The young guns of Nomads Lions got their team off to a sparkling start in Division One of the Clacton and District League with an impressive 7-3 victory over Walton A’s top trio of Gary Young, Gavin Price and Kevin James.
Paul Hume led the way with an unbeaten three which included a notable win in four over Young. There were two for Adam Cuthbert and one for Adam Wilkin whilst Hume and Cuthbert shared a close 3-2 (11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9) doubles success over Young and Price. Young got two for the losers and, although Price only picked up one point, he lost his both his singles matches by close margins, 11-9 in the fifth to Hume and 11-5 in the fifth to Cuthbert.
Windsor Condors also started on an upbeat note with a more predictable 9-1 victory over Windsor Kestrels. There were hat-tricks for Greg Green and Annabelle Rodriguez but John Harvey of the Kestrels picked up a surprise point for the losers, taking the scalp of Felipe Rodriguez.
Gracie Edwards was Brotherhood B’s hat-trick heroine as her side fought out an honourable draw with Windsor Hawks – although she had to battle hard against John Barton and Andy Vincent, beating both players 12-10 in the fifth. John Cleasby began his Clacton League career by taking two wins. For the Hawks, there were a couple of victories for Vincent and one each for Barton and Elliott Attrill, Attrill taking his point with an 11-6 in the decider win over John Owen.
It also finished all-square in the Brotherhood C versus Windsor Eagles encounter. Kevin Gowlett stayed unbeaten for Brotherhood whilst there were two each for the Eagles’ Phil Smith and Gary Cattermole. The only match of the evening that went to five was the doubles, Smith and Cattermole beating Gowlett and Alan Burgess 11-9 in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Lawford began their second sojourn in the top flight with a 10-0 reverse at the hands of Walton B, Paul Meikle, Derek Willis and Colin Dearman all unbeaten.
The three fancied Brotherhood teams in Division Two all began their campaigns with convincing victories – with a fourth Brotherhood side making a statement of intent by defeating one of the promotion favourites, Nomads Tigers.
Brotherhood D were 9-1 winners over club-mates Brotherhood E, Russell Hillier and Lee Harvey staying undefeated. Rodney Betts took the ‘E’ team’s consolation point with a win over Shaun Beckham and nearly took another, narrowly going down 11-7 in the fifth to Hillier. The only other match that went the distance saw Harvey defeat Duncan Dunne 11-5 in the decider.
Trebles for Stewart Murray and Grant Sharpe eased Brotherhood H home 8-2 against Nomads Bobcats. However, the Bobcats will take heart from their two points, both Ethan Lloyd and Andrew Cawley getting on the score-sheet with victories over Graham Parkes. And Lloyd nearly caused a major shock, taking Sharpe to five before going down 11-9 in the decider.
It was a little more straightforward for Brotherhood F who took all 10 points on offer against promoted Nomads Pumas. The Pumas came closest to taking a point in the doubles, Brotherhood’s Barry Allen and Lee Allen scraping home after a poor start to defeat Eric Lemke and John Bowers 3-2 (8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7).
But it was Brotherhood I who produced the stand-out result of the Division with a 7-3 success over last season’s third-placed team Nomads Tigers, Kris Stefanov taking the honours with an unbeaten three. He was well supported by the fast-improving Scott Campbell who recorded close wins in five over Brian Parish and John Hockley, and narrowly missed out on his own hat-trick, just losing 12-10 in the fifth to John Marshall. Woody Fitzpatrick also played well for Brotherhood, defeating Marshall in five and going down 12-10 in the decider to Hockley. Parish, Marshall and Hockley took a point apiece for the Tigers.
Windsor Magpies will have felt pleased to see promoted Walton C turn up without either Rivhu Khan and John Long, leaving Dave Sweetland, John Plummer and Kayley Rodriguez to take a couple of points each in their side’s 7-3 success. However, none of them could get the better of John Bonner who stayed unbeaten for the losers.
