The eagerly awaited battle of the top two Windsor teams in Division Three of the Clacton & District League didn’t disappoint and, with both teams putting out their strongest trios, it was the Merlins who emerged victorious, leapfrogging over their rivals to take their place at the top of the table with a 7-3 victory.

Sam Plummer led the way with a hat-trick, his three including a 3-2 (8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 10-12, 12-10) win over the Penguins’ top player Neil Chegwidden, whilst there were two for Joe Plummer, one for John Harvey, with the two Plummers taking the doubles.

The three Penguins’ players all picked up a point but each one was a close five-setter. Kayley Rodriguez defeated John Harvey 11-7 in the decider, Annabelle Rodriguez beat the same player 11-9 in the decider, with Chegwidden edging past Joe Plummer, also 11-9 in the decider.

Walton E moved into second spot following their 9-1 victory over Brotherhood E, Lynette Sparks and Paul Woolnough remaining unbeaten. Rodney Betts picked up the Brotherhood point but his team-mate, Andrey Pavlov, will feel unfortunate to have lost 11-9 in the fifth to both Sparks and Adrian Sexton.

Nomads Leopards enjoyed a fine 8-2 victory over Windsor Magpies, Dominic Joannou winning three, and Bob Jillins and Stuart Wilkinson two each. The Leopards won all three matches which went the distance, Joannou beating John Plummer 11-5 in the fifth, with Wilkinson defeating Alan Rutledge 11-8 in the fifth and then Malcolm Caley 11-6 in the fifth. Plummer took the points for the losers.

Nomads Ocelots fielded a guest against Brotherhood F, so it was no great surprise that Brotherhood took the match 7-3. Joe Sherwin’s two singles wins included an unexpected victory over Arthur Wells-Garrett. The closest match of the evening was the doubles, Sherwin and Tom Bryden beating Wells-Garrett and Hazel Blanche 11-7 in the decider.

Finally in Division Three, the match between the bottom two clubs saw Nomads Lynx beat Nomads Bobcats 9-1. Both Dave Wright, making a first appearance of the season, and Pam Cousins took trebles, with Ann Peart taking a couple. Norman Jacobs took the Bobcats’ consolation point.

In Division One, leaders Nomads Panthers recorded their third whitewash win of the season, this time over Windsor Hawks, although Windsor’s Andy Vincent nearly spoiled that record, narrowly losing 13-11 in the decider to John Hatley.

Nomads Lions have been boosted by the signing of Sam Hume who again remained unbeaten in his side’s 8-2 success over Walton B. Peter Burrows’ two for the losers included a tight 3-2 (11-5, 12-10, 3-11, 10-12, 12-10) victory over Adam Cuthbert.

Brotherhood A’s Alan Burgess had five-set matches against both Paul Meikle and Mark Ratcliffe of Walton C but he still came out with a hat-trick in an encounter which ended all-square. Ratcliffe and Mark Gale won a couple each for Walton.

In Division Two, Windsor Buzzards remain top following their 7-3 victory over Walton B. It was Walton’s first defeat of the season. There were trebles for Dave Martin and Pete Bloomfield, Martin’s three including an 11-7 in the fifth win against Andy Foster whilst Bloomfield edged past Clive Allenby by an even closer 3-2 (5-11, 14-12, 13-15, 12-10, 11-9).

Three for Mark Salter, two for Paul Alden and one from Tricia Salter were sufficient to give second-placed Brotherhood B a 7-3 victory over Windsor Harriers.

The two Marks, Boyland and Beckham, both stayed unbeaten in Brotherhood C’s 8-2 success over Nomads Jaguars. Beckham had two close wins, 11-7 in the fifth against Chris Petrou and 12-10 in the fifth against John Hockley. Petrou and Hockley won a point each for the Jaguars, whilst it was good to see Colin Webber back in action for Nomads.   

Finally, the Windsor Kestrels v Brotherhood D tie ended in an honourable draw. Graham Bunce produced his best form of the season, his maximum for the Kestrels including a surprise 11-9 in the decider win over Martin Scarfe. Debra Found won a couple for Windsor, as did Scarfe for Brotherhood.

* Full details about the Group stage of the Knock-Out Cup have been sent to all players online. The first of the Group matches will be played during week beginning 5th December.

RESULTS

Division 1
Brotherhood A 5 Walton C 5
Windsor Hawks 0 Nomads Panthers 10
Walton B 2 Nomads Lions 8

Division 2
Windsor Kestrels 5 Brotherhood D 5
Windsor Buzzards 7 Walton D 3
Brotherhood C 9 Windsor Kestrels 1
Brotherhood B 7 Windsor Harriers 3
Nomads Jaguars 2 Brotherhood C 8

Division 3
Windsor Merlins 7 Windsor Penguins 3
Brotherhood E 1 Walton E 9
Nomads Ocelots 3 Brotherhood F 7
Nomads Leopards 8 Windsor Magpies 2

Nomads Bobcats 1 Nomads Lynx 9