Lowly Holland Hurricanes of Division Three produced one of the surprises of the week in the Clacton League’s Handicap Cup competition with a 5-4 victory over an experienced and determined Lawford trio.

It was no breeze for the Hurricanes in their Group H match who, after leading 2-0, lost the next four matches to fall behind 4-2 to Lawford’s Charlie Denholm, Richard Spence and Ian Sherwood.

The Hurricanes needed to win all three remaining matches to take the tie and, with the same handicap applying to all three matches (Hurricanes +2, Lawford -11), Ian Gwillim defeated Spence, Pam Cousins defeated Sherwood, before Gwillim and Widnell took the final doubles against Denholm and Spence 10-12, 11-2, 11-3 to clinch an unlikely 5-4 victory.

The second match in the group saw reigning Cup-holders Walton B up against 2023 Cup-winners Brotherhood A. Walton took an early 3-0 lead and looked comfortable but Brotherhood’s Kevin Gowlett, John Cleasby and Russell Hillier bounced back to take five hard-fought matches on the trot and the tie 5-3. Two of those wins proved extremely tight, Gowlett and Hillier (-3) taking the middle doubles 12-10 in the fifth against Mark Gale and Paul Meikle (+1), and, in a scratch-match, Cleasby defeating Gale, also 12-10 in the fifth.

By contrast, Group A produced two 5-0 results, Brotherhood F defeating Nomads Tigers, none of the matches extended beyond a third set, and Nomads Bobcats beating fellow-Division Three side Holland Vulcans, Alex Baldock’s (-6) 11-5 in the fifth win over James Horsler (+1) the closest match of the encounter.

Windsor Harriers lead the way in Group B after their 5-1 success against Brotherhood D. Barry Allen and Isabel Barton (+1) had a vital 11-6 in the decider doubles win over Martin Edwards and Tricia Salter (-3), with Allen (+1) finishing off the tie with an 11-5 in the decider win over Paul Alden (-1).

Nomads Ocelots and Windsor Penguins benefitted from walk-over wins in Group C, but both Windsor Buzzards and Brotherhood C had to fight hard for their wins in Group D.

In an all-Division One all-Windsor clash, the Buzzards were 5-2 victors against the Eagles, the Buzzards losing both doubles but winning five singles, three of which went the distance. Andy Cawley (+2) sealed the deal with a 3-2 (11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6) victory over Gary Cattermole (-8).

Captain John Gallagher was Brotherhood C’s only unbeaten player as his Second Division side overcame Third Division Windsor Falcons 5-2, his 3-2 (10-12, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6) success against Kelvin Olano the pick of the encounters in a match played off scratch.   

Another all-Division one clash in Group E ended in a 5-2 victory for Brotherhood B against Walton A, Sam Plummer unbeaten in his one singles and two doubles.

But the Walton A side bounced back in their second match, often having to retrieve a 20-point-plus handicap disadvantage to defeat Third Division Nomads Leopards 5-1.

It was a second 5-1 defeat for the Leopards who, earlier in the week, had lost to Division Three Walton D, Nomads’ Mark Taylor and Cieran McCallan (+1) beating Maggie Earle and Adrian Sexton (-8) 3-2 (11-8, 15-13, 9-11, 5-11, 11-6) in the opening doubles for their side’s only win of the match.  

Division Three Brotherhood H had a great scrap with the old hands of Division One Walton C in Group F, ending as narrow 5-4 winners. In a see-saw match, Brotherhood led 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3, before Harindu De Silva and Owen Woollard (+1) clinched the tie 3-1 (6-11, 11-0, 11-6, 11-6) with a doubles win over Graham Buxton and Paul Newbould (-8). Crucially, Brotherhood won all three doubles.

After losing the first doubles of the match, Paul Hume, Martyn Green and Adam Wilkin of Nomads Lions got their side’s Cup campaign off to a good start in Group G with a confident 5-1 win over potentially difficult opponents Brotherhood E.

But in an all-Windsor clash, Division One Hawks were only able to field two players against Division Two Kestrels and so it was little surprise the Kestrels took the tie 5-0.

* Winning teams are reminded they must send the result sheet to Tony Oswick within 24 hours of the match being played. Results and tables will be updated and can be viewed each Thursday and Sunday during the Cup weeks on both the League’s website (‘Knock Out Cup Results’) and Facebook pages.

* The only League match played was a bottom-of-the-table clash in Division Two where Brotherhood G won four of the five matches which went the distance to win 8-2. Danny Still’s treble included an 11-7 in the decider win over John Plummer, while Dan Grindrod’s three included an 11-7 in the decider win against the unfortunate Plummer, as well as an 11-4 in the decider success over Dave Sweetland. Still and Grindrod took the doubles 11-6 in the fifth against Plummer and Sweetland.

RESULTS
HANDICAP CUP
Group A
Brotherhood F 5 Nomads Jaguars 0
Nomads Bobcats 5 Holland Vulcans 0
Group B
Brotherhood D 1 Windsor Harriers 5
Windsor Magpies 5 v Holland Lancasters 0 (w/o)
Group C
Windsor Penguins 5 Nomads Panthers 0 (w/o)
Nomads Ocelots 5 Holland Mosquitos 0 (w/o)
Group D
Brotherhood C 5 Windsor Falcons 2
Windsor Eagles 2 Windsor Buzzards 5
Group E
Walton D 5 Nomads Leopards 1
Walton A 2 Brotherhood B 5
Nomads Leopards 1 Walton A 5
Group F
Brotherhood H 5 Walton C 4
Nomads Tigers 5 v Brotherhood G (w/o)
Group G
Windsor Hawks 0 Windsor Kestrels 5
Nomads Lions 5 Brotherhood E 1
Group H
Walton B 3 Brotherhood A 5
Holland Hurricanes 5 Lawford 4
LEAGUE
Division Two
Brotherhood G 8 Windsor Magpies 2