Issued on 11 March 2025
Lowman's treble keeps title race alive
Chelmsford A reclaimed second position in division one with a 10-0 away win at Galleywood A in a fixture which saw three wins apiece for Harry Chivers, Simon Jarvis and Josh Bickles. Chivers did not drop a game in his singles matches while Jarvis needed to recover from 2-1 down against James Hicks, and Bickles earned victory over Alastair Hill with a 12-10 scoreline in the fifth game. Chelmsford can thank third-placed Danbury B for helping to keep their title dreams alive as they ran out winners over leaders Danbury C - Sam Lowman fired a treble and there were two wins from Matthew Stringer in a 6-4 victory. Two matches went the distance: Trevor Lloyd and Gary Young did well beating Stringer and Arron Chandler in the doubles before Stringer came from behind to see off Lloyd 7-11, 10-12, 15-13, 11-6, 12-10. Chris Penrose won all three as Danbury A earned a 7-3 away win at the division’s bottom side Chelmsford B. Penrose did not drop a game in any of his three singles victories while teammate Bruce Kettle was on the end of two five-game losses - Waseem Qureshi won their matchup 13-11 in the fifth while Kelvin Edeh took the last game 12-10. While ten points separate the top two teams vying for the title with two fixtures remaining, Danbury C will surely find a way over the line in their final two matches of the season against the bottom two teams Galleywood A and Chelmsford B.
A Gary Ward treble was not enough to prevent Buttsbury A edging closer to the division two title as his Writtle C side fell to a 7-3 loss to the division’s leaders. Ward dropped just one game in his three wins while Buttsbury’s impressive junior Joshua Freeman earned two singles victories and teamed with Rob Burton for a 3-2 success over Ward and John Parodi in the doubles. There was another win for second placed Maldon C but they were unable to make up any ground on the leaders as they also posted a 7-3 victory in their away trip at Chelmsford C. Maldon’s Chris Hancox, Dawn Baldry and Colin Napper won two matches apiece while Adi Kamma’s two wins was the high point for the hosts. Hatfield Peverel A continued their good form of late with a fourth consecutive win as Martin Archie posted a hat-trick in an 8-2 home win over Danbury D, while Mark Glenister and Robin Armstrong warmed up for their week 26 meeting with leaders Buttsbury by firing trebles in an 8-2 home win over Danbury F. There were three wins for Tim Cramphorn and Neil Want in an 8-2 home win over Old Chelmsfordians B who remain winless and rooted to the foot of the table.
The top three teams in division three went winless in week 25 as leaders Chelmsford D were held to a 5-5 home draw by OCA C, second-placed Galleywood C lost 6-4 on the road at Writtle D while third placed Buttsbury B were held to a 5-5 home draw by Danbury H. Those three matches saw unbeaten outings for Chelmsford’s Chris Denyer, Writtle’s Matthew Brown and Buttsbury’s Harry Sawford. Elsewhere, Cleon Fernandes went undefeated in Chelmsford F’s 5-5 draw at Writtle E, Rev Matthews and Kuzey Musabak won three apiece in Chelmsford E’s 9-1 win at Danbury G, and Peter Hance and Terry Hyland went unbeaten for Danbury J in their 7-3 home win over Hatfield Peverel B. Just three points separate the top three teams in this division though leaders Chelmsford D hold the trump card of a fixture in hand.
Hutton A continue to lead the way in division four though the 16 point gap to second placed Buttsbury C should be reduced when Buttsbury play their fixture in hand. Third placed Maldon B may still also come into the equation as they have to face both title rivals and also sit 16 points behind Hutton. There were perfect evenings for Buttsbury C’s Lucy Elliott, Oscar Hutt and James Hughes in a 10-0 away victory at Danbury J, Alex Ware and Oladapo Owolabi went undefeated in Hutton A’s 8-2 away win at bottom of the table Danbury M, and Lyndon Bubb secured another hat-trick in Buttsbury D’s 7-3 triumph over Hatfield Peverel C. Farooq Ahmed won all three single matches as OCA D edged a tight fixture 6-4 against Galleywood D - Nathan Blore and Nick Rounce both won twice for Galleywood. Maldon B cruised to a 10-0 home win over Chelmsford G with Marty Englander, Brian Riedling and Chris Ravenhill all three-match winners, while Highwood A and Danbury K fought out a close encounter as the latter took a 6-4 win back to Danbury.
