Duncan Taylor fired a treble while Kevin Read chipped in with two wins as Writtle A tasted victory in division one for the first time since October.

Writtle are now 13 points clear of bottom side Galleywood A as Taylor and Read appeared together in the league for the first time in over a year. Galleywood have two matches in hand over their fellow strugglers.

Division 1

Division 1 leaders Old Chelmsfordians A saw their lead cut to 10 points despite a fine 7-3 away win at third-placed Danbury A. OCA’s Mark Mulley led the way with three wins while Danbury’s Dave Richardson prevented Paul Lucas earning his own hat-trick with a 12-10 deciding game triumph.

Second-placed Chelmsford A cruised to a 10-0 home win over Danbury C with Kaung Htet Paing, Josh Bickles and Harry Chivers doing the business for the hosts. Great to see Duncan Taylor and Kevin Read back in tandem together for Writtle A who won the battle of the bottom two teams – Taylor won all three and Read won two as Writtle beat Galleywood A 7-3. Teammate Ryan Pitt was involved in two five-gamers – beating Gary Brignall but falling victim of a Peter Barrett fightback despite leading 2-0.

Chelmsford B beat the two-person team of Danbury B 7-3 – the opening two contests of the evening both went to five games, David Penrose beat Wiktor Delimat and Kim Shead saw off a Sam Lowman recovery from 2–0 down.

Standings div 1: 1: Old Chelmsfordians A 130 points (from 17 matches), 2: Chelmsford A 120 points (17 matches), 3: Danbury A 101 points (18 matches).

Division 2

In division two, Maldon A threw a spanner in the works of Chelmsford C’s title aspirations with a 6-4 away win on Monday night. There were no undefeated players on the night though Maldon’s Lloyd Bennett-Smith went closest – being thwarted by Waseem Qureshi in a fifth-game decider.

Mick Richardson fired a hat-trick for OCA B in their 6-4 home win against Danbury E. Richardson beat both Dick Wyman and Tim Cramphorn in three straight games but had to recover from 2-0 down to get the better of Neil Want. Wyman and Michael Hayes were also involved in a five-game decider which went in the favour of Danbury’s Wyman.

John Webber and John Parodi won three matches apiece as Writtle C prevailed 6-4 at Danbury G. All three of Parodi’s wins were earned in deciding games while two of Webbers also went the distance. Danbury’s Mervyn Perriman was the recipient of five-game losses at the hands of both Parodi and Webber but put behind that disappointment to down John Gagg.

Gus Heath and Steve Buer scored hat-tricks as Danbury F beat Chelmsford D 8-2. Heath’s toughest match was his opening contest with Adi Kamma which he secured in a deciding game – Kamma went on to see five-game action in his other two matches – beating Chris Buer but then seeing a 2-1 lead slip against Steve Buer.

Standings div 2: 1: Chelmsford C 111 points (from 17 matches), 2: Hatfield Peverel A 103 points (from 16 matches), 3: Writtle C 87 points (16 matches)

Division 3

The five-point gap at the top of division three was maintained as leaders Galleywood B and second-placed Buttsbury A posted identical 7-3 wins on the road in week 25.

John Holland and Mark Glenister won three apiece for Galleywood at OCA C, while Jamie Elliott and Evie Knaapen did likewise for Buttsbury at Hatfield Peverel B.

It was an unbeaten evening for the Danbury H trio of Ian Whiteside, Alan Scammell and Peter Lucraft as they cruised to a 10-0 away win at Writtle E, while a Sami Osman hat-trick helped Chelmsford F to an 8-2 away win at Danbury K.

Standings div 3: 1: Galleywood B 119 points (from 16 matches), 2: Buttsbury A 114 points (16 matches), 3: Danbury H 87 points (from 15 matches).

Division 4

Division four leaders Galleywood C had their feet up this week and were able to sit back and enjoy watching second-placed Chelmsford G and third-placed Maldon B go toe-to-toe. Cleon Fernandes was yet again the driving force behind Chelmsford G’s victory as his treble backed up by two wins by Grace Liu earned the hosts a 6-4 triumph over the team from Maldon.

David Newman hit a hat-trick as OCA D posted an 8-2 home win over Hatfield Peverel C – Peverel’s Peter Mortensen saw two victories earned for the visitors.

Melanie Bonnett didn’t drop a game as she won all three singles matches in Highwood A’s 6-4 win over Danbury L. Bonnett was well supported by Roger Patient who was denied a third win of the night in his 14-12, 8-11, 13-15, 12-10, 10-12 loss to Greg Cooper.

