Nomads Panthers continue to break the records in the Clacton League, this week confirming a 12th consecutive Division One title.

Playing with a guest, they ended their season with a 7-3 victory over bottom-team Lawford, Gill Locke and John Hatley taking trebles.

It completes a remarkable period of success for the Panthers, their 12 titles beating the previous record of 11 top-flight titles recorded by the all-conquering Brotherhood A side who dominated Division One in the early part of the 2000s, Brotherhood winning their 11 titles over a period of 13 seasons.

Three players have been central to the Panthers’ achievement over those last 12 seasons. James Denyer has played in every title-winning side, Gill Locke in 10, whilst current captain John Hatley (pictured above, photo by Roger Hance) has played every season for the last nine years.   

Nomads Lions, 9-1 victors this week over Brotherhood B, are the well-deserved runners-up. Ethan Lloyd and Adam Cuthbert took hat-tricks, while Jason Lloyd enjoyed wins over Joe Plummer, 11-5 in the fifth, and Sam Plummer, 11-9 in the fifth. Simon Smith-Daye took the point for Brotherhood B, who can take much satisfaction in the way they’ve performed in their first season at this level.

The talented Lions finish just seven points behind the Panthers and have pushed their Nomads’ club-mates all the way. The two previous closest of the Panthers’ title successes were in 2010/11, the first of their title-winning seasons when they finished four points ahead of Windsor Roosters, and in 2019/20 when they took the title from Walton A by just a single point.

Elsewhere, three for Kevin Gowlett, two for Russell Hillier, one for John Cleasby and a 17-15 in the decider doubles win for Gowlett and Cleasby against Derek Willis and Gavin Price, saw Brotherhood A to a 7-3 success against Walton A. Price picked up a couple for Walton. So Brotherhood, having been eighth at the turn of the year, end in a comfortable fourth position.    

Walton C enjoyed one of their best wins of the season, 7-3 against Windsor Eagles. Peter Burrows recorded a treble, whilst there were two for Graham Buxton and one for John Marshall. Phil Smith won two for the Eagles.

In Division Two, Windsor Buzzards, Brotherhood C and Brotherhood D have already confirmed the top three places and completed all their matches. In passing, the Buzzards’ success was a record 16th occasion a Windsor team has won the Division Two title, one more than the Brotherhood Club.

Nomads Tigers were forced to field a guest against Windsor Harriers but Dave Miller’s good form continued with another treble, ensuring the match ended all-square, a fifth draw of the season for the Tigers.   

Neil Chegwidden with three, Paul Woolnough with two and Sharon Gowlett with one saw Windsor Penguins to a 6-4 win against Brotherhood E, Kevin Pryor taking a couple for Brotherhood.

Meanwhile, Nomads Jaguars beat Windsor Kestrels 7-3, Chris Petrou taking his maximum. Tom Wilkin won two with reserve Lily Liu defeating Jackie Bunce. Peter Aumord won two for the Kestrels.

The Brotherhood F juniors have been one of the teams of the season, this week completing their Division Three programme with a 10-0 victory over Holland Vulcans, thus finishing with an outstanding 175 points out of a possible 200.

But the focus of the final week was on the battle for the runners-up position where Nomads Bobcats, who were nine points behind Brotherhood H at the start of 2025, entered their last match, after an excellent run of results, three points ahead.

In their final match, Brotherhood H did what they had to do and took 10 points against Nomads Ocelots, Savindu De Silva, Harindu De Silva and Owen Woollard all staying unbeaten.

So, on the following night, it was left to the Bobcats to see if they could get the seven points needed to take second place, which would put them level with Brotherhood H on points but they would take the runners-up spot by virtue of having won more matches.

But they could only win their encounter against Holland Hurricanes 6-4. Gary Stallwood was unsurprisingly unbeaten for the Hurricanes but Gerry Widnell was the Holland player who did the damage, winning 3-2 (10-12, 12-10, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3) against Sam Watling.

So the Brotherhood H youngsters, all playing their first full season of League table tennis, can celebrate as worthy runners-up while Matt Sage, Alex Baldock and Sam Watling of the Bobcats will have to settle for third place.

Windsor Falcons, playing with a guest player, shared the spoils with Nomads Leopards. Kelvin Olano-Harper recorded another hat-trick but it was a close-run thing against Dominic Joannou, Olano-Harper edging it 3-2 (11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 9-11, 13-11).

Walton D confirmed fourth position with a 10-0 victory over a Holland Mosquitos’ side fielding a guest. Maggie Earle, Adrian Sexton and Debrorah Pallet remained undefeated for Walton, the closest match seeing Pallett get past Pam Blakeley 3-2 (7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-8).

So the Mosquitos finish bottom of the Division, without a win to their name. But a word of praise for the Mosquitos, and also for Lawford and Windsor Magpies who both ended winless at the foot of their respective Divisions. All three teams have displayed fortitude against the odds and their competitive spirit epitomises all that’s best in the Clacton and District Table Tennis League.

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