This week saw a huge twist in the closely contested title race for the top-flight crown of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues after the league leaders were defeated.

There was a further twist in what is arguably the closest contested top-flight in years after the weakened league leaders, Whistlers C were defeated by Whistlers B.

The 6-4 defeat to Whistlers B was compounded by a 7-3 victory for main title rivals Lions C over Whistlers A, leaving the duo tied on points at the top and incredibly separated by just 1 single match in the games difference ratio. More incredible is the fact that both teams also have identical records of 10 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses for the season. The result also leaves the Whistlers B side in contention as they are only 2 points adrift of the leading duo.

The single match advantage is currently held by Whistlers C, who just about hold top spot officially. They were hampered by the absence of Dawn Morgan in the fixture and the B side took advantage of this. Joshua Stacey made no mistake during his 4 set win over Mark Pipet after he had comfortably beaten reserve Craig Dunning in straight sets in the opening match of the night. He also combined with Matthew Casey to win the vital doubles match against Alice Edwards and Pipet in 4 tight sets. Casey himself added another important singles win of his own, after he battled past Pipet over the full 5 set distance. He was however surprisingly defeated by Dunning in 4 sets, in what was a super win by the Division 2 reserve. The hero for the victorious side however was Joseph Bourgaize. He had been defeated by Edwards in straight sets in his opening game, but held his nerve and played excellent table tennis in his remaining games. His first was against Pipet and after being edged out 11-9 in the opening 2 ends, it did not look promising. He however showed true grit and powered through the remaining ends for the loss of just 17 points. His final test was indeed a test as it was the final match of the night against Dunning to settle the affair. The tricky Dunning was causing trouble for the higher ranked player, but Bourgaize always led and in the end managed to convert a nervy 5th end 11-9 to seal the points. Edwards was in imperious form during all singles matches and this included a comfortable straight sets win over Stacey and a 4 set win over Casey.

Lions C's 7-3 win over Whistlers A came due to Joshua Butler, Liam Robilliard and Matthew Stubbington all contributing with 2 singles wins. They each defeated Ryan Gilson and Ben Sharp in singles action, whilst the cherry was put on top when Butler and Robilliard battled past Lawrence Stacey and Gilson 13-11 in the deciding end of a doubles match which they had trailled 2-0 in. Stacey was in good form and earned wins against all Lions players, however he was tested in each one. His first came against Butler in 5 sets and this was followed by matching 4 set wins over Stubbington and Robilliard.

4th placed side Lions A are only 1 point further back and are thus just 3 points of the leading duo. They closed the gap on the lead this week following their comfortable 8-2 win over an under-strength 6th placed Lions B side missing averages leader Ben Foss. Phil Ogier and Jez Powell made no mistakes with singles wins over Jamie Ferbrache and reserves James Crocker and Jonah Ingrouille, however Powell did need to fight back from 2-1 down before edging past Ferbrache 12-10 in the deciding end and he also needed 4 sets to come past Crocker in the final match of the night. Peter Bretel made a welcome return to action by winning 2 singles matches. He started this by powering back from 2-0 down to overcome Crocker before defeating Ingrouille in 4 sets. He was unable to complete an unbeaten evening as he lost a close straight sets match to Ferbrache. The doubles was won impressively by Ferbrache and Ingrouille against Powell and Bretel in 4 sets.

The bottom of the table clash between Lions E and Lions D ended in a 7-3 win for the E side, with the beaten side missing their top player Paul Hainsworth. Ryan Bichard was in strong form for the winners as he beat Charlotte Casey and reserve Nye Matthew in 4 sets and Andy Gill in straight sets. Sam Clark had his best night of the season as was also unbeaten in singles action. He did this the hard way though and needed the full 5 sets to get past both Gill and Matthew before he edged Casey in a very close straight sets match. Steve Ozanne extended the margin of victory due to his straight sets win against Casey. For the beaten side Gill and Matthew each beat Ozanne, whilst Gill and Casey earned themselves a hard fought 5 set doubles win against Bichard and Clark.

Lions F remain 6 points clear at the top after they comfortably defeated Ravenscroft Panthers A 8-2. Nye Matthew and Caden Brouard each went unbeaten with singles wins over Ben Foote, Brandon Ferbrache and Marli Barker. Brouard's win against Barker was close and he edged it 15-13 in the deciding end. Connor Powell added wins over Foote and Ferbrache in 5 sets, but was beaten by Barker in straight sets. The doubles was won by Foote and Ferbrache over Brouard and Powell in 5 sets.