The top teams in Divisions 2 and 3 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League showed who’s boss this year with victories over their nearest and not-so-dearest rivals in two top-of-the-table battles this week.
Fambridge did everything they could this week to move closer to Division 1 League leaders Cold Norton B and keep the battle for supremacy fair. Fambridge overshadowed Stow Maries A 10-0 to record their first whitewash of the season. An undefeated evening of sports for the Fambridge trio Bruce Kettle, John Poysden and Mark Stones.
Cold Norton B also recorded a high-scoring victory as they destroyed their own C team with a much tougher energy-sapping 8-2 win, including three individual matches that went all the way to a deciding leg. Cold Norton’s Dave Richardson had just beaten the tricky Kim Shead in the fifth set early in proceedings, so was confident going into the final match of the evening against the very tricky Martin Archie. Archie gave him a scare by taking an early 2-0 lead before Richardson fought back to level the match. The final and decisive stage was rocky before Archie bagged the final few points for his team’s only singles win of the evening.
The most surprising result of the evening, however, was a shockingly easy doubles victory for Cold Norton C duo Shead and Tim Cramphorn, who won in straight sets against top pair Eric Green and Ian Wall. Green and Wall needn’t be too discouraged, though, as they both recorded another hat-trick in singles to maintain their high winning percentages for the season.
Daniel Young and Harry Sawford both remained unbeaten as Woodham A defeated Cold Norton A 8-2. The third Woodham player, Chris Hancox, was unlucky not to record more than his victory over Steve Sawyer, as he lost in five to both Rob Harris and Steve Maltby.
Blackwater A missed a chance to come top this week when the two top teams met in the Bragging Rights Battle of Division 2. The Blackwater trio welcomed unbeaten league leaders Maldon A to the metropolis and to their West Maldon hideaway.
Maldon took the lead early with tight straight set wins for Colin Napper and Lloyd Bennett-Smith, but once the nerves were calmed the rudderless Blackwater side fought back with wins for Denis Balic and Neil Freeman. Maldon took the next two games and led 4-2 going into the lucky-dip doubles.
The doubles journey was similar to some of the rollercoasters you’ve seen along the Maldon Promenade over the years, with neither team able to capitalize on a slim lead and so a fifth and deciding set was required. Experienced duo Napper and Bennett-Smith got through the 11-6 to ensure at least some of the spoils were secured.
Just as Freeman took the next match against Dawn Baldry to close the gap, before trusted Maldon, the stalwart Napper, declared his side the winners with a four-set win over the stoic Denis Balic.
So with the match won, captain Bennett-Smith perhaps relaxed a little too much against young whipper-snapper Noah Sage as he found himself in an almighty five-set battle with three of the legs going well beyond deuce. So after a long and exciting evening, these two were still tied at 12-12 in the deciding set – didn’t they want to be home before midnight? In the end, Sage’s youth was too much and the final point went to Blackwater for a 4-6 defeat but pride intact.
Maldon C recorded the same margin of victory over Stow Maries B with hat-tricks for the in-form Marty Englander and the vibrant Dawn Baldry. Stow’s Dave Marsh had an enjoyable evening playing 19 of a maximum 20 Ends – with one win in the singles and a great doubles win with Peter Hance winning 12-10 in the fifth.
Neil Want was the star of the match between Woodham C and Cold Norton D with a troubled hat-trick. A straight sets victory over Allan Steel, but with every leg going beyond deuce and then an almighty, chaotic battle with the tricky southpaw Pete Harverson, only secured in the fifth at 11-9. Despite Want’s brilliance, his team lost again, leaving Cold Norton D as the only team in the competition without a win this season. The score was 6-4 to Woodham, with Steel and Harverson each taking two points.
Cold Norton E had that ‘Squelchy’ feeling this week after meeting the growing prowess of Blackater B’s rarely seen, but highly effective, secret weapon, Simon Quelch. This week Quelch was in tireless form as he dispatched all his singles opponents for a well-deserved star player badge. The most difficult match was a tasty five-setter with Dick Wyman, in which The Quelchmeister recovered from 0-2 to exhaust his opponent and win 11-9 in the decider. Wyman and Tony Forster were in good form on the night, recording two wins each as part of the overall drawn encounter.
In Division 3, Second-placed Blackwater D had a chance to break Blackwater C’s growing lead. Well, that didn’t go to plan as the D team were royally defeated by the excellent C team in a 9-1 victory, with David Benstead securing a win for the D’ers to avoid the whitewash blushes.
There were very few matches that were easy, so at least there was some fight and spirit on display. Hat-tricks to Peter Davenport and of course to the division’s best player – still Mr 100% – Gary Smith.
Maldon D recorded a decent 7-3 win over Blackwater E with a treble for James Raymond, 2 wins for Shirley Carroll and his first win at Burnham for David Park.
Despite only having two eligible players, Woodham D still achieved a 6-4 victory over Blackwater F. A hat-trick for the elegant Chris Crooks and two very good wins for Diane King.
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