We are now almost a quarter way through the Leicester & District League season with the first cup week enabling teams to catch up with some postponed matches as so few enter the cups these days that this first scheduled week is not needed. It also gives us a chance to assess so far.
In Division One two teams sit side by side at the top with a perfect four from four so far, with Knighton Park just one set ahead of Ajax Wolvey. Electricity are one point adrift but have played one match more.
At the moment, however, little of this means a great deal as we have last season’s champions, Unicorn, winning both their matches so far with, significantly, Jared Patel maintaining his unbeaten status from last term, while both Tim Sheppard and Georgios Briscolas are also undefeated. So, all in all, much yet to play for in the top sphere.
Division Two has a worrying number of postponed matches this early in the season, with Knighton Park III a beacon of light as they are top having played every match, two of them with only two players as they manfully soldier on, showing bravery not echoed by many others.
They lost for the first time when falling 4-6 to Syston Casuals despite a very good maximum from League Chairman Peter Wilson, all in three straight. 14-year-old Adnan Ebrahim made his league debut with a good display, losing only in five to Terry Hall, who also beat Patrick Carton 14-12 in the fifth to deny Park a share of points.
A smidgeon behind are Electricity III, who have not lost yet with a match in hand which, if won, would take them to the helm. Harry White spearheads the team with 10 from 12, while he has good support from Steve White and Chandresh Sodha.
There is an excellent tussle at the top of Division Three where three teams all have 14 points from four matches.
Possibly the strongest in depth are Nomads, who have Andy Searle winning 11 from 12 and Zaheer Mohamed eight from nine, which is reflected in their decent sets return. The man to beat, however, is Great Glen’s Alex Mason who has won all 12 he has played so far for his team, 11 of them in three games. Leading the way for the third top team, Abbots Road III, is Chetan Tailor with 10 from 12.
Division Four is much healthier looking and has only one match outstanding, that featuring Blaby & Whetstone II, who are top nevertheless with Paul Hinson in superb unbeaten form in winning all 12 so far. This team came down from three last term but are looking as though they will bounce straight back up.
The next six teams are so bunched there is no daylight but the team coming up on the blindside is Knighton Park VIII. They lost their first two matches, including to Blaby, but have now won their next three including a bludgeoning 8-2 victory over their own 10th team, for whom Simon Aldis won two but lost his unbeaten tag to Dan Pearson. Pearson, along with Oscar White, Max Huggins and Adams Green could well eventually run Blaby close.
Electricity VI suffered a 10-0 default loss for their first match in Division Five but have now gathered a very worthwhile adult team for whom Dave Silvester leads the way with 10 from 12 but plenty of strength in depth.
The Sparks are just behind leaders, Regent Sports IV, who have Keith Bramhall on a similar mark to Silvester and they also have plenty of depth. These two lead the way but it should be a battle royale between six teams at the top.
The bottom four should also have a good contest among themselves. They might struggle against those higher but the group of matches between these four should prove very interesting with their very own battle.