There was an up and down atmosphere in the first round of matches in the Braintree Table Tennis League handicap cup, with most clubs winning and losing in almost equal measure.
The Black Notley club won three draws and lost four, Rayne had one win and four defeats, Netts had two ahead and two behind, while Yeldham won one and lost one.
The exceptions were Finchingfield and Sudbury, both of which took two wins out of two.
Finchingfield A was the only team not to drop a set. They declared 7-0 against Rayne G, winning all sets except the first two in consecutive games.
It was a much more exciting affair for their B team, who had a fierce battle with Notley E, their rivals for the division three title, before a win in the final set gave them a 5-4 win.
For once, Ray Bradford was not overshadowed by his son Lucien, winning his three sets, compared to two for Lucien. Ray took advantage of his three-point start against Ken Wilding for an apparently comfortable 16-21, 21-8, 21-11 victory, while Lucien was unable to make up for the six points he conceded.
Sudbury Drifters eased through with an 8-1 win over Notley C. Terry Hunneybel and Geoff Barrett were unbeaten, but Matt Brooks (+3) became the first person this season to beat Graham Turner.
David Fiddeman, on the other hand, took his league form to the cup and remained unbeaten in Sudbury Strollers’ 6-3 win over Notley D.
The fourth Notley team to leave was the A team, but they had the consolation of losing to their own H team. It was a good evening for Ann Peart, one of the competition’s unsung players, who won twice for the H team and only bowed out at 24-22 in the third game of her other set.
BNCA H will be joined in the next round by the club’s G and F teams, who beat Rayne F 5-4 and Rayne G 5-0 respectively. Barbara Turner, another player who rarely makes headlines, was undefeated for the G team.
The Yeldham club had two matches against Rayne teams. The A team lost 5-4 to Rayne E, but the B team ensured the club was represented in the next round with a 5-2 win over Rayne C. Ethan Collins was unbeaten for Rayne E while Richard Taylor won two out of two for Yeldham B.
The four Netts teams faced off, C defeated D 8-1 and F defeated E 6-3.
Chris Krelle and David Montgomery were undefeated for the C-team and James Howard also for the T-team.
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