Hutton B hold a 15 point lead with a game in hand in division five as they registered a 9-1 win at ARU thanks to trebles from Gheorghe Nita and Charlie Gould, As the affectionate saying goes: “If anyone can, Ron Tam can” and he certainly delivered for Writtle F by hitting a treble in their 8-2 away win at OCA E. Richard Drozd also went undefeated though his Hatfield Peverel D side were held to a 5-5 draw at Peverel’s E team - Davina Brazier and Jackie Treacy won two singles matches each. Martin Goddard won all three in Highwood B’s 6-4 home win over Hatfield Peverel F, Mike Pitt backed Goddard up with two wins while David Benstead earned two victories for Peverel. Goddard and Pitt recovered from 2-1 down to take the doubles encounter with Benstead and Peter Hughes 3-2.
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
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Issued on 3 March 2025
Wins for Galleywood and Buttsbury make it tight at the top
Galleywood C continued their late-season charge and now sit in second position in division three following a 9-1 home win over bottom side Writtle E. Colin Blore and Nathan Blore went unbeaten for the hosts who are a point behind leaders Chelmsford D having played two fixtures more. A 7-3 away win at OCA C means third-placed Buttsbury B trail Galleywood by just two points having played a fixture less, Paul Sturton and Harry Sawford won three apiece for the visitors - the former recovering from 2-1 down against Tom Barker in their match. Luke Richardson got the better of Buttsbury’s Jeremy Giffin over five ends before teaming with Barker for a 3-2 win over Giffin and Sawford in the doubles. Hatfield Peverel B pulled off a 5-5 draw at Chelmsford F despite only fielding two players and facing an unbeaten evening from Cleon Fernandes. Peverel’s Paul Mulley beat Dion Fernandes 3-2 but lost to his brother Cleon by the same scoreline (12-10 in the fifth). Matthew Brown not only fired a hat-trick but completed the set of playing for Writtle’s B, C and D teams in the same week in Writtle D’s 5-5 draw with Danbury H. Brown’s teammate Malcolm Henstock chipped in with two wins - the first of which was an entertaining 9-11, 13-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-3 win over Ken Wilding. Gordon Gatheral won twice for the hosts but fell in three to Brown.
Division four leaders Hutton A were back in action with a bang as they posted a 9-1 home victory over eighth placed Highwood A. Alex Ware and Oladapo Owolabi fired trebles with two wins from Charlie Ware as Hutton sit 18 points clear having played one fixture more than nearest challenges Buttsbury C who posted a 9-1 away win at Chelmsford G thanks to trebles from Oscar Hutt and Gary Carr. Third-placed Maldon B lost a little ground despite a credible 7-3 away win at Danbury K who slip one place to fifth. Chris Ravenhill led the way for the visitors with three wins though he was taken to five by Richard Allen who himself went on to beat Marty Englander 13-11 in the deciding game of their meeting. Englander later had a five-gamer go his way when getting the better of Dave Oxley-Goody. Russell Hall won all three as sixth placed OCA D inflicted yet another defeat on Danbury M - this time by a 7-3 scoreline. The first of Danbury’s three wins on the night came thanks to a Steve Martin fightback in his match with David Bishop where he rallied having found himself 2-1 down. Neil Wood’s treble was in vain as his Hatfield Peverel C side lost 6-4 at home to Danbury L - a result which leaves both sides in equal ninth position. Wood’s evening was anything but straight-forward having found himself 2-1 down against John Manning in the opener before recovering from 2-0 down to beat Greg Cooper. Cooper and Manning won their other singles matches and combined for a 3-1 doubles win against Wood and Samuel White. David Woolmer won all three singles matches on debut for Galleywood D though it was not enough to prevent his side falling to a 7-3 loss at the hands of fourth placed Buttsbury D.
