The Braintree Table Tennis League second division trophy is clearly heading in Sudbury Wanderers’ direction but who will carry off the runners-up trophies is another matter.

For some time they had appeared to be destined for Rayne D but a couple of stumbles pulled them back into the pack. And their latest result – more of a tumble than a stumble – has relegated them to fourth place.

The absence of Dave Moles and Dave Marsh did not help, but a 9-1 reverse at the hands of Black Notley D was still unexpected.

Notley included new signing Wictor Delimat, who quickly proved his worth by winning his three singles. He was joined by Alesha Ellis-Austin, who had her best evening in the league so far with three wins in straight games, while Richard Whiteside picked up Rayne D’s sole point, a win at 11-8 in the fifth over Stewart Ireland.

 Notley D climbed above their opponents as a result of that win, but it’s Rayne’s E team who now occupy second place. They beat Netts D 7-3.

The next two teams, Notley C and Netts C, both had 8-2 wins, over Rayne F and Notley F respectively. Rev Matthews was unbeaten for Notley C and Charles Calisin for Netts C.

The top two in division one both had 10-0 wins, Netts A over Notley A and Rayne A against Liberal C.

Liberal B and Rayne B are separated by one point in third and fourth place and the match between them reflected that in that six of the 10 sets went to five games. Sadly for Liberal B, they only won two of them, and they lost the other four as well to finish 8-2 down. Victor Chan and Steve Pennell were unbeaten for Rayne.

Liberal A drew with Notley B while Netts B scored their second successive win and climbed out of the bottom two by beating a two-man Rayne C, the team below them, 8-2. Joe Meleschko was unbeaten.

In division three, leaders Finchingfield A beat Rayne H 9-1 – a good win for Conrad Gomes over Dave Punt – while Sudbury Strollers increased the gap between them and third-placed Notley G to four points by beating Notley I 8-2 while Notley G drew with Rayne G.

The gap is only likely to grow bigger if Richard Fifield continues to turn out for Strollers. His second appearance was a repeat of his first, three wins, with only one game dropped in the process.

Newcomer Adrian Boeriu, of Notley I, continues to impress in his first season: Peter Abbott is not an easy opponent to get past.

Notley I drop behind Finchingfield B, who had an 8-2 win over Netts F. Lucien Nolan-Bradford won the battle of the 16-year-olds – they were born 19 days apart – just nudging home against JJ Calisin at 14-12 in the fifth.

Nigel Parmenter was the man in form for Notley H. He won his three sets against Yeldham B but his teammates failed to follow suit.