Finchingfield B’s apparent walk to the Division Three Braintree Table Tennis League title received an unexpected shock last week when they were held to a draw by Black Notley H.
After seven consecutive wins since the start of the season, the leaders found their hosts a tough nut to crack.
Seventeen-year-old Lucien Nolan-Bradford maintained his unbeaten record – now 18 out of 18 – but was given a tough test by Wayne Wilson, who only bowed out at 12-10 in the fifth game.
Two wins for Wilson and one each for Harry Wilson and Peter Foster, plus a doubles win for the Wilsons gave Notley a share of the points.
Things were also stirring behind the leaders, where the teams in second and third place faced each other.
Notley E and Rayne F had both won six out of seven and it was the former who came out on top 7-3 to level the two teams.
Peter Davenport and Dave Parker were undefeated, but Davenport had to come back from two games down by one against Dave Whiting and Parker from 2-0 down against Conrad Gomes.
At the other end of the table, the bottom two played against each other, with Sudbury Drifters taking their first win of the season. An undefeated Ian Whipps led them to a 6-4 victory over Netts E.
Rayne G had a 10-0 win over Yeldham Whitlocks B, while the young warriors of Netts F had a 7-3 win over Notley G. Frank Chapman, 18, James Howard, 17 and Annabel Dix, 12, had two wins each.
Ben Southgate was responsible for Notley’s three wins, but he was stretched to four games by Dix and five by Chapman and Howard, only winning 17-15 against Howard.
In division two, Netts and Notley played in two D v C matches and in both cases the C team came through 6-4.
Charles Calisin was undefeated for Netts C against Notley D, while Jamie Brooks got his three singles in Notley C’s win over Netts D.
The other match in the division was a draw between Yeldham A and Rayne D. Lorraine Burgess made a welcome return for Yeldham after a long injury lay-off, but Dean Andrews’ three singles saw Rayne share the points..
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