At the end of my second season as Social Secretary.  It is great to see so many members making use of the facilities at Melbourne, it is also exciting to see a number of new faces turning up and playing table tennis.  I am getting slightly worried that the Club is losing it’s Social status on Friday Nights, due to the length of the hall.  Any ideas/suggestions of how this can be improved would be most appreciated.

After a slow start on the social side of the Club, I started things rolling with a Christmas Party at Melbourne with our General Secretary ‘volunteering’ to dress up for beat the Santa.

This year’s Club Tournament was slightly disappointing in numbers that entered/turned up, this might be due to the change of dates because of the Easter Holidays this year.  All in all, there were 34 members that turned up for the 3 events.  The Tom Burns Trophy was entered by 31 players, with Adrian Pitt, Andrew Orme, Rykki Vansertima and Neil Gooday all reaching the Semi Finals.  15 junior players entered the Ted Harris Trophy, with Sam Pitt and Bradley Hudgell reaching the final.  20 players entered the Purkiss Robinson Trophy, with Neil Gooday and Haydn Upson reaching the final against Sam Pitt and Ron Arthur.

This year the Club Tournament held a Finals Night, which I believed worked well.  Any comments on this would be most appreciated.  The Tom Burns First Semi Finals was between Adrian Pitt and Andrew Orme, with Andrew starting 14–0 up in each game.  Adrian used a variety of spinney serves and a lot of heavy topspin loops saw Adrian make it through to the final 21-19, 21–14.  The Tom Burns Second Semi Final was between Rykki Vansertima and Neil Gooday, with Rykki starting 11–0 up in each game.  With a slow start Neil came through strong to win against Rykki using a lot of spin and placement in his shots.  Neil won 10–21, 21–15, 21–15. 

The Ted Harris Trophy Final was between Sam Pitt and Bradley Hudgell, with Bradley starting 1–0 up in each game.  Bradley is one of the most improved players this year, and proved this by beating Sam 11-5, 11-4, 11-2.  The Purkiss Robinson Doubles Final was between Neil Gooday and Haydn Upson against Sam Pitt and Ron Arthur.  Neil Gooday and Haydn Upson triumphed 11-4, 11-8, 11-4.

The final of the Tom Burns Trophy was between two of the best players at the Club.  They are Adrian Pitt and Neil Gooday, both on the same handicap played from scratch.  In the first game Neil dominated to win 21-14 with Adrian struggling to find his form.  In the second game Neil was up 18-10 and it looked all over, but a slight change of tactics and play by Adrian saw him sneak it 21-18.  The third and final game was very tight in the early stages with neither player pulling ahead, but with a few good serves Adrian saw himself build up a few point lead and finally won the Tom Burns Trophy 21-16 in the final game.

The results were:

Ted Harris: -

The Club entered 8 senior and 5 junior teams into the Chelmsford & District League for the 2004/05 season, and also 3 junior teams in the Introductory League, CLICK. It was at times a job fitting them all into the hall!

With Adrian swapping with Neil, we expected to comfortably maintain a mid table position in Division 2.  However at the half way stage with 13 points out of a possible 36 and rooted at the bottom of the table, it was certainly not the start we expected to see.  Amazing the number of teams we played who when they found out where we were, said “you’re better than that!” – we thought that but we were still bottom.  There had been some close matches with 2 draws, a number of 6:4’s against and disappointingly an 8:2 loss to our ‘A’ team.

After a determined team talk at the half way stage, the team won the next 7 matches with 23 points out of a possible 28.  (Alex Ferguson has nothing on me!). In a number of the matches we were able to overturn a previous 4:6 to our advantage, however the one that stands out is our 6:4 over the ‘A’ side – a game that is still being talked about.

Statistically, the captain (as you would expect) played a crucial innings winning 2 out of 3 in the second half giving him an overall percentage of 53%.  Julie played consistently throughout the season, although again slightly better stats in the second half, but overall finished with 58%.  Adrian also finished strongly with 69% for the season.  Amazingly the doubles was one of the strong points for the team and with the captain being selective on pairings, it was difficult to say who were the most successful – perhaps it will be revealed next year.

A stop, start season, not helped by fewer games than ever. Duncan Elloy was our star player, backed up by Graham, Alastair and occasionally myself. We struggled to get a side out some weeks and my thanks to Mike Johnston who filled in and did very well indeed. At one time in the first half we were at the top, but in such a close division we soon found ourselves in the relegation zone.  It was down to the last game of the season when we won 6–4 at ECC. (Thanks to Mike again) That we avoided relegation.

