Issued on 26 November 2023

Two teams from Hutton and a team from Chelmsford were crowned winners of their respective Chelmsford Junior League divisions this week with all three having won all of their fixtures so far this season and taking unassailable leads with two weeks of action remaining.

Chelmsford Junior League division 1A - CHELMSFORD COUGARS CHAMPIONS!

Despite two wins from Aryan Pradeep, the Chelmsford Cougars secured the division 1A title with a 3-2 win over their clubmates the Eagles.  Pradeep came back from 2-1 down to win against Ben Robinson and handed Amir Chetitah just his second loss out of 12 matches this season with a 3-1 victory.  Chetitah and Robinson ensured the Cougars remain perfect on seven victories this season by winning the all-important doubles 3-0.

Danbury Dragons produced what many will see as a shock 5-0 home win over second placed Buttsbury Bears.  On the back of some close 3-2 losses in CJL1A this season and some impressive wins in division 5, Peter Harveson earned his first two CJL wins this season while his partner Oliver Martin also won twice.  Harverson beat Callum Walker 3-0 in the opening contest and watched on as Martin came back from 1-0 down against Joseph Hutt to win 3-1 and then withstood a Walker fightback to win 11-9 in the fifth.   Harverson then produced a comeback of his own having trailed 2-1 to Hutt - also taking the fifth game 11-9 before the duo completed a seemingly unlikely 5-0 victory with a 3-1 win in the doubles.

Standings CJL 1A: CHAMPIONS: CTTC Cougars 29 points (from 7 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bears 16 points (from 6 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 1B - HUTTON HAWKS CHAMPIONS!

The Hutton Hawks sealed the division 1B title in style with a 5-0 victory at the Chelmsford Jaguars on Sunday.  Charlie Gould and Martis Heyes won twice each with Heyes coming through 3-2 in a close encounter with Hugo Reed.  Gould and Heyes won their other individual matches 3-0 and teamed together to secure the same scoreline - a match result which continues the Hawks’ outstanding season of 32 wins out of a possible 35 individual/doubles matches.  The Chelmsford Leopards closed the gap on the second placed Buttsbury Bulldogs with a 4-1 victory over the Chelmsford Panthers.  Neriyan Tharmassas earned his second double of the season with 3-0 wins over Henry Ward and Ethan Collins while Damon Chow beat Ward in three games.  Collins scored his second win of the season with a 3-1 win over Chow before Chow and Tharmassas wrapped up the fixture with a 3-0 victory in the doubles. 

Standings CJL 1B: CHAMPIONS: Hutton Hawks 32 points (from 7 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bulldogs 18 points (from 6 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 1C - HUTTON HARRIERS CHAMPIONS!

The third CJL champions of the season were confirmed this week as the Harriers joined their clubmates the Hawks in earning a second debut season success for Hutton.  A double from Billy Andrews and a win for Jonny Pocock earned the Harriers a 4-1 home victory over the visiting Chelmsford Lions duo of Amelie Lucas and Georgiana Major.  Major scored her third win of the season with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Pocock and is the only player in the division to take more than one individual victory against the Harriers who have only lost 5 individual matches this season.  A Hugo Reed double was not enough to prevent his Pumas team falling to a 3-2 loss to Chelmsford clubmates the Rhinos.  Reed beat Vivaan Deshpande 3-1 (the last two games 12-14, 12-10) and Louis Marsan 3-2 (11-9 in the fifth).  Marsan was earlier involved in another contest which went to a deciding game - beating Max Locke-Wheaton 11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8.

 Standings CJL 1C: CHAMPIONS: Hutton Harriers 25 points (from 6 matches), 2: CTTC Rhinos 19 points (7 matches).

Division 1

Writtle A fell to their seventh defeat in nine matches this season with a 6-4 loss against division 1 leaders Old Chelmsfordians A despite a third CDTTL hat-trick for Lee McHugh.  McHugh beat both Brandon Crouc1hman and Adam Buxton in four games and later had to withstand a Paul Lucas fightback from 2-0 down to clinch victory in the only match which went to five games on the night.  In a match which was reportedly affected by time issues, Chelmsford A’s 6-4 win against Chelmsford B meant they didn’t lose any ground on leaders OCA A.  Harry Chivers, Gary Young and Josh Bickles all won their first two singles matches as Chelmsford A stormed into a 6-0 lead.  Young was taken to five games by both Kim Shead and Andrew Dosher, Bickles dropped a game to both Aidan Lees and Shead, while Chivers dropped a game to just Dosher.  As time pressed on, Shead and Dosher put the first point on the board for Chelmsford B with victory over Chivers and Bickles in the doubles before both Lees and Dosher came back from losing positions to beat Young and Bickles in their individual matches.  Third placed Danbury C failed to take advantage of the top two teams dropping points when losing 6-4 to fourth placed Danbury A on Thursday night.  Chris Penrose dropped just one game during the evening when securing his second hat-trick of the season while teammate Babul McLeod chipped in with two victories.    Danbury C’s Dave Richardson was involved in two five-game matches on the night - a 3-2 loss to Ian Whiteside which saw Whiteside recover from 2-1 down to take the fifth 11-9, and a 3-2 win against Paul Davison whereby Richardson saw Davison come back from 2-0 down.  Richardson managed to claim the fifth game 14-12.  Richardson then saw another five gamer in the doubles - Davison and David Gatheral getting the better of Penrose and himself.  Ian Wall secured his second treble inside a week as his Danbury B team beat Galleywood A 7-3.  Wall won all of his matches by a 3-0 scoreline as teammate Dan Anderson won two of his three matches.

Standings div 1: 1. OCA A 59 points (from 8 matches), 2: Chelmsford A 58 points (8 matches), 3: Danbury C 50 points (9 matches).

Division 2

Hatfield Peverel A remain top of division 2 despite a 5-5 draw at Danbury E thanks to a fifth hat-trick of the season for Martin Archie.  Archie beat Tony Forster in three games, Neil Want in four and Tim Cramphorn in five, while Want scored the most wins for the hosts as he beat both Neil Freeman and Alastair Piper in four games.  The doubles matchup saw Want and Cramphorn edge Archie and Piper in five games.  Harrison Hill’s fifth div 2 treble of the season helped third placed Chelmsford C to a 6-4 win at second placed Writtle C - Hill beat both Gary Ward and John Gagg in three games and John Webber in four.  Ward and Webber earned two victories apiece for the hosts with Ward’s 3-2 victory over Waseem Qureshi being the closest contest of the evening which was decided 13-11 in the fifth.  Hill and Mark Allaway mounted a comeback from 2-0 down in the doubles for a 3-2 win, a result which had put the visitors 5-2 up on the night before Writtle won two of the last three singles matches.  Fifth placed Maldon A beat  sixth placed Writtle B 7-3 in a fixture which saw Writtle only able to field two players.  Writtle’s Matthew Brown was the only player to win more than one of the individual matches played with him getting the better of Lloyd Bennett-Smith in five games and Chris Hancox in three.  Pete Layzell turned a 2-0 deficit to Hamish Innes into a 3-2 win though Innes got the better of Brown in the last contest of the night over three tightly contested games - 15-13, 12-10, 14-12.  On the back of three successive defeats, one may have predicted Danbury D would go down to their Danbury F clubmates who were looking to put pressure on the top three, however the form guide was thrown out of the window as the D team earned a 6-4 win.  David Penrose and Daniel Patynski won twice apiece for the victors while Steve Buer doubled up for the hosts.  While Patynski lost just one game in completing his two victories, both of Penrose’s wins came the hard way - he beat both Gus Heath and Steve Buer 3-2 from 2-0 down.  Patynski and Penrose got the better of Buer and Heath by three games to two in the doubles having trailed 2-1.  Kelvin Felix fired his first treble of the season as bottom of the table Chelmsford D beat 10th placed Danbury G 6-4.  Felix beat Robin Armstrong in three games and both Denis Crapnell and Merv Perriman in four, while Crapnell and Perriman teamed to beat Felix and Dusan Doszkoty 3-2 in the doubles match.

