Week 20 of the C&DTTL season saw the divisional leaders parade their dominance over its competition. There were 10-0 wins for OCA A (Div 1) and Galleywood C (Div 4), a 9-1 win for Galleywood B (Div 3) and 8-2 wins for Chelmsford C (Div 2) and Danbury M (Div 5).

Division 1

Second placed Chelmsford A needed a Harry Chivers hat-trick in order to preserve their unbeaten record in division one as they drew 5-5 with fifth placed Danbury A. Chivers beat Bruce Kettle in three, Dave Richardson in four and Chris Penrose in five – that was Penrose’s only loss as he beat Gary Young in three and Nikita Tkachuk in four. Tkachuk pulled off a fine 3-2 victory over Richardson – having trailed 2-1 he breezed through the last two games 11-3, 11-6.

Leaders OCA A powered to a 10-0 away win at third placed Danbury B with Mark Mulley, Paul Lucas and Matthew Mulley all winning their singles matches in four games or less. The doubles contest proved to be the closest match of the night as the recent C&DTTL men’s doubles champions Mark and Matthew Mulley were severely tested by Dan Anderson and Sam Lowman with the brothers earning the victory via a 15-13 scoreline in the decider. OCA A have won six of their 13 matches this season by a 10-0 scoreline.

Standings div 1: 1: Old Chelmsfordians A 102 points (from 13 matches), 2: Chelmsford A 89 points (13 matches), 3: Danbury B 80 points (15 matches).

Division 2

The most intriguing match in division two this week was sixth placed Maldon A’s journey to third placed Writtle C. Just eight points separated the two teams at the start of play though the visitors had played two less fixtures than their higher placed hosts.

Gary Ward was yet again in sparkling form as he earned yet another hat-trick as Writtle narrowly beat Maldon 6-4. Ward beat each of Chris Hancox, Dawn Baldry and Colin Napper in four games while teammate John Webber would have joined him on three wins had it not been for his loss to Hancox. Webber had earlier beaten Baldry in five games after Maldon’s Napper had recovered from 2-1 down to beat John Gagg also in five.

Leaders Chelmsford C swept to an 8-2 home victory over OCA B with Waseem Qureshi showing the way with three wins. The closest contest saw Victor Chan recover from 2-1 down to beat Mick Richardson though Chan later lost in four to David Porter.

Second placed Hatfield Peverel A closed the gap on the leaders with a 10-0 away win at eleventh placed Danbury G. Julie Johnson, Alastair Piper and Martin Archie were all undefeated though Danbury’s Denis Crapnell took both Archie and Piper to five games.

In a closely contested encounter, eighth placed Danbury E beat ninth placed clubmates Danbury F 6-4 in a match which saw four five-game contests. A 22-20 scoreline was posted in the final game of Tony Forsters 3-2 win over Steve Buer while Dick Wyman later stuck the boot in on Buer by fighting back from 2-1 down to earn the win. Gus Heath earned the final point of the evening with a come from behind 3-2 win over Tim Cramphorn.

Standings div 2: 1: Chelmsford C 89 points (from 13 matches), 2: Hatfield Peverel A 85 points (from 13 matches), 3: Writtle C 78 points (14 matches)

Division 3

The chasing pack may have been hoping for division 3 leaders Galleywood B to slip up at fourth placed Hatfield Peverel B but those hopes were dealt a blow when news came through that the hosts were only able to field two players. Gary Copsey and Gary Brignall beat both Neil Freeman and Paul Mulley while Freeman earned a 3-0 win over Mark Glenister. Freeman came close to a second win in the evening when narrowly missing out to Gary Brignall 3-2.

Second placed Buttsbury A won 9-1 at bottom of the table Chelmsford F – Kevin Willis and Jamie Elliott won three matches apiece while Felix Reeve earned the only point for the hosts with a 3-2 win over Evie Knaapen – Knaapen had earlier been taken to five games by Sami Osman.

Dave Powell hit a treble as ninth placed Danbury K won 7-3 at home to seventh placed Writtle E. Writtle’s Ian Hockley was winless on the night but pushed both Richard Allen and Robert Kneale to five games, Allen later saw another five-gamer – losing out to Thompson who had previously overcome Kneale 3-1.

Pete Layzell won all three of his singles matches as Writtle D drew 5-5 with Danbury J. Layzell beat Louis Gunn in three, Terry Hyland in four and Peter Hance in five – Hance had earlier beaten Trevor Collin and Bob Garson.

Standings div 3: 1: Galleywood B 98 points (from 13 matches), 2: Buttsbury A 83 points (12 matches), 3: OCA C 69 points (from 12 matches).

Division 4

Unbeaten division four league leaders Galleywood C made it 11 wins from 11 matches as they thumped Hatfield Peverel C 10-0, Colin Blore, Nathan Blore and Will Goodchild dropped just one game between them in completing this resounding victory.

