Tigers on top

As the players of the Clacton and District Table Tennis League take a well-earned break from League action over the holiday period, Nomads Tigers will look forward to the New Year with the luxury of a fourteen-point lead at the top of Division Three.

They ended the first half-season with a confident 9-1 win over Windsor Swallows, Doug Green and Simon Smith-Date unbeaten, Eric Lemke losing to Windsor’s top player Sue Watson but winning twice, including a close 11-9 in the fifth victory over Iris Howlett.

Elsewhere, Brotherhood K made a significant promotion push with a 10-0 win over Windsor Kites, a victory that moves them into second place, just a point ahead of Nomads Cougars.

Nomads Pumas were unfortunate to find Adam Wilkin in the Brotherhood H line-up and the match ended all-square, Lionel Goddard and Alan Dockerill both winning twice for the Pumas, both defeating Gerald Batt 13-11 in the decider.

A Jordan Blanche-Price maximum was not enough to prevent Brotherhood L losing 6-4 to Windsor Penguins, Ray Chillingworth and Mike Monschau getting a couple each for the Penguins.

Brotherhood G played with a guest but were still good enough to draw with Nomads Leopards, Fred Gallone staying unbeaten and Gary Bayliss winning twice, his pair including an 11-8 in the fifth defeat of Norman Jacobs in the closest match of the evening.

In the all-Windsor clash in Division One the Condors defeated the Eagles 8-2, Gary Young and Colin Stallwood unbeaten for the Condors, Sue Welham and Fred Button each taking a point for the Eagles with wins against John Pattrick.

Walton A go into the Christmas break as genuine title contenders, this week defeating Brotherhood B 10-0, Matthew Watson confirming his good form with an excellent three.

Nomads Panthers beat Walton B 7-3, Colin Webber undefeated for the Panthers, Martin Hogg taking two for Walton and, with Paul Newbould, sharing a doubles win over Webber and Gill Locke.

Felipe Rodriguez and Annabelle Rodriguez both took trebles as Windsor Falcons beat Windsor Kestrels 9-1, Frank Burbidge getting the Kestrels’ point with a 12-10 in the fifth win over Mark Salter.

In Division Two Andy Vincent and John Barton recorded hat-tricks in Windsor Hawks 9-1 victory over Brotherhood C, a result that sees second-placed Hawks draw clear of their promotion rivals.

Nomads Lions also lost ground following their 8-2 defeat at the hands of leaders Walton D but it was a terrific tussle, John Fenton beating Paul Woolnough 11-9 in the fifth with John Weller scraping past the same player 12-10 in the decider.

Brotherhood D moved to the fringes of the promotion race with a convincing 10-0 success over relegation-haunted Brotherhood F, the closest match being Shaun Beckham’s defeat of Barry Allen in five.

A Gary Stallwood treble, and two each from Tricia Salter and Adam Jackson, saw Windsor Owls to an 8-2 win against a Windsor Magpies side still hovering just above the relegation zone.

Five of the matches went the distance, every player got a point and no-one stayed unbeaten as Windsor Ravens beat Brotherhood E

7-3, Brotherhood’s Mark Beckham beating Brian Thiel 14-12 in the fifth, Duncan Dunne just losing 11-13 in the fifth to Isabel Barton.

Lawford and Windsor Harriers are separated by only a five points in the middle of the table and so their drawn match was not a surprise, two each here for Lawford’s Richard Spence and Peter Sear, and for Windsor’s Ian Fielder and Terry May.

* James Denyer, Kelvin Olano, Elliott Attrill and Tom Burton represented Clacton in the Essex Inter-League Junior Team Event, drawing with Braintree but losing to strong teams from Colchester, Chelmsford and Southend.

Denyer was outstanding, remaining unbeaten in all his singles and defeating several players ranked above him whilst Olano, Attrill and Burton, all representing the town for the first time, played with first-rate spirit, promise and sportsmanship.

RESULTS

Division 1

Nomads Panthers 7 Walton B 3;

Windsor Kestrels 1 Windsor Falcons 9;

Walton A 10 Brotherhood B 0;

Windsor Eagles 2 Windsor Condors 8.

Division 2

Windsor Ravens 7 Brotherhood E 3;

Windsor Hawks 9 Brotherhood C 1;

Lawford 5 Windsor Harriers 5;

Walton D 8 Nomads Lions 2;

Brotherhood F 0 Brotherhood D 10;

Windsor Magpies 2 Windsor Owls 8.

Division 3

Nomads Pumas 5 Brotherhood H 5;

Nomads Leopards 5 Brotherhood G 5;

Windsor Swallows 1 Nomads Tigers 9;

Brotherhood K 10 Windsor Kites 0;

Brotherhood L 4 Windsor Penguins 6.

ESSEX INTER-LEAGUE

Junior Section

Clacton 3 (Denyer 2, Denyer/Olano 1) Colchester 7;

Clacton 3 (Denyer 2, Denyer/Olano 1) Chelmsford 7;

Clacton 5 (Denyer 2, Attrill 2, Burton 1) Braintree 5

Clacton 2 (Denyer 2) Southend 8.

For full table click here

Tony Oswick