With Dave Gannon, one of the top handful of players in the Leicester & District League for many years, involved with the club and playing as part of their top team in Division One for more years than he cares to think about, the Abbots Road first team is facing a very unusual situation in that they are in grave danger of relegation as a result of players being unavailable.
Syston Casuals look doomed having been cast adrift at the very bottom but Abbots Road are next, even after winning what might be a crucial encounter against Thringstone.
First set of the match, Gannon defeated Trevor Kerry 11-9 in the fifth followed by Vishal Parmar scoring a brilliant victory over Maurice Newman, also 11-9 in the fifth to put Abbots 2-0 up and on their way to a 7-3 win.
Gannon won all three, Ross Adams two together with Parmar’s vital one to give the winning edge. For Thringstone, Kerry took two, Alex Brojaka one and, for once, Newman came away empty handed.
Meanwhile, the rest of the division was as normal with Desford Village beating Syston 9-1, maximums for Malcolm Truman and Arun Jogi, Tony Smith two, while Knighton Park beat Electricity II by the same score with Reza Kiani and Chris Rogers taking three apiece, Jack Rogers two, beaten by Adam Pettitt.
Ian Brown scored an excellent brace against the Sparks’ first team, alas in an 8-2 defeat with Chris Brewer undefeated for Electricity, David Grundy and Andy LeButt two each.
The top performance in Division Two was surely that of Russ Pettitt, Electricity III, who took a sparkling maximum against Desford Village II totally in vain as his team lost 7-3 when Neil Matthams, Tracey Smith and Matt Briggs all won their other two.
Meanwhile leaders, Holwell Sports, were beating Arnesby II 8-2, who still have a small chance of finishing second. Martin Brunning is still unbeaten, while James Morley also picked up three, Dave Roche two.
The team currently second, Syston Casuals II, cemented that position more firmly in place with a cracking 8-2 victory over Blaby and Whetstone when Bob Whittaker won three, Ian Wetherly and Chandresh Sodha two each. Paul Hinson, graded 147, scored an excellent victory over Sodha (191).
Abbots Road II, in mid-table, scored a very closely contest 6-4 win over Knighton Park IV with Chetan Tailor getting a maximum, Geoff Hancick two and Steve Pratt one. The KP trio all won one; Mike Lapworth, Dean Jordan and Rod Pickering.
At one time early in the season it looked a certainty that Great Glen would top Division Three. However, despite having the leading individual at the top of the averages in Alex Mason, a five-man squad means that some of their results are leaking points, the latest an 8-2 defeat against Abbots Road III, who are now with chances of promotion themselves.
Richard Martin and Steve Pratt both took three for Abbots while Raju Rahul won two. With Bulesh Rathod in their four-man team they are quite strong in depth, and it is beginning to show.
Meanwhile Winstanley Wizards consolidated their top position with a solid 6-4 victory over Regent Sports II, who drop ever closer to the relegation spot. Rob Price won two for Regent but it was three from Himahsu Mishra and a brace for Dan Andrews, these two the doubles, getting the Wizards home.
The two Knighton Park teams in this division both scored close 6-4 successes including a win for the fifth team against Electricity V when KP proved just that deeper in depth with two each by Simon Aldis and Martin Pember and one from Robert Geary. Andy Wright and Dan Woolman both took two for the Sparks.
KP’s sixth team also won by the closest margin against Nomads thanks to three from Zia Malik, a very good two from the young Oscar Bentley, while Vishaal Parmar chipped in with one. Steve Andrews two for Nomads and Tony Gil one.
The highlight of Division Four was a local derby between the two Nomads teams with the second team only just pulling off a 6-4 victory after an absorbing tussle. Laszlo Kocsis spearheaded the seconds with a maximum with ample support from Mark Clay, two singles and the doubles with Kocsis. The third’s depth didn’t quite pull it off with Martin Taylor two, Rob Sanders and Terry Highton one apiece.
It was largely a top half versus bottom half in Division Five with mostly big scores and no upsets, the only team to reap a consolation point for gaining three sets being Knighton Park VIII against Winstanley Wizards V in a 7-3 success for the latter.
Ben Cooke scored an excellent maximum for the Wizards backed by two from Ian Knight and a Ted Eastman single. For KP, Phil Wood fought hard to win two, Alex Downes one.