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BURNHAM & DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE
Woodham youngster Jenson Davis continues his
100% winning streak in Division 3.
Fambridge’s Liam Squirrell in hat-trick action against Woodham’s
Lee McHugh this week.
Luca Bailey of Woodham B –
back in action this week.
Division 1 – A League of Two Halves
As a gift from the god of fixtures we had the unusual situation of
the top 5 teams playing the bottom 5 in division one of the
Burnham & District Table Tennis League this week. A chance for a
few upsets perhaps, and a chance to close the gap? Unfortunately
the opportunity was wasted as the top sides all recorded
significant victories to widen that gulf even further. Even without
their talisman Cold Norton A came through the challenge of a
hearty Stow B for a table-topping 9-1 win – both Matt Stringer and
Sam Lowman came through unscathed. A strong Mapledene A
trio of Charles Sweeny, Steve Muth and Reece Seddon
whitewashed West Maldon B 10-0 to edge themselves into second
place. Fambridge are now up into 3rd place following a convincing
win over Woodham A – Fambridge have games in hand and the
matches against the other top sides will be key to any success they
have this year. For Fambridge Liam Squirrell was in fine fettle just
dropping 1 set all evening to Woodham’s Lee McHugh. The
returning Keith Adams also recorded a hat-trick but only after a
last gasp 5th set decider against McHugh. McHugh didn’t go
home empty handed as he defeated the consistent Mark Stones
in straight sets, and paired up with Daniel Piggott for the doubles.
West Maldon A rediscovered their mojo with the return of Dan
Young and Harry Keys, as they both recorded a full set of singles
victories and then paired up for the doubles, in their 8-2
destruction of West Maldon B. Finally in 5th place and hanging on
in there are Maldon A following their hard fought victory over Stow
A where the durability of their star players paid dividends as they
came through on top in all 3 five-setters to record a much needed
8-2 win. The old war horse Steve Whiteley was on top form
winning all 4 of his matches, whilst Stow’s Gary Brignall picked up
his teams two points.
Division 2 – Queen of the Night
In Division Two this week the top two teams battled it out with
Maldon B coming out on top courtesy of their doubles win over
Mapledene C. The final score was 6-4 with Maldon’s Colin Napper
the pick of the bunch. Despite Napper’s hat-trick most eyes would
have been on the all-female encounters as arguably the league’s
best 4 ladies were up against each other and putting down markers
for the league Singles competition in early 2020. Mapledene’s Lin
Roff emerged as the Queen of the Night with two excellent 3 set
victories over Maldon’s Dawn Baldry and Jan Fuller. Whilst
Mapledene C and Maldon B were playing out their top of the table
clash, Maldon C snuck in between them courtesy of a 7-3 win over
their D rated stablemates. Maldon C’s young starlet Thomas Page
was on top form winning all 4 of his matches, but the best
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individual performance must have been Tom Elder’s final match
deciding set 14-12 victory over Brian Riedling – what a way to finish
the evening’s sport! The biggest scoreline of the week saw
Woodham B overcome Cold Norton C 8-2. Woodham’s Luca Bailey
is back from injury and despite his ring rustiness recorded a hattrick
in singles and partnered up with Ewan Hynd for the doubles
too – nice to see you, to see you nice. Cold Norton’s Terry Hyland
was on fine form with 2 singles victories and he was unlucky to lose
to Bailey when 9-7 up in the decider only to see his young
opponent pull out his best 4 shots to steal the POM from his grasp.
In the battle of the Hammers at Mayland this week Ralph Gibson
secured bragging rights with a 5 set victory over the division’s most
valuable player Tim Pulham of Stow C, Pulham went on to win his
other matches but this wasn’t enough to counteract the
consistency of the Mayland trio who recorded a 6-4 victory. Alan
Scammell continues to baffle the division 2 players as he recorded
yet another hat-trick with his awkward but very effective style. This
time it was Valerie Board and her Woodham C team-mates who
were in the firing line, however they took the Scammell on the chin
and fought back to earn the draw with everyone contributing to
the points tally.
Division 3 – Stowicide
Stow D are proving to be too consistent and too strong for this
division this year. They were ruthless and heartless in their
destruction of stablemates Stow F this week to strengthen their
top spot – almost a full whitewash, with only Anne Mills taking a
set off Jean Chasmer to obstruct the perfect score. A full house
for the Stow D regulars of Chasmer, Dave Goody and Peter
Chastin. West Maldon D must have thought their 9-1 victory over
St Lawrence B would help them close the gap – alas not! West
Maldon’s Noah Sage led the statistics and maintains his excellent
form this season. The most intriguing match-up was 14 year old
Jakob Mortensen pitting his wits against the leagues only
nonagenarian Dave Toe – would his 76 years of extra experience
help him through this match? Youth was the victor this time around
as young Jakob won in 4, 4 & 7. Woodham D continued their good
run of form with new youngster Jenson Davis maintaining his 100%
record so far, and matched by his captain and slightly older than
13 Mike Burton they created the platform for a 7-3 win over
Blackwater B. The St Lawrence A team bounced back from defeat
last week to record a 9-1 victory over Mayland B, and Maldon E
were able to overcome Burnham A 6-4 thanks to a singles clean
sweep from that old campaigner Roger Warren. Most impressively
Warren took the scalp of Michael Pratley – a rare occurrence.