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

26th January-2009
DIVISION THREE TITLE RACE HOTS UP AS ST PETERS SLIP UP AGAIN!

Whatever St Peters players got up to at Christmas it hasn’t done their title aspirations in the Colchester & District Table Tennis League Division Three a lot of good! Three straight defeats has seen a twelve point lead dissolve to just three with a trio of teams vying for second place in the closest of all promotion races. Lowly Pegasus D were their latest tormenters beating them 6-4 with Nigel Parmenter starring, winning his three singles and assisting in the doubles win. Lawford B failed to cash in going down 8-2 at home to Dedham with a rare defeat for Mark Nowers by the wily George Berry, who is unbeaten in fifteen games. A totally different team was fielded by Dedham at Pegasus C who took full advantage in joining Lawford in second, winning 9-1 with Paul Woolnough and Sandy Isaac both undefeated. This feat was repeated by both Isaac and her team against Lawford C, with the Marks Tey team only losing out on the doubles. Pegasus C may soon lose the services of Woolnough however, as he may be called upon further for their ‘A’ team as a replacement for the injured Steve Noble. Tollesbury B went one better whitewashing CRGS A 10-0 to complete the set of four teams vying for promotion.

The picture is entirely different in Division Four with H20 Rowhedge H running away with it, fourteen points clear thanks to another win at Lawford E 7-3. Brett Angel won his three for the fourth time, dropping just one set on the way. They also disposed of Lawford D with Grant Donaldson continuing his good form in an 8-2 win. Gt Horkesley E have finally moved into second place following a 7-3 win over their ‘D’ team with Chris Jones and Denise Thompson once again undefeated. It was H20 Rowhedge H who relinquished the second promotion spot after a 9-1 disaster at CRGS B with Joshua Chan, Bernard Young and Anders Au Yeung all winning three, the latter two players both for the first time. Rowhedge made some amends with a 7-3 win against Pegasus E with no player unbeaten.

In the top flight Gt Horkesley A are back on top as they overcame a stubborn St Mary’s A 7-3 with Richard Goodhand now unbeaten in the second half. His team performed adequately without him against their ‘B’ team winning 7-3 although Ian Brown proved a thorn in their side as won a very good three. H20 Rowhedge B won 10-0 for the second consecutive week, albeit against a two-player Rayne. The Rowhedge C team have only lost once, and they beat Walton A 6-4 despite Colin Stallwood’s best efforts as all three of his wins went the full five set distance! Walton also lost to H20 Rowhedge A, 7-3 thanks to maximums from Kevin Gowlett and Alan Burgess playing up. Good news for Walton C as they recorded a rare win against fellow strugglers Gt Horkesley B 8-2 with David Hall and Paul Meikle unbeaten.

Division Two Leaders H20 Rowhedge D extended their unbeaten league record to twelve with further wins over third placed Walton D 8-2 and Pegasus B 9-1. Walton youngster Mark Smith beat junior rival Toby Turner whilst Turner recorded an excellent win over the experienced Fred Button in the opening game of the night. Phil Smith was imperious in both matches, squeezing past Turner 13-11 in the fifth end whilst his son once again impressed against Walton’s John Hobson, downed 11-9 in the final set in one of his two victories. Despite beating Gt Horkesley C 6-4, Walton remain behind them by one point, with Wuidong Liu again winning his three.