Chelmsford A are one of just two teams who remain unbeaten through 18 league matches this season (the other being Galleywood C of division four) however with an 18-point gap (and just one game in hand) their hopes of overtaking the league leaders before time runs out look to be slim.

Division 1

A Harry Chivers treble kept second-placed Chelmsford A’s title hopes alive in their 6-4 home win over division one leaders OCA A. Chivers beat Mark Mulley in four games before recovering from 2-1 down to beat Keiran Lally (13-11 in the decider) and later seeing off Paul Lucas in four (two games saw the incredibly close 19-17, 16-14 scorelines).

Lally fought back from 2-0 down to beat Josh Bickles while Mulley was able to weather a Bickles comeback from 2-0 down to clinch the decider.

A fourth successive hat-trick by Chris Penrose fired Danbury A to an 8-2 away win at Galleywood A. Penrose beat both James Mullane and James Hicks in three straight games and took just one game more to get the better of Peter Barrett. Barrett won his two other matches – the first of which was a five-gamer with Eric Green who himself saw deciding game action in his win over Hicks.

Danbury C won a close contest with Chelmsford B by a 6-4 scoreline. Danbury’s David Gatheral played in two five-gamers – missing out against Kim Shead having held a 2-1 lead and later taking the decider against Adi Kamma 13-11. Danbury’s Peter Harverson had earlier earned a maiden division one win over Kamma.

Standings div 1: 1: Old Chelmsfordians A 144 points (from 19 matches), 2: Chelmsford A 126 points (18 matches), 3: Danbury A 113 points (20 matches).

Division 2

Chelmsford C extended their lead at the top of division two thanks to an 8-2 home win over Writtle C while title rivals Hatfield Peverel A could only draw 5-5 with Danbuy E – the gap between the two is a mere four points with two matches remaining.

Victor Chan won both of his games against the two-man team of Writtle C while Writtle’s John Webber beat Waseem Qureshi and Mark Allaway.

Martin Archie saw victory in all three of his singles matches as Hatfield Peverel A drew 5-5 at home with Danbury E. Neil Want and Tony Forster won two apiece for the visitors but were both undone by Archie in three straight games – Archie has an 87% win rate from 45 individual matches in the league this season.

Writtle B made it two wins in a row by edging Maldon B 6-4 at home. Trevor Collin, Richard Storey and Phil Smith all won two matches apiece for the hosts while Maldon’s Lloyd Bennett-Smith did likewise for the visitors – Storey getting the better of Bennett-Smith over four games.

The spoils were shared between Danbury G and Chelmsford D with two wins apiece for Danbury’s Denis Balic and Peter Harverson – Chelmsford’s Adi Kamma also won twice – his second victory over Balic going the distance.

Standings div 2: 1: Chelmsford C 119 points (from 18 matches), 2: Hatfield Peverel A 115 points (from 18 matches), 3: Maldon A 101 points (18 matches)

Division 3

John Holland and Mark Glenister won three apiece as division three leaders Galleywood B extended their lead to 10 points with an 8-2 away win at Danbury H. Holland and Danbury’s Ken Sheard saw five-game action in both their singles and doubles encounters – both matches going in the favour of the Galleywood player.

Buttsbury A lost pace with the leaders despite more trebles from Jamie Elliott and Evie Knaapen in their 7-3 win over Chelmsford E. Elliott has a 100% win rate from his 41 individual league matches this season while Knaapen has 84% from her 38. The top two sides still have to meet once more this season.

Felix Reeve hit a hat-trick as Chelmsford F got the better of OCA C by a tight 6-4 scoreline. Reeve dropped just one game during the evening and he was backed up by Pav Srivasamurthy who won twice – the second of which was a 3-2 win over Richard Baxter.

Neil Freeman won three as Hatfield Peverel B earned a 5-5 draw at Danbury K despite only fielding two players. Freeman’s biggest test was from Dave Oxley-Goody who took their match to a decider – Oxley-Goody had earlier beaten Paul Mulley over five games also.

Standings div 3: 1: Galleywood B 135 points (from 18 matches), 2: Buttsbury A 125 points (18 matches), 3: Chelmsford E 99 points (from 19 matches).

Division 4

Division four champions Galleywood C lost their perfect record this season as Buttsbury B held them to a 5-5 draw. In what looked like an epic encounter, Garry Carr won three matches for the visitors while Galleywood’s Will Goodchild won twice for the hosts.

Galleywood’s Colin Blore and Phil Shippen saw five-game action on two occasions – once when facing each other which Blore won having trailed 2-0. Nathan Blore lost in five against Shippen but had earlier beaten Caroline Cole by the same scoreline.

Second placed Chelmsford G cruised to a 10-0 win over Hatfield Peverel E with Cleon Fernandes, Salih Salim and Vishnu Surendran dropping just one game between them during their individual matches. Fernandes holds a 92% win rate from 48 division four matches this season.

