The first round of the Braintree Table Tennis League handicap cup produced the usual assortment of fluctuating matches, three of which finished 5-4.

And all three were won by a team from Rayne. The successful Rayne teams were E, G and H, all of which were playing a team from a higher division.

The E team, from division two, came past Sudbury Nomads where Lewis Armstrong-Kirton led the way with his three singles. He beat Ken Lewis (with 14 start up to 21), Karl Baldwin (11) and Richard Kemp (8).

Rayne G’s win over division two’s Notley E was more of a team effort with two each from Alastair Brown and Steve Willis and one from Chris High.

All three had to give second best to Alan Billing, who made light of handicaps of 11, 8 and 12 respectively.

Rayne H recovered from 2-0 down to beat Notley F. Tim Schafer was unbeaten.

Rayne’s other two teams in action were less successful. The F team fell foul of division three leaders Netts D, who got a taste of what life might be like in division two next season as five of the sets in their 6-3 win were played off scratch and the other four with a handicap of 3, two one way and two the other.

Charles Calisin proved once again that he is up for the challenge by taking his three sets in straight games.

The good news for Rayne F was the return of Martin Brunker for his first match of the season.

Rayne D were beaten 7-2 by Sudbury Wanderers, for whom Peter Abbott had three comfortable wins.

The other two matches produced fairly straightforward 8-1 wins.

Jack Dearsley and Chris Krelle were unbeaten in Netts C’s victory over Notley C while Jill Canning and Nigel Parmenter were likewise undisturbed in Notley I’s win over their own D team.

Individual averages at the mid-season break (qualification one-third of team’s matches):

Division 1

1 Brandon Crouchman 12 wins in 12 sets, 100 per cent; 2 Paul Davison 13-14, 92.9; 3 Lee McHugh 8-9, 88.9; 4 Maria Boulton 10-12, 83.3; 5 Paul Lucas 19-23, 82.6; 6 Andy Holmes 21-26, 80.8; 7 Alistair Hill 14-18, 77.8; 8 Oliver Hicks 17-23, 73.9; 9= Adam Buxton, James Hicks 19-26, 73.1; 11 Steve Pennell 15-23, 65.2; 12 Scott Dowsett 9-15, 60; 13 Mike Johnston 5-9, 55.6; 14 Ken Lewis 15-29, 55.2; 15 Victor Chan 12-22, 54.6; 16 Ashley Skeggs 11-21, 52.4; 17= James Mullane 9-18, Ian Whiteside 5-10, 50; 19= Karl Baldwin, Sam Burrows 13-27, 48.2

Division 2

1 Jon Hill 11-11, 100; 2 Joe Meleschko 16-17, 94.1; 3 Szczepan Ziobro 15-17, 88.2; 4 Sean Clift 25-30, 83.3; 5 Adi Kamma 12-15, 80; 6 Ian Shrubsole 18-24, 75; 7 Richard Whiteside 15-21, 71.4; 8 Louise Hartshorn 17-24, 70.8; 9 Dave Moles 19-27, 70.4; 10= Rev Matthews 16-24, Kierlan Richards 14-21, Dave Marsh 12-18, Peter Pond 10-15, 66.7.

Division 3

1 Graham Chinnery 25-27, 82.6; 2= Charles Calisin 22-24, John Barrett, Brian How 11-12, 91.7; 5 Lorraine Burgess 16-18, 88.9; 6 Jimmy Calisin 20-24, 83.3; 7= Michael Goodchild, Tim Schafer 12-15, 80; 9= Doug Sanders, Dave Whiting 14-18, 77.8.