Any lingering hopes Sudbury Nomads may have had of wresting Netts A’s Braintree Table Tennis League title from them were emphatically extinguished when the two met for a second time.
Netts’ 8-2 win was as convincing as it looks and left the champions 20 points clear at the top. Paul Davison was at his most devastating. He was never stretched beyond 11-6 in any of his nine games and conceded a total of only 34 points throughout the evening.
Andy Dosher also won his three sets, although he was stretched to four games twice, while Nomads’ only consolation was that Andy Holmes could not follow suit, losing to Aron Jordan and Richard Fifield.
The most notable feature of Liberal A’s 8-2 win over Netts B was the sight of Peter Hayden’s name on the scorecard for the first time since his knee operation in November. Not yet the vintage Hayden, but good enough to take two sets.
He said afterwards: ‘It’s healing nicely and muscle is building well. I just haven’t got the work into it in terms of any endurance. I was knackered taking my tracksuit off!’
It was Chris Parr who got the better of him, but he lost to Scott Dowsett, who took all three for Liberal.
Liberal’s B team shared the points with Sudbury Wanderers in a merry-go-round of a match. For Liberal, David Razzell and Ashley Skeggs won two and Garry Fryatt one while Wanderers’ Ian Shrubsole won twice with David Hitchen and Colin Moss picking up one each.
Not so much a merry-go-round as a steep slide for Black Notley B when facing their own A team. Alesha Ellis-Austin, Roger Hance and Steve Noble took all ten for the A team.
Division two continues to entertain. This week it was Netts D’s turn to bounce back after sinking to the bottom. They rose from 10th to sixth place with a 7-3 win over third-placed Rayne D. They were indebted to a surge of form from Clive Forster, who took his three singles after a run of only four wins in his 15 outings so far this season.
The other major jumpers were Notley C, who recovered the four places they lost the previous week with an 8-2 win over Finchingfield A. Jamie Brooks was unbeaten with Matt Brooks and Lawrence Grantham scoring twice.
Sudbury Strollers, still behind on their matches, again showed their potential with a 6-4 win over second-placed Netts C. David Fiddeman stretched his unbeaten record to 18 sets.
Netts C’s defeat enabled Rayne C to stretch their lead at the top to 31 points (from one more match) with a 7-3 win over Yeldham Whitlocks A.