Standings div 2: 1: Hatfield Peverel A 57 points (from 9 matches), 2: Chelmsford C 50 points (8 matches). 3: Writtle C 50 points (9 matches),

Division 3

Galleywood B remain top of the division three table despite falling to their first defeat of the season by a 6-4 scoreline at home to Danbury H.  Tim Pulham returned to CDTTL action for the first time in nearly two months and was up and running again with a fine hat-trick of wins.  Pulham beat both Will Goodchild and Steve Peacock in straight games and Mark Glenister in four while his teammate Alan Scammell won twice.  Will Goodchild won twice for the league leaders - he beat Scammell having conceded the first two games, and then beat Ken Sheard in four close games.  Glenister and Woodchild took the doubles over five games against Sheard and Pulham but Scammell’s 3-0 win over Glenister ensured Galleywood B tasted defeat for the first time this season.  Richard Baxter fired a hat-trick as OCA C took advantage of the teams above them not being in action this week as his side jumped into second place with an 8-2 win at Chelmsford F. Baxter beat Grace Liu and Felix Reeve in straight games and came from 1-0 down to beat Pav Srinivasamurthy in four.  Liu produced an excellent 3-1 win over Luke Richardson while Baxter and Upson beat Srinivasamurthy and Reeve 3-2 in the doubles.  With just seven points separating bottom and sixth position in the table Eamonn Hall produced a fine hat-trick to earn his Danbury K team a useful 5-5 draw against third placed Hatfield Peverel B.  Hall beat both Simon Quelch and Bob Hillis in four games as well as Neil Freeman in three, while Quelch was the only other player on show to win more than one individual match on the night.  Freeman and Hillis beat Dave Hancox and Alan Dadswell in the doubles despite seeing their 2-0 lead disappear before Hillis produced a fine comeback from 2-0 down to beat Dadswell in their singles match.  Evie Knaapen and Jamie Elliot each won their three matches as Buttsbury A beat Chelmsford E 7-3 to move into fourth place in division 3.  Elliot dropped just one game in taking his season record to 15 wins from 15 matches while Knaapen beat both Andy Swales and Rev Matthews 3-0 after having been taken to five games by Jarek Pietraszuk in the night’s opening contest.  Pietraszuk had trailed Knaapen 2-0 before getting back on level terms and later found himself 2-1 down to Kevin Willis until he was able to take the last two games for the victory.  Trebles from Malcolm Storey and Ian Hockley helped fire Writtle E to an 8-2 victory at Danbury J.  Hockley had the slightly smoother evening in winning two matches by a 3-0 scoreline however he was taken to five games by Louis Gunn.  Storey beat both Gunn and Terry Hyland in four games but had to recover from a 2-1 deficit to overcome John Robinson.

Standings div 3: 1: Galleywood B 60 points (from 8 matches), 2: OCA C 48 points (8 matches), 3: Hatfield Peverel B 46 points (9 matches).

Division 4

Gary Copsey and Colin Blore scored trebles as Galleywood C moved to seven wins from seven matches and retained top of the table status in division four with a 7-3 win at Buttsbury B.  Copsey won all of his matches 3-0 while Blore dropped just one game across his three.  There were no wins for Galleywood’s Will Goodchild but he had perhaps the most entertaining evening while losing in five games to Frances Hutt, Alex Ware and Jenn Seibolt - each of those five game encounters were decided by a mere two points in the deciding game.  Chelmsford G remain in second place following an 8-2 victory at Hatfield Peverel E thanks to trebles from both Cleon and Dion Fernandes.  David Benstead beat Vishnu Surendran 3-1 and was involved in the closest match of the night - a 3-2 loss to Dion Fernandes having led 2-1.  Ella Sach fired her first hat-trick of the season as Maldon B moved up to fourth position with an 8-2 home win against Hatfield Peverel C.  Sach won her first two matches by a 3-0 scoreline but found herself 2-1 down to Peter Mortensen before winning the last two games 11-7. 12-10.  Sach’s teammates Chris Ravenhill and Brian Riedling both won twice each with Riedling losing out in a close contest with Mortensen 10-12, 14-12, 4-11, 10-12.  Farooq Ahmed continued his fine form this season with his second treble as OCA D won 8-2 at Danbury L.  Ahmed beat Ken Wilding in three games, Greg Cooper in four and his match with Alex Wilson wasn’t settled until the fifth game decider.   Ahmed’s partner David Bishop won twice but lost out in five games to Danbury’s Wilson who also won twice - his other win also being over five games against David Newman.

Standings div 4: 1: Galleywood C 54 points (from 7 matches), 2: Chelmsford G 50 points (8 matches), 3: Buttsbury B 38 points (7 matches). NB: Maldon B, OCA D and Highwood A have 38 points also.

