John Clark reports - A superb treble from the in-form Paul Paulding wasn't enough to prevent Boxley going down to a 6 - 4 defeat at the hands of Chatham Gannet at The Howard. The evening started with a surprisingly straightforward victory for John Clark against Steve Neilson, perhaps a combination of the Gannet skipper's much improved form since recovering from a knee injury and Steve being a little out of sorts. Zhong Jiao Tan then doubled the home side's advantage, defeating Dick Ellis in four sets before the impressive Paul Paulding beat Danyal Asghar to get the visitors on the board, in a typically entertaining top-spin attacking encounter between the two. Tan then beat Steve in five, before Paul returned to the table to play John who managed to get himself 2 - 1 ahead before his opponent found another gear, winning the fifth in style 11 - 0 with some faultless play. Danyal beat Dick to make the match score 4 - 2 but Paul pulled another point back against Tan, winning in four. A long game then ensued between Danyal and Steve, the latter battling hard despite being below his best until he finally succumbed 13 - 11 in the final set. John defeated Dick in three to make the score 6 - 3, with the evening rounded off by Dick and Paul beating John and Tan in the doubles to earn Boxley a deserved fourth point

Written by: Michael Sheppard