National Cadet League - 15 December 2019
The second round of North London Region National Cadet League matches was held at Ellenborough TTC, Enfield on Sunday 15 December 2019. After the first round of matches Woodford Wells 1 and Chelmsford led Division 1 each team having won their three matches 9-0 with BATTS 1 two points behind. There were four rounds of matches to be played and this round of matches would be tougher to play as most of the teams in the top half of the Division were due to play one another. At the end of the day all the teams in the Division would have played each other.
The Chelmsford Team comprised of the Danbury players Ben Porter and Sam Mortimer-Ford and with Ewan Hynd injured Sudheep Kamma played as the reserve. Elm Green 1, second bottom of the table, were their first opponents. Ben lost the first game to Finbarr Twomey 9-11 and then won the next three games for the opening win. Sam then demolished Frank Ottaway Omahony 4, 1, 4 but Sudheep took time to warm up losing the first two games 8 and 8 to Gus Leggat but then won the next three 2, 6, 6. Another five game match for Sudheep winning the last two points against Finbarr. The remaining five matches were all won three straight for a 9-0 win.
With the two leaders both winning their opening matches 9-0 the time had come for them to play each other. Ben’s first match was against William Whitehall which he won 5, 2, -7, 9. For Sam and Sudheep both were taken to a fifth game by Adam Alibhai and Mabel Shute respectively, losing 11-5 and 11-9. After Ben had beaten Adam 3-0 Sudheep lost another fifth game match 9-11, this time to William and then lost 3-0 to Adam. Meanwhile Sam and Ben both beat Mabel in the fourth game, 9 and 8 respectively, to make the match score 4-4. Alas Sam lost to William 3-0 in the final match for the Team’s only defeat of the day.
The Chelmsford team now had to play third placed BATTS 1 who had James Donald in their team. A cracking opening match which Ben lost to James in the deciding game. Sam then beat Wilson Tram 3-0 and Sudheep took four games to beat Richard Dodson. Sam then lost 3-0 to James whilst on the other table Ben beat Richard 3-0. For Sudheep two marathon matches to come. In the first he won the first two games 6, 10 against Wilson but lost the next three 7, 10, 5 but the next match was the match of the match against James. Sudheep had to come back from 2-0 down to win the final three points in the decider and the match -6, -9, 10, 5, 8. With Ben and Sam winning the final two matches a 6-3 win was achieved. With an 8-1 win over Luton, Woodford Wells now led by three points. However they now had to play BATTS while Chelmsford had to play Luton.
In the opening match Ben took four games to beat Blayk Marquis and later on Sudheep took four games to get the better of Kamai Francis. Luton’s other player was Nathan Chucks-Spencer. The other seven matches were all won by 3-0 scores and all won by the Chelmsford Team, thus a 9-0 win.
With a 6-3 win against BATTS 1, Woodford Wells 1 and Chelmsford were tied with 55 points each and BATTS 1 third with 40 points.
National Cadet League - 26 January 2020
The third round of North London Region National Cadet League matches was held at Ellenborough TTC, Enfield on Sunday 26 January 2020. There were four rounds of matches to be played. As it was decided that there would be no promotion or relegation between the two Divisions this round of matches was effectively the return fixtures of the first day’s matches. The Chelmsford Team comprised of the three Danbury players Ben Porter, Sam Mortimer-Ford and Ewan Hynd back from injury.
Their first match was against Woodford Wells 2 who they had beaten 9-0 in the opening match of Day 1 and were currently bottom of the Division. Three different players in the team, Ben Thomas, Reuben Ling and Noah Bartram. The only difference was that the Chelmsford players won every match 3-0.
The next match was against Ellenborough A who Chelmsford had beaten 9-0 first time around. Jeffrey Mann instead of Sidney Jennings, Seth Meyuga and Jackson McFarlane. Jackson again took a game off Ewan in a closer match this time, 4, 10, -10, 8, whilst all the other eight matches were won 3-0. Woodford Wells dropped a match against Mossford 1 who were Chelmsford’s next opponents.
Last time Chelmsford beat Mossford 1 9-0 with only one match going to a fourth game. That match between Ben and James Stein again followed the same pattern with Ben losing the first game. The other two players were again Aryan Sharma and Yuvraj Singh and both of those players and James lost their opening matches to Ben, Ewan and Sam in closer scores than previously. Aryan then took Sam to a deciding game with both players having match points before Sam won 5, -9, 9, -9, 11. James also lost in four games to Ewan. The last match between Ewan and Aryan must have been the longest match of the day. Having lost the first two games 5 and 17 Ewan was really struggling in the third game but somehow scraped it 13-11 and the fourth 11-6. 10-7 down in the decider it looked all over but those three points were clawed back and the next two points to win the match to get the Team another 9-0 win. That one point could be crucial at the end of the final round of matches on Sunday 15 March 2020. Rarely do you keep four clear sheets in a day.
The final three matches to be played by each team are:
Chelmsford v Woodford Wells 1
BATTS 1 v Chelmsford
Woodford Wells 1 v Luton
Luton v Chelmsford
Woodford Wells 1 v BATTS 1
Division 1 Table
1. Chelmsford - 91pts (P11 W10 L1)
2. Woodford Wells 1 - 88pts (P11 W11 L0)
3. BATTS 1 - 68pts (P11 W7 L4)
4. Ellenborough A - 43pts (P11 W6 L5)
5. Luton - 38pts (P11 W2 L9)
6. Mossford 1 - 34pts (P11 W5 L6)
7. Woodford Wells 2 - 17pts (P11 W2 L9)
8. Elm Green 1 - 17pts (P11 W1 L10)
Division 2 Table
1. Rosehill A - 88pts (P11 W10 L1)
2. BATTS 2 - 79pts (P11 W10 L1)
3. Ellenborough B - 69pts (P11 W8 L3)
4. Woodford Wells 3 - 48pts (P11 W6 L5)
5. Rosehill B - 41pts (P11 W5 L6)
6. Mossford 2 - 37pts (P11 W4 L7)
7. Spins - 18pts (P11 W1 L10)
8. Elm Green 2 - 16pts (P11 W0 L11)
Arthur C Clark
Chelmsford Junior Match Secretary
