Having negotiated the mud following heavy rain and construction work outside, these two sides made it to the hut where Rainham 1 recorded their 5th win in 5 matches. The hosts raced into a 3-0 lead so Boxley were fearing the worst on Halloween eve. Gary Hentschel stepped up in the 4th game with some powerful hitting and counter-hitting to beat Vinnie McAneney to get the Boxley score rolling and repeated this offensive display to get a 2nd win later in the evening in straight legs against Dave Barr.This was Dave's only defeat as he easily beat Barry Roles but found Lyndon Gurr's defence and retrieval play more of a problem in an entertaining duel which he eventually won 11-9 in the decider. You dont often see the Pen-holder grip in modern table tennis but Rikki Clarke is highly skilled in the art and got his 4th consecutive treble of the season. He showed great control and was barely out of 2nd gear in this match. Surely he is favourite to top the Div One averages. Roles beat Vinnie in a 5 leg tussle to get Boxley's 3rd point.

Written by: Barry Roles