There’s little to choose between Windsor Magpies and Walton C in Division Three of the Clacton League, and the two mid-table teams enjoyed another tight scrap this week, sharing the four matches which went the distance.

There was a maximum for the ever-reliable Magpies’ skipper, John Plummer (pictured above, photo by Roger Hance), which included an 11-9 in the fifth win over Lynette Sparks and an even closer 12-10 in the fifth win over Maggie Earle.

But alas for Plummer, Walton took the match 6-4, Sparks and Earle both winning twice, Earle edging past Dave Sweetland 12-10 in the fifth, with Deborah Pallett taking a crucial point against Alan Rutledge, 3-2 (4-11, 11-9, 13-15, 14-12, 11-4).

Elsewhere, three for Dan Grindrod and two for Gary Simpson, plus a shared doubles win, saw leaders Brotherhood H safely home 6-4 against Windsor Falcons. Gary Barnes’ couple for the Falcons included an unexpected victory over Simpson, while Nikki Hayes and Nigel Rolph each took one.

Holland Hurricanes, 8-2 winners against a Brotherhood E side fielding a guest, are now clear in second place. Gary Stallwood was unbeaten for the winners, while Tony Edmonds’ two points for the losers included an 11-7 in the decider success against John Smith-Daye.

The Leopards also fielded a guest in the all-Nomads clash with the Ocelots and, unsurprisingly, went down 7-3. Mike Wellum remained unbeaten to win his two while his Ocelots’ team-mate, Andrew Cousins, edged past Anne Bonny 11-7 in the fifth but lost out to Doug Green. Green won two for the Leopards and Bonny one.

Dave Wright and Peter Evans were undefeated in Holland Lancasters’ 7-3 win over club-mates Holland Vulcans, although it was the tightest of tight 3-2 (7-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-9, 13-11) victories for Wright against Bob Keefe.

In Division One, Kevin James, Gill Locke and Denes Somodi of Nomads Panthers were 10-0 winners against Brotherhood C, Brotherhood’s captain, Martin Edwards, unfortunately forced to concede two of his singles through injury.

No-one stayed unbeaten as Walton A got the better of Windsor Hawks 6-4. Mark Gale, Derek Willis and Paul Meikle each won two for Walton, both Gale and Meikle defeating Andy Vincent in five. Felipe Rodriguez won two for the Hawks and Scott Campbell one, the pair also sharing a doubles win, but Vincent failed to record a victory for the first time this season.

Despite a maximum from Pete Burrows, it was a similar 6-4 score-line for Brotherhood B against Walton B, Patrick Cheung, Russell Hillier and reserve Mark Boyland all winning two for Brotherhood. Walton’s Graham Buxton had an interesting evening, sharing an excellent doubles victory with Paul Newbould against Cheung and Hillier, being edged out 3-2 (4-11, 8-11, 11-7, 17-15, 12-10) by Hillier, and then going down 3-1 (11-4, 3-11, 13-11, 11-7) to Boyland, this after being 10-1 up in the third set.

But the all-Windsor clash between the Eagles and Buzzards ended in less dramatic fashion, the Eagles winning 10-0, Gary Cattermole, Phil Smith and John Pattrick remaining unbeaten. Pattrick’s 11-9 in the fifth victory against Dave Martin was the closest match of the tie.

In the all-Brotherhood match between the top two teams in Division Two, hat-tricks from Mark Boyland and John Gallagher saw the ‘G’ team home 7-3 against the ‘F’ team. But it was a tighter encounter than the scoreline might suggest, with Brotherhood G winning four of the five matches which went all the way. Gallagher was involved in three of them, beating Paul Alden 11-9 in the decider, Neil Chegwidden 12-10 in the decider, and sharing an 11-9 in the fifth doubles win with Boyland against Chegwidden and Mark Salter.

John Colvin, Charlie Denholm and Ian Sherwood of third-placed Lawford recorded a comfortable 10-0 victory over Windsor Kestrels, with just three matches extended to a fourth set. It was the first whitewash result in the Division so far this season.  

Brotherhood J are now clear in fourth place after taking the final four matches of a hard-fought encounter with Brotherhood D. Joe Sherwin took three, Ruby Gallagher two and Tom Bryden one in their 7-3 victory. Five of the matches went the distance, Bryden losing 11-9 in the decider to Kevin Pryor and 11-8 in the decider to Fred Gallone. But Sherwin defeated Gallone 11-4 in the fifth, Gallagher beat Lily Liu 11-7 in the fifth, with Sherwin and Gallagher taking the closest of them all, 13-11 in the fifth in the doubles against Pryor and Gallone.  

It was also 7-3 for Windsor Penguins against Nomads Tigers, thanks to trebles from Kelvin Olano-Harper and Paul Woolnough. Tom Wilkin, Matt Sage and Alex Baldock won one each for the Tigers, Wilkin taking both Olano-Harper and Woolnough the distance but ultimately unsuccessful.

But there was a reverse of fortune for the Nomads and Windsor Clubs as the Jaguars defeated the Harriers 8-2, Andy Hart and Chris Petrou leading the way with hat-tricks. Bob Jillins’ win for the Tigers was also the closest match of the contest, 14-12 in the fifth against Isabel Barton.

RESULTS
Division 1
Brotherhood C 0 Nomads Panthers 10
Windsor Eagles 10 Windsor Buzzards 0
Walton A 6 Windsor Hawks 4
Brotherhood B 6 Walton B 4

Division 2
Windsor Kestrels 0 Lawford 10
Windsor Penguins 7 Nomads Tigers 3
Brotherhood G 7 Brotherhood F 3
Brotherhood D 3 Brotherhood J 7
Nomads Jaguars 8 Windsor Harriers 2

Division 3
Windsor Magpies 4 Walton C 6
Brotherhood H 6 Windsor Falcons 4
Holland Lancasters 7 Holland Vulcans 3
Nomads Ocelots 7 Nomads Leopards 3
Holland Hurricanes 8 Brotherhood E 2