Division 1
The battle between the last remaining unbeaten sides in the top flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues has resulted in new league leaders, a point clear of their beaten opposition and another team.
Whistlers B are the new leaders after they inflicted a first defeat of the season on previous leaders Lions C. The hard fought 6-4 win also resulted in the first points of the season dropped for the Lions side, who had won their opening 3 fixtures. Lawrence Stacey proved to be the man of the match and crucial to the result as he was unbeaten in singles action. This was a tough ask however as he was extended to the full 5 sets by both Ryan Bichard and Dan Collenette. His first match saw him trailing Collenette 2-1. After restoring parity at 2-2, Collenette opened up a heavy lead in the decider. Stacey dug in well and navigated his way back, taking the decider 11-8. In his clash with Bichard the games went back and forth before he edged a very tight final set 12-10. His final win came against Connor Powell in straight sets. Dawn Morgan was on hand to contribute strongly to the result as well. She too beat Powell in straight sets, but she saved her best for her final match of the night against Bichard. The game came at a key point of the match, with it all square at 3-3. Bichard started strongly and opened up a 2-0 lead, but he was unable to put the game to bed, agonisingly falling short in the third and fourth sets 12-10, 13-11 respectively. Morgan raised her level in the decider to record a super 5 set win over the higher ranked player. It came down to reserve Mark Pipet to secure the pivotal 6th rubber for the league leaders and he did so well when he beat Powell in 4 sets. For the Lions side, Collenette defeated Morgan in 4 sets and Pipet in straight sets, whilst Bichard beat Pipet in straight sets. The doubles was another close match and it saw Bichard and Collenette combine to edge Stacey and Morgan in 5 sets.
Lions B are now joint second following their third consecutive win of the season, bottom placed side Ravenscroft Panthers A on the wrong side of an 8-2 result. The fixture saw unbeaten evenings of singles action for both Phil Ogier and Steve Ozanne, with each getting past Nye Matthew, Barnaby Groves and reserve Brandon Ferbrache. Ogier had a tough test against Matthew, who played excellently to lead 2-1, before Ogier's experience and quality shone through, seeing him claim the final 2 sets for the loss of just 7 points. Ozanne was also in a precarious position against Groves and found himself 2-1 down. Groves came very close to winning it, but the elder Ozanne navigated through the final 2 ends 11-9, 13-11 to pinch it. Jamie Ferbrache was on hand to add straight sets wins over Groves and Ferbrache, but he was beaten in 4 sets by Matthew. The Panthers duo of Matthew and Groves battled back well from a 2-1 deficit in the doubles rubber against Ferbrache and Ozanne and edged the final 2 sets 16-14, 11-9.
A single point below in 4th is Lions D, after they returned to winning ways courtesy of a tight 6-4 win over Lions A. Paul Hainsworth and Jez Powell were both on hand to pick up 2 singles wins on the night. Hainsworth defeated Liam Robilliard in 4 sets and reserve Jonah Ingrouille in straight sets, whilst Powell earned an excellent 5 set win over Joshua Butler in the match opener, before also overcoming Ingrouille in straight sets. Powell's win over Butler came after he had trailed 2-1 and the final set was extremely tight, with it eventually going in Powell's favour 13-11. Craig Dunning picked up an important 4 set win over Ingrouille, whilst he also combined with Hainsworth to good effect in the doubles rubber. The crucial clash against Butler and Robilliard saw the D side battle back from 2-1 down to win the final 2 sets for the loss of just 9 points and earn a notable scalp. For the defeated side, Robilliard beat Powell and Dunning in 4 sets, whilst Butler battled back from 2-1 down to defeat Hainsworth over the distance and also overcame Dunning in straight sets.
The battle between the 5th and 6th placed sides ended as a stalemate as Whistlers A and Lions E could not be separated on the night. Ben Foss is now the only remaining player with a 100% singles record at the top of the averages and he put in another evening of assured performances. He beat Joshua Stacey, Matthew Casey and Joseph Bourgaize for the loss of just a single end to Stacey. He also teamed well with Matthew Stubbington in the doubles where they fought back from 2-1 to defeat Stacey and Casey over the full 5 set distance. Stubbington was the player to pick up the other win, as he defeated Casey in 4 sets. He came very close to getting the elusive 6th rubber, but just fell short to Bourgaize in the final match of the night, a 12-10 loss in the deciding set incurred. For the Whistlers side, Stacey beat Stubbington in 5 sets, whilst all Whistlers members defeated Charlotte Casey in straight sets.
