Ruling the roost at the top of Division Three of the Leicester & District League are Nomads, who came down from a very competitive Division Two last season and are very keen to climb back up. After beating Goons, never an easy team to beat, by an astonishing 10-0, elevation looks odds-on.
Cliff Smith Andy Searle and Zaheer Mohamed were all very much on form with only one of the nine singles not taken in three games, the other game only needed four, with Mohamed retaining his top position at the top of the averages on 97 per cent having lost just one set.
That loss came at the hands of Syston Casuals’ Paul Weston who individually just peeps above 50 per cent but is always capable of gaining useful successes if on song, as he certainly was against Knighton Park VI when he picked up three in a 6-4 victory, just inching home 12-10 in the fifth against Robert Geary. John Henshaw supplied two in support, Terry Wale one.
In the latest battle for second position Great Glen defeated Electricity IV 6-4 when Alex Mason, second in the averages having lost two, gained all three and Kevin Trueman chipping in with two. Mason then partnered Dermot Whelan for that crucial doubles victory for full points. The Sparks retain third position with the one consolation point.
A very good performance in this division came from young Oscar White, playing up for Knighton Park VII against Regent Sport II and securing an excellent maximum in a 5-5 draw in which Chris Parmar-Saville supplied the other two.
There were some very one-sided matches in Division One with a 10-0 success and three at 9-1, with two of those using the dreadful current trend of forfeiting the doubles to give the losers their one set.
Knighton Park were the 10-0 victors over Holwell Works, Chris Rogers, Karen Smith and Les Bakers in charge. Desford featured in two of the 9-1 results with their first team beating Electricity II, Malcolm Truman and Tony Jones three each and Arun Jogi one, while their second team lost to Abbots Road who had Ali Ahmed, Dave Gannon and Ross Adams unbeaten but giving away the doubles.
Ajax Wolvey also gave the doubles away as they were beating Knighton Park II when Mick Allsopp, Jon Williams and Aidan Walsh took all nine singles.
In Division Two, Mike James (Syston Casuals II) won an excellent maximum against high-flying Knighton Park IV including successes over both Jack Rogers and Kinar Sheth in a 5-5 draw.
Another exciting 5-5 draw saw Blaby & Whetstone and Electricity III locking horns when four players, two from each side, won two – Nick Raynor and Dave Daniel for Blaby while Steve White and Chandresh Sodha did the same for the Sparks. The latter player’s three sets all needed a fifth game. Harry White took an important singles for Electricity but Raynor and Daniels gained a share with a good doubles win.
Some very good maximums in Division Four included an unbeaten return for Winstanley Wizards’ Jack Kermode against Regent Sports III in a 6-4 defeat, while Steve Lomas secured a draw for Desford Village III against Knighton Park X. The third maximum was more successful as Abbots Road IV won 7-3 against Nomads IV when Shabnam Ahmed emerged undefeated.