Leaders Thorpe Bay A were in ruthless mood this week as they only dropped three legs in the whole evening to an Irons A side packed with experience. John Poysden, Joe Kennedy and man of the match Paul Sayer eased to a 9-0 win to cement their place in top spot.

At 2-2 Hockley A may have thought they were in with a chance of a shock win over title challengers Thorpe Bay A, but hat tricks from Paul Sayer and John Poysden saw them run away with the next five games to give them a 7-2 win. Start of the run was John's five set win over Ian Wall who fought back from two sets down before losing the decider 11-8.

It was the week and the result we were all looking out for, the clash of the two title contenders as Thorpe Bay Ahosted Rawreth A and it was the home side that came out on top with a quite astonishing 8-1 victory. Rawreth A might not have had their top two performers in Matt Spero and Wanda Syderenko in their ranks on the night, but it was a strong line-up of Yas and Zayd Mauthoor and Charles Sweeney.

Rawreth A continued their relentless assault on the Premier Division title this season with an impressive 8-1 win over an injury ravaged Rayleigh Mill squad, who were only able to turn out two players. Such is the strength in depth of the Rawreth A squad that they were able to field the Essex No. 1 Vets in the Men’s and Ladies in the shape of Matt Spero and Wanda Litynska-Sydorenko and with a 3rd player of Zayd Mauthoor, the Millers didn’t have much hope.

Sat 11th November, SDTTL held a Quiz Night at the Hullbridge Community Centre, Pooles Lane, Hullbridge. This was our League’s first function at the Hullbridge Community Centre and it was also our 1st big get together since the start of the Covid Pandemic

A local Rawreth derby to start week 6, with Rawreth B overcoming Rawreth C 7-2. Peter Barrett was the only man on the evening with three wins, coming at the expense of Babul McLeod, Eric Green and Tim Cramphorn. Barrett’s team mates Keith Adams and Harry Keys both won two, being denied their hattricks by an in-form McLeod

The top two in the Premier division of the Southend & District Table Tennis League both had convincing wins this week, but both did drop the odd point or two along the way. First up was Thorpe Bay A who beat Rawreth C 7-2. Skipper John Poysden was undefeated against Eric Green, Bruce Kettle and Babul Mcleod, but Mark Stones and Paul Whatton dropped a game each against Kettle and McLeod respectively.

A very straight forward win for our early season pacesetters as Rawreth A, helped by their opponents only fielding two players, eased to a 9-0 victory over Rawreth C. Yasir and Zyad Mauthoor and Kevin Read were unbeaten on the night with Tim Cramphorn coming the closest to an upset as he took Read all the way to a 5thset.

Hockley A followed that impressive display with a comprehensive win this week against Rawreth C with an 8-1 victory. 3 wins again for Andy Cunningham, as there was for teammate Ian Wall. Matt Stringer won two against Eric Green and Tim Cramphorn but fell to Babul McLeod in the second game of the evening for the Rawreth's Consolation win.

Top billing this week must go to the Rawreth A 6-3 win over Irons A for a number of reasons. Some great players on show and some really close games with the player of the match award going to Wanda Syderenko with three wins on her Rawreth debut. Wanda secured wins against Stuart Gibbs, Reece Seddon and a 11-9 in the 5th win over the returning Kevin Caldon (Great to see you back in league action – Kev). Syderenko was supported by Matt Spero with two wins and Kevin Read with a single victory.

One of our favourites for the title this season have really hit the ground running. I talk, of course about Rawreth A who with the addition of Liam Squirrell will surely be there or there abouts come the end of the season. Squirrell teamed up with the Mauthoor brothers Yasir and Zayd to record a 9-0 victory over their Rawreth B Team. The B Team didn’t not help their cause by only fielding two players, but Paul Brown and Harry Keys were unable to trouble the top side at Rawreth.

It is with great sadness that I’m letting Members know about the recent death, in early May, of long time Southend Member, Richard (Dick) Mann. Kath, Dick’s wife, phoned Invicta Club Secretary, and former teammate of Dick, David Barnes, to tell him the sad news. Dick having had complications following a hip replacement. Our thoughts are with Kath, her family and their friends.

Four games to bring you from week 11 of the Southend Premier Division. We have joint leaders at the top of the table so we will start with their (Thorpe Bay A and Rawreth A) results. Both recorded good wins, Rawreth A recording a 9-0 win over Thorpe Bay B with Kevin Read, Zayd Mauthoor and Yasir Mauthoor going unbeaten. The closest Thorpe Bay B got to a win was when both Kieran Skeggs and Richard Stubbington pushed Zayd to a fifth end.

This week was just one match better than the previous week in that 2 matches were played. Hockley A turned in an excellent performance to beat current champions Thorpe Bay 7-2. Andy Cunningham & Ian Wall both taking their n3 matches and Matt Stringer picking up the other point. For Thorpe Bay Paul Sayer and Keith Willett toom a game each with Gurjit Bhambra having a rare blank evening.

There was just 1 match played in the Premier Division this week. This saw Rayleigh Mill take on a strong Rawreth A. To make matters worse, the Millers could only muster 2 players, Captain Rob Harris, and ever reliable Colin Chatfield. Rawreth turned out a very strong side of Yasir & Zayd Mauthoor and evergreen George Reeves. Colin got the better of George and that’s where it ended with Rawreth running out 8-1 winners

This week saw just 3 matches played. Rawreth B had a close encounter with Brand Identity A, just edging it at 5-4. For the home side Captain Eric Green was unbeaten throughout, well supported by Babul McLeod with a brace. Tim Cramphorn did not have a good night not adding to his Teams score, while Simon Jacob did well to beat Babul and Tim for his brace, with David Jacob & Richard Jackman gaining a point each.

