Division 1
Whistlers A's return to action following their ghost week was fruitful as it saw them extend their lead at the summit of the top-flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues.
The league leaders knew they faced a tough test against Lions C, whom had pushed them to a close 6-4 result earlier in the season, in a fixture where captain Joshua Stacey had lost his only singles match of the season so far to Phil Ogier. This time however they were more comfortable and ended up winning 7-3, although the fixture was well contested and there were 2 key 5 set encounters which proved crucial to the outcome. Stacey was included in one of them and this took place in the match opener against Jez Powell. Things looked to be heading comfortably in Stacey's favour when he won the first 2 sets, however Powell battled back superbly, including pinching an extremely lengthy 4th set 20-18. Stacey held his nerve and regrouped in the decider however and took it 11-6. The remainder of the evening was successful for him as it firstly saw him get the better of Ogier in 4 sets followed by Charlotte Casey in straight sets. Matthew Casey was the other player to be involved in a 5-set encounter and Powell was the opposition once more. Casey always led and despite Powell taking the 4th set 11-8, Casey was strong in the deciding end and won it 11-4. He earlier defeated sister Charlotte in straight sets. The doubles proved to be a key rubber as it often is and Stacey and Casey combined to earn a tight 4 set win over Ogier and Powell, where all 3 sets won by the victors was past the regulation 11 point mark. In fact Ogier and Powell won the same amount of points, despite losing 3-1, as they comfortably won the 2nd end 11-5. The final Whistlers victory on the night came from Joseph Bourgaize, who defeated Charlotte in straight sets.
Defending champions Lions A may be 8 points behind, however they do have 2 games in hand on the league leaders and they started the wheels turning this week courtesy of a dominant 8-2 win over bottom placed side Lions E. Joshua Butler enjoyed his strongest evening of the season as he was unbeaten. He cruised past Paul Hainsworth, Andy Gill and Connor Powell in straight sets with a trio of strong performances. Liam Robilliard and Matthew Stubbington each beat Gill and Powell in singles action, whilst Butler and Stubbington combined to defeat Hainsworth and Gill in straight sets. Hainsworth prevented the whitewash on the night due to his straight sets wins over Robilliard and Stubbington.
It was 7th time lucky for Whistlers B as they won their first match of the season and as a result moved off the bottom of the table. Their tight 6-4 victory came over a Lions D side that had led the Division for the first 2 weeks of the season. The increasing form of both Lawrence Stacey and Mark Pipet was key to this success and they were responsible for all but 1 one of the victories obtained. Stacey in particular looked in fine form during straight sets singles wins over Sam Clark and Ryan Bichard. He looked to continue this trend when winning the first 2 sets against Steve Ozanne for the loss of just 3 points, however a peculiar match saw the Lions player win the next 2, only to then lose the decider 11-3. A pivotal stage of the match came in the middle stages and it saw Pipet contribute to 2 key victories. Firstly he teamed with Stacey to win a doubles match in straight sets over Bichard and Clark, where no set was won by more than 2 points. He then followed up with an equally tight straight sets win over Clark in a match where the first 2 ends were won 17-15, 14-12. The final win of the night however came from Shelby Timms and in none other than the final game of the night. She led Clark 2-1 and held a comfortable lead in the 4th, however 2 fault serves at 10-8 enabled Clark to edge it 13-11. The deciding end saw her regain focus and she came through 11-7 to the delight of her team. For the defeated side, Bichard and Ozanne each defeated Pipet and Timms in singles action, although Bichard needed the full 5 sets to get past Pipet.
Division 2
Whistlers E are still 2 points clear at the top after they posted a 7-3 win over Lions H. Craig Dunning was unbeaten due to wins over Ian Le Page in 4 sets and Mark Fenwick and Cameron Powell in straight sets. Tim Le Page had his best night of the season as he was also unbeaten. He defeated Fenwick and Powell in 4 sets as well as fighting back strongly from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Ian in 5. The duo also combined well to defeat Fenwick and Powell in straight sets in the doubles match. Junior Oskar Cleal had a tough evening as he lost to all of the Lions players in 4 sets.
It was a highly eventful week of action at the top of the third Division as it saw the re-arranged clash between the title chasing Lions J and Ravenscroft Panthers C sides.
The match ended as a 5-5 draw, however that does tell the whole story in what was a gripping match. Aiden Ozanne was superb during straight sets wins against Shaun Mosley and Steve Martin, however he was edged out 15-13 in the deciding set by Barnaby Groves. Father Andy did excellently to battle back from 2-1 down to edge Groves in 5 sets, whilst he made a similar comeback in the penultimate match of the night to get past Martin. The doubles was another similar encounter as it saw Aiden and Andy battle back from 2-1 down to overcome Mosley and Groves in 5 sets. The Lions side were unfortunate to lose young Luke Evans to injury after his opening straight sets loss against Mosley, which enabled the Panthers side to pick up 2 matches via walkover.
The implications of this result is that the Lions side maintain a slender single point lead at the top.
Lions O are the last remaining team across all Divisions to have a 100% winning record, following the draw by Lions J in Division 3.
They won their 12th successive match of the season against Bribar B 9-1 and as a consequence have a hefty 7 point advantage at the top. The team of Lionel Jones, Frank Coppolo and Katy Collenette won all matches against Olivia Gilbert, Emily Gavey and Connor Osbourne with the exception of Gavey's straight sets win over Collenette.
It was however the re-arranged match against 4th placed side Lions M from Monday evening that was more notable as it saw the league leaders come extremely close to dropping points, with them just about securing a tight 6-4 triumph.
