For the second year running Rayne A have denied Netts A a double success in the Braintree Table Tennis League by beating them in the semi-final of the team knockout cup.

It was achieved with an entirely different team from last year, when Maria Boulton, Adam Buxton and Paul Lucas took them through. This time it was down to Victor Chan, Steve Pennell and reserve Matthew Brown, who won 5-4.

Paul Davison was missing from the Netts team but on paper a line-up of James Hicks, Andy Holmes and Joe Meleschko looks the stronger combination.

Hicks did his bit by taking his two singles, but two from Brown – able to play up from the C team under the new regulation that allows players who have already represented one team to play one match up – and one each from Chan and Pennell plus the Chan/Pennell doubles was enough to upset the forecasts.

Brown proved he could live in the first division with straight-game wins over Meleschko and Holmes, the latter probably the pivotal point of the match.

The other semi-final was also a repeat of last season, Sudbury Nomads beating Rayne B 5-2.

Karl Baldwin and Richard Fifield both won two out of two.

In the restricted cup, the Black Notley club narrowly failed to get two teams through to the final when their D team were beaten in the final doubles in their semi-final against Netts D.

Graham Chinnery was unbeaten for Notley D but crucially Netts D won all three doubles.

In the final they will face Notley’s C team, who beat Sudbury Drifters 5-3. Jamie Brooks’ two singles and two doubles were instrumental in taking them through, notably his deuce-in-the-third win over David Fiddeman, beaten only once – by Matthew Brown – in the league this year.

Netts F will be aiming to make it five wins in a row for a Netts team in the handicap cup after their 5-1 win over Sudbury Drifters.

James Howard and Tom Verrier won two out of two while Terry Hunneybel’s win (off +3) over Reece Arundell was the only one to disturb the scoreline.

They will play Rayne E, who dealt with Sudbury Strollers 5-3, despite three wins from Ian Whipps.

In the league, Finchingfield B’s unhappy run in division three continued, Rayne C at last stretched their lead to an insurmountable gap in division two while in division one Netts A lost their unbeaten record, then got it back again as a result of an oversight by their opponents.

Taking the last one first, Notley A were congratulating themselves on beating Netts A 6-4 with three wins for Tom Hinds, including the first defeat of the season for Paul Davison. However, Hinds had not been registered and so 6-4 turned into 2-8.

Rayne C’s success in division two, which has looked nailed on for more than half the season, finally became reality last week with a 10-0 win over bottom team Notley D.

Surprisingly it was their first 10-0 win of the season – and Notley D’s first defeat by that score.

In division three, one-time leaders Finchingfield B played twice but could not arrest their winless streak, now four in a row and seven out of nine.

They drew with Yeldham Whitlocks B and then lost 7-3 to Rayne F, where Alastair Brown’s late-season form surge continued with his first unbeaten evening of the season.

Elsewhere in division one, Liberal A turned out one of their strongest teams of the season – Scott Dowsett and Adam Cuthbert in tandem – to register an 8-2 win over Notley A that took them above Netts B, who were beaten 9-1 at Rayne A.

The Rayne team not only included a third appearance for Paul Lucas but a welcome return for Adam Buxton for his first match of the season.

At the other end of the table, a surprise 8-2 win for Notley B over Liberal B lifted them to within four points of Sudbury Wanderers, who drew with Rayne B, for whom Adi Kamma was unbeaten.

The concertina effect in the middle of division two has now squeezed down to just six points between second place and ninth.

Three teams, Netts C, Notley C and Rayne D, are level on points immediately behind the leaders.

Netts C unexpectedly tumbled 8-2 to Finchingfield A, where John Barrett and Peter Clark were unbeaten, while Rayne D were also on the wrong end of a scoreline, in their case 6-4 against Sudbury Strollers, who borrowed Graham Turner from the third division and were rewarded with his three singles.

In division three, Notley E need only one point to secure the title after their 9-1 win over Rayne G.

Netts F increased the likelihood of finishing third with a 6-4 win over Rayne F, the team just behind them, a position enhanced by one more point in rearranged matches when they beat Rayne G 8-2 while Rayne F dropped three points against Finchingfield B.

Yeldham B and Notley H shared the points while Notley F racked up their first 10-0 of the season with a win over Sudbury Drifters, an occasion also marked by Wendy Day’s first unbeaten evening in her first full season of competitive table tennis.