It was an exceptional week for the Brotherhood Club in Round One of the Clacton and District League’s Handicap Cup, with five of their teams reaching the quarter-finals of the competition.
Holland Hurricanes of Division Three put up stern resistance against Brotherhood A’s Daniel Young, Kevin Gowlett and Gary Young but class told in the end, the First Division favourites finishing 5-3 victors. Gary Young won two crucial three-set matches in which he had to concede twenty points or more, (on -17) beating Gerry Widnell (+3) 6-11, 12-10, 12-10 and (on -18) beating Ian Gwillim (+4) 8-11, 11-7, 11-7.
Brotherhood F of Division Two enjoyed a hard-fought 5-3 success against top-flight Windsor Eagles. Paul Alden remained unbeaten on the night although his two singles wins were close-run affairs, (on +1) edging past Phil Smith (-5) 12-10 in the decider and (on +2) getting the better of Gary Cattermole (-8) 11-7 in the decider.
There’s no stopping Brotherhood J juniors Joe Sherwin, Tom Bryden and Lucy Carvell who finished 5-0 winners against Walton A. Sherwin and Carvell’s (+1) 11-7 in the fifth victory over Mark Gale and Paul Meikle (-3) in the doubles sealed victory for another Division Two team over a First Division side.
Brotherhood C’s task against Windsor Falcons was made easier when their Third Division opponents were forced to field a guest. Matt Thomas (+2) of the Falcons had a 13-11, 8-11, 11-4 win over Graham Playle (-11) in the first match but, needing just one point from the five valid matches available, Brotherhood settled it at 5-1 thanks to Dave Miller’s (-8) three-straight victory over Gary Barnes (+2).
A Brotherhood side was guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals when the ‘B’ and ‘D’ teams were drawn against each other but it was the Second Division ‘D’ team who came out on top 5-2 against their First Division opponents. Fred Gallone was involved in two of the three ‘D’ team’s wins which went the distance, Gallone and Kevin Pryor (+1) beating Russell Hillier and Joe Plummer (-3) in the doubles, and then (on +1) Gallone beating Hillier (-5) in the singles.
The only Brotherhood side to crash out of the competition was the ‘G’ team who could only field two players in an all-Second Division tie with Nomads Tigers. Tom Wilkin (+1) defeated Mark Boyland (-5) in the first valid match to make the score 5-0.
Cup-holders Nomads Lions are the second Nomads’ team to go through, an unfamiliar-looking trio of Paul Hume, Charlie Fulcher and Martyn Green enjoying a comfortable 5-1 victory over Windsor Harriers, Hume and Fulcher remaining unbeaten.
And so Windsor Hawks, 5-3 victors over Third Division Nomads Leopards, are now the only team from the Windsor Club left in the competition. But their Round One match was unusual in that the only player to remain unbeaten was on the losing side, Dominic Joannou of the Leopards beating both Andy Vincent and John Barton in singles, and sharing a doubles win with Anne Bonny against Barton and Scott Campbell.
The Handicap Cup quarter-finals will therefore consist of four team from each of the First and Second Divisions which means, for the first time since 2014, there’s no Third Division side in the last eight of the competition.
Round Two will be played during week commencing 9th March. Details of the draw and players’ grades will be available by 21st February.
* The one match in Division Two of the League saw Brotherhood J top an excellent week with a 6-4 win over Lawford. Joe Sherwin, who’s only lost two matches all season, recorded another hat-trick while Lucy Carvell’s two wins included an unexpected 13-11, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 14-12 victory against Charlie Denholm. Richard Spence took two for Lawford.
There was just one match also in Division Three, Walton C defeating Holland Vulcans 6-4, despite playing with a guest. Lynette Sparks was unbeaten and Adrian Sexton won two for the winners,
the pair also sharing an 11-6 in the decider doubles victory against Derek Foxley and Bob Keefe. Foxley was involved in two close singles matches, defeating Sexton 11-6 in the decider but going down by the same score to Sparks.
* The League’s Quiz Evening is on Saturday 21st March at the Brotherhood Hall, starting at 7.30 pm. The cost, for teams of up to six people, is £5.00 per person, bring your own drinks and nibbles. For more information, or to enter a team, telephone Ferdy Rodriguez on 07565 767266 or 01255 830951, or e-mail Ferdy on fernando.rodriguez@sky.com
RESULTS
Handicap Cup: Round One
Brotherhood C 5 Windsor Falcons 1;
Walton A 0 Brotherhood J 5;
Nomads Lions 5 Windsor Harriers 1;
Holland Hurricanes 3 Brotherhood A 5;
Windsor Hawks 5 Nomads Leopards 3;
Brotherhood G 0 Nomads Tigers 5;
Brotherhood D 5 Brotherhood B 2;
Windsor Eagles 3 Brotherhood F 5.
League
Division Two
Brotherhood J 6 Lawford 4.
Division Three
Holland Vulcans 4 Walton C 6;
Walton C 10 v Nomads Ocelots (walk-over).
Report by Tony Oswick
