Another impressive victory this week for Cold Norton B consolidates their grip on the championship in the top division of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League.
Things have changed since the recent wedding of Sam Lowman of Cold Norton B (pictured above) – he’s more centred, more zen and more devastatingly accurate on the ping-pong table.
In the last two rounds of the competition he has won all six of his matches, dropping just one set, and this week he was in electrifying form, taking a nine-dart treble without a hint of trouble from his Woodham opponents, who simply had no answer to the power and accuracy of the Lowman phenomenon.
Team Supremo Dan Anderson got in on the treble action but had a tougher time, coming from 0-2 down against Eamonn Hall in his opening match and then holding his nerve to thwart a Sanjay Saptarshi comeback to win it in four sets.
Saptarshi had briefly rattled the Cold Norton steam train when he played the opening match against Eric Green, but that was only a stumbling block as the coals were soon lit and the results flew in.
Fambridge looked the most likely challenger to Cold Norton, but they stumbled again this week, losing 3-7 to an unexpectedly very strong Cold Norton A trio of Duncan Taylor and Kevin Read.
Read scored an impressive hat-trick and Taylor took two wins, losing in straight sets to John Poysden, with the erratic Matt Stringer taking a point against the all-or-nothing Bruce Kettle.
To complete the winning streak for the Cold Norton Club, the C team covered the short distance to Stow Maries A and came away with an 8-2 scoreline in their favor. Kim Shead was the star player and outwitted all his opponents, with the able support of Martin Archie and Tim Cramphorn, both of whom took a few points. Stow’s Gary Brignall took the only points for the home side.
In Division 2, Maldon A ended the growing sense of optimism in the Woodham C camp this week with a soul-destroying 8-2 victory. Maldon stalwarts Hamish Innes and Colin Napper both hit hat-tricks, while newly promoted Ross Kirby recorded two wins, narrowly losing to Tim Pulham in five sets. Maldon won all three other five-setters.
Top dogs Mapledene C continued their impressive form with the same 8-2 scoreline as nearest rivals Maldon A to maintain their slim lead – for now. Andy Seaman came out on top with three good wins, with teammates Pat White and Dennis Squirrell winning two each – all against a very good Norton trio where Tony Forster suffered a nasty self-inflicted facial injury and the usually dominant Neil Want went home empty-handed. Not a great night for the away team.
However, the next day Want represented the E team and scored a hat-trick. The Cold Norton E team recorded a 7-3 win over Stow Maries B, with both Want and Forster coming away with trebles – what a difference a day makes.
The remaining mid-table matches saw Marty Englander back to his best, leading the Maldon C team to a 6-4 turnover of Blackwater A, and it was teamwork for Blackwater B in their 6-4 win over Maldon B as all three players scored singles points and Louis Gunn and Merv Perriman combined for the crucial doubles win. Steve Aspland, so often the leading points scorer for his Maldon team, has finally hit full form with a hat-trick in this and many more now predicted.
Blackwater C is currently sailing and has the only 100% record left in the third division with four victories on the jump. This week they rudely threw their own D-team under the Blackwater bus with a crushing 9-1 defeat.
It was left to Jacqui Treacy to stop the whitewash with a final victory over Andrea Alleyne in the only five-setter of the entire match. Relatively easy hat-tricks for Gary Smith and Neil Thompson of the C team.
Woodham D had their best performance of the season to date with an emphatic 9-1 win over Blackwater F, with Jean Chasmer and Reece Arundell remaining unbeaten all evening, while Peter Hughes picked up the only point for Blackwater against Diane King.
Dave Bateman was the class act for the St Lawrence Baysiders this week with an unbeaten trio of wins as he led his team to a 6-4 victory over Maldon E. In the final match, the two undefeated protagonists of the evening went to the table: Bateman versus John Leavett. While everyone else was eager to get home and happy with the draw, Bateman had other ideas and took that first leg to 20-18, that was enough for Leavett and he capitulated and let everyone get home before midnight!
Maldon D came out on top 7-3 against Blackwater E on Friday evening – hat-tricks for both Shirley Carroll and James Raymond. Third player Luca Riedling was unlucky not to register in his match with Phil West, where he had several chances to close out the match in the fourth and fifth sets, but sometimes that’s just how it goes – as the final legs went 15-17 and then 11-13 to West.
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