Division 5

Mark Nolan’s hat-trick for second placed Chelmsford J wasn’t enough to inflict a first defeat of the season on division 5 league leaders Danbury M.   Nolan beat both Steve Martin and Graham Naggs 3-0 and edged a close four game contest with David Smith 11-9, 11-13, 14-12, 11-9 as Chelmsford went down 6-4 on the night.  Shweta Lees produced a fine comeback from 2-1 down against Graham Naggs winning the last two games 11-9, 12-10.  Galleywood D moved up to third place despite a 5-5 home draw with Writtle F.   Galleywood’s Steve Peacock and Wayne Smithies earned two wins apiece for the hosts as did Paul Aarons and Michael Anthony for the visitors.  There were four five-game matches on the night with Galleywood’s Smithies and Writtle’s Aarons competing in one against each other and another each within the course of the fixture.   OCA E sit in fifth place following a 9-1 victory at home to Hatfield Peverel F.  Suzanne Shaw and Mike Morecroft scored trebles and Stuart Wintle added another two as the hosts only dropped six games in individual play during the evening.  The doubles match saw Morecroft and Wintle fight back from 2-1 down to win in five games.   Having sat bottom of division 5 at week 3, Anglia Ruskin continue to march up the table and an 8-2 win against Highwood B left them in a season-high sixth position.  Kelvin Edeh (hat-trick 2 of the season) and Douglas Bawuah (hat-trick four) hit trebles in the same fixture for the first time this season though both players were taken to five-game contests in their last match of the night.  Bawuah finally dispatched of Keith Pallet 11-5 in the fifth set while Edeh was taken the distance by Nicola Pippen - sealing victory 11-6 in the decider.  After a slow start to the season with just two wins in her first six CDTTL matches, Shirley Carroll earned another three wins taking her current form to 11 wins from the last 12 as Maldon C won 6-4 at Buttsbury C.  Carroll beat Joseph Hutt and Callum Walker in straight games and overturned a 1-0 deficit against Oscar Hutt to win 3-1.  Before the defeat to Carroll, Oscar Hutt had taken two good wins against James Raymond and Kym Eames - Eames had fought back from 2-0 down to level but Hutt took the deciding game.   Joseph Hutt also won twice against the same two players - a four game win against Raymond and a straight game victory against Eames.  Carroll and Raymond got the better of the Hutt brothers 3-2 in the doubles match having trailed 2-1.

Standings div 5: 1: Danbury M 60 points (from 8 matches), 2: Chelmsford J 46 points (8 matches), 3: Galleywood D 45 points (9 matches).

Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League

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Issued on 19 November 2023

Wall stands firm in Danbury derby draw

Division 1

Ian Wall fired a hat-trick as his Danbury B team recovered from a 4-1 deficit to earn a 5-5 draw against clubmates Danbury A.  Two of Wall’s three victories were fifth game deciders - he resisted a Bruce Kettle fightback from 2-0 down to win 11-9 in game five, and saw Dave Richardson respond twice before he was finally able to seal the victory.  Kettle was also involved in two further matches which went the distance - a 3-2 win over Sam Lowman and a 3-2 loss to Matthew Stringer.  Richardson and Babul McLeod both won twice for the A team - McLeod beat Matthew Stringer 11-9 in the fifth and recovered from 1-0 down to beat Lowman in four.  OCA A retained top place in division one with a 7-3 win over Danbury C. Matthew Mulley returned to CDTTL action for the first time in over a month and beat Keith Adams in three games, Paul Davison in four and recovered from 2-0 down to edge James Donald.  Mark Mulley was close to joining his brother on three wins but was beaten 18-16 by Adams in an epic deciding game.  Second placed Chelmsford A closed the gap on Old Chelmsfordians with a 9-1 win at Galleywood on Monday night.  Harry Chivers and Gary Young both won three while Omar Wasi marked his division one debut with a brace of wins.  James Hicks was the top performer for the hosts, beating Wasi 3-1 and taking Chivers the distance. Wasi’s maiden division one win was in a close encounter with Alistair Hill 11-13, 11-5, 12-10, 12-10. Kevin Read’s second treble of the season wasn't enough to prevent Writtle A falling to a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Chelmsford B. Read beat Wiktor Delimat in three, Kim Shead in four and recovered from 2 games down to beat Andrew Dosher in five.  Dosher’s two victories on the night were both over five games - his win against Lee McHugh was after trailing 2-1. Both of Kim Shead’s victories for the hosts were five game thrillers, beating both McHugh and Matthew Brown by a 13-11 scoreline in the crucial game.

Standings div 1: 1. OCA A 53 points (from 7 matches), 2: Chelmsford A 52 points (7 matches), 3: Danbury C 46 points (8 matches)

Leading averages div 1 (played 17+ matches):  1: Gary Young (Chelmsford A, 16/18 wins, 89%), 2: Mark Mulley (OCA A 16/20 wins, 80%), 3: Paul Davison (Danbury C, 13/17 wins, 76%).

Division 2

Martin Archie scored his fourth hat-trick of the season - his second against a Chelmsford side - as division 2 leaders Hatfield Peverel A beat Chelmsford D 8-2.  Archie beat both Stephen Heard and Omar Wasi in straight games but had to take games four and five to overcome Mike Johnston.  Julie Johnson was the closest to joining Archie on three wins as she beat Johnston in four and Heard in four, however Wasi earned an upset win on paper over five games.  Alastair Piper also won twice for the hosts - his win over Johnston from 2-0 down, securing the win 11-9 in the decider.  Writtle C moved into second position with a comprehensive 9-1 win at Danbury D.  Gary Ward and John Webber won three games apiece with John Parodi chipping in with two.   Parodi’s match with Eamonn Hall was the tightest contest of the night and the only to reach five games - Hall led two games to one before Parodi took the final two games 11-7, 11-3.  Chris Buer scored his fourth treble of the season as Danbury F moved into fourth place with a 7-3 victory at clubmates Danbury G.  Buer beat Mervyn Perriman in three games, Denis Crapnell in four and Denis Balic in five as well as teaming with Gus Heath to win 17-15 in the deciding game of the doubles contest.  While Heath fell to Perriman in the first contest of the night he then came from 2-0 down to beat Crapnell before beating Balic 12-10 in the fifth game of their contest.  There were no individual trebles as OCA B and Maldon A played out a 5-5 draw.  Maldon looked set for a fine evening on the road as they took an early 3-0 lead before OCA hit back by winning the next three contests.  Maldon’s Lloyd Bennett-Smith and Chris Hancox beat Michael Hayes and Mick Richardson 3-0 in the doubles contest before OCA’s David Porter managed to see off a Hamish Innes fightback from 2-0 down to take the decider 11-8.  Hancox put Maldon 5-4 up on the night with a 3-0 win over Hayes before Richardson beat Bennett-Smith 11-8 in the fifth game to ensure the spoils were shared.  A Richard Storey hat-trick could not prevent his Writtle B side going down 7-3 at home to Danbury E.  Storey beat each of Neil Want, Tony Forster and Tim Cramphorn in four games but his teammates Trevor Carter and Phil Smith were bested by the visitors.  Smith saw a 2-1 lead against Tim Cramphorn slip before Carter lost in five see-saw games with Forster. 

Standings div 2: 1: Hatfield Peverel A 52 points (from 8 matches), 2: Writtle C 46 points (8 matches), 3: Chelmsford C 44 points (7 matches).

