News & Views from the Colchester Table Tennis League
with Press Officer Martyn Green

29th September-2009
TOLLESBURY RIDING HIGH

With six wins from their first six matches, Tollesbury A and B are first and second in Division Three of the Colchester and District Table Tennis League. Ironically it is the ‘B’ team that lead the way, one point clear of the ‘A’ team, following a 10-0 thrashing of St Mary’s B. Four of the games went the full five set distance but Rob King, John Moore and Martyn Lewis won them all as the ‘A’ team won 9-1 with Roger Clarke maintaining his unbeaten start to the season, without dropping a set on the night. Paul Freeman was their other maximum man as no member of the Tollesbury club has won less than two so far! H20 Rowhedge F finally got their season going with an 8-2 win over Pegasus D to move third. Nigel Claydon took his first maximum since his comeback, with only Nigel Parmenter showing any resistance, winning two. Dedham are fourth with veteran George Berry pulling out all the stops to win his three as well as securing a last gasp win in the doubles, 14-12 in the fifth end to earn a 5-5 draw with Walton E, who are fifth.

The Lawford Table Tennis Club are also enjoying an excellent start to the season with their C team top of Division Four, unbeaten. St Mary’s C held them to a 5-5 draw but could not stop Len Betts taking his second maximum. H20 Rowhedge G are one point behind with a game in hand as they won 9-1 twice in a row, this time it as Gt Horkesley E that suffered. Sam Burrows is their star player with a one hundred percent record, as James Elms-Larkin joined him, unbeaten on this occasion. New boys the University of Essex have a complete set of results from their first three matches as they drew 5-5 with Gt Horkesley E despite fielding only two players. Rob Bozier is leading the Division averages with nine straight wins as his team move up to third. CRGS beat Pegasus E 6-4 despite Stan Flint’s best efforts, winning his three games.

Steve Kerns was the toast of Rayne downing all three of Division One leaders, H20 Rowhedge A, dropping just a single set. However, Rowhedge called upon Kevin Gowlett, a fellow Division One player, a policy which caused much controversy last season, to win the rest of the night’s encounters, running out 7-3 winners. Hot on their heals are St Mary’s A who also called on their squads strength in depth, hammering H20 Rowhedge C 10-0. Trevor Carter making his first Colchester appearance in two years was in commanding form undefeated, as was Gary Young and Greg Green. Gt Horkesley A are also unbeaten and a very strong team including Suffolk ’s Jake Collins made light work of H20 Rowhedge B 8-2. Player of the night however, was Aimee Sparks, who like Collins won her three, the pair beating Andrews and Moss at both singles and doubles. Walton A beat their ‘B’ team 9-1 with Colin Stallwood and John Rice both undefeated. Gt Horkesley B and Walton C shared the points with the wily Ken Lewis winning three.

As in Division Three, two teams from the same club are first and second in the second tier with the ‘B’ team topping the table following a 6-4 win over their ‘A’ team. Graham Mortimer took his third maximum but Luke Swain sealed the win with an excellent four set defeat of the prolific Mark Nowers. The Pegasus team conclude the club review as both teams continue to struggle. Steve Noble regained some pride for the ‘A’ team winning three in a 5-5 draw with St Peters and the ‘B’ team went down 6-4 at to H20 Rowhedge I. Alan Burgess unsurprisingly won three whilst Andrew Harvey picked up two good wins that included the defeat of Toby Turner.