This week saw the Cold Norton Club embark on a winning rampage in the top division of the Burnham & District Table Tennis League.

All three of their Division 1 teams posted emphatic victories that leave the A Team in a clear lead at the head of the table.

Cold Norton A entered play this week without their talisman but still racked up a decent 7-3 victory over the hard-working Woodham C team. Kevin Read was unbeaten for Cold Norton whilst Chris Hancox excelled for Woodham with victories over Matt Stringer and Steve Sawyer.

Sawyer was involved in the two most dramatic ties as he ousted David Penrose 11-7 in the first of his deciding sets, and then in the final match of the night, having squared the match up at 2-2 coming from 0-2 down, Sawyer and Graham Briggs went toe-to-toe all the way to 13-13 in the fifth leg before Briggs pulled his finger out and completed the task at hand for his sole point of the evening.

Cold Norton B hosted the current title holders Woodham A and will be delighted with their 6-4 victory. The B Team trio of Eric Green, Ian Wall, and Sam Lowman all defeated Dan Piggott and Chris Penrose but none of them were able to master the modern defensive play of Woodham starlet Lee McHugh.

McHugh notched a very notable hat-trick of singles and paired up with Penrose for the Brucie Bonus doubles point. Wall provided the most trouble for McHugh, taking the Woodham player to a close deciding leg.

Cold Norton C were boosted by the presence of Sam Lowman in their ranks and he did not disappoint in their clash with Woodham B. Both Lowman and Arron Chandler won all their singles with the only blip being some dogged resistance from Woodham’s Eamonn Hall in his five-setter with Chandler. Lowman and Tim Cramphorn won the doubles, but Cramphorn couldn’t find his singles form as he lost out to all the Woodham trio for a final score of 7-3 to Cold Norton.

But what about the high-flying Cold Norton D team I hear you ask? Have they completed a clean sweep for the Nortonites? Well frankly, ‘no’ – they let the side down and have been severely admonished by their patron. Cold Norton D visited Woodham D this week buoyed by the results of the clubmates and hoping to claim top spot in Division 2, but alas they were undone by the youth and vigour of Woodham.

Peter Harverson was the star turn for Woodham with three comfortable victories. He was ably wing-manned by Scott Perry and Jeremy Griffin each with a brace of wins. Perry fell to the blistering hitting of Dave Hancox, and Griffin was outgunned by Terry Hyland. Hyland and Hancox combined for a surprisingly easy doubles point to bring their score up in the 7-3 loss. This reverse sees Woodham leapfrog Cold Norton into the runner-up spot, and they seem likely to be there or thereabouts come the reckoning hour.

Elsewhere in the Division, Mapledene C posted their first win of the season with a Tony Ayliffe-inspired 6-4 triumph over Blackwater A. Ayliffe was unbeaten across all formats all evening and was barely troubled in doing so.

Mapledene’s Mike Johnston got his money’s worth as he played out thee five-setters in his singles with just a solitary point for his sweat and troubles – an 11-5 deciding leg victory over Neil Freeman. Denis Balic was the most effective Blackwaterite with points taken from Johnston and Lin Roff.

Blackwater B have been a bit of a surprise package so far, and this week unleashed their fury onto Stow Maries C. Blackwater’s Simon Quelch was the dominant force as he took a singles hat-trick with his usual intelligent play, and partnered Gary Smith for the extra doubles point in their 6-4 win. For Stow Tim Huxtable and Pete Layzell both won two matches.

It was no barrel of laughs for Maldon B at Stow A this week as team stalwart Colin Barrell was unable to trouble the scorecard during his singles encounters. However his team-mates came to the rescue as both Garry Eames and Steve Aspland were on good form to oust the challenges of Ken Sheard and Peter Chastin.

Neither of these protagonists could cope with the spinny play and array of serves emanating from the paddle of Ryan Pitt. So the overall result came down to the doubles. The unbeaten Pitt, stood aside for this one, could only watch in horror as the trusty Maldon pairing of Aspland and Barrell combined for the umpteenth time to win the doubles and secure the overall draw.

The Division 3 matches this week were all dominated by classy players. Blackwater F and Woodham E played out a competitive stalemate that sees both teams record their first non-defeat of the season. Woodham’s returning Allan Steel was a class above his opponents with an unbeaten evening, dropping just the single leg in the process.

Great to see the Man of Steel back at the table tennis arenas of the Burnham League. With one old face returning it was also great to see the new face of young Oscar Wyman record his first two victories for Blackwater within the Burnham League – more to come from this young talent.

The star of the Maldon E V St Lawrence fixture was the wily Mike Burton with a hat-trick of singles victories including a five-set comeback against John Leavett. Dave Bateman chipped in with two good wins to complete the St Lawrence points tally. Leavett won his remaining singles matches and he and Kym Eames combined for the against-the-odds straight sets doubles victory over Burton and Bateman.

Blackwater C consolidated their position as league leaders with a powerful 8-2 winning margin over clubmates Blackwater D. Mervyn Perriman and his pimple adorned bat ran riot against the three accomplished D team players, and he didn’t let up in the doubles as he and partner Neil Thompson completed an unblemished night for the Blackwater C luminary.

Thompson also kept a clean sheet of his own with three singles victories, although he was pushed to the limit by Jason Bush in a rollercoaster five-setter. Chris Rolison completed the scoring for the C team with his single victory in another five-setter against David Sage.