If there was an award for the most-improved player in the Clacton and District League so far this season, then Pete Bloomfield of Windsor Buzzards would be a leading candidate.

This week, Bloomfield chalked up his fifth consecutive hat-trick in his side’s Division Two 9-1 victory over Brotherhood B, with only Paul Alden extending him to a fourth set.

Dave Martin also stayed unbeaten for the Buzzards, his maximum including an 11-6 in the fifth win over Alden in the one encounter which went to five. Andy Cawley won a couple but lost in three-straight to Barry Allen who took Brotherhood’s consolation point.

Bloomfield’s excellent results have helped move the Buzzards to the top of the table and, at the half-way stage of the League season, they now sit fourteen points clear of second-placed Lawford and have established themselves as firm title favourites.

Lawford moved into second spot following their 10-0 win over Brotherhood C, only the second whitewash result in this Division all season. Ian Sherwood, Charlie Denholm and Richard Spence were the successful Lawford trio but Brotherhood will consider themselves unlucky not to have taken at least one point, Sherwood scraping past Paul Metcalf 11-7, 9-11, 10-12, 13-11, 13-11 and doing the same against John Gallagher 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-13, 13-11.

Elsewhere, three for Andy Foster, two for Clive Allenby, one for Tony Sharman and a Foster-Allenby doubles win saw Walton D to a 7-3 success against Windsor Kestrels. Peter Aumord won a couple for the Kestrels, including an 11-7 in the fifth victory against Allenby, whilst Allen Denyer had a good win over Sharman.

Nomads Jaguars were 6-4 winners against Brotherhood D, Chris Parr unbeaten. Chris Petrou took a couple, as did Kevin Pryor for Brotherhood.

In Division Three, leaders Windsor Penguins eased past bottom team Nomads Bobcats with a straightforward 10-0 win, a result which puts them seven points clear of second-placed Windsor Merlins.

The Merlins were 7-3 winners against Brotherhood E. There were trebles here for Sam Plummer and Joe Plummer, with Rodney Betts, Daniel Grindrod and Andrey Pavlov picking up a point each for Brotherhood.

Bob Jillins and Stuart Wilkinson recorded hat-tricks in Nomads Leopards’ excellent 8-2 win over Walton E. Maggie Earle and Lynette Sparks took a point each for Walton, Earle beating Pete Martin 11-6 in the decider but going down 11-2 in the decider to Wilkinson.

There were two hat-tricks also in the Nomads Lynx v Brotherhood F fixture, Tom Bryden and Fred Gallone unbeaten in Brotherhood’s 8-2 success. Bryden needed five sets to beat both Ann Peart and Pam Cousins, the score in the latter match 11-9 in the decider. JJ Barry won two for Brotherhood whilst, for the Lynx, Cousins won one and shared a doubles success with Peart against Bryden and Barry.

Finally in this Division, there was a 9-1 victory for Windsor Magpies against a two-player Nomads Ocelots.

In Division One, Walton B and Walton C were both striving to notch up a first win of the season and it was the ‘B’ team who came out on top, winning 7-3 in a hard-fought encounter. Pete Burrows stayed undefeated whilst Gavin Price won two, edging past Jason Gale 11-7 in the fifth but missing out on his hat-trick, losing 12-10 in the fifth to Mark Ratcliffe. Graham Buxton defeated the unfortunate Gale 11-8 in the fifth but went down himself in a nail-biter against Paul Meikle, 12-10 in the decider.

The Walton C team had no better luck in their second match of the week, going down 8-2 to Nomads Lions. Jason Lloyd and new signing Toby McLewin took trebles for the winners, with Mark Gale and Jason Gale taking a point each for the losers.

Every player picked up a point and no-one stayed undefeated in the Brotherhood A v Windsor Eagles fixture, Brotherhood emerging as 7-3 victors. There were two each for Kevin Gowlett, Gary Stallwood and Alan Burgess of Brotherhood, with Mel Rampton, John Pattrick and Phil Smith each taking one for the Eagles. The three five-set matches saw Gowlett beat Pattrick 11-6 in the fifth and Burgess beat Rampton 11-8 in the fifth, with the closest being Rampton’s 14-12 in the decider victory over Gowlett in match ten.

Walton A beat Windsor Hawks 6-4 but the score-line disguises a much closer match, with Walton taking the four individual matches which went the distance. Kevin James’ maximum included an 11-5 in the fifth win over Andy Vincent and an 11-6 in the fifth win over Felipe Rodriguez, whilst Colin Dearman defeated Ian Fielder 11-7 in the fifth. James and Dearman edged the doubles for Walton, 11-9 in the fifth against Fielder and Felipe Rodriguez, their first doubles success of the season. Rodriguez and Vincent won two each for the Hawks.

* Next week sees the start of the Handicap Cup, with the first of the three weeks devoted to the Group stage of the competition. Up-dated results will appear on the League’s website – check under ‘KO Cup Results and Tables’.  

RESULTS

Division 1

Walton B 7 Walton C 3;

Brotherhood A 7 Windsor Eagles 3;

Walton C 2 Nomads Lions 8;

Windsor Hawks 4 Walton A 6.

Division 2

Windsor Buzzards 9 Brotherhood B 1;

Windsor Kestrels 3 Walton D 7;

Brotherhood C Lawford 10;

Nomads Jaguars 6 Brotherhood D 4.

Division 3

Nomads Bobcats 0 Windsor Penguins 10;

Nomads Lynx 2 Brotherhood F 8;

Windsor Merlins 7 Brotherhood E 3;

Nomads Ocelots 1 Windsor Magpies 9;

Walton E 2 Nomads Leopards 8.