Unicorn have now caught up a couple of matches in Division One of the Leicester League and are no fewer then 11 points ahead of Electricity with a match in hand. They showed what magnificent strength in depth they have in beating Abbots Road 7-3 when Jared Patel and Mark Scutts emerged undefeated, including two very rare defeats for Dave Gannon, before an 8-2 victory over Holwell Works had Cavan Tian Van Foo and Geoff Parson unbeaten.
At the other end of the scale, Division Five has potentially produced one of the most exciting finishes for many a long year. One short of a full complement at 11 teams, no fewer than seven of those have a very realistic chance of one of the two automatic promotion places.
Favourites to take top spot are Knighton Park XI who have a star in the making in Nikki Farrall, making a tremendous comeback to the sport in her first season in the local league. KP polished off bottom team, Abbots Road V, 8-2 with Farrall winning a customary maximum three straight with good support from Ange Bowness and Paul Ducksbury, both of whom won two, and the two girls taking the doubles.
The other spot, however, could be anyone from the other six, with Knighton Park’s 10th team having come through the pack since the halfway stage, their latest victory a significant one against the previous promotion favourites, Regent Sports IV, a resounding 8-2 success at that. Max Huggins was the player of the match with a maximum including a 3-2 (9-11, 13-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-7) victory over Gary Featherstone, who otherwise won two for Regent. Supporting with two apiece were Adam Green and Oscar White, with Dan Pearson completing the four-man squad, it was the latter’s turn to miss this time.
Desford Village IV just kept their hopes alive thanks to an excellent three from Luke Blair which included a win over the in-form Gary Dennison. Mike Pratt won two for Desford while Lee Berrill won an important singles against Derek Butt but neither of the latter Desford players could get the better of Dennison, although Pratt won the first two games before going down.
Eagles keep battling away and are just within reach after beating Knighton Park XII 8-2 with Zoran Djurkovic in tremendous form after just getting the better of Robbie Bowsher 15-13 in the fifth in his first set. Zeljko Koncarevic and Borislav Trivic both supported with two
Winstanley Wizards, who had a bye week, would actually gain promotion should they win their remaining matches but they have a tougher run in with four matches left.
The simplified chart of the top seven, showing matches played, points and potential points that could be gained, is as follows:
Pld pts pot
16 53 69 Knighton Park XI
17 47 59 Knighton Park X
16 46 62 Winstanley Wizards
17 44 56 Lutterworth Rotary
16 43 59 Regent Sports IV
16 42 58 Eagles
15 39 59 Desford Village IV
Around the other divisions there were some notable maximums in drawn matches, including two in Division Four where Steve Arscott won all three for Desford Village III against Regent Sports III to share the spoils while Eddie Kwok, who has improved tremendously as the season progressed, did exactly the same for Knighton Park IX against Syston Casuals III.
Steve Andrews notched a very good maximum in Division Three for Nomads II to enable a draw against high-flying Arnesby II who, admittedly, were without Dave Small. Perhaps the best maximum of all came from Bruce Johnson in this division as he won all three for Leicester Taxes against Knighton Park VI, only to see his team go down 7-3.
John Bowness (publicity officer)
March 2, 2015