Division 1
A ghost week was the order of the day for the leaders of the top flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues, Whistlers A, this week, and this enabled 2 of their title rivals to close the gap.
The lead held by Whistlers A is still sizable at 4 points, however both Lions B and Lions C picked up victories this week to reduce the deficit.
Lions B have a stronger games ratio by a couple of matches and they won their storm postponed match against 6th placed side Lions E in a well contested encounter, 7-3. Ben Foss led the way strongly with a trio of victories, however he did need to withstand a fightback from Paul Hainsworth to win in 5. Foss had comfortably led 2-0 with a lead of 5-0 in the 3rd end before Hainsworth battled back strongly to force the decider. Foss managed to stay on top during the deciding end and took it 11-7. His other wins came against Andy Gill in 4 sets and Connor Powell in straight sets. Nye Matthew had a strong evening which saw him earn a 4-set win over Gill and a straight sets win over Powell, whilst Jamie Ferbrache defeated Powell in straight sets to secure the victory. The doubles was won by Foss and Ferbrache over Hainsworth and Powell in straight sets. For the beaten Lions side, Hainsworth was a comfortable straight sets winner over both Ferbrache and Matthew, whilst Gill did excellently to battle back from 2-0 down to overcome Ferbrache 15-13 in the deciding end of a good match.
Another storm postponed match being played on the same evening saw the Lions C side edge past Lions D 6-4. Jez Powell had a strong evening which saw him unbeaten for the victorious side. He defeated Ryan Bichard in 4 sets and Steve Ozanne and Sam Clark in straight sets. Phil Ogier defeated Ozanne and Clark in straight sets and teamed with Powell to oust Bichard and Ozanne over the full 5 sets in the crucial doubles rubber. For the beaten Lions side all players earned singles wins over Charlotte Casey, whilst Bichard earned an excellent 4 set victory over Ogier.
League leaders Whistlers E had a ghost week this week and it enabled their closest rivals Whistlers D to close the gap to just 2 points. The D side did have a tough test though and just managed to get past Lions G 6-4 and they were grateful to their reserve Henri Whitehorne who chipped in with 2 crucial victories. Whitehorne defeated Brian Ferbrache in straight sets before earning a critical 5 set win over Joe Ingrouille in the 8th match of the night to put the leaders 5-3 up. Kay Chivers was the player to lead proceedings due to her wins over Andy Ferbrache, Brian and Ingrouille, however her clash with the former was a tense one and came during the final match of the night. It went the distance but she managed to hold her nerve and win the final set 11-6. Keith Opie picked up the final win required for the leaders on the night due to defeating Ingrouille in straight sets.
Lions F are a further 2 points behind, but do have a game in hand on Whistlers D. They were in imperious form this week as they whitewashed Lions H 10-0. Ellis Tomlin, Caden Brouard and James Crocker all beat Mark Fenwick, Cameron Powell and 3rd Division junior reserve Luke Evans in singles action, although it is worth noting that 3 of these 9 matches went the distance. Fenwick and Evans both lost 11-9 in the deciding end to Crocker, whilst Powell came close against Tomlin before losing the deciding end 11-7. The doubles was another to go the distance, but Brouard and Crocker sealed the deciding end 11-9 against Fenwick and Powell.
Lions J continued their strong start to the season. The side of Aiden Ozanne, Andy Ozanne and Luke Evans that successfully won the 4th Division last season won their 11th consecutive match of the season, Ravenscroft Panthers E the side on the wrong end of an 8-2 scoreline. Youngster Evans has had a great start to life in the 3rd Division and he was the only unbeaten player on the night. He defeated Alex Paul and Hollie Jenkins in straight sets before overcoming Albie Lihou in 4 sets. Aiden and Andy each defeated Paul and Jenkins in singles action, but both were defeated by Lihou. Andy lost in straight sets, whilst the clash between fellow juniors Aiden and Albie was a classic. The final set could have gone either way with a large part of the hall watching the concluding moments of the lengthy set. In the end Lihou clinched the epic 18-16.
Ravenscroft Panthers C remain just a single point behind and are yet to play against the league leaders this season. They defeated Lions K 7-3 this week, however 2 of the wins for the Lions side were notable. The most notable of the wins came in the final match of the night and it saw Shaun Mosley lose his 100% singles record in straight sets to the impressive Henri Whitehorne, who also beat Steve Martin in 4 sets and was only just edged out 11-9 in the deciding end by Barnaby Groves. The other Lions win came from Alex Hutchinson who edged fellow junior Groves 11-9 in the 5th set, just the 3rd singles defeat all season for the Panthers junior.