Second placed Maldon B won 9-1 at Hatfield Peverel D thanks to trebles from Brian Riedling and Chris Ravenhill. Maldon’s James Raymond won two five-game matches though he was bested by Peverel’s Neil Wood whose win earned the hosts their only point.

Buttsbury B completed a one-sided set of results this week in division four with a 10-0 drubbing of Hatfield Peverel E. Phil Shippen, Lucy Elliott and Frances Hutt won all of their matches as the visitors dropped just three games during the course of the evening.

Standings div 4: 1: Galleywood C 88 points (from 11 matches), 2: Maldon B 77 points (from 11 matches), 3: OCA D 63 points (from 11 matches)

Division 5

The clash between third placed Chelmsford H and fifth placed Maldon saw the higher placed team come out on top by a 7-3 scoreline. Shirley Carroll’s hat-trick was the only good news for Maldon as Jacqui Smith, James Grindlay and Shenbing Zhu all won twice for Chelmsford. Carroll’s matches with Grindlay and Zhu both went to a decider, her win against Grindlay was from 2-1 down with the final two games by narrow 12-10, 13-11 scorelines.

Sixth placed Anglia Ruskin beat fourth placed Galleywood D by an 8-2 scoreline – ARU’s Douglas Bawuah won all three of his matches while Galleywood’s Wayne Smithers won two of his three. Match of the night was the clash between Santiago Rubio and Arran Goodridge which saw Rubio recover from a 2-0 deficit – the catalyst for which was his 13-11 win in the third game.

Graham Naggs won his three matches as division five leaders Danbury M won 8-2 against Writtle F. Michael Anthony won twice for Writtle, his second victory was a 3-2 win against Ken Wilding during which Wilding had recovered from 2-0 down to level – Anthony won the decider 11-9.

Oscar Hutt’s treble wasn’t enough to prevent his Buttsbury C team from falling to a 6-4 loss at OCA E. Stuart Wintle and Suzanne Shaw both won twice but both fell to Hutt in three games while their teammate Mike Morecroft overcame Freya Hart in five.

Hopes that bottom of the table Hatfield Peverel F might earn a first league victory of the season were dashed by tenth placed Highwood B who cruised to an 8-2 win – David Cockrell scoring a hat-trick for the hosts. David Benstead lost the opening match of the evening to Cockrell but then went on to win twice for Peverel.

Standings div 5: 1: Danbury M 93 points (from 13 matches), 2: Chelmsford H 72 points (12 matches), 3: Chelmsford J 71 points (from 12 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 2A

Joshua Freeman’s two wins were in vain as the Chelmsford Eagles lost 3-2 to clubmates Chelmsford Cougars. Freeman’s wins were both by a 3-0 scoreline though his match with Harel Choo was a close one – 11-9, 11-9, 14-12.

Peter Harverson was in fine form as he won twice in Danbury Dragons’ 3-2 victory over Hutton Hawks. Harverson did well to come back from 2-1 down against Charlie Ware, taking the last two games by the narrow margin of 11-9, 11-9.

Chelmsford Junior League division 2B

A 3-2 win meant the Hutton Harriers got the last laugh over clubmates Hutton Hyenas, Martis Heyes won both of his matches by a 3-0 scoreline but his teammate Sam Collins had a more eventful afternoon – he rallied from 2-0 down to beat Oliver Figen but lost out in the decider against Frankie Harvey.

Yishai Choo and Ryan Peiris won two matches apiece as the Chelmsford Tigers beat the Chelmsford Leopards 5-0. Choo and Peiris just dropped one game in their two individual matches and teamed up for a 3-0 win in the doubles encounter.

Chelmsford Junior League division 2C

Sean Kwan and Ethan Li won twice each as the Chelmsford Jaguars beat the Hutton Hammerheads 5-0. Kwan beat Spencer Giles despite dropping the first two games while Giles had gone 1-0 up against Li before Li came through in four games. Ethan Collins and Harry Ward also won twice each as the Chelmsford Panthers won 5-0 against the Chelmsford Rhinos

Chelmsford Junior League division 2D

The Hutton Hares won 5-0 on the road at Buttsbury Bees with Lockie Stewart and Mitchell Petrie winning two apiece. Petrie was made to work in the first match of the afternoon as he recovered from 2-1 down to beat Henry Murphy. Archie Spurrier went two out of two as his Chelmsford Pumas beat Chelmsford Lions 4-1. The closest encounter of the afternoon was the doubles match which finally went in the favour of the Pumas who withstood a Lions fightback from 2-0 down.

Bat&Chat

Bat&Chat continues to expand, regularly attracting 50-60 players to its Monday and Thursday social sessions. Using the resources of CTTC and CSAC, groups of up to 80 can take part in a two-hour session which delivers for everyone from league players to absolute beginners.

The Mayor of Chelmsford, Cllr Linda Mascot, fully supports activities which cater for a diverse range of her Chelmsford constituents, and she has accepted an invitation to visit Bat&Chat in the next few weeks. Anyone who would like to join a Bat&Chat session should phone Chelmsford Sport and Athletics Centre for further details on 01245605666.