It has been an unprecedented year for Leicester & District League cup competitions, five events in all representing the whole gambit of gradings to give everyone a chance to compete on equal terms, as they show one club with two teams in all five events having the most remarkable luck in avoiding each other all the way down the semi-final ties.
It is also lucky for the competition that each club is allowed up to two entries with Knighton Park entering two teams in every one of the five events with seven of their teams successfully through to the finals.
There were a few preliminary matches to get to this stage but it does show the general lack of competitiveness that a relatively low percentage of players enter and without the Knighton Park entries the competitions would almost certainly die.
In the Rose Johnson Cup, open to everyone, the Park A team beat a two-man Syston Casuals 9-0 while their B team was beaten 5-2 by Electricity when Andy LeButt won two from two, Mat Hobday 2/3 and David Grundy 1/2 for the Sparks. Kevin Yang won the two he played for KP, but without support.
It was one up and one down again in the Corrall Cup for those graded under 210 when KP B defeated Great Glen 5-2, Alex Mason undefeated for Glen. Rod Pickering the same for Park, these two not clashing, Steve Adams 2/3 and Simon Aldis 1/2. Syston Casuals won the other semi against KP A 5-2 with Jason Woodfield leading the way with a splendid maximum three from three.
Knighton Park won both matches in the Saracen Cup for under 170 gradings, both played to a finish. The A team beat Syston Casuals 6-3 when Lucky Obi continued his excellent league form with a maximum, two from Dean Jordan and Patrick Carton grabbing one. For the B team Patrick Cox and Chris Parmar-Saville both emerged unbeaten with Steve Bessant just being beaten by Kevin Trueman in an 8-1 result against Great Glen.
The Frith Trophy (under 140) saw Electricity beat KP B in an exciting match needing the ninth set when Daniel Woolman defeated Alex Downes to seal victory. Woolman won two, as did Dave Bray, with Dave Silvester chipping in a vital one. Zia Malik was in a hurry for the Park’s A team when winning two from two in double quick time to help his team to a 5-2 success, Martin Pember two from three and Max Huggins winning one of his two.
Another double success for Knighton Park in the under 115 Lillian Williamson Cup with the most exciting finish of the lot when Paul Ducksbury faced Syston Casual’s Tony Monteiro at 4-4. A see-saw encounter finally went Ducksbury’s way in the fifth game, his second win of the match, with Brajesh Patel also two, Kenny Obilaso one. Monteiro won two for Syston as did Wes Glauds. The other semi in this was taken 7-2 by Knighton against Winstanley Wizards with Phil Wood a maximum, Maya Dehnen and John Murray two apiece.
The Leicester Development League so ably organized by Vaughan Allington and his team of helpers at Leicester Grammar School had its final session with Winstanley Wizards taking the Division One honours when they won all three matches with Dan Andrews top of the individual averages on 67%. Knighton Park teams took the other three positions.
Barwell George Ward are building up nicely and took the Division Two title and had Edward Brown unbeaten individually while the same school also won both Divisions Three and Four. It is good to see Abbots Road back in the fold and they took the Division Five title by winning 23 of the 24 sets. All told there were nine divisions of four teams with well over 100 youngsters taking part.
While the cat’s away, others are apt to help themselves to some of the cream which is what happened in the Monday Ladder League when the current leader, Andy Searle, took a well earned break on holiday. Second-placed Charlie Bateman took full advantage to win all four matches to gain six points, just missing out by winning two at 2-1, to move within one point of the leader with two sessions remaining.
Searle has 128 points while Bateman moves to 127, ensuring that they will clash next time. Meanwhile Chris Woodward was making his comeback after a shoulder operation to also win four for a plus-six return, securing fourth position.