Neil Freeman fired two hat-tricks in four days – the second of which was in the top of the table clash between Buttsbury A and Hatfield Peverel A in division two.

Division 1

Chelmsford A remain at the top of division one following an emphatic 9-1 home win over Danbury C. Both Josh Bickles and Harry Chivers fired trebles – both have won eight of their last nine league matches. Trevor Lloyd had the best night from a Danbury perspective, he took both Bickles and Aidan Lees to five games – with a win over the latter.

After a tough first appearance of the season in week three there were first hat-tricks for Duncan Taylor and Kevin Read as Writtle A turned on the style to beat Galleywood A 10-0. Galleywood’s Alistair Hill fought back from 2-0 down against Read only to lose out in the decider, the result sees Writtle move up to second and Galleywood remain sixth.

Yet another one-sided contest to wrap up division one this week as Danbury B beat bottom of the table Chelmsford B 9-1. Sam Lowman, Ian Wall and Arron Chandler were undefeated in singles action though Chelmsford did ensure the Danbury team remained winless in doubles contests this season (0 wins from 4 games). The victory sees Danbury B move from fifth position to third, six points behind Writtle A and 11 points behind leaders Chelmsford A.

Standings div 1: 1: Chelmsford A 30 points (from 4 matches), 2: Writtle A 25 points (4 matches), 3: Danbury B 19 points (4 matches).

Division 2

Buttsbury A moved to the top of division two with a hard-fought 6-4 win over the leaders going into week four, Hatfield Peverel A. Neil Freeman was the star of the show, winning all three of his individual matches though David Gatheral and Rob Burton won two apiece for Buttsbury with the duo also taking the double match 11-9 in the decider.

Chelmsford C remain third in the table thanks to trebles from Simon Jarvis and Felix Reeve in their 8-2 home win over Danbury E. The match result could have been closer – there were two five-gamers in the contest which both went in favour of the hosts.

Colin Napper made his first appearance of the season and he took player of the match honours in Maldon A’s 6-4 win over Danbury D. Peter Chastin prevented Napper’s treble with Danbury’s Eamon Hall repeating last week’s comebacks with a victory over Lloyd Bennett-Smith having trailed 2-1.

Trevor Collin’s hat-trick wasn’t enough for Writtle B as they drew 5-5 with Danbury E. Collin earned his third win with victory over Neil Want who won two matches himself – Collin had trailed 2-1 but took the fifth 11-9.

There was a first treble of the season for Ian Whiteside in Danbury F’s 7-3 home win over OCA B in a contest which saw four five-gamers and four four-gamers. Whiteside fought-back from 2-1 down to beat David Porter who himself had won from a losing position when trailing Alan Scammell 2-0.

Standings div 2: 1: Buttsbury A 28 points (from 4 matches), 2: Hatfield Peverel A 27 points (4 matches), 3: Chelmsford C 24 points (4 matches).

Division 3

Chelmsford D and Chelmsford E were joint leaders of division three going into week four but Chelmsford D’s 5-5 home draw with Buttsbury B resulted in them dropping to third place. After two successive hat-tricks, Buttsbury’s Harry Sawford won two games but experienced defeat for the first time this season – Sawford was one of Alex Tkachuk’s two victims.

There were no slip-ups for Chelmsford E as Kelvin Edeh and James Grimston won three matches apiece in an 8-2 win over Writtle E. Edeh did well to hold his nerve against Malcolm Storey in a match which went the distance.

A second treble of the season for Cleon Fernandes wasn’t enough for his Chelmsford F side to get past a resolute Danbury H – Fernandes won a tight opener with Scott Perry over five games, Danbury’s Perry earned a double for the third time this season with teammate Gus Heath following last week’s treble with two more victories.

Neil Freeman took the honours as Hatfield Peverel B beat OCA C despite only fielding two players. Freeman dropped just two games in his three matches while teammate Gareth Davies played two five-gamers – winning and losing one.

A third treble of the season for Matthew Brown helped Writtle D to a 6-4 away win at Danbury G. Denis Crapnell proved a difficult opponent for Brown to see off, the Writtle man only getting over the line in the fifth game after Crapnell had fought back from two games down.

