Nomads Wildcats have established an early lead at the top of Division Three of the Clacton & District League, this week recording two comfortable 8-2 victories. Doug Green and Mike Wellum played in both matches – against Windsor Penguins and Nomads Cougars – and stayed unbeaten in both.
Alan Charman and Debra Found took a point apiece for the losers in the Penguins’ match, with Roy Cole and Vic Little doing the same for the losing Cougars’ side.
Walton D opened their campaign with an impressive-looking 10-0 success over Nomads Lynx. Jared Chelski, Daniel Young and Jane Young all returned trebles, with only two individual matches extended to a fourth set.
However, it was a tighter affair at St James’ Hall where Windsor Kites drew for a second week running, this time against Nomads Caracals. Jack Haylett and Carl Hubbard each won two and Mick Simson one for the Kites. But no-one could get the better of Chris Jones who took a hat-trick for the Caracals. Hazel Blanche took one point for the Nomads’ side and narrowly lost 11-9 in the decider to Hubbard. The Blanche/Jones combination took a crucial doubles 3-2 (13-11, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8) against Hubbard and Haylett.
It was also all-square between Brotherhood J and a Brotherhood G team forced to field a guest player. Dave Hunt and Jo Millar took two each for the ‘G’ team and shared a doubles victory. But the ‘J’ side’s Georgia Ayton was the star player on the night, winning her two matches, whilst her team-mate Brayden Saward narrowly failed to get on the score-sheet, going down 11-9 in the decider to Hunt.
Windsor Swallows defeated a two-player Nomads Ocelots 8-2, Paul Dale winning both his matches. Arthur Wells-Garrett enjoyed a promising debut, beating Iris Howlett and Sue Chillingworth to take the Ocelots’ two points.
Nomads Panthers began their campaign to retain their Division One title with two confident wins. Colin Webber and Joe Andrews took hat-tricks as the Panthers beat Windsor Owls 9-1, Mark Salter getting the Owls’ point by beating John Hatley.
And the Nomads’ side followed this with a hard-fought 7-3 success against Windsor Eagles in a match in which every player picked up a point. James Denyer remained unbeaten and, although Gill Locke won a couple for the Panthers, she fell foul of a rejuvenated Fred Button. Both Phil Smith and Sue Welham took a point each for Windsor with successes against Webber. The only encounter that went to five was the doubles, Locke and Webber beating Smith and Welham 10-12, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9.
Nomads Lions notched up a successive 7-3 win, this time against Windsor Hawks. As in their opening match against Walton A, there were three for Paul Hume, two for Adam Cuthbert and one for Adam Wilkin. But it was a close-run affair which could easily have seen the score-line reversed, Hume beating Andy Vincent 12-10 in the fifth, Cuthbert defeating Elliott Attrill 14-12 in the fifth, with Hume and Cuthbert taking the doubles 3-2 (13-11, 8-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6) against Vincent and Attrill. Vincent won two for the Hawks and Attrill one.
Alan Burgess stayed unbeaten for Brotherhood C against Brotherhood B but his heroics were in vain as the ‘B’ team ran out 7-3 winners. John Cleasby, Gracie Edwards and John Owen all won two for the victors. The closest match of the evening saw Burgess edge past Edwards 11-9 in the decider.
There was a similar situation in the Windsor Owls v Windsor Kestrels fixture where Mark Salter put in an undefeated performance for the Owls – but the Kestrels won 7-3. Colin Beaumont, John Harvey and Dave Martin all won twice.
Walton A moved into gear with a 9-1 success over Lawford, Kevin James and Gavin Price unbeaten. James’ 3-2 (11-5, 9-11, 13-11, 3-11, 11-5) victory against John Colvin the only match that went to five. Paul Hewitt took the Lawford point with a win against Paul Woolnough.
Brotherhood H lead the embryonic Division Two table after they despatched Brotherhood E 9-1. Grant Sharpe and Stewart Murray took hat-tricks, with Cris Edwards beating Graham Parkes to take the ‘E’ team’s point.
The all-Brotherhood clash between the ‘D’ and ‘I’ teams proved a competitive cracker, the ‘I’ team emerging narrow 6-4 winners. Kris Stefanov took three, Mark Ratcliffe and Scott Campbell one each, with Stefanov and Campbell edging a crucial doubles 11-9 in the decider against Lee Harvey and Shaun Beckham. In total, five of the matches went the distance with Harvey involved in three of them, beating Ratcliff 11-4 in the fifth and Campbell 11-5 in the fifth but losing to Stefanov by the narrowest of margins, 14-12 in the fifth. Paul Alden’s couple for the ‘D’ team included a tight 11-7 in the fifth victory over Ratcliff.
No-one stayed unbeaten in the drawn match between Walton C and Nomads Tigers. There were a couple each for Walton’s Rivhu Khan and John Long, and also for Daryl Lott and Brian Parish of the Tigers. The pivotal match was the doubles, Khan and Long squeezing past Lott and John Marshall 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 5-11, 12-10).
Again, no-one came away with maximum points in the Nomads Jaguars v Windsor Magpies encounter, the Jaguars scraping home 6-4 in another tightly-contested match. Andrew North took two wins for the Jaguars, 11-7 in the fifth over John Plummer and 13-11 in the fifth over Malcolm Caley. His team-mates, Caroline North and Kevin Hume, also picked up a pair apiece, Hume narrowly failing to make it three, losing 13-11 in the decider to Plummer. Dave Sweetland’s couple for the Magpies included an 11-6 in the decider win over Caroline North.
Windsor Buzzards continued their winning start, Pete Bloomfield leading the way with a second successive hat-trick as his team defeated Nomads Pumas 9-1. Ray Chillingworth also recorded a treble whilst there were two for Dan Malinowski. Malinowski enjoyed a hard-fought encounter with Alan Dockerill, winning 3-2 (12-10, 4-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-4), but went down in five to John Bowers who took the Pumas’ consolation point.
Finally, there were a couple each for Ethan Lloyd and Jason Lloyd of Nomads Bobcats but Windsor Harriers took the match 6-4. The closest matches saw Jason Lloyd beat Jenny Higgins 3-2 (12-10, 8-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-8) and Windsor’s Isabel Barton edge past Andrew Cawley 13-11 in the decider.
RESULTS
Division 1
Nomads Lions 7 Windsor Hawks 3
Brotherhood B 7 Brotherhood C 3
Walton A 9 Lawford 1
Windsor Eagles 3 Nomads Panthers 7
Windsor Owls 3 Windsor Kestrels 7
Nomads Panthers 9 Windsor Owls 1
Division 2
Brotherhood I 6 Brotherhood D 4
Walton C 5 Nomads Tigers 5
Brotherhood E 1 Brotherhood H 9
Windsor Buzzards 9 Nomads Pumas 1
Nomads Jaguars 6 Windsor Magpies 4
Nomads Bobcats 4 Windsor Harriers 6
Division 3
Nomads Cougars 2 Nomads Wildcats 8
Brotherhood J 5 Brotherhood G 5
Nomads Wildcats 8 Windsor Penguins 2
Windsor Swallows 8 Nomads Ocelots 2
Windsor Kites 5 Nomads Caracals 5
Walton D 10 Nomads Lynx 0