Daniel Young is emerging as the player to watch in the Clacton and District League, this week demonstrating his burgeoning talent with a dominant display in Walton A’s 6-4 victory over Division One title rivals Brotherhood A.

The talented 15-year old produced an electrifying performance of hard-hitting, controlled play on both the forehand and backhand to beat Martin Edwards 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 12-10), as well as two former Clacton champions, Kevin Gowlett 3-1 (11-9, 11-4, 10-12, 12-10) and Andy Warner 3-1 (11-3, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5).

Gary Young and Kevin James, a close 11-7 in the fifth winner over Edwards, both took a singles victory whilst the two Youngs completed the scoring for Walton with an 11-9 in the decider doubles success against Gowlett and Edwards.

Brotherhood’s points came from a couple of singles wins each from Gowlett and Warner.

Both Walton A and Brotherhood A are hot on the heels of reigning champions Nomads Panthers in what is becoming an enthralling three-way battle at the top. And the Panthers just about managed to stay ahead thanks to a keenly-contested 6-4 success against battling Windsor Hawks.

The Panthers were indebted to a James Denyer treble, which included a narrow 11-8 in the decider victory against Andy Vincent.

John Hatley’s two included an 11-6 in the decider win over Roger Hance, Hatley also sharing a doubles win with Denyer. A back-to-form Felipe Rodriguez won a couple for the Hawks, with Vincent and Hance taking one each. Hance was involved in the closest contest of the evening, defeating Liam Harris 11-9 in the fifth.

Hat-tricks from Mel Rampton and Phil Smith were the foundation of Windsor Eagles’ 8-2 win over Walton B, Smith’s 11-8 in the fifth victory over Paul Meikle the only match going the distance. Jason Gale and Colin Dearman picked up a point each for Walton.

Walton C won the three matches which went to five to edge past club-mates Walton E 6-4. Peter Burrows took his maximum whilst Paul Newbould won twice, defeating both Paul Woolnough and Mark Gale by the same 11-7 in the decider margin. Burrows and John Rankin completed the ‘C’ team’s scoring with an 11-6 in the fifth doubles victory over Woolnough and Mark Ratcliffe. For the ‘E’ team, Ratcliffe won two, and Gale and Woolnough one each.

Nomads Lions picked up their first success of the season, winning 10-0 against a Brotherhood B side who are having a torrid time in their first year back in the top-flight. Adam Cuthbert, Jason Lloyd and Adam Wilkin were the victorious trio, Wilkin’s 11-6 in the fifth win against John Owen the only match extended to a decider.

In Division Two Russell Hillier’s good form continued with a hat-trick in Brotherhood C’s 8-2 success over Nomads Bobcats, beating David North 11-7 in the fifth in the crunch match of the number one players. Mark Salter and Tricia Salter each won two, with Hillier and Tricia Salter combining to win the doubles 11-4 in the decider against North and Eric Lemke. North took both Bobcats’ points.

Every player picked up a point as high-flying Brotherhood D won the final four matches of the evening to overcome lowly Windsor Harriers 6-4. Lee Allen won three, Martin Scarfe two and Grant Sharpe one for the winners. Each of the Harriers’ players took one point, with Isabel Barton and Ferdy Rodriguez taking the doubles against Allen and Scarfe by a bizarre 3-1 (11-1, 11-1, 14-16, 11-5) score-line.

A Ray Chillingworth hat-trick was the highlight of Windsor Buzzards’ 6-4 win over Brotherhood E. John Harvey chipped in with a couple. Alan Rutledge shared a good doubles win with Chillingworth but went down in the singles, 11-5 in the decider to Duncan Dunne and 11-7 in the decider to Rodney Betts. Dunne won two singles for Brotherhood, including an excellent victory in four against Harvey. Betts won one and took Harvey close before losing 11-7 in the fifth, whilst Tony Edmonds also won one but lost out 11-4 in the fifth to Chillingworth.

There was yet another 6-4 result as Brotherhood G won three of the four matches which went the distance to edge further away from the bottom two places with an important victory over relegation rivals Windsor Magpies. Paul Metcalf and Mark Beckham each won two, and John Gallagher one. Metcalf beat Dave Sweetland 11-4 in the decider, Beckham beat Malcolm Caley 11-3 in the decider and, crucially, Gallagher beat the unlucky Caley 12-10 in the decider. The Magpies once again relied on Dave Martin to take his three although it was a close 11-7 in the fifth against Beckham.

In Division Three leaders Nomads Jaguars won 8-2 against Nomads Leopards. Kevin Hume remained unbeaten whilst there were two each for Harry Hawkes and, making a first appearance of the season, Doug Green. However, the score-line disguises a much closer match, with the Jaguars taking all three matches which went the distance. Hume defeated Dave Wright 11-7 in the fifth, Hawkes beat Bob Jillins 11-5 in the fifth whilst Green beat the same player 11-8 in the fifth. Stuart Wilkinson took the two Leopards’ points.

Windsor Penguins won 8-2 against a below-strength Nomads Pumas. Darren Bunce remained unbeaten, with Jackie Bunce and Alan Charman each winning two. Dave Harris, who took both points for the Pumas, was involved in the closest individual match of the week, beating Charman 3-2 (14-12, 7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 15-13).

Brotherhood F returned to winning ways with a 7-3 win over a Nomads Lynx side forced to field a guest player. Maci Harvey, Harley Wood and Zac Coates each picked up one of their two valid matches but none of them could get the better of Dominic Joannou, once again showing his improvement with a hat-trick for the Lynx.

Walton D defeated Nomads Ocelots 7-3 despite an excellent treble from in-form Arthur Wells-Garrett, his maximum including an 11-9 in the fifth win against Tony Sharman and an 11-6 in the fifth win against Lynette Sparks. Sharman, Sparks and Toni Hayhow-Khan all won two for Walton.

The meeting of the bottom two teams, Windsor Merlins and Windsor Robins, ended all-square, although the Robins will feel more pleased with the result as they had to use a last-minute guest player. Sharon Gowlett was unbeaten on the night for the Merlins, whilst there were a couple each for Mick Coker and Oleksandra Klymenko for the Robins, the pair also sharing a doubles success. For the record, this was the 31st match played in the Third Division this season but the first to end as a draw.

RESULTS
Division 1
Walton A 6 Brotherhood A 4
Windsor Eagles 8 Walton B 2
Nomads Panthers 6 Windsor Hawks 4
Walton E 4 Walton C 6
Nomads Lions 10 Brotherhood B 0

Division 2
Brotherhood E 4 Windsor Buzzards 6
Brotherhood C 8 Nomads Bobcats 2
Windsor Harriers 4 Brotherhood D 6
Windsor Magpies 4 Brotherhood G 6

Division 3
Nomads Leopards 2 Nomads Jaguars 8
Windsor Merlins 5 Windsor Robins 5
Nomads Pumas 2 Windsor Penguins 8
Walton D 7 Nomads Ocelots 3
Brotherhood F 7 Nomads Lynx 3