Division One of the Leicester and District League is the first section to complete every match in the first half, with the other four divisions still having some significant fixtures to complete.
The top three teams, Unicorn, Knighton Park and Ajax Wolvey have, respectively, 44, 41 and 38 points, the next being Electricity on 26, amply showing how these three dominate. With four points for each victory, there is still time for changes in those top three placings in the second half should anyone slip.
Meanwhile, the League’s four graded cup competitions have sorted out prelim matches to bring them to even numbers with some very good performances, not least of all Roger Burley’s maximum for Nomads in a 5-4 victory over Syston Casuals in the Lillian Williamson, for players graded below 115. Tony Burns also did well with two backing successes.
Regent Sports beat Electricity 5-2 thanks mainly to three from Roger Newby, with Keith Bramhall and Dave Dewsbury one each, and Dan Woolman winning the Sparks’ brace. Max Huggins and Dan Pearson won both theirs in a 5-1 victory over Abbots Road with Aga Hirt supplying the other.
The Frith Trophy for players graded below 140 saw a clash of Knighton Park teams when Rayan Kotecha helped the A team defeat the B team 5-4 when he emerged undefeated. For the “B”s Oscar White and Simon Aldis each won two, but in vain.
Moving up to the Saracen Cup for players below 170 we find Syston Casual beating Electricity 5-1 with Clive Stretton and Paul Weston in form and both taking two from two, while John Henshaw supplied the other.
The Corrall Cup, for those below 210, is very much a clash of Division Two standard performers with Knighton Park A defeating Abbots Road 5-2, Peter Wilson continuing good form with two from two, and good backing from Aman Rashid with two from three, Shirley Pickering winning one.
The daytime Ladder League reached the halfway point with last season’s winner, Andy Searle, moving alongside current leader, Charlie Bateman which promises a competitive second half.
Searle won all four matches 2-1 for a plus four positive score on the day while Bateman won two and lost two to tread water. The second group saw Steve Bessant come through strongly to grab a place in the leading group next time. Bessant lost 2-1 to Chris Parmar-Saville but won his other three 3-0 for a plus five score.
Click here to view the latest positions
As the season of goodwill approaches it was good to have Kevin Trueman of Great Glen in Division Three get in touch. He explained how he beat Nomad’s Steve Andrews the previous time he faced him. This time? Trueman went down with a wallop at 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-2), but nice to have someone report a resounding loss for a change. Trueman did win his other two but in vain as Glen went down 6-4.