There were two outstanding individual performances in Division One of the Leicester & District League including a terrific maximum from Arnesby’s Ian Brown in his team’s 6-4 defeat at the hands of Ajax Wolvey, made to look a little closer than it was as a result of Ajax’s habit of giving the doubles.
Brown is graded at 241 and he beat Aidan Walsh (262), Mick Allsopp (237) and John Fuller (270) in a very solid performance, the latter three all winning their other two.
Perhaps even more spectacular was an unbeaten return by Sam Radenhurst for Electricity II in a 5-5 draw against Desford Village. Radenhurst is graded at 193 so even one success would have been worthy of note. Victories against Arun Jogi (210), Tony Smith (239) and Malcolm Truman (244) is truly remarkable.
Backing Radenhurst was Harry White and Adam Pettitt with one apiece while for Desford Jogi won two, Smith and Truman one each before Jogi and Smith took the doubles for the share. There were many close tussles with the four best-of-five’s shared in a very fair result.
It was a week when the top two teams played against their own second strings, both resulting 8-2 for the stronger sides.
Unicorn Firsts had Tim Sheppard and Garry Knights each undefeated while Geoff Parsons just got home 12-10 in the fifth again Joe Kirkup for one. John Genovese and Alex Jackson each picked up singles for the seconds.
Meanwhile Knighton Park Firsts were beating their own team-mates by way of three each from Reza Kiani and Chris Rogers while Adam Cross won two, just failing to make the singles a clean sweep when Les Baker beat him 14-12 in the fifth. Baker combined with George McClurkin for an excellent doubles success.
Thringstone beat Syston Casuals 8-2 when Alex Brojaka and Maurice Newman each notched maximums, while Alastair Hawthorn won two, losing only to Jason Woodfield.
Holwell Sports continue to ride roughshod over the opposition in Division Two and opened up a healthy gap at the top with an 8-2 victory over Syston Casuals II. Dave Roche and Martin Brunning both emerged undefeated while James Morley lost the one singles against Ian Wetherly.
Already it looks as though the others will be scrambling for second position, including the promoted Arnesby II who captured Bruce Johnson from the defunct Leicester Taxes for this season. Johnson won three against Knighton Park IV as did Dave Wagstaff, while Dave Small supplied one.
Knighton Park III maintained their challenge by defeating Desford Village 6-4 when Rayan Kotecha gained a maximum supported by two from Patrick Cox and one from Brajesh Patel. Matthew Briggs won two for the losers.
Winning two apiece for Abbots Road II in a 6-4 win over Regent Sports were Raju Rahul, Fahed Sacoor and Richard Martin, the latter playing up. Kevin Sanderson did the same for Regent.
In Division Three much will revolve around Alex Mason as to whether Great Glen challenge at the top or not as shown by his unbeaten tag so far when available. Latest result was a 7-3 success over Electricity V with Mason three and Cliff Smith two, Andy Wright taking two for the Sparks.
Scott Morris played up for Syston Casuals III against Abbots Road, winning two in a 6-4 victory with Ajay Lad also two and Terry Wale one. Steve Pratt and Bhulesh Rathod each won two for Abbots. Double spearhead for Winstanley Wizards when Himansu Mishra and Dan Andrews both unbeaten against Knighton Park V, also taking the doubles for a 7-3 success.
Division Four is somewhat chaotic at the moment with so many postponements. The three promoted teams from division four were all in action, however.
Winstanley Wizards II were led by Marcus Harvey who recorded an excellent maximum against Regent Sports III in a 5-5 draw. For Regent, Keith Bramhall and Dave Dewsbury notched two. Unicorn III, division five’s champions last term, just got home 6-4 against Lutterworth Rotary with a solid team effort when Joseph Hume, Tony Geanta and David Green all won two, as did Lutterworth’s Freddy Jones.
Best performance in Division Five was probably Blaby and Whetstone Third’s 7-3 won over Knighton Park VIII with Alan Willson three, Tom Phipps two and Jack Angrave one. Two for KP’s Alec Downes.