There was an up and down flavour to the first round of matches in the Braintree Table Tennis League handicap cup with most clubs winning and losing in almost equal measure.
The Black Notley club won three ties and lost four, Rayne had one win and four defeats, Netts had two up and two down while Yeldham won one and lost one.
The exceptions were Finchingfield and Sudbury, who both had two wins out of two.
Finchingfield A were the only team not to drop a set. They declared at 7-0 against Rayne G, taking all but the first two sets in straight games.
It was a much tighter affair for their B team, who had a close battle with Notley E, their rivals for the league division three title, before a win in the final set gave them a 5-4 victory.
Ray Bradford was for once not overshadowed by his son Lucien, winning his three sets compared with two for Lucien. Ray made use of his three points start against Ken Wilding for an apparently comfortable 16-21, 21-8, 21-11 win while Lucien was unable to make up the six points he had to concede.
Sudbury Drifters eased through with an 8-1 win over Notley C. Terry Hunneybel and Geoff Barrett were unbeaten but Matt Brooks (+3) became the first person this season to beat Graham Turner.
David Fiddeman on the other hand carried his league form into the cup and remained unbeaten in Sudbury Strollers’ 6-3 win over Notley D.
The fourth Notley side to depart were the A team but they had the consolation of losing to their own H team. It was a good night for Ann Peart, one of the league’s unsung players, who won twice for the H team and only bowed out at 24-22 in the third game in her other set.
BNCA H will be joined in the next round by the club’s G and F teams, who beat Rayne F 5-4 and Rayne G 5-0 respectively. Barbara Turner, another player who rarely makes headlines, was unbeaten for the G team.
The Yeldham club had two matches against Rayne teams. The A team went down 5-4 to Rayne E but the B team made sure the club were represented in the next round with a 5-2 win over Rayne C. Ethan Collins was unbeaten for Rayne E while Richard Taylor won two out of two for Yeldham B.
The four Netts teams came up against each other, C beating D 8-1 and F beating E 6-3.
Chris Krelle and David Montgomery were unbeaten for the C team and James Howard likewise for the T team.