Leading averages div 2 (played 18+ matches):  1: Martin Archie (Hatfield Peverel A, 18/21 wins, 86%), 2: Gary Ward (Writtle C, 17/20 wins, 85%), 3: Richard Storey (Writtle B, 15/18 wins, 83%)

Division 3

Galleywood B remain the unbeaten leaders of division 3 following an 8-2 victory at Writtle E.  John Holland dropped just one game on the way to his fifth treble of the season while Mark Glenister had a less straightforward evening on the way to securing three wins.  Glenister recovered from 2-1 down against Malcolm Storey to cruise through the last two games 11-4, 11-1 and later fought back from 2-1 down against Neil Thompson.  Writtle D stay at the head of the chasing pack following a 6-4 win at Danbury K.  Danbury’s Eamonn Hall will feel unfortunate to end up on the losing side following a fine hat-trick which saw him beat Bob Garson in three games, Malcolm Henstock in four and overturn a 2-0 deficit against Trevor Collin to storm through the last three games 11-7, 11-7, 11-5.  Writtle’s Garson, Henstock and Collin all saw five game wins during the evening with Danbury’s Richard Allen the victim of two of those losses.  Hatfield Peverel B dropped behind Writtle D and into third place after a 5-5 draw at Chelmsford E on Friday night.  Jarek Pietraszuk scored his first treble of the season with four game wins over both Gareth Davies and Neil Freeman before a recovery from 2-0 down to beat Paul Mulley in five.  Having taken a 5-3 lead, the visitors had looked set for their second away win of the season but Alesha Ellis-Austin won 12-10 in the fifth game of her encounter with Davies before Pietraszuk earned Chelmsford the draw against Mulley the hard way (9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-9).  Jamie Elliott remains unbeaten this season following a fourth hat-trick as his Buttsbury A team drew 5-5 at Danbury H.  Elliott disposed of both Ken Sheard and Gordon Gatheral in straight games but had a tougher time with Alan Scammell who frustrated Elliott until a fifth game decider.  Scammell himself saw five game action on two other occasions during the evening - an individual win against Kevin Willis and a doubles win with Sheard against Elliott and Charles Yeung.  Sheard was the only other player on show to win more than one match - victories over Yeung and Kevin Willis.  After three losses against the league leaders last time out, Tom Barker returned to form with a hat-trick of victories in OCA C’s 7-3 home win against Danbury J.  Barker beat Dave Marsh in three, John Robinson in four and Terry Hyland in five while teammates Luke Richardson and Richard Upson also won twice each. Upson’s two wins were earned the hard way - he beat Terry Hyland having trailed 2-1 and went one better in beating Dave Marsh 3-2 from 2-0 down.  Robinson got the better of Hyland over five, winning the final two games 12-10, 12-10.

Standings div 3: 1: Galleywood B 56 points (from 7 matches), 2: Writtle D 42 points (8 matches), 3: Hatfield Peverel B 41 points (8 matches).

Leading averages div 3 (played 15+ matches):  1: John Holland (Galleywood B, 17/18 wins, 94%), =3: Mark Glenister (Galleywood B) and Dave Powell (Danbury K) both 12/15 wins, 80%.

Division 4

Colin Blore scored a hat-trick in his first appearance of the season as division four leaders Galleywood C cruised to a 10-0 victory over Hatfield Peverel D.  Blore may have taken some time in his first match back to find his range but he finally overcame Bob Hillis 3-2 having trailed 2-1, his next two victories were more one-sided affairs against Deb Ginn and Samuel White.  Nathan Blore and Will Goodchild both added to their tallies of trebles this season - Blore notching his second without dropping a game, and Goodchild scoring his third.  The youthful Chelmsford G trio of Cleon Fernandes, Dion Fernandes and Grace Liu proved too strong for opponents Danbury L as they cruised to an 8-2 home win. While the first three matches of the evening all went in favour of the hosts, all three players were well tested in their 3-1 victories.  Danbury’s first success of the evening came in match number six where John Manning dug deep to beat Dion Fernandes 3-2 with a 13-11 scoreline in the fifth game.  A mini revival looked on the cards for the visitors as Manning and Alex Wilson beat the Fernandes brothers 3-2 in the doubles having been 2-1 down, however Liu beat Wilson 3-0 and her teammates produced the same scorelines to consolidate second place in the table for Chelmsford G.  Peter Mortensen’s three wins weren’t enough to prevent his Hatfield Peverel C team losing 7-3 at home to third placed Buttsbury B - the hosts sixth successive loss of the season.  Mortensen beat Phil Shippen in three games, Richard Pond in four and Jenne Seibolt in five, while teammate Richard Drozd came the closest to earning another Hatfield win - narrowly losing 3-2 to Richard Pond.  A Brian Riedling treble backed up with two wins by Christopher Ravenhill earned Maldon B a 6-4 win at OCA D.  Riedling’s treble wasn’t quite straightforward as he had to recover from 2-0 down to beat both Russell Hall and Farooq Ahmed, before beating David Bishop 3-1 having gone a game behind.  A third successive hat-trick for Roger Patient helped Highwood A to an 8-2 home victory over Hatfield Peverel E.  Patient didn’t drop a game over the course of the evening with teammates Melanie Bonnett and Keith Fitz-John  scoring two wins apiece.  Fitz-John saw three five-game matches, an opening loss to James Brooks was followed by wins over Phil West and Davina Brazier.  While the match with Brazier went one way and then the next throughout, his win over Phil West was from a position of two games to nil down.

Standings div 4: 1: Galleywood C 47 points (from 6 matches), 2: Chelmsford G 42 points (7 matches), 3: Highwood A 38 points (7 matches).

Leading averages div 4 (Played 17+ matches):  1: Will Goodchild (Galleywood C, 15/17 wins, 88%), 2: Cleon Fernandes (Chelmsford G, 15/18 wins 83%), 3: Roger Patient (17/21 wins, 81%).

Division 5

Danbury M sit 12 points clear at the top of division 5 thanks to a 6-4 victory at Anglia Ruskin University.  While previous reports had featured the fine form of ARU’s Douglas Bawuah (78% win rate) it was teammate Kelvin Edeh who scored a super hat-trick against the league leaders.  Edeh beat both Steve Martin and David Smith by a 3-1 scoreline as well as Ken Wilding by 3-0.  Wilding’s two victories on the night were both come from behind affairs - he recovered from 2-1 down against both Bawuah and Gerald Amuta with teammate Smith beating both players 3-0.  David Parker scored his third treble of the season as his Chelmsford J team won 6-4 at Maldon.  Parker beat Kym Eames in three, James Raymond in four and withstood a Shirley Carroll fightback from 2-0 down to win in five games.  Carroll and Raymond both won twice for the hosts with teammate Eames unfortunate to miss out in five game matches with Elliot Hawthorne and Jeremy Hill which she lost 12-10 on both occasions.  Richard Pond’s hat-trick led Buttsbury C to a 6-4 away win at Chelmsford H - a result which caused the hosts to lose ground on leaders Danbury M.  Pond beat both Peter Davenport and Jason Clark 3-1, Jacqui Smith 3-0, and teamed with Francesca Hart to beat Davenport and Smith 3-2 in the doubles - winning the final two games 11-6, 11-9.  The doubles contest proved to be the turning point of the evening - the fixture was finally poised at 3-3 before Pond and Hart’s win spurred the visitors to then win two of the last three individual matches. Galleywood D sit in fourth place as they consigned bottom of the table Hatfield Peverel F to their fifth defeat in seven with a 7-3 scoreline.  Despite being on the losing side of the result, Hatfield’s Jackie Treacy was the star of the show with wins over Arran Goodridge, Wayne Smithies and Steve Peacock.  Treacy’s win over Peacock was the most impressive of the three as she was 2-1 down before winning the next two games by a tight 11-9, 12-10.  Peacock and Smithies won their other two matches with a 3-0 scoreline while Arran Goodridge won his first match of the season 11-9 in the fifth game against Peter Hughes before beating Martin Kilbey 3-1 having been 1-0 down.

