Another commanding heavy win this week for Cold Norton B sees their grip tighten on the championship in the top Division of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League. 

Something has changed since the recent nuptials of Cold Norton B’s Sam Lowman (pictured above) – he is more centred, more zen, and more devastatingly accurate on the ping pong table.

In the last two rounds of the league he has won all six of his matches, dropping just a single set, and this week he was in thrilling form taking a ‘nine-dart’ treble without a hint of trouble from his Woodham opponents who simply had no answer to the power and accuracy of the Lowman phenomenon.  

Team Supremo Dan Anderson joined the treble action but had a more difficult time of it – needing to come from 0-2 down against Eamonn Hall in his opening game and then holding his nerve to thwart a comeback from Sanjay Saptarshi to win that one in four sets.  

Saptarshi had briefly rattled the Cold Norton steam train when he took the opening match against Eric Green, but that was just a stumble as the coals were soon fired up and the results just came flying in. 

Fambridge had seemed the most likely challengers to Cold Norton but they stumbled again this week, losing out 3-7 to an unexpectedly very strong Cold Norton A trio featuring Duncan Taylor and Kevin Read. 

Read hit an impressive hat-trick and Taylor took two wins, losing out in straight sets to John Poysden, with the mercurial Matt Stringer taking a point against the all-or-nothing Bruce Kettle.  

To complete the victory streak for the Cold Norton Club the C team travelled the short distance to Stow Maries A and came away with an 8-2 scoreline in their favour. Kim Shead was the star player, out-foxing all of his opponents, with able support from Martin Archie and Tim Cramphorn, who both bagged a brace of points. Stow’s Gary Brignall took the only points for the home team.

In Division 2, Maldon A put paid to the growing sense of optimism in the Woodham C camp with a soul destroying 8-2 victory this week. Maldon stalwarts Hamish Innes and Colin Napper both hit hat-tricks whilst newly promoted Ross Kirby bagged two wins, just losing out in five sets to Tim Pulham. Maldon did win all three of the other five-setters though.

Top dogs Mapledene C carried on their impressive form with the same 8-2 scoreline as nearest rivals Maldon A and so maintained their slender lead – for now. Andy Seaman came out on top with three good wins, with team-mates Pat White and Dennis Squirrell winning two apiece – all this against a very good Norton trio where Tony Forster suffered a nasty self-inflicted facial injury, and the usually dominant Neil Want went home empty-handed. Not a great evening for the away team. 

However, the following day Want represented the E team and scored a hat-trick. The Cold Norton E team recorded a 7-3 triumph over Stow Maries B with both Want and Forster coming out with trebles – what a difference a day makes. 

In the remaining mid-table matches, Marty Englander was back to his best leading the Maldon C team to a 6-4 turnover of Blackwater A, and it was teamwork for Blackwater B in their 6-4 victory over Maldon B as all three players scored singles points and Louis Gunn and Merv Perriman paired up for the crucial doubles win. Steve Aspland, so often the main points scorer for his Maldon outfit, has hit full form at last with a hat-trick in this one and many more now predicted.

Blackwater C are cruising along at present and have the only 100% record left in the third division with four wins on the bounce. This week they rudely threw their own D team under the Blackwater bus with a crushing 9-1 defeat.  

It was left to Jacqui Treacy to stop the whitewash with a last-gasp victory over Andrea Alleyne in the only five-setter of the whole match. Relatively straightforward hat-tricks for the C team’s Gary Smith and Neil Thompson. 

Woodham D had their best performance of the season so far with an emphatic 9-1 win over Blackwater F with Jean Chasmer and Reece Arundell going unbeaten all evening, Peter Hughes taking the sole point for Blackwater against Diane King.  

Dave Bateman was the class act for the St Lawrence baysiders this week with an undefeated trio of wins as he led his team to a 6-4 tight victory over Maldon E. The final match saw the night’s two unbeaten protagonists take to the table – Bateman versus John Leavett. With everyone else itching to get home and happy to take the draw, Bateman had other ideas and strung out that first leg to 20-18, that was enough for Leavett and he capitulated and allowed everyone to get home before midnight! 

Maldon D came out 7-3 winners in the Friday night showcase against Blackwater E – hat-tricks for both Shirley Carroll and James Raymond. Third player Luca Riedling was unlucky not to register in his match with Phil West where he had several opportunities to close out the contest in the fourth and fifth sets but sometimes that’s just how it goes – as the final legs went 15-17, and then 11-13 to West.