They’ve been at the top of Division Three of the Clacton League all season but Ruby Gallagher, Joe Sherwin, Lucy Carvell and Tom Bryden of Brotherhood F have now confirmed their position as Divisional champions, a well-deserved success for a talented group of young players and the first side of all-juniors to win the Third Division title for 12 years.

This week, Brotherhood trio of Gallagher, Sherwin and Carvell recorded a 7-3 victory over Windsor Falcons, each player notching up two wins. Kelvin Olano-Harper stayed unbeaten for the Falcons but he was given a scare by an inspired Ruby Gallagher, Olano-Harper scraping through 3-2 (6-11, 11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9).

Meanwhile, Brotherhood H maintained their hopes of finishing as runners-up with a comfortable 10-0 victory over bottom team Holland Mosquitos.

But Nomads Bobcats are hot on their heels, only five points behind in third place, after a 9-1 success over Nomads Ocelots. Alex Baldock and Matt Sage took trebles, although Sage had a tremendous fight against Andrew Cousins before winning 11-9 in the decider. Cousins took the Ocelots’ point.

Derek Foxley is enjoying an excellent first season and he notched up an impressive hat-trick for Holland Vulcans against Walton D, also sharing a five-set doubles win with James Horsler. Alas for Foxley, two each for Maggie Earle, Deborah Pallett and Lynette Sparks saw Walton over the line 6-4.

And in an all-Holland clash, the Vulcans proved no match for the Hurricanes, Gary Stallwood and John Smith-Daye unbeaten in the Hurricanes’ 9-1 victory. Foxley took the Vulcans’ lone point, beating Gerry Widnell 11-8 in the fifth in the final match of the evening.

The Holland Lancasters v Nomads Leopards’ encounter ended all-square. There were two each for the Dave Wright and Pam Cousins of the Lancasters but it was the Leopards’ Lily Liu who stole the show with a fine maximum. The closest match of the contest saw Cousins edge past Anne Bonny 12-10 in the decider.

In Division One, Nomads Panthers consolidated their position at the top with an 8-2 success over Windsor Eagles. Gracie Edwards remained undefeated, with Gill Locke and Denes Somodi winning two each. Somodi was involved in a tight game with John Pattrick before edging it 3-2 (8-11, 13-11, 13-11, 7-11, 14-12). The consistent Gary Cattermole picked up the two Eagles’ points.

Walton B beat Brotherhood B 7-3 for a second time this season, Mark Gale defeating Simon Smith-Daye 11-8 in the decider on his way to a fifth hat-trick of the current campaign. There were two for Mark Ratcliffe and one for Paul Meikle. Smith-Daye’s two for Brotherhood included an 11-5 in the fifth win over Meikle.  

Gavin Price starred for Walton A in their 8-2 victory over club-mates Walton C, Derek Willis and Andy Foster each contributing a valuable two points. Graham Buxton won twice for the losers.

In Division Two, three for Scott Campbell, two for Dave Martin and one for Andy Cawley gave Windsor Buzzards a 6-4 win over Brotherhood E and the six points they needed to guarantee the title. Kevin Pryor picked up a couple for Brotherhood and, with Fred Gallone, enjoyed a good doubles win over Campbell and Ray Chillingworth.

With two matches remaining, second-placed Brotherhood C need just four points to claim the runners-up spot and they made no mistake against Windsor Harriers, Mark Boyland, Paul Metcalf and Mark Beckham unbeaten in the 9-1 victory. The Harriers prevented the whitewash by winning the doubles.

There was another 9-1 result for Brotherhood against Windsor, the Brotherhood D team defeating Windsor Magpies. Paul Alden and Mark Salter were unbeaten for the winners, with Windsor reserve Kelvin Olano-Harper taking the losers’ point with victory over Tricia Salter.

Neil Chegwidden took three and Paul Woolnough two as Windsor Penguins drew with Nomads Jaguars, the Jaguars’ fifth drawn match of the season. Chris Petrou took two, Tom Wilkin and reserve Alex Baldock one each for the Jaguars, with Petrou and Wilkin combining successfully in the doubles. Unusually for a drawn match, no individual matches went the distance and only three went to a fourth set.

However, it was much closer in a second drawn match, where Nomads Tigers, playing with two reserves, drew with Brotherhood G, five matches going the distance and every player picking up at least one point. Bob Jillins starred for the Tigers, his hat-trick including an 11-4 in the fifth win over Dan Grindrod.

The two Tigers’ reserves each won one, Alex Baldock narrowly beating Gary Simpson 13-11 in the fifth and Sam Watling edging past Danny Still by an even closer 16-14 in the fifth. Grindrod’s two for Brotherhood included a 12-10 in the fifth victory over Watling, while Simpson beat the same player 11-7 in the fifth. Still, with a win over Baldock, and a doubles victory for Grindrod and Simpson, completed the scoring.

* For the record, the last all-junior side to win the Division Three title were Lucy Burton, Tom Burton and Kelvin Olano-Harper of Brotherhood J in 2012/13. The runners-up that season were the Brotherhood I team of Rowan Cottee, Allen Denyer, James Smith-Daye and John Wrigley.

* Final preparations are being made for the League’s Closed Championships, sponsored by The Survey Initiative, to be held on 12-13 April at the Coastal Academy Sports Hall. Entrants will receive more details, including individual check-in times, during the first week of April.

RESULTS
Division 1
Walton A 8 Walton C 2
Windsor Eagles 2 Nomads Panthers 8
Walton B 7 Brotherhood B 3
Division 2
Windsor Buzzards 6 Brotherhood E 4
Windsor Penguins 5 Nomads Jaguars 5
Brotherhood C 9 Windsor Harriers 1
Brotherhood D 9 Windsor Magpies 1
Nomads Tigers 5 Brotherhood G 5
Division 3
Holland Lancasters 5 Nomads Leopards 5
Holland Hurricanes 9 Holland Vulcans 1
Brotherhood H 10 Holland Mosquitos 0
Brotherhood F 7 Windsor Falcons 3
Walton D 6 Holland Vulcans 4
Nomads Bobcats 9 Nomads Ocelots 1