Having obtained promotion last year the season started by looking as if it could be a real tough one with just 3 players available. The 3rd division proved to be a very close and competitive division. And although we didn't set the world alight in the first half we weren't far out either finishing the half in the bottom half of the division but with only a few points separating top from bottom.  All that was to change however. With Gareth already enjoying a purple patch into the line up came Steve Muth from (Romford). And what an acquisition, Steve finished the season dropping just 1 singles. In such a close division progress up the table was rapid. Right at the last promotion was possible, but it needed a win against fellow promotion rivals OC's B in the last match to secure it. Sadly only a draw was possible and as a result neither team went up! The real damage however had been done in the previous week when as a result of not being able to field a full side we slipped to defeat against Danbury. That defeat meant that although we finished with equal points to Bocking they were placed above us having won more matches. A great season and really exciting finish!

The team was first announced with only three players consisting of Ryan Pitt, who was already playing in this division, Bob Francis and myself who were moving up from division 5. The season was always going to have problems as I already had 5 weeks of holiday booked and as it turned out was missing for another 5 weeks, which meant that we were going to rely for a number of games on players stepping up from lower divisions. We were lucky to then get Ray Lawrence allocated to the team to cover the early part of the season which got us off to a flying start with a maximum points victory in the first game and another three points in the second. Then we played Danbury twice managing only two points. Indeed Danbury were in many ways our Achilles heal as with three teams in the Division we only managed a total of 7 points from the six games against the club and they were also responsible for eliminating us from a cup competition. Ray soon had won more than his allowed quota playing in higher divisions and this meant us often relying on others to make up the team. We are grateful to Laura Pyman, David Gatheral and Mike Robinson who all won games for us and to Adam Pitt and Ricky Vansertima who also acquitted themselves well when they were called upon. As with several divisions for a large part of the season it was all very tight with no team pulling away and we found ourselves sitting in the top three positions for some weeks. However we started to loose ground but never to a position where we were likely to be relegated and finished with a total of 33 points in seventh place. Thank you to my team mates for an enjoyable season with Ryan playing in all but one of the league and cup games and Bob who acquitted himself very well for his first year in this division.

Disappointing is perhaps the best word to describe this year.  On paper we looked like quite a good and experienced side, especially with the introduction of Peter Sun for his first full season with the Club.  But with the inability of Mike Robinson to play in home matches we were immediately up against it.  Although we were able to recruit an addition to the ranks in the form of Lin Jun his lack of recent match practice showed, thus not helping the overall cause. As a result we struggled for most of the season, not helped by a couple of occasions when due to player shortage we were forced to concede.  In the end it looked as if it would be between us and the Baddow G team for the drop.  We lost to the G team in the first half, but victory in the return fixture late in the second half would see us safe. We pulled out all the stops and sadly sent them tumbling! So, not our most successful season.

Having suffered 10-0 defeats in the first three matches of this season, the ‘G’ team were wondering just what they had let themselves in for after coming up from Division 6 last season.  Despite this tentative start, they began picking up odd points even though they were being beaten every week.  The turning point came when they secured their first win against their fellow club rivals in the ‘F’ team.  The team on this occasion was Martyn Chattey who won all of his singles, Steven Clift who won two and Laura Pyman who also won two.  Martyn and Steven took the doubles to win the match 8-2, with ‘F’ team captain David Gatheral picking up his team’s only wins.  A resounding victory for the youngsters and desperately needed to restore confidence in the team. A 6-4 defeat away to bottom placed ECC ‘H’ the previous week meant that only one point separated the two teams, so to gain 4 points against Baddow ‘F’ was indeed very welcome to stay ahead. Two weeks later,  Baddow ‘G’ were away to Danbury ‘K’ and facing John Skuse, Norman Hayes and Ross Wheeler.  Both Martyn and Ian were unavailable and so I drafted in Rykki Vansertima from the ‘J’ team to help Steve and Laura.  This time Steve won all of his singles with ‘stand-in’ Rykki really contributing by winning two and Laura winning one of hers to ensure a 6-4 win against the more fancied and certainly more experienced home team. At the halfway point in the season, the league positions at the bottom end of the table were much the same as earlier, with the ‘G’ side still taking heavy defeats against the higher placed teams.  This problem was compounded by the fact that both Martyn and Laura were unable to turn out on some occasions because of ‘A’ level and GCSE exam commitments.  This resulted in a lack of consistency within the team.  My sincere thanks must go to Rykki Vansertima who stood in several times to good effect and to Ron Arthur who loaned his considerable experience to us.  Without their help, I would have had a problem fielding a team of sufficient strength. However, my token two appearances for the team added little to the line-up other than dashing good looks!  C’est le vie. The ‘G’ teams’ other victory was the one that really mattered to them.  The 7-3 win against ECC ‘H’ at the end of February overturned the 6-4 defeat suffered at their first encounter. Ian recorded excellent wins over both Colin Barham and Tom Hill and narrowly lost out over 5 ends to Lorna Staff. Similarly, Laura was delighted with her win against friend and rival Lorna after losing to her in the Individual Championships. Steve won all of his singles and was equally pleased to regain the upper hand over Tom. Then, with a 6-4 defeat to our ‘F’ team and a draw against Danbury ‘K’ to finish the season, we ensured we didn’t finish up bottom.  This position ultimately went to ECC ‘H’. I would like to thank Laura, Martyn, Ian and Steven for their loyalty and commitment throughout the season and although relegation beckons, I hope they have enjoyed the season as much as I have.  They never gave up and deserved better for their efforts.  All played well but they were amongst good opposition.  I would like to think that they are worthy of another chance at this level as I am sure they could each hold their own in Division 5 with a little more luck and consistency.

