It is a measure of how evenly balanced division two of the Braintree Table Tennis League is that the top eight teams are covered by just nine points.

Week three results were a good illustration: three draws and a 7-3, with Rayne D’s 9-1 win over Netts D the only outlier.

While last week’s leaders Sudbury Wanderers were without a match, that win took Rayne D to the top of the table but Rayne E, who were level on points, slipped back after being held to a draw by Yeldham Whitlocks A.

Matthew Brown took his expected three singles for Rayne E but two each from Roy Hooper and Doug Sanders, plus the doubles, enabled Yeldham to share the points.

Netts C and Black Notley’s E and F teams are two points behind after Netts drew with Rayne F and E beat F in the Notley battle. Kierlan Richards was unbeaten for Netts C and Jamie Brooks for Notley E.

The other draw was between Notley’s D and C teams, where Rev Matthews was unbeaten and Gordon Fairchild made a welcome return to action.

In division one, last year’s top two, Rayne A and Netts A, both won 9-1.

Rayne beat Notley B, where Steve Noble had an excellent win over Adam Buxton, while Netts beat Liberal B, Robin Armstrong’s win over Andy Holmes the one that got away.

Scott Dowsett won his three singles in Liberal A’s draw at Rayne C while Chris Parr was unbeaten in Notley A’s 7-3 win over Netts B where Jamie Brooks, playing up from division two, had a good win over Joe Meleschko, avenging his defeat at 12-10 in the fifth at the end of last season.

Finchingfield A continued their impressive run at the top of division three, although their 10-0 win over a two-person Netts F was not as straightforward as it looks. JJ Calisin pushed John Barrett to five games as did he and James Howard against Barrett and Peter Clark in the doubles.

Finchingfield’s B team notched up their first win of the season, 8-2 over Netts E, with John Dennison and Stewart Grant unbeaten.

Yeldham B made it two wins out of two with a 6-4 victory over Rayne G where Steve Willis’s three singles and a doubles held them together, while Jacqueline Smith was unbeaten in Notley G’s 7-3 win over Rayne H.