Leicester & District: Leaders slip to defeat

Division Two of the Leicester & District League looks as though it is nicely springing to life at the top with the first defeat of leaders, Knighton Park III, who went down 8-2 to Desford Village who are their nearest challengers on the same points, albeit with KP having two matches in hand.

Malcolm Truman won a splendid maximum and was well supported by both Tony Smith and Arun Jogi who each scored a brace, while the latter pair also won the doubles 12-10 in the fifth to deny the Park a point. For the Park the only player to score was young cadet, Oscar Bentley, who won both, just losing to Truman in five while striving for his maximum.

Winstanley Wizards could bridge the gap by winning their match in hand of Desford after an excellent 7-3 victory over Blaby and Whetstone when Himansu Mishra and Dan Andrews each emerged undefeated while Dave Seeds won the other. Andrews won his three with consummate ease. Phill Hinson and John Winsper each won one for Blaby and finished by taking the doubles to secure one point.

Another team in the thick of things and third at the moment are Regent Sports who had Kevin Sanderson in tremendous form against Syston Casuals when winning 7-3. Sanderson won all three, Charlie Bateman and Martin Bolton two apiece. For Syston, Clive Stretton won two and combined with Ajay Lad for a doubles success.

Clinging on and also just about within reach are the Knighton Park fourth team who have Osman Bawa top of the individual averages and winning three against Arnesby in a 7-3 victory. Support came from Zia Malik (2) and Rod Pickering (1) while the Arnesby trio of Dave Small, Nile Lovett and Dave Wagstaff all won one.

The other match in this division featured bottom team, Great Glen, who improved their situation a little with an excellent 6-4 victory over Electricity III when Alex Mason took all three and Kevn Trueman two, these two winning a tense doubles in five for full points.

While Holwell Sports II continue their merry way at the top of Division Three three teams look as though they are set to battle out the other promotion spot. Holwell defeated Goons 9-1 when Dave Roche, Mike James and Dave Sharp won all the singles while the Robinson family, Barry and Scott, took the doubles for some quiet consolation for Goons.

Electricity V are still in second position despite dropping a couple of points in a 5-5 draw with Abbots Road who had Steve Pratt and Hardik Patel each winning two and Bhulesh Rathod one. Andy Wright was unbeatable for the Sparks to underline some useful form this season, while Bryan Moylan took one and these two the doubles. This pair do not lose many doubles.

Syston Casuals are also in the mix and have a very useful trio in Chetan Tailor, Scott Morris – both winning three – and two from Pritesh Nakeshree when they beat Regent Sports 8-2. Only Richard Anderson could win a singles for Regent. Fleckney are the third team vying for second position but they did not have a match this week.

It looks as though the championship issue in Division Four may be down to just two teams now.

Goons II maintained top position when they squeaked home 6-4 against Abbots Road IV in one of those matches when the winning trio all score two victories, while the losing side all grab one. For Goons Gary Pitts, Steve Harrison and Kevin Edwards all scored a brace. For Abbots the singles were secured by Dave Rana, Bradley Lapworth and Ketan Patel.

Hot on the leader’s heels are Unicorn IV, two points behind with a match in hand, and beating Knighton Park VII by 9-1. John Brindley and Eric Baker both came away unscathed while Jordon Tweed took two, beaten only by Paul Duckworth who at least saved the full house.

Chris Weston scored an excellent maximum for Nomads II in a 5-5 draw with Lutterworth, supported by Terry Wale and Steph Burley taking one apiece. For Lutterworth Keven Jones and Mike Eastell each scored a couple and won the doubles to ensure the share of points.

“Team Dave” were clobbered 7-3 by Desford Village III who had Luke Blair winning three, Keith Adams and Alan Oxbrough two each. The all-Dave Electricity VI are Silvester, Bray and Cox, the latter two winning a singles apiece.