The team consisted of six players, Ron Arthur, Chris High, Ed Fairey, Les Webb, Peter Revell and Fred Henwood.

Ron Arthur was the only player to compete in all the games, Chris High was unavailable for over half the matches and Ed Fairey was restricted to certain nights only.  Les, Fred and twice Peter filled in as needed. 

Ron and Chris achieved over 70% success in their games, Ed followed closely with 60% overall quite a good season and not bad for Senior Citizens and one 31 year old.

An excellent season for the boys in their second year in Division 6. The division ended up as a 3 team battle for the title, with the boys just losing the odd vital match to finish in third position. All showed marked improvement again. With Rykki leading the way, achieving an excellent percentage of around 85-90%, he was ably supported by Sam and Haydn around 65-70%, and Phil at about 50%. Their play has matured considerably, particularly against the more defensive type of player, where they have developed a more measured approach and the ability to delay an attack until the situation allows it. At the time of writing the boys have also made their way through to two Cup Finals, the 6 down and the Junior Cup, capping a fine all round season.

The season started off relatively well, and actually ended similarly well. If only there weren't the games in between! Our squad was small, though perhaps not elite, and we were delighted with our draw at the start of the season. Due to the size of our squad, which was decreased further with the loss of Rob Abel, we relied often on substitutes, and our thanks go to all those who helped us out, often with little notice. We fought our games hard and it is true to say that many of the matches could have gone our way, but it was perhaps still our lack of experience which typically led to 5 game sets all too often going the way of the opposition. John Mutch was our dependable rock, who was many times our best player, sometimes being the only one to win any sets at all! Ed and I weren't quite so good unfortunately, although Ed often won the coin toss, and I of course played the part of the inspirational captain, offering such gems of advice as "do better" and "lets win this one shall we?". Overall, our season looks worse on paper than it actually was, and even some of the heavier defeats were not as easy for the opposition as they might look to have been, and we can all be pleased with how we performed, and also improved across the season.

A New Team is born with the start of unchartered territory ahead as this is their First Season in Division 6.   Fresh from their success in the Click League the boys were nervous to start, but with each game progress was made and confidence grew.   Every player took on the challenge and won some very tough matches.  They were all reliable players and helped each other along the way with advice and coaching.  We feel that they can each be extremely proud of themselves and look forward to a promising future.  With a New Season on the horizon - watch out the M Team are the real A Team!!!

N Team (CLICK)

Members: Alex Gill, Andrew Orme, and Alex Stone [Manager: Adrian Pitt]  

A new team with new club members in their first season of competitive table tennis – to finish 4^th was an excellent achievement.  Whilst I had said I would try and managed the boys, there was little time available to me other than to talk them through the basics of competition play and credit must be given to Alex, Alex and Andrew for managing themselves throughout the season.  Some very close matches against the top sides and perhaps with a little more concentration the results could have gone their way.  Alex S finished with a creditable 89%, one of the highest percentages in the division – well done, Andrew finished with 64% and Alex G with 53% - both providing excellent support.

O Team (CLICK)

Members: Claire & Kath Austin, Bethany Hudgell, Rebecca Skeoch, Rebecca Steed [Manager: Lesley Skeoch]

This has been the first season for the girls of Baddow Village “O” Team in the Click League, and a difficult one for them to gain any points.  They have managed to win 3 games giving them 3 points in the League Table at the end of the season.  The final match scores have not always reflected the closeness of the games and the girls were unlucky not too finish with more points. Throughout the season the girls have certainly risen to the challenge, improving their match game immensely from the beginning of the season and growing in confidence.  In Click, they had tough opposition, playing teams that were more experienced and often older than themselves, but that said the girls enjoyed all the matches and were not intimidated by the age or experience of the opposition. I was really impressed that they didn’t become despondent and I am sure they will only continue to improve on this year’s performance in future seasons.  All in all this has been a very good and enjoyable learning experience for the girls especially as their manager had no previous experience either!

P Team (CLICK)

Members: Matthew Davis, Tom Lee, Ben Steed and Aled Upson [Manager Graham Turner]