It was a good week for league leaders Lions A in the top flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues as their lead was extended by 1 point to put them 2 clear.
The Lions side were victorious in their encounter with Lions D 9-1, whilst title rivals Whistlers A were held to a 5-5 draw by 3rd placed side Lions B.
The victory for the Lions side was comfortable in the end, however the D side were missing their best player, Liam Robilliard. Ben Foss and Ryan Bichard each defeated Steve Ozanne, Charlotte Casey and reserve Jez Powell in singles action, whilst Jamie Ferbrache battled past both Casey and Ozanne in consecutive 5 set matches, having trailed 2-1 in both. He was unable to go unbeaten on the night as Powell defeated him in straight sets. The doubles was won by Foss and Bichard against Ozanne and Casey in straight sets.
Despite their draw, Whistlers A did excellently to salvage a draw under the circumstances as they were missing their influential averages leader Lawrence Stacey. Ryan Gilson put in his best performance of the season courtesy of winning 2 of his 3 singles matches. The first of these wins was the most significant as it saw him battle back superbly from 2-0 down against Dawn Morgan to win in 5 sets. He followed this up by holding his nerve to overcome Andre De Carteret in 4 sets. Matthew Casey and reserve Mark Pipet each defeated De Carteret in straight sets and it was Gilson and Casey that came through victorious in the pivotal doubles clash against Morgan and De Carteret in straight sets. Pipet came the closest to picking up the 6th win during his opening match against Morgan, with the Lions player battling back strongly from 2-0 to win in 5 sets. Phil Ogier was unbeaten for his side, dropping just the single end to Pipet all evening. Morgan added a further straight sets win against Casey.
5th placed side Lions C picked up points for the 3rd time in their last 6 fixtures after holding 4th placed side Whistlers B to a draw. Paul Hainsworth led the way strongly for his side by earning singles wins against Ben Sharp in 4 sets and Ellis Tomlin in straight sets. He came very close to making it an unbeaten evening, but was narrowly edged out by reigning Island Men's Singles champion Josh Stacey in a 5 set classic. Hainsworth had match points at 10-8 in the 4th and a further match point in the decider, however Stacey battled hard with some excellent shots to pinch both 13-11, 14-12. Andy Gill added a convincing straight sets win against Sharp, whilst Clark held his nerve excellently in the last match of the night to beat Tomlin in 4 sets. The 5th rubber won by the Lions outfit came courtesy of Hainsworth and Gill's 5 set doubles triumph against Stacey and Tomlin.
Division 2
Whistlers D maintained their slender single point advantage at the top due to their 7-3 win against St Pauls A. Martin Sarre, Craig Dunning and Paula Le Ber all defeated Chas Elliott and Maurice James in singles action to make sure of the win, however none could get the better of Tim Le Page on the night. Le Page was in fine form during 5 set wins against Sarre and Le Page as well as a 4 set win over Le Ber. Sarre and Dunning won the doubles match against Le Page and James in straight sets.
Division 3
The third Division continues to be extremely tight and the top 3 sides continue to be separated by just 1 point.
Ravenscroft Panthers D are still top due to their superior games ratio than Whistlers F and they increased this further due to their crushing 9-1 win over Lions H. Reserves Shelby Timms and Tia Timms both performed well in the higher division as each beat Lynn Finn, Dave Finn and reserve Derek Cave. Steve Martin beat Dave and Lynn, but was surprisingly beaten in 4 sets by Cave, the 4th Division player picking up a notable scalp. Shelby and Tia finished off their great evening with a straight sets doubles win against Lynn and Cave.
Whistlers F on the other hand won 7-3 against St Pauls B this week in a match where both Stuart Sarre and Matthew Board went unbeaten. Each defeated Rob Vile, Connor Powell and Derek Carter in singles action. Board teamed with Darren Sarre to win the doubles over Carter and Vile in straight sets. Each of the St Pauls players earned consolation singles wins against Darren.
Whistlers G are just 1 point off the top in 3rd and are the side with the most form in the Division, having won their last 4 matches. The team of Ken Falla, Erik Teteruck and Max Burrows continued the run with a tight 6-4 win over Ravenscroft Panthers C this week.
Despite being 5 points off the top, it is also worth noting that 4th placed side Lions I are the other form team of the Division having won their last 3 matches which included an amazing 9-1 result against the league leaders Ravenscroft Panthers D a few weeks back. Their victory this week was emphatic as it ended as a 10-0 whitewash over Whistlers E for Carly Tucknott, Jayden Tucknott and Erin Vaudin.
Division 4