Standings div 5: 1: Danbury M 54 points (from 7 matches), 2: Chelmsford J 42 points (7 matches), 3: Chelmsford H 42 points (7 matches).

Leading averages div 5 (Played 12+ matches):  1: David Parker (Chelmsford J, 11/12 wins 92%), 2: David Smith (Danbury M, 14/18 wins, 78%), 3: James Grindlay (Chelmsford H, 9/12 wins, 75%).

Chelmsford Junior League division 1A

The Chelmsford Cougars extended their lead at the top of CJL 1A with a 5-0 home win against the Danbury Dragons. There were another two wins for Amir Chetitah (9/10 wins for the season) and a double for Luka Ha (4/4 wins) though Danbury’s Peter Harverson performed well in taking both Chelmsford players to a deciding game.  The Buttsbury Bears recovered from losing the first two matches of the night to beat the Chelmsford Tigers 3-2.  Chelmsford’s Ben Robinson beat Callum Walker 3-1 in the opening encounter and teammate William Guilloux doubled the visitors lead with a 3-0 win over Thomas Lewis.  Lewis recovered to beat Robinson over five games - a match which saw Robinson square the score from 2-0 down, and Walker beat Guilloux 3-1 to make the overall match score 2-2.  Walker and Lewis then got the better of Guilloux and Robinson 3-1 having found themselves one game down.

Standings CJL 1A: 1: CTTC Cougars 26 points (from 6 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bears 16 points (from 5 matches).

Leading averages CJL 1A (Played 6+ matches):  1: Sami Osman (CTTC Cougars, 6/6 wins), 2: Amir Chetitah (CTTC Cougars 9/10 wins, 90%).

Chelmsford Junior League division 1B

Hutton Hawks continued their march towards winning CJL 1B with a 4-1 victory at the Chelmsford Panthers.  The Hawks have won an astonishing 27 of their 30 individual/doubles matches so far this season and two wins apiece from Billy Andrews and Jago Ware kept up that momentum before a rare loss in the doubles encounter with Sky Reeve and Tim Kaziev.  Reeve and Kaziev showed great spirit and nerve when overturning a 2-1 deficit to win the last two games 12-10, 17-15.  The Buttsbury Bulldogs retained second spot with a 5-0 victory over the Chelmsford Jaguars.  Vivaan Babbar and Lewis Woods both won two matches each with Woods’ matches with Ethan Li and Sean Kwan both going the distance.  Li held a 2-1 lead before Woods was able to take the next two games, while Kwan took an epic fourth game 16-14 to level the match before Woods was able to win the decider.  Babbar and Woods teamed up to edge past Li and Kwan in the doubles encounter having been 2-1 down.

Standings CJL 1B: 1: Hutton Hawks 27 points (from 6 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bulldogs 18 points (from 6 matches).

Leading averages CJL 1B (Played 6+ matches):  1: Jago Ware (Hutton Hawks, 7/8 wins, 88%), =3: Charlie Gould (Hutton Hawks) and Ryan Peiris (CTTC Leopards) both 5/6 wins, 83%.

Chelmsford Junior League division 1C

The Hutton Harriers remain top of CJL 1C following a 5-0 victory at home to closest contenders the Chelmsford Rhinos.  Thomas Hall won both of his matches 3-0 while Archie Giles battled to a 3-2 win over Archie Spurrier having been 2-1 down.  Spurrier was back in action for the Chelmsford Pumas a couple of days later and won both of his games in a 3-2 victory at the Buttsbury Bats.  Spurrier won each of his matches by a 3-0 scoreline with Taylor Cumber also earning a win for the visitors.  Spurrier and Cumber could not prevent a spirited fightback by Shay Coughlan and Rayhan Sudheer in the doubles who lost the first two games 11-4, 11-2 to go on to take the last three games 11-7, 11-8, 12-10.

Standings CJL 1C: 1: Hutton Harriers 21 points (from 5 matches), 2: CTTC Rhinos 16 points (6 matches).

Leading averages CJL 1C (Played 6+ matches): 1: Louis Marsan (CTTC Rhinos, 5/6 wins, 83%) =3 Archie Giles (Hutton Harriers) and Taylor Cumber (CTTC Pumas)  both 4/6 wins, 67%.

Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League

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Issued on 12 November 2023

Old Chelmsfordians A pass two years unbeaten at home with another 10–0 win

In cruising to their third 10-0 home win of the season, division one leaders OCA A stretched their record to 16 matches and two calendar years since their last CDTTL home loss - a 6-4 defeat against Danbury B on 09/11/2021.  They next face third placed Danbury C at home on Tuesday. 

Division 1

Top of the table Old Chelmsfordians A registered their third 10-0 victory of the season at home to two-manned Danbury A. Kieran Lally recovered from 2-1 down to beat Sam Lowman with Lowman suffering a 3-2 defeat to Mark Mulley having led 2-0 - the deciding game finished 16-14 in Mulley’s favour.  Alistair Hill’s second hat-trick of the season led Galleywood A to a 6-4 win at Chelmsford B - the visitors’ first victory of the season.  Kim Shead earned a double for the hosts while Wiktor Delimat achieved his first win of the season with a 3-2 triumph over Ben Page.  Peter Barrett doubled up with four-game wins over both Delimat and Adi Kamma.  Three wins for Gary Young and two for Harry Chivers guided Chelmsford A to a 7-3 win at Danbury A.  Young won all three of his individual matches over four games while Chivers won his two matches by a 3-0 scoreline.  Chivers was bested by Bruce Kettle whose two wins for Danbury were both despite trailing 2-1 in each match.

