against Cold Norton C – with Sam Lowman and Eric Green excelling as they dropped just one set between them in both singles and doubles matches. Third player Dave Richardson added his hat-trick but he needed 4 sets in each of his matches to add the 3 points for his team, and this included a bizarre opening game with Tim Cramphorn that neither appeared to want to win as they went back and forth for an extra 18 rallies before Davison won out 20-18. Mapledene B fielded a strong trio against Cold Norton A and were rewarded with an enthusiastic 9-1 win that sees them pull away from the danger zone. Colin Chatfield and Keith Willett taking straightforward trebles and pairing up for the doubles, with Simon Jacob chipping in with 2 wins. The only point for Cold Norton came from the paddle of Steve Sawyer in a rollercoaster 5 setter against Jacob.
In what looks to be the defining result of the season in Division2 Stow Maries A defeated arch rivals Maldon A 7-3 to edge further ahead of the long time leaders. It was a proper team effort for the Stow boys as they each won 2 of their singles and Peter Chastin and Richard Storey took the doubles in straight sets. Chastin started the night with great gusto with an excellent win over the tricky Lloyd Bennett-Smith and this set the tone for the early matches as Stow went 4-0 up with Storey taking the important scalp of Hamish Innes in 5 hard sets. But Maldon fought back with Innes and Bennett-Smith redeeming themselves with wins over Ken Sheard and Storey respectively. So with the challenge laid down Stow fought back and won 3 of the final 4 matches to record the overall victory with Sheard unexpectedly beating Bennet-Smith in the final encounter of the evening – will this one match be the difference come the reckoning hour?
Mapledene C ran riot against 2-player Stow C with Stow’s Jean Chasmer and Tim Huxtable unable to get past any of the Mapledene gladiators. Chasmer went closest with a 5 set loss to Pat White but that was the only real trouble for the Mapledene team as they were able to finish early for once. Trebles for White, Andy Seaman, and Dave Woolmer. Stow B fared better in their match with Maldon B as Peter Hance laid down a hat-trick of wins in Stow’s 6-4 victory. Hance’s colleagues completed the Dusty Bin scoring with 2 wins for Dave Marsh and 1 for Nicky Reece-Ford. Steve Aspland won 2 for Maldon B including a long 5 setter against Marsh. Cold Norton D had Neil Want to thank for their draw with Blackwater A as he secured the saving point in the final match of the night against the tricky defender Denis Balic. It shouldn’t have come to that though as at one point Cold Norton were 4-1 up and from the jaws of victory they adopted to collapse and allowed Blackwater to win the next 4 matches to take that unexpected 5-4 lead going into the final match. Pete Lucraft did his best to upset the Blackwater team and took 2 points to bolster Want’s efforts. For Blackwater Neil Freeman bested Dave Hancox and Lucraft, but lost out to Want in 5 sets that no doubt including a lot of nets for the lucky Want.
Maldon C have all but wrapped up the Division 3 title and will be looking forward to the challenge of Division 2 next season. This week they beat their own D team by a 7-3 margin with regular points scorer Chris Ravenhill recording a straightforward 9 dart finish treble. Arthur Shadforth of the D team showed his credentials for a personal promotion next year as he defeated Marty Englander in 5 sets and Shirley Carroll in 3. Dave Bateman was the star of the match for St Lawrence as they sent Blackwater E back from whence they came cradling a 6-4 loss. Bateman secured his treble with a 4 set win over Keith Thompson. Thompson did win his other matches including a 13-11 final set victory over Mike Pratley. All of the players were involved a 5 set battle in this one with Bateman edging past Phil West, and Vanessa Thompson just squeezing past Nigel Brand – great sport! Blackwater D came out on top in this week’s Blackwater derby with Blackwater F. David Sage and Peter Davenport did all the damage for the D side with 3 wins a piece in the singles and a joint effort in the doubles – and all that without dropping a single set all evening. Woodham E’s Allan Steel was at it again this week – another untroubled hat-trick of wins that maintains his 100% win rate in this Division and he remains odds-on for the Roy Davis Trophy. Steel’s treble was matched by his sartorially elegant partner Chris Crooks, and of course they joined forces for a simple doubles bonus point. Diane King added the final point with a 5 set point against Dennis Eraut.
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Eamonn Hall, Press Officer
Burnham & District Table Tennis League
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