Gary Cattermole has very much been an occasional player for Windsor Eagles in recent years in Division One of the Clacton League, having played only 10 matches in the past three seasons. But he started off in the Eagles’ line-up in their opening match against Walton B and rewarded his side with a hat-trick.

Alas for Cattermole (pictured above, photo by Roger Hance), it was Walton B who took the honours, Jason Gale, Mark Ratcliffe and Paul Meikle all winning twice in the 6-4 victory.   

Three for Felipe Rodriguez, and two each for John Barton and reserve Scott Campbell, saw Windsor Hawks off to an 8-2 winning start against Walton C. Rodriguez and Barton combined to take an 11-9 in the fifth doubles win against Graham Buxton and John Marshall. Buxton picked up the Walton points.

Meanwhile, reigning champions Nomads Panthers began their campaign in fine style, beating Walton A 9-1, John Hatley and Denes Somodi unbeaten. Price took Walton’s consolation point with a win against Gill Locke. 

In Division Two, Nomads Jaguars were unfortunate to have found themselves in opposition to favourites Windsor Buzzards in their opening fixture, and the Windsor trio of Scott Campbell, Ray Chillingworth and Andy Cawley showed no mercy, winning 10-0. Only Campbell’s 11-7 in the fifth win against Chris Petrou went to a decider.

Nomads Tigers got off to a flying start with a 9-1 victory over Windsor Magpies, Bob Jillins and reserve Matt Sage each taking excellent trebles. Windsor’s Dave Sweetland enjoyed a surprise win against Dave Miller and took Jillins the distance before going down 11-5 in the fifth.

Brotherhood C chalked up an 8-2 victory over Windsor Penguins, Mark Boyland unbeaten, with Mark Beckham and John Gallagher each taking two. Paul Woolnough was the Penguins’ points-scorer.  

Barry Allen began his new life as a Windsor Harrier with a treble in his side’s 7-3 win against fellow-promotees Brotherhood G. Dan Grindrod, Gary Simpson and Danny Still each picked up a point for the losers, although it was a tight 3-2 (11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 6-11, 11-9) for Still against Jenny Higgins.

Windsor Kestrels will feel pleased to have shared the spoils with Brotherhood D, Debra Found and reserve Kelvin Olano each winning a couple. Mark Salter remained undefeated for Brotherhood and shared a doubles win with Paul Alden, 11-7 in the decider against Found and Olano. Alden took the fifth Brotherhood point but went down 11-7 in the decider to Olano and 11-8 in the decider to Found.  

In Division Three, Brotherhood F made an impressive start to their title challenge by whitewashing one of their predicted rivals, Nomads Bobcats. Tom Bryden, Ruby Gallagher and Joe Sherwin all took trebles. Only two matches went the distance, Sherwin defeating Alex Baldock 11-8 in the decider, and Bryden and Gallagher taking the doubles 11-7 in the decider against Baldock and Sam Watling. 

Six players were making their League debut in the Windsor Falcons v Holland Mosquitos clash. Matt Thomas, Nigel Rolph and Nikki Hayes each won two for the Falcons to give them a narrow 6-4 victory. However, no-one could get the better of Brian Abram who began his League career with an excellent hat-trick for the Mosquitos, plus a shared doubles win with Chris Woods.

Nomads Ocelots enjoyed a 7-3 victory over Holland Lancasters, Norman Jacobs, Hazel Blanche and Andrew Cousins all winning two. Jacobs had a tight 11-9 in the fifth win over Frank Wimpress whilst, in another close contest, Cousins went down 11-7 in the fifth to Dave Wright. Wright took all three of the Lancasters’ points.

Three for Savindu De Silva, and two each for Tony Woollard and Owen Woollard, gave Brotherhood H an 8-2 victory against Holland Vulcans. Their closest success was an 11-8 in the fifth Tony Woollard win over Derek Foxley. But this wasn’t the closest match of the whole contest, James Horsler’s two for the Vulcans including a 12-10 in the decider success against Owen Woollard.

RESULTS

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

Division 2
Windsor Harriers 7 Brotherhood G 3
Windsor Magpies 1 Nomads Tigers 9
Brotherhood C 8 Windsor Penguins 2
Brotherhood D 5 Windsor Kestrels 5
Nomads Jaguars 0 Windsor Buzzards 10

Division 3
Holland Vulcans 2 Brotherhood H 8
Windsor Falcons 6 Hollands Mosquitos 4
Nomads Ocelots 7 Holland Lancasters 3
Nomads Bobcats 0 Brotherhood F 10