Clacton and District Table Tennis League

“LADYBIRDS NEARLY THERE”

Brotherhood F and Windsor Ladybirds have been vying for promotion at the top of Division Two of the Clacton and District Table Tennis League all season - so their meeting this week was always going to be vital.

And in a hard-fought match with no-one staying undefeated, the honours ended even, Brotherhood’s Laurence Torr beating Mark Salter 12-10 in the decider whilst Kevin Pryor enjoyed a good win over Jenny Binns, to leave Brotherhood F on 157 points.

The Ladybirds went on to beat Nomads Cougars 8-2 to put them on 152 points and - having the advantage of having won a match more than Brotherhood F - now need just five points from their final match against Brotherhood C to secure the second promotion spot.

But neither the Ladybirds nor Brotherhood F can overtake Lawford who cruised to a 10-0 win over Brotherhood E to take them to 166 points and the Division Two title.

It is a far cry from 1991 when the Lawford lads, playing as Mistley, joined the League and finished their first season third from bottom of Division Four – an example to all lower Division players of what is possible with patience, persistence and practice.

Elsewhere, John Harvey and Brian Thiel took hat-tricks as Windsor Ravens ended their season in a creditable fourth position after a 7-3 success over Nomads Lions.

But the Lions got a modicum of revenge by defeating another Windsor team, the Harriers, John Fenton taking a first-ever treble at this level in the 7-3 win.

Just one result in Division Three saw Nomads Lynx beat Windsor Swallows 8-2 to confirm the Lynx in a commendable fifth place.

The title race in Division One is going to the wire where champions Brotherhood B ended their programme by beating Red Triangle 8-2.

Brotherhood A responded with a 7-3 victory against Walton B, Walton’s Gavin Price enjoying surprise wins over Greg Green and Alan Burgess but losing out to John Stubbings.

So Brotherhood A, with two re-arranged matches to play - both against Nomads Panthers - need a total of ten points to regain the title they last won three years ago.

At the bottom, Brotherhood D required a miraculous ten points against Windsor Eagles in their last match to stay up but miracles were in short order and, despite John Owen beating John Hobson 12-10, 13-11, 8-11, 15-17, 11-5, the Eagles took the match 9-1.

Meanwhile, Windsor Roosters lost 9-1 to Nomads Panthers, James Denyer scraping a vital point for the Roosters with an 11-9 in the fifth win over George Kalli, which meant that Windsor Falcons needed three points to overtake the Roosters.

Alas, the Falcons could only manage two, losing 8-2 to the Panthers, Annabelle Rodriguez getting agonisingly close to that crucial third point but just losing out 14-12 in the fifth to Kalli.

So the Roosters and Falcons both end on 71 points but the Roosters survive, having won five matches against the Falcons’ four, meaning that the Falcons and Brotherhood D are relegated.

Finally Nomads Jaguars, who started their season last September with a 10-0 win, ended it with a 10-0 defeat, this at the hands of a resurgent Walton A who took all four matches that went to a decider.

* This year’s Cup final will be between Walton B and Windsor Roosters, the Roosters capping a fine week by winning the second semi-final 5-1 against Windsor Eagles.

But it was no cake-walk for the Roosters whose five points all came from matches that went close in five, the closest being a win for Mark Smith and Daniel Prior (+1) over Martin Edwards and John Hobson (-1) 8-11, 13-11, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10.

The final will be held on Thursday 29th April at 7.30 pm at the Brotherhood Hall. All spectators are welcome.

“LADYBIRDS NEARLY THERE”

Brotherhood F and Windsor Ladybirds have been vying for promotion at the top of Division Two of the Clacton and District Table Tennis League all season - so their meeting this week was always going to be vital.

And in a hard-fought match with no-one staying undefeated, the honours ended even, Brotherhood’s Laurence Torr beating Mark Salter 12-10 in the decider whilst Kevin Pryor enjoyed a good win over Jenny Binns, to leave Brotherhood F on 157 points.

