Red Triangle B produced the shock of Round Three of the Clacton and District Table Tennis League’s Handicap Knock-Out Cup when they beat the Division One leaders Brotherhood A 5-3.
Graham Buxton was in fine form for the Triangle side, winning his singles matches against Greg Green and Dave Binns, and sharing a doubles victory with Paul Newbould.
And Newbould, back from injury, was not far behind in the success stakes, winning two singles, one doubles and only narrowly going down 15-13 in the fifth in his doubles (+1) with Claude Snell against Binns and Alan Burgess (-5).
In another top-flight clash, Windsor Eagles and Windsor Falcons met in the Cup for the fifth time in six years – and the Eagles made it four victories out of five.
The Eagles took the first three matches – which all went close in five – and they also led 4-2 before finally winning 5-4, Fred Button taking two singles and a doubles for the winners, as did Annabelle Rodriguez for the losers.
Division One beat Division Two as Windsor Condors overcame Brotherhood C 5-1 in a match closer than the scoreline suggests, whilst it was also 5-1 as Red Triangle A defeated Nomads Lions despite the Lions taking the first doubles of the evening.
In the first of two all-Second Division clashes, Windsor Kestrels came back from 4-2 down to edge past Brotherhood E 5-4 in a hard-fought contest, Chris Petrou winning two singles and a doubles for the Kestrels, Lee Harvey doing the same for Brotherhood.
Despite five matches going to a deciding set, Windsor Harriers could only win one of them and so Brotherhood D marched on with a 5-1 victory, the excellent Paul Alden undefeated.
In an all-Division Three clash, Nomads Lynx beat Brotherhood G 5-0 but it was by no means a whitewash match, as exemplified by the opening doubles, Vic Little and Mike Vilka (0) defeating Allen Denyer and Rowan Cottee (0) 14-16, 16-14, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9.
But the only other Division Three side, Brotherhood H, found it tough going against top-flight Walton A, losing 5-0, although Tom Wilkin (+2) gave Colin Dearman (-13) a run for his money, Dearman just winning 12-10, 12-10, 13-11.
* In Division One of the League, Nomads Panthers beat a weakened Red Triangle B 9-1, in-form George Kalli undefeated.
In an all-Nomads’ clash in Division Two Doug Green of the Tigers had good victories over Terry Kirby and Tony Beezer, but the Cougars ended up 7-3 winners, Colin Beaumont unbeaten.
Windsor Ravens were 6-4 winners over a Brotherhood E side forced to field a reserve but Duncan Dunne and Lee Harvey both played well for the losers to take a pair apiece.
In Division Three Tom Burton took a treble and Lucy Burton a couple as Brotherhood J defeated Brotherhood L 8-2, but it was a familiar 10-0 scoreline for Windsor Magpies, their victims this week being Windsor Swallows.
* In Division Two of the Veterans Section of the Essex Inter-League, Clacton led Brentwood 3-1 but went eventually went down 5-4, Colin Webber, Neil Crook and Phil Smith each taking a singles with Webber and Crook joining to take a doubles.
* The Junior Combination Tournament takes place on Friday 25th February at the Brotherhood Hall with play starting at 7.00 pm. The entry fee is £2 and the closing date is Monday 21st February. For details, contact Felipe or Annabelle Rodriguez on 01255 221259.
* The League’s Closed Championships will be held at the Coastal Academy Sports Hall on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th April, and players are reminded that the entry qualification is likely to be at least six or seven League matches.
RESULTS
Knock-Out Cup : Round 3
Windsor Falcons 4 Windsor Eagles 5;
Red Triangle A 5 Nomads Lions 1;
Brotherhood G 1 Nomads Lynx 5
Brotherhood C 1 Windsor Condors 5;
Brotherhood G 0 Walton A 5;
Brotherhood A 3 Red Triangle B 5;
Windsor Kestrels 5 Brotherhood E 4;
Windsor Harriers 1 Brotherhood D 5.
Division 1
Nomads Panthers 9 Red Triangle B 1.
Division 2
Nomads Cougars 7 Nomads Tigers 3;
Brotherhood E 4 Windsor Ravens 6.
Division 3
Brotherhood J 8 Brotherhood L 2;
Windsor Swallows 0 Windsor Magpies 10.
ESSEX INTER-LEAGUE
Veterans’ Division 2
Brentwood 5 Clacton (Webber, Crook, Smith) 4.
| 2010/11 SEASON | |||||
| (as at 13th February 2011) | |||||
| DIVISION 1 | P | W | D | L | PTS |
| Brotherhood A | 16 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 130 |
| Condors | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 115 |
| Walton A | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 114 |
| Roosters | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 98 |
| Red Triangle B | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 87 |
| Eagles (1) | 15 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 84 |
| Panthers | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 81 |
| Red Triangle A | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 76 |
| Brotherhood B | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 65 |
| Jaguars | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 62 |
| Falcons | 16 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 48 |
| Hawks | 15 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 42 |
| Lawford | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 17 |
| DIVISION 2 | P | W | D | L | PTS |
| Kestrels | 15 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 121 |
| Cougars | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 106 |
| Brotherhood C * (2) | 16 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 103 |
| Walton B | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 85 |
| Brotherhood D | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 77 |
| Ravens | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 76 |
| Harriers * | 15 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 63 |
| Owls | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 58 |
| Brotherhood F (2) | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 53 |
| Tigers | 16 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 51 |
| Brotherhood E | 14 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 43 |
| Lions | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 40 |
| DIVISION 3 | P | W | D | L | PTS |
| Magpies | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 154 |
| Lynx | 16 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 121 |
| Brotherhood G (2) | 16 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 111 |
| Brotherhood K | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 107 |
| Swallows | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 98 |
| Pumas | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 87 |
| Brotherhood J | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 78 |
| Brotherhood H | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 74 |
| Leopards (2) | 16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 63 |
| Brotherhood I | 16 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 61 |
| Brotherhood L | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 39 |
| Penguins | 16 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 26 |
| Kites | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 |
| Points deducted in brackets | |||||
| * Record includes one void match | |||||
By Tony Oswick