Knighton Park’s first team have started the second half of the season in Division One of the Leicester & District League very much by hitting the ground sprinting when they recorded another 10-0 victory, this time against Desford Village.
Reza Kiani, Chris Rogers and the latter’s son, Jack, are determined to at least give defending champions, Unicorn, a run for their money for top position.
Only one of the 10 sets needed a fourth game but it was good to see the doubles played, something that is going out of fashion in the top two divisions these days.
The other two results recorded in this division were both much closer with Electricity II coming away from Unicorn II with a 6-4 victory mainly thanks to an excellent full house from Sam Henderson. It was one of those matches where everyone wins something, Harry White and Adam Pettitt supporting Henderson with one apiece.
For Unicorn, John Genovese took two, Luke Greenfield and Joe Kirkup a set each. Henderson teamed with Pettitt for the crucial doubles.
Another 6-4 scoreline saw Thringstone defeat Arnesby, this time the maximum was recorded by the victor’s Trevor Kerry, while Alastair Hawthorne won two and Alex Brojaka supplying the sixth set. Ian Brown won two for Arnesby, Darren Bramhall one.
Three out of four matches in Division Two saw the doubles given away, but not when Arnesby II fought out a thrilling 5-5 draw with Syston Casuals II, again all six players gaining something.
Rhys Emery and Bruce Johnson notched a brace each for Arnesby while Dave Wagstaff scored a scorching success over Ian Wetherly, the latter winning his other two for Syston, while Mike James and Chandresh Sodha recorded supporting singles. Eventually Syston inched home in the fifth game in the doubles for a deserved share of the spoils.
The other three matches saw doubles given away, twice at 9-0 to give the losers a consolation set. Tony Fox, Dave Roche and James Morley took all nine singles for runaway leaders, Holwell Sports, against Abbots Road II while Charlie Bateman, Martin Bolton and Kevin Sanderson did exactly the same for Regent Sport against Electricity III. Both matches were recorded as 9-1.
Mike Lapworth was in uncompromising form for Knighton Park IV against his own club’s third team when winning all three in a 6-4 defeat. For the thirds Patrick Cox, Shirley Pickering and Brajesh Patel all won their other two. A feature of the match saw Shirley Pickering successful against her husband, Rod.
Sheriff Makhani did very well for Electricity IV in Division Three by taking all three in a 7-3 victory over Abbots Road III including a fine win in five games against Abbot’s lead player, Richard Martin, who won his other two. Chris Woodward won two for the Sparks, Dave Greasley one while Raju Rahul won the other for Abbots.
In Division Four there were two exciting 5-5 draws, one of which saw Anthony Thomas win three for Goons II against Unicorn III. A win apiece by Scott Robinson and Kevin Edwards got Goons the share while John Brindley won two for Unicorn before teaming with Eric Baker to win the important doubles.
Keith Bramhall came good against Wigston Conservatives for Regent Sports III in their draw. Support came from a Dave Dewsbury singles while James Smith did the same, only losing to Pete Garford 12-10 in the fifth in almost gaining two. Garfield won one as did Dave Starkie while Mark Williams took two, Williams and Starkie making sure of a share with a good doubles success.
Meanwhile Syston Casuals IV were cementing their place at the top of the chart with a comprehensive 8-2 success against Electricity VI with Scott Morris taking a good maximum including beating Dave Silvester 14-12 in the fifth. Silvester got some revenge by beating Pritesh Nakeshree in five but the latter scored two as did Wes Glauds. Dave Cox won the other for the Sparks.