The closest match in the division was the all-Windsor clash between the Buzzards and Harriers, the Buzzards edging it thanks to an undefeated performance from Pete Bloomfield. Dan Malinowski and Alan Rutledge contributed a singles win each, with Bloomfield and Malinowski combining to take the doubles. Isabel Barton won a couple for the Harriers, including a close 11-6 in the fifth win over Rutledge.
Nomads Wildcats, pre-season title favourites in Division Three, got into gear with a 10-0 victory over Brotherhood G. Doug Green, Mike Wellum and Mike Hillier all notched up hat-tricks, the closest match seeing Hillier defeat Paul Metcalf 11-6 in the decider.
Jackie Bunce produced an excellent performance to stay unbeaten as her Windsor Penguins’ side edged past Nomads Cougars 6-4, her three including a close 11-9 in the fifth success against Nomads’ newcomer Roger Ellis. Debra Found won two for the Penguins and took Vic Little close before going down 11-7 in the fifth. Zoe Strange secured the Penguins’ sixth point but couldn’t get the better of Ellis who took their individual match 12-10 in the decider.
There were six young players on show in the all-Windsor clash between the Ospreys and the Kites. The match finished with the points shared, no-one staying unbeaten and every player picking up at least one point. Jordan Webb of the Ospreys won two, unexpectedly beating Chris Simson but, equally unexpectedly, losing 11-8 in the decider to Rachel Simson. New-signing Robbie Strutt took two and Maci Harvey one for the Ospreys whilst, for the Kites, Chris Simson won a couple, and Jack Haylett and Rachel Simson one each. Haylett and Chris Simson took a close doubles, 11-7 in the fifth, against Webb and Strutt.
There was another fierce scrap in the all-Nomads clash between the Lynx and Leopards, the match fittingly ending as a draw. Once again, no player stayed unbeaten and every player came away with at least one win. Dave Harris’ two for the Lynx included an 11-9 in the fifth win over Dave Wright, whilst there was one each for Liam Harris and Cameron Cini, Cini edging past Tom Collins 12-10 in the fifth. Stuart Wilkinson was the Leopards’ best player, winning twice, whilst there was an 11-9 in the fifth win for skipper Wright against Cini and an 11-7 in the fifth victory for Collins against Liam Harris.
A first League treble for Martin Cunningham, two for newcomer Dominic Joannou and one from Barbara Rogers saw Nomads Ocelots to a 7-3 victory over Brotherhood J. But there was consolation for the Brotherhood youngsters as Georgia Ayton recorded two wins and Harley Wood one, whilst Brayden Saward played well before losing to Rogers 11-7 in the fifth.
But the potentially most interesting result from the division was Nomads Caracals’ 8-2 win against Windsor Swallows where Colchester League regulars, Denise Thompson and Christine Jones, took to the Clacton stage and both recorded fine trebles. Paul Dale and Iris Howlett took a consolation point each for the Swallows.
RESULTS
Division 1
Windsor Hawks 5 Brotherhood B 5
Walton A 3 Nomads Lions 7
Windsor Kestrels 1 Windsor Condors 9
Brotherhood C 5 Windsor Eagles 5
Lawford 0 Walton B 10
Division 2
Nomads Pumas 0 Brotherhood F 10
Nomads Tigers 3 Brotherhood I 7
Windsor Magpies 7 Walton C 3
Brotherhood D 9 Brotherhood E 1
Windsor Harriers 4 Windsor Buzzards 6
Brotherhood H 8 Nomads Bobcats 2
Division 3
Nomads Lynx 5 Nomads Leopards 5
Windsor Ospreys 5 Windsor Kites 5
Nomads Ocelots 7 Brotherhood J 3
Nomads Caracals 8 Windsor Swallows 2
Windsor Penguins 6 Nomads Cougars 4
Brotherhood G 0 Nomads Wildcats 10