The youngsters of Rawreth D accredited themselves well when they took the long trip to Stanford Le Hope A. Stanford’s Dave Hancox was unbeaten to take the POM award, whilst teammates Chris Crooks and Saad Abdullah won two each to take the match 7 – 2. However, Charlie Kauders Boothby and George Davis should be complimented on taking the scalps of Chris and Saad respectively.

Mixed fortunes for Rayleigh Mill as they recorded a good 5-4 win over Irons A but only after suffering an 8-1 defeat against Hockley A. In the victory over Irons A it was Colin Chatfield who took the man of the match award for his three wins and he was backed up by a win a piece by Rob Harris and Steve Maltby.

A shortage of players for Hadleigh Forum C saw them draft in B team player Mick Tappenden and Tony Mace from the D team for the visit of Mapledene. Mick was able to contribute two victories. Regular C team player Satwant Gill got one in a marathon five-setter against Charles Yeung that he edged 11 – 9 in the fifth. However, Mapledene cruised to a 6 – 3 win. Lin Roff’s maximum gave her the POM award, whilst Andy Seaman added two more and Charles one,

Our first game saw a comprehensive win for Hockley A, as they continue their impressive start to the season, 7-2 over Hadleigh Forum A. Andy Cunningham with his usual 3 wins was complemented by another three from Matt Stringer and one from skipper Tim Pang. Good wins for Ylber Makolli and Hamish Innes over Pang for the Forum.

Another three games to report on from week 3 of the Southend Premier Division. Thorpe Bay A were in the sort of form which shows that they will certainly be there near the top if not at the top of the table come the end of the season with a 7-2 win over Brand Identity A. Paul Sayer took the player of the match award with three wins over Simon Jacob, Barrie Delf and Richard Jackman, Jackman responding with two good wins for Brand Identity over John Poysden and Mark Stones.

The other two fixtures finished 7-2 and the winners of the first match I’ll mention were Rayleigh Mill. The Millers overcame Hadleigh Forum with Duncan Taylor and Colin Chatfield in good form winning three each. The wins for Forum came when Dave Bassett and Berti Makolli took the honours against Steve Maltby.

Two Premier Division results to bring you from Week 1 of the 2ndPart of the 2021/22 Southend Table Tennis League season.
Firstly, a tight affair between Hadleigh Forum A and Thorpe Bay B. Thorpe Bay B ran out 5-4 winners in the main due to a hattrick from Kieran Skeggs recording wins over Dave Bassett, Hamish Innes and Berti Makoli: ably supported by Gurj Bhambra with two wins. In reply, the Forum trio all beat Amber Sturgeon and Bassett recorded a good win over Bhambra.

There were only 2 Results submitted this week. Hockley A beat Rawreth B 6-3 with Matt Stringer taking all 3, Dan Patynski 2 and Tim Pang 1. For the losers Eric Green beat Tim and Dan to win 2 matches and Bruce kettle beat Tim.

It wasn’t just the Premier League in football where Transfer deadline day had an impact this week. While Dele Alli was swapping North London for Merseyside there were some interesting transfers being undertaken in the Southend & District Table Tennis Premier Division. While we are coming out of the pandemic the league has allowed teams to be more flexible in who they field so we can get full matches and everyone back playing.

Three games to report on from week 13 in the Premier Division of the Southend & District Table Tennis League. Irons A built on their win last week to beat Hullbridge B 6-3. Dave Bowles, John Monk and Richard Brown all with two wins each over Berti Makolli and Kim Shead with Chris Ballard replying with three wins for the Hullbridge side. Game of the night surely had to be Makolli v Monk as it went to 11-13 in the 5th end after already having two deuce games along the way.

It was a second loss in 2 weeks for our defending champions Thorpe Bay A this week as they went down by the barest of margins 5-4 to Hockley A. Andy Cunningham again the star of the show for Hockley with three wins over Mark Stones, Joe Kennedy and Kieran Skeggs. Matt Stringer and Tim Pang chipped in with good wins against Stones and Skeggs respectively to take the win.

At time of writing, we have three results from the Premier division to report back on from week 11. The closest of the matches was the Irons derby as Irons B just pipped their Irons A side in a 5-4 victory. A few notable wins within that match as we saw, for Irons A, good wins for Dave Bowles over Norbert Fullerton and Richard Brown over Keith Adams and for the B team a great win for their captain Paul ‘Risky’ Brown as he defeated Stuart Gibbs.

Four games in the Premier Division in week 8 of the 21/22 season. We’ll start with two extremely close battles that both ended 5-4 with different outcomes for the two Irons sides. Irons A went down 5-4 to Hockley A and this was down to a man of match performance for Andy Cunningham. Andy has been a very strong player in the past, playing for Kent but now playing over the water here in Essex.

It is with sadness that I have to report the passing of Ray Eley on 8th January 2022 at the age of 90.
Ray was one of the founding members of Hadleigh Forum TTC in 1948, along with Roy Patten and Trevor Lidstone.

With the new surge of Covid, Vacancies and Hall non availability, the Premier Division had just 1 match to Report on in Week 7. This saw the Irons B gain a 9-0 victory over Hockley A. Irons’ Captain, Paul Brown, had the closest matches, beating both Dan Patynski and Dave Chenery in 5 sets and Dave Colwill in 4. Great to see Andy Halling playing again, winning his 3 and only dropping 1 set to Dan Patynski. Finally, Norbert Fullerton proved far too strong winning his 3 matches in straight sets.