There’s life in the Lions

Nomads Lions celebrated their first victory of the season in a vital Division One relegation clash with club-mates Nomads Jaguars, emerging 8-2 winners.

There were three for John Hatley, and two each for John Weller and John Fenton, whilst Hatley and Fenton shared a narrow 13-11 in the decider doubles’ victory over Colin Beaumont and Brian Parish.

Despite the score-line, it was a tight encounter, with only one match settled in three and the Lions taking three of the four matches that went the distance.

The Jaguars included reserve Sam Hume who excelled to beat Fenton 11-6 in the fifth and take Weller all the way before going down 11-5 in the decider.

The Jaguars now appear doomed for the drop and it seems likely they’ll be joined by Windsor Kestrels who, dogged by player problems, went down 10-0 to Walton D. With five matches left, the Kestrels are ten points adrift of the Lions.

At the top, Nomads Panthers were 9-1 winners against Walton C, Paul Meikle preventing the whitewash with a narrow 12-10 in the fifth victory over Gill Locke.

Windsor Condors consolidated their second place with a 10-0 success against Walton B. Two matches went to five, Gary Cattermole defeating Graham Buxton 11-5 in the fifth and Paul Newbould 11-8 in the fifth.

No-one stayed unbeaten as Walton A defeated Windsor Eagles 6-4, Colin Dearman, Matt Watson and John Rice all winning two each for Walton, Mark Smith taking two for the Eagles. Rice defeated John Hobson 11-8 in the decider but lost to Smith by the same score.

In a bottom-of-the-table clash in Division Two Brotherhood E lost all four matches that went to a fifth set against Brotherhood G but still came out with honours even. There were two wins each for Tony Edmonds and Duncan Dunne, and a belated first success of the season for Gary Bayliss. Elliott Attrill’s hat-trick for the ‘G’ team included a 3-2 (16-18, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9) win over Edmonds.

Three from Kevin Pryor kept Brotherhood C’s promotion hopes alive as his side beat Windsor Ravens 6-4. Laurence Torr contributed a couple, as did John Long for the Ravens. Long and Isabel Barton enjoyed a surprise 12-10 in the decider doubles’ victory over Pryor and Torr.

Leaders Brotherhood D were held to a draw by Windsor Owls. Gary Stallwood picked up a predicable treble whilst Tricia Salter gave fine support with an unexpected 3-2 (13-11, 5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10) victory over Paul Alden, and shared a doubles win with Stallwood, 11-6 in the fifth, over Lee Harvey and Shaun Beckham. Harvey and Beckham took two wins apiece for Brotherhood.

The Owls later enjoyed a 7-3 success against Windsor Magpies, Stallwood beating Dave Martin 3-2 (15-13, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8) in the battle of the big guns. But, surprisingly, Stallwood found Dave Sweetland equally challenging and was relieved to come out on top 11-9 in the fifth.

In their second match, the Magpies were beaten 6-4 by Windsor Harriers. Ian Fielder was undefeated for the Harriers, John Plummer picked up a rare win for the Magpies, whilst the closest match saw Ron Dacey edge past the Harriers’ Jenny Higgins 12-10 in the fifth.

It was also 6-4 for Brotherhood F against Nomads Tigers, David North, Barry Allen and Mark Beckham each winning twice. Simon Smith-Daye took a treble for the Tigers.

In Division Three leaders Brotherhood I were comfortable 9-1 winners against Nomads Lynx, John Wrigley and James Smith-Daye unbeaten, whilst Nomads Pumas consolidated their third-place with a 10-0 win over Winsor Kites.

Brotherhood H defeated Windsor Penguins 7-3, Gerald Batt unbeaten. Mike Monschau took two for the losers and, with Jackie Bunce, shared an unexpected doubles win against Batt and Michael Gallone.

No-one stayed unbeaten but everyone picked up a point as Windsor Swallows defeated Brotherhood L 6-4. Dan Wright and Caroline North won two each for the Swallows, Jonathan Found took a couple for Brotherhood.

In the all-Nomads clash, hat-tricks for Vic Little and Harry Hawkes saw the Bobcats home 8-2 against the Wildcats, Brian Friday taking the losers’ two points.

It was a similar 8-2 score-line for Brotherhood K against Nomads Leopards, Pete Bloomfield unbeaten, Rob Bright and Brian Baines taking two each. Skipper Tony Rayner took the Leopards’ points.

* In Division Two of the Veterans’ Section of the Essex Inter-League, Clacton’s Colin Webber, Gill Locke and Phil Smith came up against the familiar names of John Andrews, Fred Button and Martyn Green in the Colchester line-up.
Four of the matches went close in five but Clacton were on the wrong end of a 7-2 score-line, Smith taking a singles victory and sharing a doubles’ win with Locke.

* The draw for the semi-finals of the Knock-Out Handicap Cup is :

Nomads Cougars v Windsor Hawks; Brotherhood A v Nomads Jaguars. The Cup Final will be played at the Brotherhood Hall on Tuesday 7th May.

RESULTS
Division 1
Walton A 6 Windsor Eagles 4;
Walton C 1 Nomads Panthers 9;
Windsor Condors 10 Walton B 0;
Windsor Kestrels 0 Walton D 10;
Nomads Lions 8 Nomads Jaguars 2.

Division 2

Windsor Harriers 6 Windsor Magpies 4;
Brotherhood C 6 Windsor Ravens 4;
Brotherhood E 5 Brotherhood G 5;
Windsor Owls 5 Brotherhood D 5;
Windsor Magpies 3 Windsor Owls 7;
Nomads Tigers 4 Brotherhood F 6.

Division 3
Brotherhood I 9 Nomads Lynx 1;
Windsor Swallows 6 Brotherhood L 4;
Nomads Pumas 10 Windsor Kites 0;
Brotherhood H 7 Windsor Penguins 3;
Nomads Bobcats 8 Nomads Wildcats 2;
Brotherhood K 8 Nomads Leopards 2.

Essex Inter-League
Veterans Division 2
Colchester 7 Clacton (Webber, Locke, Smith) 2.

To view the full tables click here

Tony Oswick