The old hands of Nomads Leopards met the new boys of Brotherhood F in Division Three of the Clacton & District League, with the meeting of experience and youth ending in an honourable draw.

There were two each for Stuart Wilkinson and Dave Wright of the Leopards, and one for Bob Jillins, but none of them could get the better of Brotherhood’s Ben Bryden who took his third maximum of the season. Alex Marsh enjoyed a 3-2 (5-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4) win over Jillins and shared a 3-1 (11-9, 11-8 11-13, 11-8) doubles success with Bryden over Wright and Jillins to complete the points-scoring.

Windsor Magpies boosted their League position by inflicting a first defeat of the season on Walton E, notching up a convincing 8-2 victory, Dave Sweetland and John Plummer both staying undefeated. Lynette Sparks and Maggie Earle took a point apiece for Walton.

Only Peter Aumord of Windsor Penguins’ leading players was in action against bottom team Nomads Ocelots which helps to explain the 6-4 victory for the Ocelots, a welcome first win of the season for the Nomads’ side. Aumord stayed unbeaten and, with Janet Cowie, edged the doubles 11-9 in the fifth against Arthur Wells-Garret and John Magill. For the Ocelots, Wells-Garrett, Magill and Hazel Blanche each won two, although Magill had to battle hard before overcoming Cowie 3-2 (11-7, 12-14, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6).

Windsor Robins beat Nomads Lynx 7-3 in an encounter where every individual match was settled in three-straight. There were hat-tricks for Neil Chegwidden and Bob Bales of the Robins, with Dominic Joannou, Norman Jacobs and Adrian Sexton taking a point each for the Lynx.

In Division One Nomads Panthers powered to a 10-0 victory over Windsor Eagles. Greg Green, James Denyer and Liam Harris stayed undefeated, with only the doubles going the distance, Green and Harris narrowly getting the better of Phil Smith and Mel Rampton 11-8 in the fifth.

Walton A got back to winning ways with a 7-3 success against Brotherhood A. Gavin Price and Gary Young took hat-tricks for Walton and combined to win the doubles. There was one each for Brotherhood’s Alan Burgess, Kevin Gowlett and Luke Burridge.

Felipe Rodriguez took his three for Windsor Hawks against Walton D but that was not enough to save his side from a 6-4 defeat at the hands of the Division’s bottom team. It was a first success of the season for Walton, Paul Meikle, Mark Ratcliffe and Jason Gale each contributing two valuable points. Crucially, Walton won all three of the matches which went the distance, Ratcliffe beating John Barton 11-6 in the fifth and Ian Fielder 11-5 in the fifth, whilst Meikle defeated the unfortunate Barton 11-6 in the decider.

Kevin James maintained his season’s 100%  record as Walton B overcame Nomads Lions 8-2. Colin Dearman and Derek Willis each won two although it was a tight 13-11 in the decider for Willis against Jason Lloyd. Adam Cuthbert took the two Lions’ points.

The top two Brotherhood teams in Division Two came face-to-face and, appropriately, the encounter between the ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams ended as a draw. John Owen won his three for the ‘B’ side with Martin Scarfe and Paul Alden contributing one each. Russell Hillier and Mark Salter won a pair apiece for the ‘C’ team and shared an important doubles success. Unusually for a drawn match between two equally-matched teams, only one individual encounter went the distance but, more predictably, it was the meeting of the two defenders, Hillier eventually beating Alden 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4).

With Lawford skipper Ian Sherwood absent under the blue skies, it was left to James Tindle with three, Richard Spence with two, and Jack Cansdale with one to see Lawford home 7-3 against a battling Windsor Kestrels’ trio. Graham Bunce played well for the Kestrels to take a couple while Debra Found enjoyed a good win over Cansdale.

Windsor Buzzards showed little mercy on Brotherhood E, Dave Martin, Andy Cawley and John Harvey all recording trebles in the 10-0 win. But the Brotherhood team so nearly spoiled the Buzzards’ clean sweep, Cawley and Martin scraping through in the doubles to win the closest match of the evening 3-2 (16-14, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10) against Duncan Dunne and Kevin Pryor.

The Buzzards have now firmly established themselves as a mid-table team, as have Nomads Jaguars, 8-2 winners this week over Windsor Harriers. Doug Green and Daryl Lott took three each, and Mike Vilka two. Ferdy Rodriguez picked up a singles win for the Harriers and, with Isabel Barton, defeated Lott and Vilka 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 13-11, 10-12, 11-6) in the doubles. Barton will feel unfortunate not to have taken at least one point, going down 11-8 in the decider to Green and 11-9 in the decider to Vilka.

Finally, Brotherhood D eased their position at the foot of the table with an encouraging 7-3 success against Nomads Bobcats. Paul Metcalf remained unbeaten whilst there were two each for Mark Beckham and John Gallagher. Andy Teemal won a couple for the Bobcats and, with Allen Denyer, shared a 3-1 (12-10, 5-11, 12-10, 12-10) doubles victory against Beckham and Gallagher.

* Details of fixtures and players’ grades for the Group stage of the Handicap Cup will circulated by Monday 22nd November.

The Group matches are scheduled to be played either side of Christmas, during weeks commencing 6th December, 13th December and 3rd January.

RESULTS

Division 1
Walton A 7 Brotherhood A 3
Windsor Hawks 4 Walton D 6
Nomads Panthers 10 Windsor Eagles 0
Nomads Lions 2 Walton B 8

Division 2
Brotherhood B 5 Brotherhood C 5
Windsor Buzzards 10 Brotherhood E 0
Windsor Harriers 2 Nomads Jaguars 8
Brotherhood D 7 Nomads Bobcats 3
Lawford 7 Windsor Kestrels 3

Division 3
Windsor Robins 7 Nomads Lynx 3
Walton E 2 Windsor Magpies 8
Nomads Ocelots 6 Windsor Penguins 4
Nomads Leopards 5 Brotherhood F 5