As has been expected for some time – almost since the start of the season – Sudbury Nomads are the new division two champions of the Braintree Table Tennis League.

In the end they clinched the title with something of a whimper rather than a bang. Without only one of their regular players they lost 8-2 to Netts C, where Mike Baldwin scored a good win over the unrelated Karl Baldwin.

But defeats for Liberal C, 6-4 to Notley E, and Notley C, who lost by the same score to their own D team, meant they could no longer be caught.

Adam Clift was unbeaten for Notley D while Peter Pond and Alan Billing for Notley E and David Razzell and Garry Fryatt for Liberal C all won twice.

Notley’s C and E teams had wins of 10-0 and 9-1 respectively over Rayne D while Rayne C beat Rayne F 9-1.

In division one, Liberal A turned out Brandon Crouchman and Scott Dowsett in tandem for only the fifth time this season and they emphasised how much they will rely on them to get them off the bottom of the table.

They beat Rayne B 9-1, only the team’s fourth win of the season and Crouchman and Dowsett have played in all four.

Notley A are one of the teams in their sights, but they had a win of their own, 6-4 over Netts B, where Chris Parr, Steve Kerns and Takunda Nerutanga all won twice.

Netts A’s 7-3 win over Liberal B was notable for an excellent win for Ashley Skeggs over Paul Davison. It came only three days before Davison’s win in the men’s singles and Skeggs’ capitulation in the division one singles, such are the vagaries of table tennis.

Skeggs also beat James Mullane and came within an ace of making it three when he stretched James Hicks to 18-16 in the fifth game.

The top two in division three continued their nip and tuck battle. Sudbury Wanderers had two 8-2 wins, over Rayne F and Notley I while Rayne E slipped back a bit with a 7-3 win over Rayne F but then jumped ahead after a 10-0 win over their own G team.

Rayne F’s Adam Pitt won twice against both of them, ending Ian Shrubsole’s six-match unbeaten run in the process. He went one better and won all three in Rayne F’s 6-4 win over Notley H.

Third-placed Notley G also had two big wins, 8-2 over Rayne G and 9-1 against Netts D. Jamie Brooks won six out of six.