Chelmsford A reclaimed second position in division one with a 10-0 away win at Galleywood A in a fixture which saw three wins apiece for Harry Chivers, Simon Jarvis and Josh Bickles.

Chivers did not drop a game in his singles matches while Jarvis needed to recover from 2-1 down against James Hicks, and Bickles earned victory over Alastair Hill with a 12-10 scoreline in the fifth game.

Chelmsford can thank third-placed Danbury B for helping to keep their title dreams alive as they ran out winners over leaders Danbury C – Sam Lowman fired a treble and there were two wins from Matthew Stringer in a 6-4 victory. Two matches went the distance: Trevor Lloyd and Gary Young did well beating Stringer and Arron Chandler in the doubles before Stringer came from behind to see off Lloyd 7-11, 10-12, 15-13, 11-6, 12-10.

Chris Penrose won all three as Danbury A earned a 7-3 away win at the division’s bottom side Chelmsford B. Penrose did not drop a game in any of his three singles victories while teammate Bruce Kettle was on the end of two five-game losses – Waseem Qureshi won their matchup 13-11 in the fifth while Kelvin Edeh took the last game 12-10.

While 10 points separate the top two teams vying for the title with two fixtures remaining, Danbury C will surely find a way over the line in their final two matches of the season against the bottom two teams Galleywood A and Chelmsford B.

A Gary Ward treble was not enough to prevent Buttsbury A edging closer to the division two title as his Writtle C side fell to a 7-3 loss to the division’s leaders. Ward dropped just one game in his three wins while Buttsbury’s impressive junior Joshua Freeman earned two singles victories and teamed with Rob Burton for a 3-2 success over Ward and John Parodi in the doubles.

There was another win for second-placed Maldon C but they were unable to make up any ground on the leaders as they also posted a 7-3 victory in their away trip at Chelmsford C. Maldon’s Chris Hancox, Dawn Baldry and Colin Napper won two matches apiece while Adi Kamma’s two wins was the high point for the hosts.

Hatfield Peverel A continued their good form of late with a fourth consecutive win as Martin Archie posted a hat-trick in an 8-2 home win over Danbury D, while Mark Glenister and Robin Armstrong warmed up for their week 26 meeting with leaders Buttsbury by firing trebles in an 8-2 home win over Danbury F.

There were three wins for Tim Cramphorn and Neil Want in an 8-2 home win over Old Chelmsfordians B who remain winless and rooted to the foot of the table.    

The top three teams in division three went winless in week 25 as leaders Chelmsford D were held to a 5-5 home draw by OCA C, second-placed Galleywood C lost 6-4 on the road at Writtle D while third-placed Buttsbury B were held to a 5-5 home draw by Danbury H.

Those three matches saw unbeaten outings for Chelmsford’s Chris Denyer, Writtle’s Matthew Brown and Buttsbury’s Harry Sawford.

Elsewhere, Cleon Fernandes went undefeated in Chelmsford F’s 5-5 draw at Writtle E, Rev Matthews and Kuzey Musabak won three apiece in Chelmsford E’s 9-1 win at Danbury G, and Peter Hance and Terry Hyland went unbeaten for Danbury J in their 7-3 home win over Hatfield Peverel B.

Just three points separate the top three teams in this division though leaders Chelmsford D hold the trump card of a fixture in hand.

Hutton A continue to lead the way in division four though the 16-point gap to second placed Buttsbury C should be reduced when Buttsbury play their fixture in hand. Third-placed Maldon B may still also come into the equation as they have to face both title rivals and also sit 16 points behind Hutton.

There were perfect evenings for Buttsbury C’s Lucy Elliott, Oscar Hutt and James Hughes in a 10-0 away victory at Danbury J, Alex Ware and Oladapo Owolabi went undefeated in Hutton A’s 8-2 away win at bottom of the table Danbury M, and Lyndon Bubb secured another hat-trick in Buttsbury D’s 7-3 triumph over Hatfield Peverel C.

Farooq Ahmed won all three single matches as OCA D edged a tight fixture 6-4 against Galleywood D – Nathan Blore and Nick Rounce both won twice for Galleywood.

Maldon B cruised to a 10-0 home win over Chelmsford G with Marty Englander, Brian Riedling and Chris Ravenhill all three-match winners, while Highwood A and Danbury K fought out a close encounter as the latter took a 6-4 win back to Danbury.

Hutton B hold a 15-point lead with a game in hand in division five as they registered a 9-1 win at ARU thanks to trebles from Gheorghe Nita and Charlie Gould.

As the affectionate saying goes: “If anyone can, Ron Tam can” and he certainly delivered for Writtle F by hitting a treble in their 8-2 away win at OCA E.

Richard Drozd also went undefeated though his Hatfield Peverel D side were held to a 5-5 draw at Peverel’s E team – Davina Brazier and Jackie Treacy won two singles matches each.

Martin Goddard won all three in Highwood B’s 6-4 home win over Hatfield Peverel F, Mike Pitt backed Goddard up with two wins while David Benstead earned two victories for Peverel. Goddard and Pitt recovered from 2-1 down to take the doubles encounter with Benstead and Peter Hughes 3-2.