Standings div 4: 1: Galleywood C 124 points (from 15 matches), 2: Chelmsford G 102 matches (from 15 matches), 3: Maldon B 90 points (from 14 matches)

Division 5

Division five leaders Danbury M moved closer to the title with a 9-1 home win over OCA E – David Smith and Graham Naggs scoring trebles while OCA’s Stuart Wintle downed Steve Martin 15-13 in their fifth-game decider.

The clash between second-placed Chelmsford J and third-placed Buttsbury C ended in a 5-5 draw – Buttsbury’s Richard Pond earned a hat-trick with a 3–0 win over Amir Chetitah, 3-1 win over Mark Nolan and a 3-2 win over Elliot Hawthorne. Pond’s success against Hawthorne was after trailing 2-0.

Chelmsford H moved above Buttsbury into third place thanks to a 7-3 away win at Writtle F – Writtle’s Michael Anthony went unbeaten for the hosts though he had to recover from 2-1 down to beat Shengbing Zhu.

Kelvin Edeh lost just one game on the night as his treble lead Anglia Ruskin to a 6-4 victory against Maldon C. The closest singles match of the night was Maldon’s James Raymond beating ARU’s Connor Case 3-2.

Nick Rounce scored his second hat-trick in four matches since his transfer to Galleywood D though he saw his side fall to a 7-3 away loss to Highwood B. Rounce beat Keith Pallett in three, Nicola Pippen in four and David Cockrell in five – Cockrell had recovered from 2-0 down but lost out 11-9 in the decider.

Standings div 5: 1: Danbury M 118 points (from 16 matches), 2: Chelmsford J 94 points (16 matches), 3: Chelmsford H 84 points (from 15 matches).

Chelmsford Junior League division 2A

Chelmsford Cougars beat second-placed Hutton Hawks 3-2 thanks to an unbeaten showing from Joshua Freeman. Freeman got the better of Charlie Ware 3-1 before beating Charlie Gould with the same scoreline. Freeman and Amir Chetitah then fended off a comeback from Ware and Gould in the doubles to prevail in the decider.

Freeman didn’t drop a game in either of his matches for Chelmsford Eagles as they beat leaders Buttsbury Bears 3-2. Teammate Ben Robinson fought back from 2-1 down to beat Vivaan Babbar while Babbar’s teammate Callum Walker edged out Robinson 12-10 in the deciding game of their match.

Standings CJL 2A: 1: Buttsbury Bears 13 points (from 4 matches), 2: Hutton Hawks 12 points (4 matches)

Chelmsford Junior League division 2B

Lewis Woods won twice as his Buttsbury Bulldogs remained top thanks to a 4-1 win against the Chelmsford Leopards. Teammate Thomas Lewis beat Damon Chow but missed out in a close game with George Matthews.

William Guilloux’s two wins weren’t enough to prevent the Chelmsford Tigers falling to a 3-2 defeat at home to second-placed Hutton Harriers – Guilloux was taken to a decider in his first match of the afternoon against Martis Heyes.

Standings CJL 2B: 1: Buttsbury Bulldogs 15 points (from 4 matches), 2: Hutton Harriers 13 points (4 matches)

Chelmsford Junior League division 2C

Ethan Collins won both of his matches as the top-of-the-table clash between the perfect Chelmsford Jaguars and Chelmsford Panthers ended in a 3-2 win for the Panthers. Collins had to fight back from a 2-1 deficit to overcome Ethan Li and then teamed with Henry Mansell to win the crucial doubles encounter in three straight games.

The Hutton Hornets bounced back from three 5-0 losses to post a 5-0 win over the Chelmsford Rhinos. Casper Norris dropped just one game in his two victories while Theo Rugg fought back from 2-1 down to beat Theo Peiris. Peiris and Rohan Rakesh took a 2-1 lead in the doubles only for Norris and Rugg to take the final two games.

Standings CJL 2C: 1: Chelmsford Panthers 18 points (from 4 matches), 2: Chelmsford Jaguars 17 points (4 matches)

Chelmsford Junior League division 2D

Two wins apiece for Archie Spurrier and Taylor Cumber guided the Chelmsford Pumas to a 5-0 home win over the Hutton Hares. Spurrier saw a 2-0 lead in his first match against Mitchell Petre disappear before winning the decider.

Shay Coughlan won twice as the Buttsbury Bats beat the Chelmsford Lions 4-1. Coughlan had to recover from 2-0 down to take the victory from Bernard Chow in the opening encounter of the afternoon, later he teamed with Ethan Bird for victory having trailed 2-1 in the doubles.

Standings CJL 2D: 1: Buttsbury Bats 16 points (from 4 matches), 2: Chelmsford Pumas 15 points (4 matches)