There remains to be healthy competition in all Divisions of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues following completion of the fixtures this week. 2 of the Divisions are currently only separated at the top by games ratio, whilst the other 2 see the leaders topping the Division by a slender single point.
Defending champions Lions A and Whistlers A continue to share the spoils at the top with the former ahead with a marginally better games ratio ahead of their crunch top of the table clash next time out.
The Lions side benefited greatly from the absence of third placed side Lions B's Phil Ogier and romped to a 9-1 win. Ben Foss and Ryan Bichard each motored to singles wins over Liam Robilliard, Sam Clark and 2nd Division reserve Nye Matthew to secure the points, whilst Steve Ozanne added further wins over Robilliard and Matthew in straight sets. Bichard and Ozanne beat Robilliard and Clark in 4 sets in the doubles rubber and it was Clark that prevented the whitewash on the night thanks to his strong straight sets win against Ozanne.
The Whistlers side on the other hand earned what on the face of it looked a comfortable 8-2 win, however there were a number of close matches in the fixture and on another night the score could easily have ended as a 5-5 stalemate, or even a 6-4 defeat. The win in question came against the side at the bottom of the table, Whistlers C. The closeness of the match was evidenced by the fact that half of the 10 matches went to the full 5 set distance. The joint league leaders fared significantly better in these and won 4 of them to obtain the comfortable win. Josh Stacey was involved in the fewest 5 set clashes as he led his team strongly with straight sets wins over reserve Mark Pipet and Joseph Bourgaize. His final victory did come over the full 5 set distance after Matthew Casey extended him there during the match opener. Dawn Morgan also went unbeaten but needed 5 sets against both Casey and Pipet in addition to the 4 set win she earned over Bourgaize. The other singles win came for Ryan Gilson over Pipet in 4 sets, but the left-hander lost to Casey in 4 sets and Bourgaize in 5 sets. The doubles rubber unsurprisingly also went the distance and it was the team of Morgan and Gilson who edged it 11-9 over Casey and Bourgaize.
4th placed side Whistlers B earned a solid 7-3 win over Lions C in the final Division 1 match of the week. Averages leader and captain Lawrence Stacey overcame slow starts to defeat Paul Hainsworth and Charlotte Casey in 4 sets before finishing strongly with a straight sets win over Andy Gill. He had good support from Ben Sharp who defeated Gill and Casey in 4 sets and also teamed with Stacey to win the doubles over Gill and Casey in 5 sets. Paula Le Ber extended the margin of victory when she beat Casey in 4 sets. For the defeated Lions side Hainsworth beat Sharp and Le Ber in straight sets, whilst Gill also beat Le Ber in straight sets.
The second Division is identical to the first with the only difference being that it is the Whistlers side with a better ratio than the Lions side.
Whistlers D lead the way from Lions D due to their superior ratio and they were comfortable 8-2 winners over Lions E this week. Kay Chivers and Keith Opie each beat Joe Ingrouille, Connor Powell and reserve Ian Le Page in singles action to secure the points and they also teamed to defeat Ingrouille and Powell in 4 sets in the doubles. Erin Vaudin picked up the 8th and final rubber for the victors when she edged past Powell 11-9 in the deciding 5th end, however she lost to Le Page in 4 sets and Ingrouille in 5 sets.
The Lions side were also 8-2 winners this week as they welcomed back Luke Le Tissier who has lost just 2 singles matches all season. He led the way strongly with wins over Andy Ferbrache, Brian Ferbrache and James Crocker, dropping just a single end to Andy in the process. Sister Chloe continues to improve in her first table tennis season for a good few years and she too was unbeaten on the night. She only dropped 2 ends all night, one against both Andy and Brian. Junior Shelby Timms also showed her continued improvements to her game as she earned 2 impressive 5 set wins over Andy and Crocker. Brian prevented the whitewash due to his straight sets win over Timms, whilst Andy and Crocker earned a further consolation 5 set doubles win over Chloe and Timms.
Ravenscroft Panthers B continue to hold a narrow single point advantage over their D side.
There is very little to separate the 2 sides who drew during their only meeting earlier this season and the leaders turned out a solid 7-3 win over Whistlers G this week. Shaun Mosley returned with an unbeaten evening of singles action which included straight sets wins over Shane Cotter and Mick Solway as well as a 4 set win over Ian Fitchet in the final match of the night. Richard Edwards and Steve Martin each added wins over Fitchet and Solway to finish the win. Cotter played well during his 5 set win over Martin and 4 set win over Edwards whilst he also combined well with Fitchet during their 4 set doubles triumph against Edwards and Mosley.
The D side were similarly comfortable during their 7-3 win against Lions H. Becks O'Keefe and Juliet Yeaman got the job done after each beat Mike Brehaut, Lynn Finn and Dave Finn in singles action. The other win came in the doubles encounter which O'Keefe won alongside Tia Timms against Brehaut and Lynn in 4 sets. Each of the Lions players picked up consolation singles wins against Timms.
Lions K have a points advantage at the top of the 4th Division for the first time this season after they edged past Lions L 6-4. Helen Barker was the key factor as she powered to straight sets singles wins over Rose Powell, Karen Brouard and Rachael Sharp. Cameron Powell added a 5 set win over Brouard and a straight sets win over Sharp, whilst the K side's reserve Barnaby Groves battled back superbly from a 2-0 deficit to edge past Sharp in 5 sets and secure the win for the leaders.