Standings div 1: 1. OCA A 46 points (from 6 matches), 2: Chelmsford A 43 points (6 matches), 3: Danbury C 43 points (7 matches) 

Division 2

Three wins for Richard Storey couldn't prevent Writtle B falling to a 6-4 loss to league leaders Hatfield Peverel A. Storey beat Martin Archie and Alastair Piper in four games but was taken the distance by Julie Johnson. Writtle’s Trevor Carter fought back from 2-0 down against Piper only for the Hatfield ace to take the decider 11-6.  Trebles for Harrison Hill and Victor Chan alongside a double for Mark Allaway saw second placed Chelmsford C win 8-2 at Maldon A.  The closest match of the night was a five game encounter between Dawn Baldry and Hill whereby the latter was able to save a match point to take the decider 14-12.  Baldry teamed up with Hamish Innes to get the better of Hill and Chan in the doubles with a 3-2 scoreline.  A Gary Ward hat-trick and a double from John Webber fired Writtle C to a 7-3 home win against Danbury G.  Ward won all of his individual matches 3-0 and teamed with Webber to beat Denis Crapnell and Denis Balic. The clash between John Gagg and Balic was the only to go the distance with the latter winning the last two games to claim the win.  A perfect hat-trick by Chris Buer guided Danbury F to a 7-3 win at Chelmsford D,  Danbury’s Gus Heath scored two wins but was denied a third by Mike Johnston who won 11-9 in the fifth game of their encounter.  Heath later won by the same 11-9 scoreline in the deciding game against Kelvin Felix.  Tim Cramphorn and Tony Forster fired trebles as Danbury E beat OCA B 8-2.  Forster participated in the first of two five game matches on the night - OC’s Michael Hayes took a two nil lead only for Forster to up his game and take three games in a row.  Dick Wyman and David Porter were involved in the other five-gamer - Wyman was 2-1 up before Porter took the next two games 11–6, 11-9.

Standings div 2: 1: Hatfield Peverel A 44 points (from 7 matches), 2: Chelmsford C 44 points (7 matches), 3: Writtle C 37 points (7 matches).

Division 3

Galleywood B cemented top position in division 3 with a resounding 10-0 home win over second placed OCA C.  John Holland, Mark Glenister and Gary Brignall were undefeated in singles action with Brignall and Glenister winning 3-0 in the doubles against Luke Richardson and Tom Barker. Glenister was taken the distance by Richardson as was Holland by Richard Baxter. Hat-tricks from youngsters Jamie Elliot and Evie Knaapen fired Buttsbury A to a 6-4 win over third placed Hatfield Peverel B.  While both Elliot and Knaapen won two of their individual matches 3-0 they both saw five game encounters over the course of the evening.  Knaapen came back from 2-1 down to beat Neil Freeman while Elliot went one better and won after finding himself 2-0 down against Gareth Davies.  Writtle D were held to a 5-5 draw despite a hat-trick by Pete Layzell.  Layzell’s teammate Trevor Collin won twice and it would have been three but for an Andy Swales comeback from 2-0 down. Layzell and Collin lost out to Swales and Rev Matthews by a 3-1 scoreline in the doubles matchup. Omar Wasi struck his third treble in eight days as Chelmsford F drew 5-5 with Danbury K.  Chelmsford's Felix Reeve won twice but was denied a treble of his own by Dave Powell whose two individual wins were the best performance from a Danbury player. Powell and Dave Hancox beat Wasi and Reeve 3-1 in the doubles.  The battle between the bottom two sides in division 3 saw Danbury H beat Writtle E 6-4 on Thursday night. Ian Whiteside won three matches while Ken Sheard was denied a hat-trick of his own by Malcolm Storey who won 11-8 in the deciding game of their match. Storey had earlier fought back from 2-0 down to beat Alan Scammell.

Standings div 3: 1: Galleywood B 48 points (from 6 matches), 2: Hatfield Peverel B 36 points (7 matches), 3: Writtle D 36 points (7 matches)

Division 4

A Chris Ravenhill hat-trick helped Maldon B to a 6-4 home win over second placed Chelmsford G. Ravenhill beat both Salih Salim and Peter Davenport in four games as well as Vishnu Surendran in three. Chelmsford’s Salim was the only other player to win more than one individual match during the evening - beating Ella Sach 3-0 and Marty Englander 3-1.  Highwood A retained third position with a 7-3 victory over Danbury L.  Roger Patient was undefeated on the night though his treble was not completed without a scare - Greg Cooper had led 2-1 in their encounter before Patient stormed back and took the fifth game by an 11-9 scoreline.  Highwood’s Keith Fitz-John won twice but he was beaten by Alex Wilson over four games - Wilson had earlier won in five games against Melanie Bonnett.  A first treble of the season for Bob Hillis wasn't quite enough for the double crewed Hatfield Peverel D as they went down 6-4 at Buttsbury B.  Hillis beat Frances and Oscar Hutt in three straight games but he was pushed to the limit by Lucy Elliott who took the first two games 11-5, 11-5 in their encounter only for Hillis to respond 11-9, 11-6, 11-9. Elliott’s match with Gary Simmons saw the same occurrence however this time the Buttsbury youngster was the one fighting back after losing out in two one-sided games (11-2, 11-7) she won the next three 14-12, 11-4, 11-6.  OCA D won 6-4 at Hatfield Peverel C despite a treble from Simon Quelch.  Quelch beat Russell Hall in three, David Newman in four and had quite the tussle with Farooq Ahmed which went to five (11-1, 3-11, 19-17, 9-11, 12-10).  Newman and Ahmed both won twice for OCA D with Newman beating Peter Mortensen 11-9 in the fifth having trailed 2-1 in games.

Standings div 4: 1: Galleywood C 37 points (from 5 matches), 2: Chelmsford G 34 points (6 matches), 3: Highwood A 30 points (6 matches).

Division 5

Two wins from OCA E’s Stuart Wintle could not prevent leaders Danbury M cruise to an 8-2 victory and open up a ten point gap at the top of division 5.  David Smith scored his third treble of the season with Peter Harveson and Graham Naggs both losing to Wintle over five games.  While Suzanne Shaw did not register a win she took both Naggs and Smith to five games before losing in four to Harveson. Chelmsford J moved into third place with a 6-4 win at Buttsbury C on Friday night. In just his third appearance of the season, Dave Parker hit his second treble conceding no games against and losing a miserly 43 points. Elliot Hawthorne continues to impress in his debut season notching his second double in his first three outings while Buttsbury’s Francesca Hart scored her third double of the season. Hart and Hawthorne contested the closest match of the evening which saw Hawthorne take the third and fourth games 12-10, 14-12 before Hart overcame that disappointment to win the decider 11-8.  Despite over a month since her last CDTTL match there was no sign of rust as Nicola Pippen hit a hat-trick for Highwood B in their 5-5 away draw at Galleywood D. Pippen was supported with two wins from Martin Goddard while Steve Peacock won twice for the hosts - the first of which was from 2-0 down against Keith Pallett.  Both of Ron Salton’s first two matches ended in a five game loss however he won the crucial tenth match of the night against Pallett to earn the hosts the draw.  Maldon C achieved their first victory of the season with a 6-4 win at Anglia Ruskin University.  Maldon's James Raymond won three and Kym Eames won twice while ARU's Douglas Bawuah kept up his fine record this season by hitting another double.  Bawuah teamed up with Kelvin Edeh to beat Raymond and Eames 3-1 in the doubles contest.

