The leapfrogging at the bottom of the second division of the Braintree Table Tennis League continues apace.
In the final series of matches, one team jumped from eighth to fourth place by beating the team one place above them, one team jumped from bottom to fifth place with a win against the team four points ahead and another team suffered a completely unexpected 10-0 defeat and dropped from fourth to eighth place.
Finchingfield A, who led for some time after losing their first five matches, are now fourth after a win over Black Notley D. An unbeaten Peter Clark was the man in form.
Yeldham Whitlocks A made sure their stay at the bottom didn’t last long by beating Rayne E 7-3. Roy Hooper and Doug Sanders were undefeated in singles and won the doubles together.
The big losers were Notley C, who inexplicably failed to score against Rayne D, who they had beaten 9-1 earlier in the season, with only one personnel change to each side. Lewis Armstrong-Kirton and Peter Rickwood both defeated Jamie Brooks and Lawrence Grantham, who they had lost the first time out.
Netts D is now at the bottom after an 8-2 defeat against leader Rayne C.
In division one, Netts A extended their lead at the top with a 9-1 win over their own B team, while second-placed Sudbury Nomads defeated Notley A 7-3.
Notley’s Sam Burrows had his best night of the season in the final match, winning all three.
There was also a first treble of the season for Steve Pennell in Rayne A’s 6-4 win over Notley B.
After suffering their first defeat a week earlier, division three title hopefuls Finchingfield B improved their chances with a 10-0 win over Notley F, while leaders Notley E dropped three points to their own G team.
Finchingfield’s victory was notable for its unusual doubles line-up as father and son, Ray Bradford and Lucien Nolan-Bradford, faced father and son Victor and Jonathan Acharya.
Their defeat came at the hands of Netts F, when they could only field two players. Stewart Grant returned after a long injury lay-off, and Trevor Laird won two for Finchingfield, while James Howard and Tom Verrier did the same for Netts F, who won the match 6–4.
Netts F were held by Sudbury Drifters in their next tie, while Rayne F, their rivals for third place, defeated Yeldham B 8-2. Dave Whiting remained undefeated
It was a good night for Chris High, who remained undefeated in Rayne G’s 6-4 win over Notley H.
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