Where there’s life there’s hope and this week John Fenton gave Nomads Lions a crumb of comfort in their battle to avoid relegation from Division Two of the Clacton and District Table Tennis League.
The much-improved Fenton took an excellent hat-trick in the Lions’ penultimate match of the season against Brotherhood D, his three including a hard-fought 8-11, 14-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 win over Mark Beckham.
With John Wacker contributing a couple, the Lions were able to grab a share of the spoils – which means they must win their final match against Walton B in order to overtake club-mates, Nomads Tigers, and thus avoid finishing in the bottom two.
Brotherhood E lost 10-0 to second-placed Nomads Cougars, Tony Edmonds and Duncan Dunne’s losing the doubles 11-7 in the fifth to Tony Beezer and Colin Beaumont in the closest encounter of the evening.
So Brotherhood E go into their last match with Windsor Ravens knowing that even a 10-0 victory is unlikely to prevent them finishing bottom.
In Division Three Nomads Lynx confirmed their position as runners-up following a 6-4 victory against Brotherhood K, Barry Jones taking three and Mike Vilka two, with Vic Little unlucky not to get on the score-sheet, going down 12-10 in the fifth to Barry Allen.
And all credit to the Brotherhood K team who will almost certainly finish in third place in their debut League season.
In Division One Walton A beat Lawford 9-1, Richard Spence’s unexpected win over Matthew Watson the losers’ sole point.
The result that means Walton A finish third ahead of Windsor Roosters and a bloodied – but unbowed – Lawford end their first season in the top flight without a sniff of a win.
Red Triangle A chalked up an excellent 6-4 victory over Windsor Roosters, David Hall finding his form at the end of the season to stay unbeaten whilst Jason Gale’s pair included a fine 11-6, 10-12, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9 win over Gary Cattermole.
But Red Triangle B, despite losing 8-2 to Nomads Panthers, take the bragging rights and will finish ahead of their “A” team, Colin Webber and the under-rated George Kalli taking two in the Panthers’ success.
Finally, Nomads Jaguars beat Brotherhood B 7-3, Kevin James winning three, Paul Woolnough two and Gary Stallwood one for the victors, although Stallwood nearly had another, just losing out
12-10 in the fifth to Martin Edwards.
* In Division Three of the Super-Veterans Section of the Essex Inter-League, Clacton recovered from 4-2 down against Basildon B to edge it 5-4, John Stubbings, John Wrigley and Terry Kirby all winning a singles, with Stubbings sharing two doubles wins.
It was a something of an adventure for the town team who arrived at the Benfleet venue to find it had not been booked – so the match went ahead without electricity and lights.
* Congratulations to Mark Smith and James Denyer who were selected again last month to represent the Essex Junior second and third teams respectively at Cippenham.
* The Windsor Club Quiz Evening will be held on Friday 29th April at St James Hall, 7.30 pm for an 8.00 pm start. Tickets are £5 each which includes a ploughman’s supper. For more details and to enter a team contact Jenny Higgins on 01255 432397.
* The 2011 Cup Final between Red Triangle B and Windsor Condors takes place on Tuesday 3rd May (not Thursday 5th May as printed in the League Handbook) at the Brotherhood Hall at 7.30 pm. All spectators are welcome.
* Team Secretaries are asked to ensure all result cards are with the Press and Records Secretary by Friday 29th April at the latest.
RESULTS
Division 1
Red Triangle B 2 Nomads Panthers 8;
Red Triangle A 6 Windsor Roosters 4;
Walton A 9 Lawford 1;
Brotherhood B 3 Nomads Jaguars 7.
Division 2
Brotherhood E 0 Nomads Cougars 10;
Nomads Lions 5 Brotherhood D 5.
Division 3
Brotherhood K 4 Nomads Lynx 6;
Brotherhood I 10 (w/o v Nomads Pumas).
ESSEX INTER-LEAGUE
Super-Veterans : Division 3
Basildon B 4 Clacton B (Stubbings, Wrigley, Kirby) 5.
| 2010/11 SEASON | |||||
| (as at 24th April 2011) | |||||
| DIVISION 1 | P | W | D | L | PTS |
| Brotherhood A | 23 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 185 |
| Condors | 23 | 18 | 0 | 5 | 167 |
| Walton A | 23 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 151 |
| Roosters | 24 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 144 |
| Eagles (1) | 23 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 130 |
| Panthers | 23 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 127 |
| Red Triangle B | 23 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 121 |
| Red Triangle A | 24 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 119 |
| Jaguars | 23 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 101 |
| Brotherhood B | 23 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 94 |
| Hawks | 23 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 73 |
| Falcons | 23 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 70 |
| Lawford | 24 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 27 |
| DIVISION 2 | P | W | D | L | PTS |
| Kestrels | 22 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 173 |
| Cougars | 22 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 156 |
| Brotherhood C * (2) | 22 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 135 |
| Walton B | 21 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 113 |
| Brotherhood D | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 109 |
| Ravens | 21 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 108 |
| Harriers * | 21 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 100 |
| Owls | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 87 |
| Brotherhood F (2) | 21 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 85 |
| Tigers | 22 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 74 |
| Lions | 21 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 68 |
| Brotherhood E | 21 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 58 |
| DIVISION 3 | P | W | D | L | PTS |
| Magpies | 23 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 210 |
| Lynx | 23 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 167 |
| Brotherhood G (2) | 24 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 162 |
| Brotherhood K | 23 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 155 |
| Swallows | 23 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 132 |
| Brotherhood H | 23 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 120 |
| Pumas (6) | 23 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 113 |
| Brotherhood J | 23 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 105 |
| Leopards (2) | 23 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 99 |
| Brotherhood I | 23 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 98 |
| Brotherhood L | 23 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 63 |
| Penguins | 23 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 59 |
| Kites | 23 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 7 |
| Points deducted in brackets | |||||
| * Record includes one void match | |||||
By Tony Oswick