Standings div 5: 1: Danbury M 48 points (from 6 matches), 2: Chelmsford H 38 points (6 matches), 3: Chelmsford J 36 points (6 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 1A

Another two wins for Amir Chetitah led the Chelmsford Cougars to a 3-2 over the Chelmsford Tigers.  Chetitah now has seven victories this season in division 1A with his Cougars side holding an eight point lead over Buttsbury Bears. William Guilloux beat Arnav Lanka 3-1 having found himself a game down, and then lost by the same scoreline in a tight contest against Chetitah. Aryan Pradeep won both of his matches in fifth game deciders as the Chelmsford Eagles beat the Danbury Dragons 4-1.  Pradeep and Kuzey Musabak beat Oliver Martin and Oliver Ware in four closely contested games while Martin beat Musabak 3-0 to register the only win for the Dragons.

Standings CJL 1A: 1: CTTC Cougars 21 points, 2: Buttsbury Bears 13 points.

Chelmsford Junior League division 1B

Leaders Hutton Hawks earned a home win over second placed Buttsbury Bulldogs despite two wins from Vivaan Babbar for the visitors.  Babbar beat Jago Ware 3-0 but then had to fight back from 2-1 down to beat Charlie Gould.  Sean Kwan won twice as the Chelmsford Jaguars beat clubmates the Leopards by a 4-1 scoreline.  Kwan fought back from 2-1 down to beat George Matthews and overcame Ryan Peiris 3-1.  Peiris scored the only point for the Leopards with a 3-0 victory against George Gregory which saw two games go to deuce.

Standings CJL 1B: 1: Hutton Hawks 23 points, 2: Buttsbury Bulldogs 13 points.

Chelmsford Junior League division 1C

The Chelmsford Rhinos moved equal on points with leaders Hutton Harriers with a 5-0 win over bottom side Buttsbury Bats.  Vivaan Deshpande and Louis Marsan both won their matches 3-0 and teamed up for the same scoreline in the doubles encounter.  Two come-from-behind five game wins by Taylor Cumber helped the Chelmsford Pumas to a 4-1 victory over Chelmsford Lions.  Cumber and Max Locke-Wheaton beat Bernard Chow and Amelie Lucas 3-1 in the doubles while Lucas earned the sole point for the Lions with a 3-1 victory over Locke-Wheaton.  

Standings CJL 1C: 1: Hutton Harriers 16 points (from 4 matches), 2: CTTC Rhinos 16 points (5 matches).

Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League

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Issued on 5 November 2023

Hatfield Peverel A stay top amid tightly contested division two

Week seven saw Hatfield Peverel A victorious again but they hold just a two point lead over Chelmsford C in division two where the top six teams are separated by a mere seven points.

Division 1

Danbury C remain top of division 1 following a 5-5 home draw with Chelmsford B on Thursday evening.  Harrison Hill earned his maiden division 1 treble as Chelmsford B halted the run of five consecutive defeats to start the season.  Hill came back from 2-0 down in his match with Paul Davison to win 12-10 in the fifth and additionally had to overcome a 2-1 deficit against Neil Want.  David Gatheral beat Adi Kamma 3-2 having been 2-1 down but later let slip a 2-1 lead against Stephen Heard.  There were three wins for Sam Lowman as Danbury B edged past Writtle A 6-4.  Lowman beat both Matthew Brown and Dave Moles by a 3-0 scoreline but was involved in a tight contest with Duncan Taylor which he won 11-6 in the fifth game.  Taylor was involved in another five gamer - downing Ian Wall 13-11 in the decider.  Galleywood A bounced back from a heavy defeat last time out with a 5-5 draw at home to Danbury A.  Danbury’s Bruce Kettle scored the sole treble on the night dropping just one game in the process while Galleywood’s Peter Barrett was the only other player to win more than one match.  Barrett's victories against Tim Cramphorn and Dave Richardson went the distance but Kettle was able to put the burners on at 1-1 in their contest to prevent the hat-trick. 

Standings div 1: 1. Danbury C 43 points (from 7 matches), 2: Chelmsford A 36 points (5 matches), 3: OCA A 36 points (5 matches)

Division 2

The matchup between first and third saw leaders Hatfield Peverel A come out on top with a 7-3 victory at challengers OCA B.  Alastair Piper earned his second hat-trick of the season though was well tested in his two five-game wins against Mick Richardson and David Porter.  Julie Johnson and Martin Archie won twice apiece and were prevented a third win by Michael Hayes who beat both opponents over four games.  Writtle B lost ground on the leaders due to a 6-4 loss at home to Chelmsford D.  Chelmsford’s Omar Wasi obtained three wins in his division 2 debut while teammate Dusan Doszkoty hit a double.  Doszkoty was prevented a third win by Writtle’s Matthew Brown who won their encounter in five games while Brown earned an additional win for the hosts against Kelvin Felix.  Chelmsford C took advantage of losses for Writtle B and OCA B to leap into second place with a 9-1 win against Danbury E.  Trebles for Mark Allaway and Harrison Hill as well as a double from Waseem Qureshi moved the home side to within two points of leaders Hatfield Peverel.  Both of Qureshi’s wins were over five games - the tightest being with Dick Wyman which went to 14-12 in the decider, while Danbury’s Tony Forster lost out twice by a 3-2 scoreline.  Maldon A move into third place with a game in hand after a 6-4 win at Danbury D.  Lloyd Bennett-Smith, Colin Napper and Hamish Innes all picked up two wins but were all downed by Sanjay Saptarshi who scored his fifth treble of the season.  Danbury’s Eamonn Hall lost out in tight fifth games against Innes (9-11) and Bennett-Smith (10-12).  Hall and Saptarshi teamed up to beat Napper and Bennett-Smith 13-11 in the fifth game of the doubles.

Standings div 2: 1: Hatfield Peverel A 38 points (from 6 matches), 2: Chelmsford C 36 points (6 matches), 3: Maldon A 32 points (5 matches).

Division 3

OCA C moved into second place and remain unbeaten following an 8-2 home win against Danbury H.   Tom Barker scored his second treble of the season though had to recover from a 2-1 deficit against Peter Lucraft.  Both of Richard Upson’s wins for OCA were come-from-behind affairs having been 2–0 down to Lucraft and 2-1 behind Ken Sheard, while Richard Baxter missed out on his treble in a five game encounter with Lucraft.  Hatfield Peverel B leapfrogged Writtle D with a 7-3 victory in an encounter which saw a fourth treble of the season by Neil Freeman as well as a Gareth Davies double.  Hatfield’s Paul Mulley was involved in the longest matches of the night - missing out in five to both Pete Layzell and Malcolm Henstock.  Three wins by Dave Powell saw Danbury K overcame clubmates Danbury J 6-4 and earn their second win of the season.  Dave Oxley-Goody and Peter Hance were involved in the match of the night which Hance finally secured 11-8 in the fifth, Louis Gunn earned two wins for Danbury J.  Chelmsford F beat clubmates Chelmsford E to earn their first win of the season thanks to three wins from Omar Wasi.  Wasi beat both James Grimston and Andy Swales 3-0 but was taken to five games by Jarek Pietraszuk which he won 11-7 in the decider.  Atharv Gupta earned his first win of the season at the 13th attempt with a hard fought 3-2 win over Swales having rallied from 2-1 down.

