Fambridge captain John Poysden was unsure whether to curse or hug Mapledene’s Liam Squirrell this week.
Squirrell’s unbeaten run of wins first held Fambridge to a frustrating draw and thwarted their increasing chances of ‘stealing’ the Division 1 title from Cold Norton B, but he then acted as a talisman as Mapledene A inflicted a second defeat on leaders Cold Norton B, putting Fambridge firmly back in contention.
It’s all playable for now in the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League.
Division 1 leaders Cold Norton B started the period well with a decent win over Cold Norton A. The final score of 7-3 was perhaps predictable given the line-up, but there were a few upsets as Sam Lowman completed his hat-trick for the B team with a chaotic five-set victory over Duncan Taylor, and the A team’s Steve Maltby came out on top in another five-setter against Dave Richardson.
This result looked much better for Cold Norton B when Fambridge fell to Mapledene A later in the week, with top player Liam Squirrell (pictured above) notching a nine-dart hat-trick against the Fambridge trio. Squirrell teamed up with Dan Patynski for the doubles, but the real shock was Steve Muth eliminating John Poysden over five hard-fought sets to set up the draw. For Fambridge, Mark Stones and Keith Adams both recorded victories over Muth and Patynski.
Mapledene A were by far the busiest team during the period with a further two matches. The first was the deciding battle with leader Cold Norton B, which saw some of the potential Singles Championship finalists up close and personal.
George Reeves came from behind to beat Eric Green in the opening match to put Mapledene on their way. Mapledene’s Liam Squirrell continued his dominance as he avenged his only defeat of the year with a four-set win over Sam Lowman to secure his hat-trick. Kieran Skeggs was in excellent form with back-to-back wins over Eric Green and Lowman, with his only loss coming to Ian Wall.
This brings the difference to less than 10 points, with Fambridge having a game in hand – with the two key players meeting in early March in what is shaping up to be a winner-takes-all affair.
Elsewhere in the Division, Mapledene B defeated Cold Norton C as Kieran Skeggs and Colin Chatfield combined for all the points in the 6-4 win, with Chatfield dropping just a single against Arron Chandler.
Mapledene A came out on top in the Mapledene Showdown as they defeated their own B team 6-4. Once again it was the tireless Liam Squirrell who made the difference as he recorded another trio of straight-sets wins. This time, Squirrell was exempt from doubles duty, but his teammates made him proud when Steve Muth and Dan Patynski won a five-setter against Glenn Johnson and Simon Jacob, despite losing all four singles matches to the B team.
The final match saw the bottom two sides face up in the wooden spoon cup, with Woodham B recording a much-needed 6-4 win. The star of the evening was the much-improved Peter Harverson, who scored his first hat-trick at the top level, including an intense five-set battle with Richard Storey. Harverson was well supported as Eamonn Hall won two and Graham Briggs contributed with a win over Ken Sheard.
Into the battle for supremacy Division 2 it now looks like a two-way battle as Blackwater A continues to pile on the pressure with impressive results. This week they destroyed their own B team in a 9-1 victory. For the B team, it was Merv Perriman who stopped the whitewash rot with a last gasp at the end of the evening with a four-set victory over Noah Sage. For the A team, Denis Balic and Neil Freeman both scored hat-tricks to keep the Blackwaterians within striking distance of leaders Maldon A.
Cold Norton D were no match for leaders Maldon A as they succumbed to an 8-2 defeat with only Neil Want providing a strong defense. Want scored his team’s two points and was unlucky to lose in the final match in the five-set battle to the unbeaten against Maldon’s Lloyd Bennett-Smith. So Bennett-Smith completed his treble, while wingmen Colin Napper and Hamish Innes both picked up a pair of wins.
Stow Maries B came away with an unexpected 8-2 win over Maldon B. Hat-tricks for both Nicky Reece-Ford and Adi Kamma provided the basis for the win, with Peter Hance contributing with two wins of his own.
Blackwater C recorded another 10-0 whitewash win, putting them just one match away from sealing the Division 3 crown. That’s six whitewashes now – it’s been a long time since we had such a dominant team in any of our divisions.
This week’s victims were Blackwater F, as the C team trio of Gary Smith, Peter Davenport and Colin Barham all recorded untouched trebles in the singles, but at least they did drop a set in the doubles.
Their nearest rivals, Blackwater D, have had two decent wins, but they just can’t close the gap to the top. First they tasted victory over the Blackwater E side, recording an 8-2 victory with Roger Tiffin the standout player as he continues his impressive season. Tiffin won all his singles, while teammates Dave Benstaead and Jacqui Treacy won two singles each.
In their second meeting, the D team won 7-3 against Woodham D with two players. Despite the loss, Woodham’s Simon Thomas was clearly the star player as he was able to beat all the Blackwater stars for a very hard-fought hat-trick.
Maldon D looks to have secured third place with two comprehensive wins. First a 10-0 win over St Lawrence, followed by a 9-1 win over Maldon E, with Maldon E’s John Leavett the only opponent to secure a point with a consolation win in the final match against Maldon stalwart Shirley Carroll.
Carroll scored a hat trick in the St. Lawrence match, as did her colleagues James Raymond and Tim Huxtable. Raymond repeated his hat-trick shenanigans in the Maldon E match, partnered by young Luca Riedling.
#Burnham #Dist #Squirrell #hindrance #title #chasers #Table #Tennis #England