With two octogenarians in the side Nomads V in Division Five are the oldest team in the Leicester and District League, despite having a ‘mere’ 72 year old as their third player in Mick Harvey.
Pat Hine and Derek Butt, both 81, are justifiably pleased they can still hold their own although in this case league leaders, Unicorn III, were in no mood for sympathy, winning 10-0.
Led by the appropriately named Berkeley Young in contrast, Unicorn maintained their status at the top with Paul Chung and Balu Pillai proving unbeatable along with Young, the only close call coming when Butt just went down 12-10 in the fifth against Pillai.
Meanwhile, Syston Casuals IV were holding on to the leaders’ coattails with a tough 7-3 team victory over Winstanley Wizards II when Wes Glauds, Scott Morris and Nick Bishop all won two. Chris Webster notched an excellent brace for the Wizards, Marcus Harvey one.
At the other end of the spectrum Division One is being dogged by postponements while bottom team Holwell Sports were helped to two points when Abbots Road turned up with only two players, Dave Gannon winning all three. It still needed a win for Holwell’s James Morley over Ross Adams and then a terrific three straight doubles success for Morley and Martin Brunning for the 5-5 share of points.
The other team in a relegation place at the moment, Electricity II, suffered a 10-0 defeat at the hands of Desford Village for whom Kevin Parker, Tony Smith and Richard Hayes were in uncompromising form. Harry White lost twice in five for the Sparks while his other set lost in four had nailbiting games.
Leaders in Division Two, Unicorn II, could find only two players to play against Knighton Park V but still won 6-4 when John Genovese won all three, supported by two from Ben Stone who lost to Lucky Obi. Unicorn grabbed the vital doubles to take full points.
Knighton Park IV maintained their challenge near the top with a solid 7-3 victory over Abbots Road II when Rayan Kotecha won three, Adnan Ebrahim two, together with a very useful singles from Patrick Cox playing up from Division Three.
Another team challenging near the top are Electricity III who beat Syston Casuals 7-3, Sam Radenhurst and Adam Pettitt three apiece. Near the bottom Knighton Park III just about lifted themselves away from relegation issues with a sparkling 9-1 success against Nomads, Peter Wilson and Steve Adams maximums and two from Mike Lapworth.
It was drawn matches nearly all the way in Division Three where Electricity IV shared the spoils at 5-5 with second placed team, Blaby and Whetstone II, despite three from John Winsper. Chris Woodward and Sheriff Makhani both won two for the Sparks while Woodward combined with Dave Greasley for the doubles.
Also at 5-5 were Leicester Taxes and Abbot Road III, the latter having Raju Rahul undefeated including a win over Bruce Johnson. Bhulesh Rathod won two for Abbots while Johnson won the same for Taxes and Tony Nelson got his campaign up and running with his first win in 27 sets.
Four players won two in the Nomads II v Knighton Park VI 5-5 result, Chris Weston and Steve Andrews for the former, Robert Geary and John Bowness for KP. The latter two won the doubles to counter Trevor Hawkins’ earlier singles success over Steve Bessant.
There is a very good tussle at the top of Division Four between Winstanley Wizards and Regent Sports II. The Wizards powered to an 8-2 success over Lutterworth Rotary thanks to a maximum from Himansu Mishra while the Andrews siblings, Kelsey and Dan, each won two. Mike Eastell won both for Lutterworth.
Regent just squeezed home against Wigston Conservatives thanks to three from Rob Price and an Allan Clarke pair with these two securing that all-important doubles. Peter Garford won two for Wigston.