The most anticipated fixture of the week in division five was between leaders Buttsbury E and second placed Hutton B with the latter showing their title credentials by posting an 8-2 away win. Charlie Gould won all three of his matches though it could have been different had Buttsbury’s Francesca Hart been able to find a way across the line when holding a 2-0 lead in their match up. Hart beat Hutton’s Lee Vallis in four before sister Freya got the better of Gheorghe Nita in a match which went the distance. Nita later earned a measure of revenge by beating Francesca in four. Eighth-placed Galleywood E cruised to a 10-0 win over Anglia Ruskin University though the match card shows all three ARU players extended their Galleywood opponents to fifth-game deciders in a fixture which included a number of other close matches. Steve Peacock, Darren Wright and Doug Blaber were the successful trio on this occasion. Chelmsford H beat Hatfield Peverel F 9-1 thanks to trebles from James Grindlay and Peter Davenport. Teammate Jacqui Smith won twice - both victories going all the way to a fifth game. Upset of the week goes to tenth-placed Hatfield Peverel E who won 7-3 on the road at Writtle F who slip to fourth. Davina Brazier and Phillip West won all of their singles matches - both players being taken to five games on two occasions each. The mid-table clash between Hatfield Peverel D and Highwood B went in favour of the latter by a 6-4 scoreline in a fixture which saw Nicola Pippen finally post a treble having won two out of three in each of her last three outings. Peverel’s Mike Pitt did well to hold his nerve to win a five-gamer against Andy Whiley but later saw a 2-1 lead against Bruce Wickham slip.
There is no change at the top of division two as leaders Buttsbury A and second-placed Maldon A posted identical 5-5 draws in week 24. Maldon had to battle back from 2-0 and 5-3 down in their home fixture with Galleywood B. Hamish Innes had the most interesting evening of the competitors on show, he lost his opener against Mark Taylor but then recovered from 2-1 down against both Will Goodchild and Mark Glenister. Goodchild put Galleywood 5-3 up with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Ross Kirby but Innes held his nerve in the final match of the night to earn the hosts the draw. Neil Want was on fire as Danbury E scored a shock 5-5 draw at leaders Buttsbury A on Friday night. Want’s wins didn’t come easily as he needed five games to get past Rob Burton prior to being stretched in four tough games by David Gatheral before coming through 13-11, 12-10, 9-11, 13-11. Burton and Gatheral had earlier edged their singles encounters with Tony Forster and Tim Cramphorn in five games. Danbury D moved into the top three for the first time since week 12 with a 6-4 away win at OCA B. Eamonn Hall chose the optimum moment to fire his first league hat-trick of the season and he was well backed up with two wins from Peter Harverson. Hall dropped just one game from his three wins while Harverson battled back from 2-1 down against both Mick Richardson and Michael Hayes. Chelmsford C sit in fourth place and they have Kelvin Edeh to thank for his treble in the 7-3 success at Writtle B. Edeh beat Phil Smith in three and both Trevor Carter and Matthew Brown by 3-1 scorelines while teammate Dusan Doszkoty recovered from 2-1 down to beat Smith in the only match of the night to go five ends. Speaking of Brown, he was called into action for Writtle C and joined forces with Gary Ward to go unbeaten in singles and doubles matches in a 7-3 away win at Danbury F. Their teammate John Parodi was unfortunate not to post a win with two of his matches going to five games - Danbury’s Alan Scammell overturning a 2-0 scoreline to beat Parodi after Ken Sheard had withstood a Parodi fightback at 2-0 up.
There was only one fixture played in division one this week as Danbury B moved up to second place with a 9-1 victory over Chelmsford B. Sam Lowman and Ian Wall won three apiece. Chelmsofrd’s Waseem Qureshi staged a great fightback to beat Dan Anderson 12-14, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10 for the visitors only success of the evening though Kelvin Edeh ran Anderson close before going down in a five.
Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League
