Netts B have emerged as the front-runners for promotion from division two of the Braintree Table Tennis League.
They had little mercy on their own C team, who they demolished 10-0 to notch up their third win out of three and open up a gap at the top of the table.
They turned out a strong team of Michael Baldwin, Joe Meleschko and Szczepan Ziobro to deal with their clubmates, who did not give in lightly.
Kierlan Richards took both Meleschko and Ziobro to a tight fifth game and James Rissen also stretched Ziobro to 11-9 in the fifth, but with Jon Hill also in their squad, Netts B are already looking the team to beat.
Black Notley D are the only other team with three wins out of three. They beat Rayne F 8-2 with both Sean and Adam Clift unbeaten.
Sudbury Wanderers have two out of two after their 7-3 win over Rayne E. Barry Mann and Ian Shrubsole were unbeaten.
Notley E beat their own C team 6-4, with three wins for Peter Pond, while Rayne D registered their first success of the season, a 6-4 win over Notley F, with Dave Moles unbeaten.
The major shock in division one was a defeat for champions Netts A. They were hit by availability problems and could only muster two players against Rayne C, who beat them 7-3, including an impressive win for Adi Kamma over James Hicks.
Liberal B are the only team in the division with three wins out of three. They came up against their own A team, who included Brandon Crouchman for the first time this season. He won his three singles but the B team took the rest.
Sudbury Nomads made it two out of three with a 7-3 win over Liberal C, for whom Gareth Davies had an excellent win over Ken Lewis, while Rayne A took all 10 against Notley A.
Paul Nicol was unbeaten in Notley B’s draw with Rayne B.
Netts D are the early leaders in division three. They came up against Rayne G with both teams boasting unblemished 20-0 records. In one of those rare matches where no one won all three or lost all three, Netts sneaked home 6-4.
Notley G are the only other team with three wins out of three. They beat their own H team 9-1 with Graham Chinnery and Peter Game unbeaten.
After heavy defeats in their first two matches, new club Finchingfield got their season under way with a 9-1 win over Notley I. They have now used eight players in three matches. Stewart Grant and John Barrett (three wins) and Clive Smith (two) were the successful combination this time.
Rayne H put their first win on the board, 10-0 against Netts E.