Drama in Division 3 of the Burnham & District Table Tennis Winter League this week as runaway leaders Blackwater C were put under severe pressure in their match with Maldon E – with Maldon’s Tim Huxtable doing the unthinkable and taking a point off the league’s strongest player.

Cold Norton B and Fambridge continued their dominance in the top division this week with powerful performances that see them stretch their lead over the chasing pack.

Fambridge kicked off the week with a 9-1 victory over an unfamiliar Cold Norton A trio. Hat-tricks for Keith Adams and the very in form Mark Stones with Cold Norton’s sole point coming courtesy of Charles Sweeny’s four-set win over the returning John Poysden. The only ‘stretched’ game of the night saw Arron Chandler push Adams into a deciding fifth and final set.

Cold Norton B travelled to Woodham and came away with the spoils in a commanding 8-2 win over the Woodham B side. Both Sam Lowman and Ian Wall went unbeaten all night in singles and doubles, with the rarely seen team captain Dan Anderson picking up the final point that maintains a healthy gap above Fambridge.

In the final division 1 match Cold Norton C continued their fine season with a comfortable 7-3 turnover of Stow Maries A. Arron Chandler equalled his hat-trick from earlier in the week but this time it was all in the W column! Talisman Chandler was well supported by wingmen Kim Shead and Martin Archie who both won two singles.

For Stow, Gary Brignall took a point from Archie, and Ken Sheard scored a last-gasp victory over Shead in the final match of the evening. Brignall and Sheard then combined for a hard fought and surprising doubles point over Chandler and Shead.

The battle for supremacy is really hotting up in Division 2 – with four teams vying for the top two spots. Maldon A continue to lead the pack but they are being hotly pursued by a peloton of Blackwater A, Mapledene C and Woodham C.

Woodham C could have tightened the gap when they faced leaders Maldon A last week – but alas they fell short and may have ruled themselves out of contention for top spot with a momentum-sapping 8-2 loss. Maldon’s defensive king Colin Napper did the most damage as he won all four of his matches – although he was taken all the way to a dramatic fifth set against Chairman Dadswell. Hamish Innes and the pimple purveyor Denis Crapnell both took a brace of wins for Maldon, with their only loss to the exuberant play of Scott Perry.

Blackwater A kept up their drive for promotion with a fine and dandy triumph over Maldon C as both Denis Balic and Neil Freeman recorded trebles – in slightly differing fashions and time no doubt.

Maldon B and Blackwater B played out a 5-5 stalemate with octogenarian Mervyn Perriman displaying the fitness of a man half his age as he recorded yet another hat-trick of hard-fought wins – this week over 14 out of the maximum 15 sets possible. That wasn’t enough for ‘our Merv’ as he also paired up with Louis Gunn for an unexpected but very welcome doubles victory over the division’s top doubles pairing of Colin Barrell & Steve Aspland. Aspland & Barrell made some amends by winning their remaining singles matches to keep the match even stevens.

In the final divisional match of the week the impressive form of Cold Norton E continued with a respectable 6-4 turnover of Stow Maries B. In the singles it was a hard but rewarding evening for Neil Want as he recorded a treble of wins but boy did he make hard work of it as he needed four sets against Peter Hance, and all five against both Nicky Reece-Ford and Adi Kamma. Dick Wyman also had a couple of long battles as he needed five sets to win against both Reece-Ford and Hance.

With Want huffing and puffing from his exertions he was excluded from selection for the doubles, and just as well as this also went to beyond deuce in the fifth set – luckily for Cold Norton E Want’s replacement was the fully fit and energetic teenage prodigy Oscar Wyman and he carried his grandad to a 13-11 final set victory that ultimately wrapped up the slim victory for Cold Norton.

Well, it took 36 matches but finally one brave soul has stood up to the mighty Blackwater C team, and in particular their unbeaten captain Gary Smith who remains odds-on for the Roy Davis Cup for the highest win rate of the regular players in Division 3.

Take a bow Tim Huxtable and his unique away-from-table try-and-get-past-me style. Huxtable was too clever and patient on the night for all three of the Blackwater Galacticos and left the venue with a skip in his step and a pocketful of bragging rights.

Unfortunately, Huxtable’s magic was not enough to garner a win as Smith and Peter Davenport both won their other singles matches for Blackwater, and with Andrea Alleyne defeating Kym Eames and pairing up with Davenport for the doubles the league leaders stumbled to a tight 6-4 victory that maintains their unbeaten status. Their champions-elect status remains firmly intact.

Blackwater D have been pegged back a little in the runner-up stakes following an 8-2 reversal from nearest rivals Maldon D – that man Huxtable was at it again with another hat-trick, but this time his team-mates were there to support his efforts. James Raymond also hit a player-of-the-match treble, including a notable five-setter against the very tricky Roger Tiffin.

Woodham D were delighted to have Jean Chasmer back in the squad and she did not disappoint with an unbeaten four from four evening, matched by team-mate Simon Thomas as they bested Blackwater E 8-2. Diane King wrapped up the points for Woodham with a win over Kath Little.

The two bottom sides went at it this week and Blackwater F’s tight 6-4 victory over St Lawrence has lifted them off the bottom at the expense of the St Lawrence Baysiders. Kudos to Blackwater’s Jason Bush as his hat-trick of singles victories made the difference on the night, with support from David McHattie with two wins and David Gardner chipping in with a solitary point but enough to ensure the Blackwater victory.