The Ladybirds went on to beat Nomads Cougars 8-2 to put them on 152 points and - having the advantage of having won a match more than Brotherhood F - now need just five points from their final match against Brotherhood C to secure the second promotion spot.

But neither the Ladybirds nor Brotherhood F can overtake Lawford who cruised to a 10-0 win over Brotherhood E to take them to 166 points and the Division Two title.

It is a far cry from 1991 when the Lawford lads, playing as Mistley, joined the League and finished their first season third from bottom of Division Four – an example to all lower Division players of what is possible with patience, persistence and practice.

Elsewhere, John Harvey and Brian Thiel took hat-tricks as Windsor Ravens ended their season in a creditable fourth position after a 7-3 success over Nomads Lions.

But the Lions got a modicum of revenge by defeating another Windsor team, the Harriers, John Fenton taking a first-ever treble at this level in the 7-3 win.

Just one result in Division Three saw Nomads Lynx beat Windsor Swallows 8-2 to confirm the Lynx in a commendable fifth place.

The title race in Division One is going to the wire where champions Brotherhood B ended their programme by beating Red Triangle 8-2.

Brotherhood A responded with a 7-3 victory against Walton B, Walton’s Gavin Price enjoying surprise wins over Greg Green and Alan Burgess but losing out to John Stubbings.

So Brotherhood A, with two re-arranged matches to play - both against Nomads Panthers - need a total of ten points to regain the title they last won three years ago.

At the bottom, Brotherhood D required a miraculous ten points against Windsor Eagles in their last match to stay up but miracles were in short order and, despite John Owen beating John Hobson 12-10, 13-11, 8-11, 15-17, 11-5, the Eagles took the match 9-1.

Meanwhile, Windsor Roosters lost 9-1 to Nomads Panthers, James Denyer scraping a vital point for the Roosters with an 11-9 in the fifth win over George Kalli, which meant that Windsor Falcons needed three points to overtake the Roosters.

Alas, the Falcons could only manage two, losing 8-2 to the Panthers, Annabelle Rodriguez getting agonisingly close to that crucial third point but just losing out 14-12 in the fifth to Kalli.

So the Roosters and Falcons both end on 71 points but the Roosters survive, having won five matches against the Falcons’ four, meaning that the Falcons and Brotherhood D are relegated.

Finally Nomads Jaguars, who started their season last September with a 10-0 win, ended it with a 10-0 defeat, this at the hands of a resurgent Walton A who took all four matches that went to a decider.

* This year’s Cup final will be between Walton B and Windsor Roosters, the Roosters capping a fine week by winning the second semi-final 5-1 against Windsor Eagles.

But it was no cake-walk for the Roosters whose five points all came from matches that went close in five, the closest being a win for Mark Smith and Daniel Prior (+1) over Martin Edwards and John Hobson (-1) 8-11, 13-11, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10.

The final will be held on Thursday 29th April at 7.30 pm at the Brotherhood Hall. All spectators are welcome.

RESULTS

Division 1

Walton B 3 Brotherhood A 7;

Nomads Jaguars 0 Walton A 10;

Brotherhood D 1 Windsor Eagles 9;

Nomads Panthers 9 Windsor Roosters 1;

Brotherhood B 8 Red Triangle 2;

Windsor Falcons 2 Nomads Panthers 8.

Division 2

Windsor Magpies 1 Nomads Cougars 9;

Walton C 6 Nomads Cougars 4;

Windsor Harriers 3 Nomads Lions 7;

Brotherhood F 5 Windsor Ladybirds 5;

Nomads Lions 2 Windsor Ravens 8;

Brotherhood E 0 Lawford 10;

Nomads Cougars 2 Windsor Ladybirds 8.

Division 3

Nomads Lynx 8 Windsor Swallows 2.

© Copyright Clacton Table Tennis League 2004