By Ron Fosker

The Braintree Table Tennis League has reached its one-third stage where, apart from a few postponements, all teams have played each other, and a distinct pattern has emerged.

In each of the three divisions, two teams have pulled away from the rest.

Netts A have a nine-point lead in division one but they have played two games more than second-placed Liberal A.

Netts finished off the season’s first phase with an 8-2 win at Rayne C.

Keith Martin got the better of Patrick Gilbert, and Simon Fleming, with only two wins behind him so far, had an excellent win over Nikki Davison.

Rayne D, aided by a 10-0 win over Felsted RBL A, jumped above their A team into third place.

The A team beat Netts B 7-3, Netts’ wins all coming from the bat of James Hicks.

Liberal B and Rayne B are within a point of each other in mid-table and it was Liberal B who had the better of their tussle when they came together.

Matthew Brown took his three singles and the doubles with Ryan Pitt, but Liberal took the remaining six.