ECC 'C' have found the going tough in division two of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League but they went some way towards giving themselves a relegation life-line with a vital 7-3 win over clubmates ECC 'D'.

Colin Blore produced an inspired performance to remain undefeated while Bryn Thomas repeated the feat to leave ECC C comfortable winners.

Baddow Village B did well to get the better of OCs A 6-4 - good going as they were a player short.

An unbeaten Adrian Pitt was their matchwinner, his trio of wins including close fought successes over both Robbie Burton and John Watts.

First division relegation prospects Danbury C did well to draw 5-5 with Hatfield Peverel A.

Hard-bat ace Dave Finlayson completed his trio of wins with an excellent 21-14, 21-16 victory over Peter Brownlow to earn his side a share of the spoils.

Maldon B appear to have hit a sticky patch, and lost 6-4 to Billericay, despite the efforts of Barry Mays who was undefeated and they were unable to register against ECC A, losing 10-0.

Jon Batchford came closest, pushing Dave Window all the way to 25-23 in the third.

Boreham were good value as they beat Billericay 7-3. Steve Northcott and Peter Barrett were both undefeated and both included wins over Ray Murray in their trio of successes.

Baddow Village A benefited from Elmtree Graphics A being a player short although none of their players could get anywhere near to Terry Dowsett. Elmtree edged home 6-4.

n Hatfield Peverel D resumed poll-position in division four with a convincing 9-1 win over ECC K and a 10-0 success against Elmtree Graphics B.

Their tried and trusted quartet of Neil Freeman, Malcolm Jacobs, Dave Fillery and Keith Cullen will take a lot of beating in this division.

OCs C are really on a march at present and with Alan Offord and Mick Hayes playing well, they were convincing 8-2 winners over ECC J.

Writtle B just edged ahead 6-4 against Hatfield Peverel C with leading player Paul Haigh undefeated.

His -16,19,19 victory over Guy McKenzie in the last game of the night was the one that prevented Peverel from sharing the points.

Struggling Baddow Village E picked up four vital points against EPHQ who paid the penalty for being a man short.

Unbeaten performances for Geoff Morris and Colin Gooday could mean an upsurge in their side's fortunes,and the 8-2 result was certainly a good one.

n The three cards in for division three involved five ECC teams although the best performance looks to have come from a Richard Hiskey-inspired Excalibur B who were good value for their 7-3 win over ECC E.

Hiskey stayed undefeated while team-mates Dave Moles and Bill Smith both won twice.

Tony Vassallo was ECC E's matchwinner as they beat ECC H 7-3 while ECC F, with Malcolm Storey and Ray Lawrence firing on all cylinders, overpowered ECC G 8-2.

n Sun Life ,who have failed to feature in division five, suddenly burst to life and a rare appearance from Mike Johnston made all the difference against OCs E.

Johnston's three singles successes gave Sun Life the lift they needed and they ran out 7-3 winners.

Danbury J beat both Baddow Village F and Danbury H 7-3.

Jean Chasmer made an excellent contribution in these two matches; her four singles succeses including wins over Hill Dowsett and Kevin Willis.

Danbury H consolidated their mid-table standing with a 7-3 win over OCs D, two singles successes for John Knights, Kevin Willis and Tim Pulham representing a more than satisfactory all-round team-effort.

Writtle E kept up the pressure on the leaders in division six with two big wins, 10-0 against Hatfield Peverel E and 9-1 against Baddow Village H.

The one that got away so often stands out in these situations and Diane Pitt impressed with a fine win over Geoff Baker.

Nevertheless the form of Baker and team-mates Mike Dixon, Russell Downton and Tom Allden was impressive.

ECC M beat Hatfield Peverel F 7-3; slightly disappointing for them as Richard Storey and Alistair Hill both won all their singles.

Julie Hawley was involved in titanic singles battles with Richard Storey and Alistair Hill just going down at 16-in-the-third and 22-20 in-the-third respectively.

Excalibur C were able to afford the luxury of leaving leading player Steve Cheeseman out and still take all four points against Baddow Village H.

James Cheeseman took his three singles while newcomer Peter Bettis made a solid start with two singles wins as Excalibur took the match 8-2.

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