Standings div 3: 1: Galleywood B 38 points (from 5 matches), 2: OCA C 33 points (5 matches), 3:  Hatfield Peverel B 32 points (6 matches)

Division 4

Leaders Galleywood C retained top spot with a 10-0 win over Hatfield Peverel E.  Bryn Thomas, Will Goodchild and Nathan Blore were all undefeated with Blore taken to five games by Davina Brazier and pushed hard in three games by Chris Rolinson (12-10, 14-12, 14-12).  Chelmsford G consolidated second place with an 8-2 home win against Hatfield Peverel C.  Grace Liu and Salih Salim hit their first hat-tricks of the season while Cleon Fernandes won twice.  Peverel’s Peter Mortensen beat Fernandes in four games but lost out to Salim 11-9 in the deciding game.  Mortensen and Richard Drozd beat Salim and Liu 3-2 in the doubles contest.  It may have been a late night in Hatfield Peverel as the D side beat their clubmates 6-4 in a contest which saw seven matches go to four games and three to five.  Deb Ginn and Gary Simmons (D team) and Andy Simmonds and Peter Mortensen (C team) all earned two wins.  Roger Patient hit his first treble of the season as Highwood A drew 5-5 with Maldon B.  Patient beat Andrea Alleyne in three, Ella Sach in four and Brian Riedling in five as Highwood move into third place having played more matches than teams immediately below them.  Other contests going to a deciding game were Alleyne beating Keith Fitz-John (11-9) and Melanie Bonnett beating Ella Sach (12-10).

Standings div 4: 1: Galleywood C 37 points (from 5 matches), 2: Chelmsford G 30 points (5 matches), 3: Highwood A 23 points (5 matches).

Division 5

Steve Martin, David Smith and Oliver Martin won two matches apiece as leaders Danbury M beat Galleywood D 6-4.  Galleywood’s Nathan Blore earned two wins but was narrowly beaten 3-2 by Oliver Martin while Martin himself later let a 2-1 lead slip in his losing effort against Ron Salton.  Salton lost out in five against Smith but joined forces with Blore to get the better of Steve Martin and Smith in a see-saw doubles encounter which ended 3-2 to the Galleywood team.  Chelmsford H remain second in the table and closed the gap on the leaders with a 7-3 victory at Hatfield Peverel F.  James Grindlay won three and he was well backed up with doubles from Jacqui Smith and Shenbing Zhu while Jackie Treacy won two matches for the hosts.  Treacy held on to beat Zhu despite the latter fighting back from 2-0 down, and later teamed with Peter Hughes to beat Grindlay and Smith 3-2 in the doubles encounter.  Writtle F move into third place following a 6-4 home win over Buttsbury C.  Rob Tam and Jo Hart both scored two victories for the hosts but Buttsbury’s Richard Pond earned player of the match honours with a hat-trick - dropping just one game in the process.  Thomas Lewis led Tam 2-1 only for Tam to take the final two games 11-4, 11-6, while Francesca Hart beat Paul Aarons in five games.  After opening the season with three losses, Anglia Ruskin University earned their second successive victory with a 6-4 win against Chelmsford J.  Douglas Bawuah continued his fine form this season and another hat-trick took him to 10 wins from 12 matches played. Elliot Hawthorne and David Parker both scored two wins with the former resisting a Kelvin Edeh comeback from 2-0 down to win the decider 15-13.  Parker took Bawuah to a decider but Bawuah was able to close out the match by a 11-6 scoreline.  OCA E won 6-4 on the road at Maldon C despite a second hat-trick of the season for Shirley Carroll.  Carroll beat Suzanne Shaw 3-0, David Bishop 3-1 and Stuart Wintle 3-0 but was not present for the doubles which her teammates Kym Eames and Ross Wheeler lost in four games to Bishop and Wintle.  Wheeler and Shaw were involved in a five game battle which Wheeler came through 11-8 in the all important game.

Standings div 5: 1: Danbury M 40 points (from 5 matches), 2: Chelmsford H 38 points (6 matches), 3: Writtle F 31 points (6 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 1A

Friday night saw leaders the Chelmsford Cougars win 3-2 on the road at second placed Buttsbury Bears despite a double from Buttsbury’s Joshua Freeman.  The Cougars twosome of Neriyan Tharmassas and Amir Chetitah were able to withstand a fightback in the doubles to take the fifth game 11-9. The Chelmsford Tigers beat the Chelmsford Eagles 5-0 with two wins each for Jayden Bandari and William Guilloux.  Guilloux was involved in a close looking 3-1 victory over Nathanael Slade while Bandari found himself 1-1 with Danby Holmes before winning the final two games 11-8, 13-11. 

Standings CJL 1A: 1: CTTC Cougars 18 points, 2: Buttsbury Bears 13 points. All five teams in div 1A have played 4 matches.

Chelmsford Junior League division 1B

The Chelmsford Jaguars earned a tight 3-2 victory over clubmates Chelmsford Panthers despite two victories for Arnav Lanka of the Panthers.  Lanka and Sean Kwan were involved in the closest contest of the afternoon whereby Kwan took a 2-0 lead only for Lanka to win the next three games 11-8, 11-6, 11-5.  The Buttsbury Bulldogs remain in second place after a 3-2 win against the Chelmsford Leopards.  Lewis Woods made it six wins out of six this season as he won both of his singles matches by a 3-0 scoreline.  Neriyan Tharmassas of the Leopards fought back from 2-1 down to beat Vivaan Babbar of the Bulldogs in the closest individual match of the contest, while the doubles contest also went to five games - Damon Chow and Tharmassas winning 11-8 in the fifth game.

Standings CJL 1B: 1: Hutton Hawks 20 points, 2: Buttsbury Bulldogs 11 points.  All five teams in div 1B have played 4 matches.

Chelmsford Junior League division 1C

Hutton Harriers consolidated top position in division 1C with a 4-1 win at Chelmsford Pumas.  Martis Heyes remains unbeaten this season after another two 3-0 wins with Archie Giles adding a point with a win over Archie Spurrier.  Heyes and Giles teamed up to beat Spurrier and Hugo Reed by an aesthetically pleasing 12-10, 12-10, 12-10 as Reed did likewise in earning the Puma’s sole point - a 13-11, 13-11, 13-11 win over Giles.  Shay Coughlan’s double wasn’t enough to prevent the Buttsbury Bats slipping to a 3-2 loss to the Chelmsford Lions.  Coughlan beat Amelie Lucas 3-1 and Bernard Chow 3-0 while Lucas and Chow won the crucial doubles match 11-7 in the deciding game.

Standings CJL 1C: 1: Hutton Harriers 16 points, 2: CTTC Rhinos 11 points.  All five teams in div 1C have played 4 matches.

Jeremy Hill, Press Officer, Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League