Drama in Division 3 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League this week as runaway leaders Blackwater C were put under heavy pressure in their match against Maldon E – with Maldon’s Tim Huxtable doing the unthinkable and taking a point from the competition’s strongest player.
Cold Norton B and Fambridge continued their dominance of the top division this week with powerful performances to extend their lead over the chasing pack.
Fambridge started the week with a 9-1 win over an unknown Cold Norton A trio. Hat-tricks for Keith Adams and the very in-form Mark Stones, with Cold Norton’s only point coming from Charles Sweeny’s four-set victory over the returning John Poysden. In the only ‘drawn’ match of the evening, Arron Chandler pushed Adams to a decisive fifth and final set.
Cold Norton B traveled to Woodham and came away with the spoils in an impressive 8-2 win over Woodham B. Both Sam Lowman and Ian Wall remained unbeaten all night in singles and doubles, with rarely seen team captain Dan Anderson taking the final point to maintain a healthy lead over Fambridge.
In the final Division 1 match, Cold Norton C continued their fine season with a comfortable 7-3 turnover of Stow Maries A. Arron Chandler equaled his hat-trick from earlier in the week, but this time it was all in the W column! Talisman Chandler was well supported by wingmen Kim Shead and Martin Archie who both won two singles.
For Stow, Gary Brignall took a point from Archie, and Ken Sheard scored a final win over Shead in the final game of the evening. Brignall and Sheard then combined for a hard-fought and surprising doubles point over Chandler and Shead.
The battle for supremacy is in full swing Division 2 – with four teams competing for the top two places. Maldon A continues to lead the pack, but they are hotly pursued by a pack of Blackwater A, Mapledene C and Woodham C.
Woodham C could have closed the gap when they faced leaders Maldon A last week – but unfortunately they fell short and might have ruled themselves out of the battle for top spot with a momentum-sapping 8-2 defeat. Maldon’s defending king Colin Napper did the most damage as he won all four of his matches – although he was taken all the way to a dramatic fifth set against chairman Dadswell. Hamish Innes and pimple purveyor Denis Crapnell both recorded a pair of wins for Maldon, with their only defeat coming against the exuberant play of Scott Perry.
Blackwater A continued their push for promotion with a sweet and dandy win over Maldon C, as both Denis Balic and Neil Freeman hit the treble – no doubt in slightly different ways and times.
Maldon B and Blackwater B played out a 5-5 stalemate with octogenarian Mervyn Perriman showing the fitness of a man half his age as he recorded another hat-trick of hard-fought wins – this week more than 14 of a maximum 15 possible sets. That wasn’t enough for ‘our Merv’ as he also linked up with Louis Gunn for an unexpected but very welcome doubles victory over the division’s best doubles, Colin Barrell & Steve Aspland. Aspland & Barrell made amends by winning their remaining singles matches to keep the match even.
In the final divisional match of the week, Cold Norton E’s impressive form continued with a respectable 6-4 turnover of Stow Maries B. In singles it was a tough but rewarding night for Neil Want as he recorded a treble of wins, but he worked hard for it as he needed four sets against Peter Hance, and all five against both Nicky Reece-Ford and Adi Kamma. Dick Wyman also had some long battles as he needed five sets to win against both Reece-Ford and Hance.
With Want huffing and puffing from his exertions he was excluded from selection for the doubles, and just as well this went beyond deuce in the fifth set – luckily for Cold Norton E Want’s replacement was the fully fit and energetic teenage prodigy Oscar Wyman and he carried his grandpa to a 13-11 win in the final set that ultimately sealed the narrow win for Cold Norton.
Well, it took 36 games, but in the end one brave soul stood up to the mighty Blackwater C team, and in particular their undefeated captain Gary Smith, who is still in contention for the Roy Davis Cup and has achieved the highest winning percentage of the regulars in the competition. Division 3.
Bow down to Tim Huxtable and his unique ‘away-from-table’ try-and-get-past-me style. Huxtable was too smart and patient for all three Blackwater Galacticos that night, leaving the room with a bounce in his step and a pocket full of bragging rights.
Unfortunately, Huxtable’s magic wasn’t enough to secure a victory as Smith and Peter Davenport both won their other singles matches for Blackwater, and with Andrea Alleyne beating Kym Eames and teaming Davenport for the doubles, the league leaders limped to a narrow 6–4 win that maintained their unbeaten status. Their status as champions-elect remains firmly intact.
Blackwater D have fallen slightly back into second place after an 8-2 reversal of nearest rival Maldon D – that man Huxtable was at it again with another hat-trick, but this time his teammates were there to support his efforts. James Raymond also hit a player-of-the-match treble, including a remarkable five-setter against the very tough Roger Tiffin.
Woodham D were delighted to have Jean Chasmer back in the squad and they did not disappoint with an unbeaten run of four nights, matched by teammate Simon Thomas as they defeated Blackwater E 8-2. Diane King rounded out the points for Woodham with a win over Kath Little.
The bottom two sides went at it this week and Blackwater F’s tight 6-4 win over St Lawrence lifted them off the bottom at the expense of the St Lawrence Baysiders. Kudos to Blackwater’s Jason Bush as his hat-trick of singles wins made the difference that night, with support from David McHattie with two wins and David Gardner with a single point, but enough to secure victory in Blackwater.
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