Gary Copsey took his record to 11 wins from 12 this season as he led Galleywood C to a 7-3 home win over Danbury J. Copsey’s closest match of the night was his opener with Peter Hance which went all the way.

Standings div 3: 1: Chelmsford E 28 points (from 4 matches), 2: Writtle D 25 points (4 matches), 3: Chelmsford D 25 points (4 matches).

Division 4

An 8-2 home win was enough to see Hutton A move clear at the top of division four with Charlie Ware and David Thammadi winning three apiece. The opening contest was the closest of the night with Chelmsford G’s Mark Nolan recovering from 2-1 down to beat Alex Ware – this was Ware’s first defeat of the season having pocketed three previous trebles.

Maldon B slipped to second position in the league table following a 5-5 away draw with Buttsbury D. Buttsbury’s Joshua Freeman won all three matches though was well tested by Brian Reidling who only went in the fifth by a 12-10 scoreline. Lyndon Bubb won two on debut in division four but was beaten by Chris Ravenhill in three – Ravenhill has won 10 from 12 so far this season.

There were three wins from Dave Marsh and two each for Richard Allen and Dave Oxley-Goody in Danbury K’s 7-3 win over Danbury L. The scoreline may have been very different as the first three matches of the night went the distance with Oxley-Goody, Marsh and Allen coming out on top.

Lucy Elliott and Oscar Hutt won three games each as Buttsbury C won 8-2 at OCA D, and Steve Ireland hit a treble in Galleywood D’s 5-5 home draw with Danbury M.

Standings div 4: 1: Hutton A 31 points (from 4 matches), 2: Maldon B 30 points (4 matches), 3: Buttsbury D 23 points (4 matches).

Division 5

A second successive hat-trick for Vivaan Babbar in a 7-3 win over Highpoint E elevated Buttsbury E to the top of division five. Freya Hart and Torsten Greenan both won twice but tasted defeat at the hands of Martin Goddard, Babbar fought back from 2-0 down to beat Goddard in an entertaining-looking 3-2 (12-14, 4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9).

There were first trebles of the season for Chelmsford H’s Shengbing Zhu and Peter Davenport in Chelmsford H’s 8-2 win at Maldon C while debutant Fin Fell fired a hat-trick as the two-player team of ARU fell 6-4 at home to Writtle F.

Another two-player team in action in division five this week was OCA E though the deadly duo of Stuart Wintle (three wins) and Matthew Porter (two) were able to make up for the disadvantage with a 6-4 home win against Hatfield Peverel E. Wintle needed five games to see off Peverel’s Alastair Brown.

Standings div 5: 1: Buttsbury E 31 points (from 4 matches), 2: Writtle F 26 points (4 matches), 3: Hutton B 24 points (3 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 1A

The Hutton Hawks soared to the top of division 1A thanks to fine performances by Billy Andrews and Martis Heyes who went undefeated in a 5-0 away win at the Chelmsford Lions. Both players needed five games to see off Amir Chetitah with Andrews getting the better of a 8-11, 15-13, 11-8, 11-13, 17-15 scoreline.

Chetitah was on ‘double-duty’ and won twice as the Chelmsford Tigers beat the Hutton Harriers 4-1. Vicente Beco pushed Chetitah to five ends before William Guilloux joined Chetitah in recovering from 2-1 down to take the doubles.

Standings div 1A: 1: Hutton Hawks 15 points (from 5 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bees 14 points (4 matches), 3: Chelmsford Tigers 9 points (3 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 1B

The Chelmsford Leopards remain top of junior division 1B despite having to concede their away game at Hutton Hyenas. The Chelmsford Jaguars remain in second place after a 3-2 home loss against the Buttsbury Bears. Sean Kwan won twice for the hosts before Zac Berry and Ethan Ferris held off a Chelmsford fightback from 2-0 down in the doubles contest to take the all-important fifth.

Standings div 1B: 1: Chelmsford Leopards 13 points (from 4 matches), 2: Chelmsford Jaguars 11 points (4 matches), 3: Hutton Hyenas 10 points (4 matches).