Maldon B ensured they cannot finish below third place following their 9-1 win at Hatfield Peverel C. Chris Ravenhill and Marty Englander won three individual matches apiece and teamed for victory in the doubles contest.

Farooq Ahmed and Russell Hall earned hat-tricks as OCA D beat Danbury L 8-2 at home. OCA’s John Manning extended both Ahmed and David Bishop to five games but couldn’t quite get over the line – Bishop rallied from 2-0 down for his win.

Standings div 4: C: Galleywood C 139 points (from 17 matches), 2: Chelmsford G 120 matches (from 17 matches), 3: Maldon B 108 points (from 16 matches)

Division 5

Danbury M’s wait to clinch the division 5 title goes on as their fixture with second placed Chelmsford J was postponed – they should get over the line finally in week 28.

Kelvin Edeh and Douglas Bawuah won three games apiece as ARU beat Highwood B 6-4. Highwood’s Nicola Pippen beat Connor Case over fives then teamed with David Cockrell to win the doubles in five before falling to Kelvin Edeh 11-9 in the decider of their match.

Suzanne Shaw and Matthew Porter both scored hat-tricks as OCA E won 9-1 on the road at Hatfield Peverel F. Shaw won her first two matches 3-0 but had to recover from 2-1 down to beat Jackie Treacy – Treacy had earlier beaten Stuart Wintle in five from the same position but later missed out over five games against Porter. Wintle and Porter took the doubles over Treacy and Peter Hughes – also in five games.

Oscar Hutt was victorious in all three of his matches as Buttsbury C beat 7-3 at Maldon C. Hutt beat Garry Eames in four and Kym Eames in three but had to recover from 2-0 down against Shirley Carroll – Carroll had earlier lost 3-2 against Richard Pond but beat Torsten Greenan by the same scoreline.

Galleywood D’s New Year acquisition of Nick Rounce must go down as the best bit of business made over the 2024 transfer window – Rounce fired another hat-trick and moved to 13 wins from 16 matches as his side were held 5-5 at Writtle F. Michael Anthony won two games for the hosts but was edged in a fifth game decider by Rounce.

Standings div 5: 1: Danbury M 124 points (from 17 matches), 2: Chelmsford J 101 points (17 matches), 3: Chelmsford H 101 points (from 18 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 2A

Charlie Ware won twice as CJL 2A leaders Hutton Hawks gained some breathing space over second-placed Buttsbury Bears with a 4-1 victory in the top of the table clash. Ware beat Callum Walker in four games and Joseph Hutt in three while Jago Ware earned a five-game win over Walker.

Luka Ha’s two wins weren’t enough to prevent his Chelmsford Cougars team falling to a 3-2 defeat at Danbury Dragons. Ha won both of his singles matches 3-0 but he and teammate Ishar Srivastava were beaten by the duo of Oliver Ware and Oliver Wyman in the crucial doubles.

Standings CJL 2A: 1: Hutton Hawks 18 points (6 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bears 14 points (from 5 matches)

Chelmsford Junior League division 2B

Billy Andrews won twice as CJL division 2B leaders Hutton Harriers earned a 3-2 win at second placed Buttsbury Bulldogs. Martis Heyes was involved in three five-gamers seeing both Thomas Lewis and Lewis Woods fight back from 2-1 for their wins but gaining a win alongside Andrews in the decisive doubles contest.

Two 3-0 wins for Ben Robinson helped the Chelmsford Tigers to a 4-1 win over the Hutton Hyenas. Oliver Davies scored the only point for the Hyenas – beating George Gregory 3-2 in the opener.

Standings CJL 2B: 1: Hutton Harriers 21 points (6 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bulldogs 17 points (from 5 matches)

Chelmsford Junior League division 2C

Nathanael Slade won both of his matches as the Chelmsford Panthers were able to hold on to top spot in division 2C despite a 3-2 loss by Hutton Hammerheads. Hutton’s Spencer Giles and Chelmsford’s Archie Spurrier were involved in the closest singles match of the afternoon which Giles won 11-9 in the decider. Archie and Spencer Giles fought back from 2-1 down to win the crucial doubles match.

Atharv Srivastava and Ethan Li went undefeated as the Chelmsford Jaguars closed in on the leaders with a 5-0 home win against the Hutton Hornets.

Standings CJL 2C: 1: Chelmsford Panthers 24 points (from 6 matches), 2: Chelmsford Jaguars 23 points (6 matches)

Chelmsford Junior League division 2D

It’s as you were in CJL division 2D as leaders Chelmsford Pumas and second-placed Buttsbury Bats both won 5-0 in their respective matches. Ishar Srivastave and Archie Spurrier won two apiece for the Pumas in their victory at Buttsbury Bees – the closest contest of the fixture was Spurrier’s 3-2 win over George Murphy.

Zac Berry and Shay Coughlan dropped just one game between them in their win over the Hutton Hares.

Standings CJL 2D: 1: Chelmsford Pumas 24 points (6 matches) 2: Buttsbury Bats 21 points (from 5 matches)