Newly promoted Brotherhood B recorded their first success at the top level of local table tennis when they beat the old hands of Windsor Eagles 6-4 in Division One of the Clacton League

In a match where no-one stayed unbeaten, there were two each for Brotherhood’s Simon Smith-Daye, Sam Plummer (pictured above, photo by Gavin Price) and Joe Plummer.

Gary Cattermole’s two points for the Eagles included a tight 11-9 in the decider win against Smith-Daye, whilst he shared a narrow doubles win with Phil Smith, 11-7 in the decider, against Smith-Daye and Joe Plummer.

Title favourites Nomads Panthers defeated Walton C 8-2, with Greg Green unbeaten, and Gill Locke and Denes Somodi taking two each. For Walton, Pete Burrows beat Locke and Graham Buxton beat Somodi.

Three for Gary Young, two for Andy Vincent and one for John Barton saw second-placed Windsor Hawks to a 7-3 victory against Brotherhood A, Barton beating Siu Leung 3-2 (2-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-9) in the closest match of the evening. Kevin Gowlett won a couple for the losers.

Dave Binns and Derek Willis took maximum points for Walton A in their 9-1 victory against Lawford, the two super-veterans combining to take the doubles 11-9 in the fifth against Charlie Denholm and Ian Sherwood. Denholm beat Andy Foster for the Lawford point.   

In Division Two, Windsor Buzzards defeated Windsor Kestrels 7-3. No-one stayed unbeaten, with Scott Campbell, Pete Bloomfield and Dave Martin all taking two for the victors. Kestrels’ skipper Graham Bunce took two points, with wins over Martin and Campbell, the latter a 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 14-12, 7-11, 14-12) victory, while his team-mate, Debra Found, enjoyed unexpected success against Bloomfield, winning in four.  

In another all-Windsor clash, three each for Paul Woolnough and Neil Chegwidden saw the Penguins home 6-4 against the Harriers. The only match which went to a decider was the doubles, Barry Allen and Isabel Barton getting past Woolnough and Chegwidden 14-12 in the fifth.

There were three for Kevin Pryor in Brotherhood E’s 6-4 win over Nomads Jaguars, Pryor also sharing a close doubles win with Fred Gallone, 3-2 (11-13, 11-1, 12-10, 6-11, 13-11) against Tom Wilkin and Callum Hogg. Wilkin’s two for the Jaguars included a nail-biting 12-10 in the decider victory against Gallone in the final game of the evening.

Brotherhood C were 7-3 winners against a Nomads Tigers’ side fielding two reserves. Paul Metcalf, Mark Beckham and John Gallagher took two each for the winners and, in a tight doubles, Metcalf and Gallagher scraped past Dave Miller and reserve Alex Baldock 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 14-12). Miller took all three of the Tigers’ points.

In Division Three, the top two Brotherhood teams engaged in battle, the outcome ending with honours even. Tom Bryden and Lucy Carvell each won twice for the ‘F’ side, but an unbeaten Savindu De Silva recorded an excellent hat-trick for the ‘H’ team. However, it was a close 11-5 in the fifth for De Silva against Ruby Gallagher, and an even closer 16-14 in the fifth against Carvell. Harindu De Silva recorded an 11-7 in the fifth win over Gallagher but went down by the same score to Carvell.

Windsor Falcons won 7-3 against a Nomads Ocelots’ side fielding a guest player. But no-one could get the better of Nomads’ Arthur Wells-Garrett whose treble included a 3-2 (11-8, 11-4, 13-15, 12-14, 11-6) victory against Nigel Rolph. Nikki Hayes and Matt Thomas took a point each for the Falcons, Thomas edging out Norman Jacobs 11-9 in the decider.   

John Smith-Daye, Gerry Widnell and Pam Cousins all won two as Holland Hurricanes notched up their first win of the season, 7-3 against Holland Lancasters. Dave Wright stayed unbeaten for the Lancasters whilst his team-mate, Frank Wimpress, will feel unfortunate to have lost two close five-setters, 11-5 in the decider to Smith-Daye and 11-8 in the decider to Cousins.

There was a first success of the season also for Holland Vulcans who beat Holland Mosquitos 6-4. Derek Foxley’s three for the winners included an 11-7 in the fifth win over Brian Abram, whilst James Horsler took a couple and shared a doubles win with Mick Coker. For the Mosquitos, Brian Abram took two, and Tracey Abram and Chris Woods one each.

It was also 6-4 for the Bobcats against the Leopards in an all-Nomads clash. Matt Sage, Jack Riddleston and Sam Watling all won two for the winners, but none of them could beat Dominic Joannou, one of the most improved players in the League in recent seasons.

RESULTS

Division 1
Walton A 9 Lawford 1
Brotherhood B 6 Windsor Eagles 4
Walton C 2 Nomads Panthers 8
Windsor Hawks 7 Brotherhood A 3

Division 2
Windsor Harriers 4 Windsor Penguins 6
Nomads Tigers 3 Brotherhood C 7
Windsor Buzzards 7 Windsor Kestrels 3
Brotherhood E 6 Nomads Jaguars 4

Division 3
Brotherhood H 5 Brotherhood F 5
Holland Mosquitos 4 Holland Vulcans 6
Windsor Falcons 7 Nomads Ocelots 3
Holland Lancasters 3 Holland Hurricanes 7
Nomads Leopards 4 Nomads Bobcats 6