Whistlers C and Whistlers D are completely locked together at the top, with each having won 5 of their 6 matches so far this season and each incredibly with the same games difference ratio.
The C side were heavy 8-2 winners over Lions H this week, albeit the score is incredibly harsh on the Lions side, who lost 5 of the 8 matches over the full 5 sets. Paula Le Ber was the only unbeaten player in the match, however she was embroiled in 3 of the 5 set encounters. She first made a superb comeback from 2-0 down to deny Ian Le Page and just 2 matches later fought back from a 2-1 deficit to dispatch Mark Fenwick. Her final match was a reversal as it saw her with a 2-0 lead against Cameron Powell, only for the youngster to fight back and force a deciding end. She held strong as she had all night and took it comfortably 11-5. Kennedy Chepkor added 2 wins and was also involved in a couple of 5 set encounters. He was defeated in his first match by Fenwick in 5 sets, but followed up by beating Powell in 4 sets and Ian in 5 sets, in a match which he trailed 2-1. Tim Le Page won the only straight sets match of the night against namesake Ian and in addition he beat Fenwick in 4 sets. In another 5 set match of the night, Tim and Chepkor defeated Ian and Powell, again fighting back from a 2-1 deficit. The other win obtained by the Lions side was the only 5 setter to go their way as Powell did excellently to dispatch Tim 11-9 in the deciding end of their clash.
Whistlers D on the other hand defeated Whistlers E 7-3, but in a result which was much more comfortable. Kay Chivers, Keith Opie and Henri Whitehorne all defeated Matthew Board and Darren Sarre in singles action to ensure the win was theirs. The doubles saw Chivers and Opie defeat Board and Sarre in straight sets. Mark Pipet proved to be too good on the night and he won all of his matches. He was however extended to a final set by Opie, before winning 11-5, whilst he overcame Chivers in 4 sets and Whitehorne in straight sets.
Ravenscroft Panthers D remain 2 points clear at the top as the side heavily fancied for the title, continued on their rout of the other teams in the Division. 5 of their prior 7 fixtures had ended as 10-0 whitewashes and this one came very close, with a 9-1 victory over a heavily depleted Whistlers H side obtained. Micah Cohen, Shaun Mosley and Steve Martin were dominant performers over Sabato Folmi and reserves Sekao Nwako and Shaun Evans. Nwako was the individual to prevent the whitewash as he picked up an excellent straight sets win over Martin. He also came very close to ending the 100% singles record of joint averages leader Cohen, but lost over the full 5 sets. The doubles was won by Cohen and Mosley against Nwako and Evans in straight sets.
The leading Lions sides at the top are both unbeaten, with each having won every single match, except the draw that they shared earlier in the season.
It is however Lions K that are officially top due to their superior games difference ratio. This week saw an additional fixture played on Monday evening and they won both, for the loss of just a single individual match. Their fixture on Monday was a 10-0 whitewash of Bribar B, with Val Guilbert, Rolands Tracums and Diane Le Page in good form during wins over Sam Cox, Daniel Martin and Megan Robinson. Cox was unfortunate to not pick up a win as he lost in 5 sets to both Guilbert and Tracums.
Their other win in their scheduled fixture was a 9-1 triumph over a Ravenscroft Panthers G side, that were top as recently as a few weeks ago. The result was harsh on the youthful Panthers side, who competed well and lost all 3 of the matches to go the full 5 set distance on the night. Isla Bretel picked up the solitary win as she earned a nice 4 set win over Guilbert, but she lost 2 of those 5 set matches to Tracums and Le Page. Olivia Guilbert was the other player to lose a close one, with Guilbert defeating her in 5 sets. Thea Cummins also played well but was defeated in 4 sets by both Tracums and Le Page.
Lions M on the other hand also had a 10-0 whitewash win in their additional fixture on Monday evening. This was against Bribar A and it saw Rachael Sharp, Katy Collenette and Karen Brouard win all matches over Samuel Sheward, Fred McLellan and Noah Nicolle. Each of the Bribar players came close to a win, but each was ousted in 5 sets. Sheward lost 12-10 in the deciding end to Brouard, Nicolle lost 11-9 in the deciding end to Sharp despite having led 2-1, whilst McLellan let a 2-0 lead slip in the final match of the night, falling to Collenette.
