Week 31 saw division 2B’s Hutton Harriers and division 2C’s Chelmsford Panthers take the first two of four junior divisional titles on offer.

Chelmsford Junior League division 2A

The Hutton Hawks moved within touching distance of the division 2A title with a 4-1 home win over the Chelmsford Cougars. Charlie Ware was in dominating form as he won both of his matches 3-0 – dropping just 24 points over the six games. Ben Robinson earned the sole point for the visitors with a 3-1 win over Noah Middleton.

The Chelmsford Eagles kept their hopes of catching leaders the Hutton Hawks alive with a 3-2 win over the Buttsbury Bears – Joshua Freeman (12 wins from 12 this season) won two out of two for the hosts.

Standings CJL 2A: 1: Hutton Hawks 24 points (8 matches), 2: Chelmsford Eagles 19 points (7 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 2B

The Hutton Harriers secured the division 2B title with a 5-0 home win over the Chelmsford Tigers – Billy Andrews (11 wins from 12 this season) and Martis Heyes (9 wins from 12) didn’t drop a game.

The Buttsbury Bulldogs beat the Chelmsford Leopards 5-0 and can still finish level on points with the Harriers though would miss out on the title due to holding fewer wins.

Standings CJL 2B: C: Hutton Harriers 31 points (8 matches), 2: Buttsbury Bulldogs 26 points (from 7 matches)

Chelmsford Junior League division 2C

In a ‘winner takes all’ contest to conclude division 2C, the Chelmsford Panthers were crowned champions thanks to a narrow 3-2 win over clubmates the Chelmsford Jaguars. Tied on 28 league points apiece, the Panthers edged ahead when Nathanael Slade (8 wins from 8 matches this season) won the first contest before Sean Kwan and Atharv Srivastava gave the Jaguars the advantage.

Slade levelled the fixture at 2-2 – with both teams on 30 points in the league and the destination of the titles to be determined by the doubles contest. Srivastava and Kwan took the opening game before Slade and Henry Mansell stormed through to take the match and the division’s top spot.

The Hutton Hornets finished their season with a 4-1 home win over the Chelmsford Rhinos. Theo Rugg and Casper Norris dropped just one game of their singles matches between them to earn the Hornets their second victory of the 2C season.

Standings CJL 2C: C: Chelmsford Panthers 31 points (from 8 matches), 2: Chelmsford Jaguars 30 points (8 matches)

Chelmsford Junior League division 2D

The Buttsbury Bats remain unbeaten in division 2D and look set to clinch the title as they won 4-1 at the Chelmsford Lions.

Second-placed Chelmsford Pumas fell to a 4-1 away loss to the Hutton Hares with four of the five matches not being decided until the fifth game. Leon Smith came from 2-0 down to beat Hari Gumbeer before he teamed with Louis Smith to repeat the feat against Gumbeer and Taylor Cumber in the doubles.

Standings CJL 2D: 1: Buttsbury Bats 25 points (from 6 matches), 2: Chelmsford Pumas 25 points (7 matches)

Division 2

A Sanjay Saptarshi treble helped Danbury D nick third place from Writtle B by a sole point as the hosts wrapped up their season with an 8-2 win. Saptarshi dropped just one game during his singles matches and joined forces with Daniel Patynski to recover from 2-1 down to beat Steve Buer and Chris Buer. Hall had earlier beaten both Buer’s though lost out to Gus Heath in four.

Standings div 2: C: Chelmsford C 138 points (from 20 matches), 2: Hatfield Peverel A 121 points (from 20 matches), 3: Writtle B 113 points (20 matches)

Division 3

With the destination of the division three title scheduled to be decided in week 32, week 31 saw action at the lower end of the division where bottom side Writtle E completed their season with a 6-4 home win over Danbury J – the result despite a hat-trick from Danbury’s Peter Hance.

Hance beat Ian Hockley in three, Colin Barham in four and Malcolm Storey in five – Storey had earlier beaten Louis Gunn in five and later bested John Robinson in four. Hance and Robinson recovered from 2-0 down in the doubles to win – six of the first seven matches went the distance.

Standings div 3: 1: Galleywood B 140 points (from 19 matches), 2: Buttsbury A 134 points (19 matches), 3: Danbury H 110 points (from 19 matches).

Handicap Cup

Semi Final

Chelmsford E booked a place in the Handicap Cup final with a 5-2 win against Chelmsford B. The scoreline was locked at 2-2 after Sami Osman earned the second of his two wins for Chelmsford B but James Grimston, Rev Matthews and Alesha Ellis-Austin all won their second singles matches as the E team romped home.

Chelmsford E will face Danbury B in the final on May 7. Danbury did extremely well to win their match with a Chelmsford G side despite some generous handicaps on display. Dan Anderson, Sam Lowman and Eric Green were not deterred by starting each game with a 16-22 point deficit and won through by a 5-2 scoreline.