Division 1
Just a single point separates the leading 3 sides in the top flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues heading into the Christmas break.
Defending champions and current league leaders Whistlers A are top and head Lions A and Whistlers B by the single point.
There were victories for all 3 leading sides this week, however the league leaders came mightily close to drawing with 4th placed side Lions C for a second consecutive occasion. In the end, the defending champions snuck through 6-4, despite an unbeaten evening of singles action for Paul Hainsworth. Hainsworth defeated Ryan Gilson and Matthew Casey in straight sets before ending the evening with an excellent 4 set win over current Island Men's Singles champion Lawrence Stacey. Andy Gill's return to action saw a nice 5 set win over Gilson, however the Lions side just fell short of the 5th rubber required to gain anything from the fixture. The doubles rubber was the big chance of this and Hainsworth and Gill were in a good position against Stacey and Casey when opening up a 2-0 lead. There was a good fightback from the Whistlers pair, but the decisive moments came in the 4th set, when Hainsworth and Gill failed to convert from a 9-7 lead and were edged out 12-10. The Whistlers duo went from strength to strength to breeze through the decider. All members of the Whistlers team earned wins over Charlotte Casey and both Stacey and Casey were victorious against Gill to make sure of the win.
Lions A were in dominant form and earned their first 10-0 whitewash of the season over an under strength Lions D side. Ben Foss, Ryan Bichard and Jamie Ferbrache all earned singles wins over Corey Brouard, Sam Clark and reserve Steve Ozanne. Foss and Bichard won the doubles encounter against Brouard and Clark in 4 sets.
Whistlers B also played an under strength side in the form of Lions B, who were missing Dan Collenette.and they ran out 7-3 winners. Josh Stacey was unbeaten due to wins over Phil Ogier and Andre De Carteret, whilst Mark Pipet added a further win over De Carteret. The doubles was won by Stacey and Pipet over Ogier and De Carteret in straight sets. Ogier defeated both Pipet and Ellis Tomlin, whilst De Carteret earned a win over Tomlin.
Division 2
Lions F have led the 2nd Division for the past 5 weeks and head into the Christmas break with their single point advantage intact after they earned an 8-2 win over Lions G. Jez Powell remains unbeaten in singles action and he overcame Nye Matthew, Ian Le Page and reserve Brian Ferbrache in singles action. Ferbrache showed his quality in the encounter through as he narrowly lost in 5 sets, making him only the 3rd player to extend Powell to this distance so far this season. Andy Ferbrache and Caden Brouard each picked up wins over Brian and Le Page, however once more the wins over Brian came over the full 5 set distance. Brouard and Ferbrache combined to win the doubles against Matthew and Le Page in straight sets. Matthew had a strong evening and defeated both Brouard and Ferbrache in singles action.
Division 3
Lions H hold a 3 point lead at the top of the 3rd and beat St Pauls B 7-3 this week. Brian Ferbrache was in good form and earned singles wins over Brian Le Cras, Derek Carter and John Wills. Reserve Carly Tucknott picked up wins over Wills and Le Cras, whilst another reserve Derek Cave added a further win of his own against Cave. The doubles was won by Ferbrache and Cave over Carter and Wills in 5 sets.
Division 4
