NEITHER of the front runners in division two of the Chelmsford and District Table Tennis League enjoyed the best of weeks.

The leaders, Chelmsford A, were held to a draw by Writtle B. Waseem Qureshi held the Chelmsford side together by winning his three singles, while Writtle’s Matthew Brown scored a notable win over Peter Barrett.

Hylands School A were pushed to see off Hatfield Peverel C 6-4. 2011 Chelmsford under-21 champion Brandon Crouchman won his three singles although Combination bat exponent Chris Buer made his mark for Hatfield Peverel.

He scored two excellent wins over Father and Son duo Terry Dowsett (11-7, 11-8, 11-2) and Scott Dowsett (11-5, 11-5, 11-5).

ECC B, tying desperately to avoid relegation, came up trumps by beating Hatfield Peverel B 8-2.

Good performances all round from Gary Brignall (three wins), Trevor Collin (three wins) and Simon Webber (two wins).

Elsewhere, third placed OCs A beat Chelmsford B 7-3. Steve Northcott and Robbie Burton were both undefeated for the Old Boys. Second-placed Rawreth & Hullbridge A stumbled again in division one. They lost 7-3 to Maldon B for whom Paul Sayer was unbeaten.

Rawreth’s Charles Sweeney made his mark by scoring excellent wins over Peter Ballard and Paul Stephens.

Runaway division three leaders ECC D despatched Danbury C 10-0 and OCS B 8-2. Bryn Thomas, James Hicks and Colin Blore all recorded hat-tricks against Danbury while Hicks retained his 100 per cent record against OCs B. Adrian North showed up well for the losers by winning twice.

Danbury C fared better against their D side and drew 5-5. Mo Hardy, who has been on fine form in recent weeks, won his three singles against Herbie Smith, Peter Hance and Norman Smith. Elmtree Excalibur D had their top player Richard Hiskey to thank as they beat bottom side Writtle C 7-3. Hiskey had a close call against Colin Griffiths before edging home 9-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 while team-mate Nicola Pippen was extended even more before she beat Brian Steward 11-8, 11-6,5-11, 5-11, 14-12.

Fourth-placed OCs C were 6-4 winners against Chelmsford D. The undefeated Roy Moore was their match-winner.

Elmtree Excalibur E are very close to being crowned Champions in division five. Steve Cheesman, Tony Hallett and John Marshall were all unbeaten as they hammered Danbury K 10-0.

The 5-5 draw between Hatfield Peverel D and EPHQ was well contested with EPHQ winning three of the four games decided in the fifth end.

Ian Hockley won his three singles and this included a 7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9 victory over Gareth Davies. Team-work was the order of the day as OCs F beat Chelmsford G 7-3. Tom Adam, Matt Newton and Farooq Ahmed all won twice to counter Oliver Hicks’s excellent trio of wins for Chelmsford G.

In division six Writtle D emerged as 7-3 winners over Chelmsford H. Both Kevin Barber and Martin Goddard remained unbeaten.