Brotherhood top as Lawford lose for the first time
The battle at the top of Division Two in the Clacton and District League is developing into a three-horse race but Brotherhood D consolidated their position as title favourites this week with a hard-fought 6-4 win over fellow promotion-contenders Lawford.
Lee Harvey and Paul Alden won two each for Brotherhood, Harvey defeating Ian Sherwood 11-6 in the fifth whilst Alden beat Peter Sear 11-7 in the fifth, with Russell Hillier taking a vital point by beating Sherwood.
Richard Spence remained unbeaten for Lawford, his treble including an 11-6 in the fifth win over Alden, and a 12-10 in the decider victory over Harvey.
It was Lawford’s first defeat of the season.
Brotherhood C are the third promotion-seeking team and they made up ground on their two rivals with an 8-2 success over Windsor Magpies, Kevin Pryor and the much-improved Fred Gallone taking hat-tricks, Dave Sweetland picking up an unexpected point for the Magpies with a victory over Lawrence Torr.
Three for Gary Stallwood and two for Adam Jackson saw Windsor Owls home 6-4 against Brotherhood F, Jackson securing the win with an 11-9 in the decider success over Barry Allen.
The meeting of the bottom two teams saw Nomads Ocelots emerge 7-3 victors against Brotherhood E, Doug Green, Daryl Lott and reserve Alan Dockerill all winning twice, as did Rodney Betts for Brotherhood.
Brotherhood G lost for an eleventh time but still picked up four valuable points in the 6-4 defeat at the hands of Nomads Tigers, Elliott Attrill and Jordan Blanche-Price both recording 12-10 in the fifth wins over Darren Bunce.
Brotherhood I kept up their good run in Division Three with a 7-3 win against Brotherhood K although Pete Bloomfield of the ‘K’ team was the best player on the night, taking an excellent maximum.
Cris Edwards was another player to take a treble but finish on the losing side, a weakened Brotherhood M going down 6-4 to Windsor Penguins. Cris edged past Ray Chillingworth 11-9 in the fifth whilst Vicki Edwards defeated Jackie Bunce by the same score.
Windsor Swallows moved up to third place in the table, comfortably beating Windsor Kites 10-0.
The match between Brotherhood H and Nomads Bobcats ended all-square, Gerald Batt and Tom Wilkin taking two each for Brotherhood and Michael Gallone one.
Three for Pete Miller, two for Harry Beezer and one for Hazel Blanche gave Nomads Wildcats a 7-3 victory against Brotherhood L, Debra Found picking up two wins for the losers.
In Division One Brotherhood A did their title chances a power of good with a 9-1 win over Walton A, the Brotherhood side crucially taking all five matches that went the distance. There were hat-tricks for both Greg Green and David Binns, Green’s treble all coming from matches that went to five. The closest contest of the evening saw John Stubbings defeat John Rice 12-10 in the decider.
Walton A drop to third place but Nomads Panthers leap-frog to the top after a convincing 10-0 victory over Windsor Hawks.
In a mid-table clash, Brotherhood B beat Walton B 7-3, Stewart Murray undefeated and Ian Graham and John Owen taking a couple each for the winners, Gavin Price winning twice for the losers.
Colin Stallwood and Gary Young were both unbeaten for Windsor Condors, 8-2 winners against Nomads Lions, although Young struggled before beating John Fenton 3-2 (11-5, 10-12, 11-6, 8-11,
12-10). The result drops the Lions into the bottom two places.
Windsor Kestrels moved out of the relegation zone after drawing with Walton C, Terry May and Frank Burbidge getting two each and Chris Petrou one, Burbidge beating both Mark Gale and Paul Meikle 13-11 in the fifth. David Hall was undefeated for Walton.
Nomads Jaguars lost 9-1 to Windsor Eagles and stay bottom, reserve Simon Smith-Daye getting their sole point with an 11-9 in the decider victory over Fred Button. Phil Smith and John Hobson took trebles for the Eagles.
* In Division Two of the Super-Veterans Section of the Essex Inter-League, Clacton beat Southend C 7-2, Terry May winning two singles, Colin Beaumont and Brian Parish one each, with the town side winning all three doubles. And the score could so easily have been 8-1, Parish just losing 15-13 in the decider to Southend’s Ray Farmer.
RESULTS
Division 1
Windsor Condors 8 Nomads Lions 2;
Windsor Kestrels 5 Walton C 5;
Brotherhood A 9 Walton A 1;
Nomads Panthers 10 Windsor Hawks 0;
Walton B 3 Brotherhood B 7;
Nomads Jaguars 1 Windsor Eagles 9.
Division 2
Brotherhood E 3 Nomads Ocelots 7;
Brotherhood F 4 Windsor Owls 6;
Brotherhood G 4 Nomads Tigers 6;
Windsor Magpies 2 Brotherhood C 8;
Lawford 4 Brotherhood D 6.
Division 3
Brotherhood K 3 Brotherhood I 7;
Nomads Wildcats 7 Brotherhood L 3;
Windsor Kites 0 Windsor Swallows 10;
Brotherhood H 5 Nomads Wildcats 5;
Windsor Penguins 6 Brotherhood M 4.
ESSEX INTER-LEAGUE
Super-Veterans : Division Two
Clacton B (May, Beaumont, Parish) 7 Southend C 2.
To view the full tables click here
Tony Oswick