The game of leapfrog at the lower end of division two of the Braintree Table Tennis League continues apace.

In the latest set of matches, one team jumped from eighth to fourth by beating the team one place above them, one leaped from bottom to fifth with a win against the team four points ahead of them and another team suffered a totally unexpected 10-0 defeat to slump from fourth to eighth.

Finchingfield A, who footed the table for some time after losing their first five matches, are now fourth after a win over Black Notley D. An unbeaten Peter Clark was the man in form.

Yeldham Whitlocks A made sure their stay at the bottom did not last long by beating Rayne E 7-3. Roy Hooper and Doug Sanders were unbeaten in the singles and combined to win the doubles.

The big fallers were Notley C, who unaccountably failed to score against Rayne D, who they had beaten 9-1 earlier in the season, with only one change of personnel on each side. Lewis Armstrong-Kirton and Peter Rickwood both beat Jamie Brooks and Lawrence Grantham, who they had lost to first time around.

Netts D have now taken their turn at the bottom after losing 8-2 to leaders Rayne C.

In division one, Netts A increased their lead at the top with a 9-1 win over their own B team while second-placed Sudbury Nomads beat Notley A 7-3.

Notley’s Sam Burrows had his best night of the season in the latter match, winning all three.

There was also a first treble of the season for Steve Pennell in Rayne A’s 6-4 win over Notley B.

After dropping to their first defeat a week earlier, division three title hopefuls Finchingfield B improved their chances with a 10-0 win over Notley F while leaders Notley E dropped three points to their own G team.

Finchingfield’s win was notable for the unusual line-up in the doubles when a father and son, Ray Bradford and Lucien Nolan-Bradford, faced father and son Victor and Jonathan Acharya.

Their defeat had come at the hands of Netts F, when they were only able to field two players. Stewart Grant, making a return after a lengthy injury lay-off, and Trevor Laird won two for Finchingfield while James Howard and Tom Verrier did likewise for Netts F, who won the match 6-4.

Netts F were held to a draw by Sudbury Drifters in their next while Rayne F, their rivals for third place, beat Yeldham B 8-2. Dave Whiting was unbeaten

It was a good night for Chris High, who remained unbeaten in Rayne G’s 6-4 win over Notley H.