Closest result so far in Division One as the second half of the Leicester & District season gets under way was a trappy little fixture between Arnesby and Thringstone that finished 5-5.
Trevor Kerry was on top form for Thringstone in taking all three while Maurice Newman supplied another singles and then these two won the doubles in five for the share. Abraham Conteh and Ian Brown both notched a couple for Arnesby while Matthew Horrocks won one.
Unicorn firsts are top and still are by one point even after Knighton Park firsts defeated AW Wolvey 9-1, Chris Rogers and Jack Rogers both undefeated while Reza Kiani scored a brace, beaten by Gareth Edmunds who at least prevented a full house.
Keeping pace with KP are the Unicorn second team who brought Justin Ho from division three as cover. Luke Greenfield and Craig Witheford were up to the task of taking three apiece for the victory, and the doubles, while Karen Smith, James Berry and John Underwood, also playing up, all scored one.
Abbots Road threw down a huge gauntlet at the top of Division Three when they overwhelmed the third placed team, Knighton Park V, by 10-0 with Hardik Patel, Steve Pratt and Richard Lee all in superb form. A couple of sets went to five but Abbots Road were well on top in the main and, by the look of it, will be very difficult to defeat this half.
Abbots Road go above previous leaders, Knighton Park VII, whose result still has to be recorded, and it gave Unicorn III a chance to maintain their challenge near the top with a good 7-3 victory over Winstanley Wizards for whom Jack Kermode grabbed two and Mick Box one. No-one could get past Justin Ho, however, who shrugged off his attempt at first division glory by scoring an excellent maximum for Unicorn backed by two from Xi-Long Huang while Jordan Tweed scored one.
Steve Bessant, a day after finishing antibiotics, claimed a superb maximum for Knighton Park V against Electricity V to spearhead a tight 6-4 success, Andy Wright and Bryan Moylan both claiming two for the Sparks. Bessant partnered John Bowness to take the doubles for full points in a match when five sets needed five games.
Closest result in this division found Goons II locked at 5-5 with Nomads for whom Mark Clay took a very good full house and is playing well this term. Laszlo Kocsis won one in support and then combined with Clay for the doubles. It was a team effort from Goons when Kevin Edwards and John Jacques each won two, Paul Hinson one.
Lutterworth very much consolidated their position at the head of Division Four when they inflicted a 10-0 success on an experienced Electricity VI. Kevin Jones, Colin Jones and Mike Eastell all played well and look destined for division three next term on this form.
Meanwhile Syston Casuals III maintained the gap of six points in second place when they defeated Fleckney II 7-3, Wes Glauds, Tony Monteiro and Nick Bishop all winning two. But none of them could get past an on-form Robert Palmer who took a very good maximum for the losers, but at least won his team a consolation point.
Abbots Road have teams in each of divisions two to five, all performing well, and their third team beat Knighton Park’s young eighth team 8-2 when Eiz Eddin Al Katrib showed his steadily improving form with a maximum while Ketan Patel and Dave Rana each scored two. For KP Michael Parker did well to win two for his team but they couldn’t quite grab another for a point.
Having mentioned the Abbots Road teams, their current strength also showed up in Division Five when their fourth team defeated Winstanley Wizards V 9-1, Matt Weedall preventing the full house for the latter. For Abbots Kishen Mistry and Sameer Shaikh each notched three and Zakaria Yusuf two, the latter having a busy night as his three sets all needed a fifth game.
Kai Bhakta, one of the youngest players in the league, took his increasingly normal maximum with a superb one for Winstanley Wizards IV against Fleckney III in a 6-4 success, all in three straight, while his brother, Kalan won two and the pair combined for another excellent doubles victory to take full points.
Meanwhile Knighton Park IX leapfrogged to the top with a 9-1 victory over Desford IV when Abe Lam continued excellent form this season with a three straight maxi while Fares Gabba also emerged undefeated, and Ayman Gabba took two, beaten in this case by Gillian Wisdish.