Syston Casuals entered a fourth team this season in Division Five of the Leicester & District League who have been enjoying some success, especially their captain, Scott Morris, who is in fourth position in the individual averages.
The team turned up at Electricity this week and found only one opponent, which meant no match. Rather than claim they immediately suggested rearranging to avoid the Sparks being fined and losing points. A useful 10-0 victory was spurned in favour of the bigger picture – we are in the league to play, they said. Excellent call by Nick Bishop, Tony Monteiro and Morris their skipper.
Meanwhile, Regent Sports IV moved to the top of the division with a 10-0 thrashing of Knighton Park XII, who could only field two players, while Jim Mee, top of the individual averages, injured an ankle in his first set for Goons II against Nomads V and had to concede in a 5-5 draw. Steve Harrison won three for Goons and Steve Webb two.
At the other end of the scale Unicorn are catching up with their fixtures including a fine 7-3 victory over current Division One chart toppers, Ajax Wolvey, still in that position solely because of the bonus point for attaining three sets in defeat.
Starring for the students was new signing this year, 18-year-old Lois Peake who made her senior England debut last month with a brilliant win in a 3-1 defeat in her first European match at that level. Earlier in the year Peake had helped England into seventh place in the European Youth Championships. Against Ajax she won all three, while John Fuller, for Ajax, beat Georgios Briskolas, and both John Williams and Aidan Walsh defeated Cavan Tian Van Foo.
Unicorn are one point behind Ajax with a match in hand, as are Knighton Park who defeated their own second team 10-0 to maintain their unbeaten tag with Karen Smith, Chris Rogers and Reza Kiani all in tip top form.
Maintaining some challenge near the top are Electricity after beating Desford Village II 8-2 when David Grundy took a maximum three. Supporting with two apiece were Andy LeButt and Tomas Oravec, the latter slipping into the top flight nicely now. Richard Hayes won both for Desford.
There was a terrific battle near the top of Division Two when Knighton Park IV entertained Electricity III. 14-year-old Jack Rogers is the one to beat and he emerged with his undefeated record intact from a bruising encounter, beating both Harry White and Chandresh Sodha in five games. In support, young Kinar Sheth did exactly the same but lost along the way to Steve White. Eventually the White’s, father and son, won the all-important doubles for a share.
Nomads had a surprisingly easy 10-0 victory over Abbots Road III previous high flyers in Division Three to make top position their own with Andy Searle, Zaheer Mohamed and Cliff Smith unbeatable on the night. Great Glen could catch them at the moment but are falling behind with fixtures.
In second position are Goons who beat Regent Sports II 7-3 thanks to a very good maximum from Barry Robinson, who beat John Dewsbury 14-12 in the fifth game first set of the night. Allan Clarke claimed two very good successes for Regent in defeating both Kevin Edwards and John Jacques.
Blaby & Whetstone II retained their unbeaten record at the top of Division Four and now have a buffer with a match in hand of the rest. The latest success was a 6-4 win over Abbots Road IV when Paul Hinson won his customary three, but needed four games each time, while Phill Hinson took two.
The crucial singles came in the second clash of the match when Jack Angrave defeated Dave Rana in a massive 19-17 in the fifth game to give Blaby a slight edge they retained throughout.