The first result received in Division Two of the Leicester and District League suggested that this division will be particularly close when Abbots Road II and Blaby and Whetstone fought out a 5-5 draw, despite an excellent maximum by Blaby’s Nick Raynor.
Geoff Hancock got Abbots’ off to an ideal start with a win over Dave Seeds before Blaby took the next three with, as well as Raynor, Dave Daniel being in the thick of things, coming up with an eventual two successes. Hancock also won two for Abbots supported by one each from Steve Pratt and Chetan Tailor, Hancock and Pratt combining for a vital doubles win.
The other two results so far were much wider and both featured Knighton Park victories. Their third team defeated Great Glen 8-2 with Peter Wilson coming up with a maximum, two apiece from Mike Lapworth and Patrick Carton.
It is especially good to see Lapworth back playing as he was sidelined for the whole of last season after contracting sepsis whilst on holiday abroad, battling back from a life-threatening situation and losing some toes in the process.
KP’s fifth team beat Electricity III 7-3 and this time it was John Underwood leading the way undefeated. He had Dean Jordan and Lucky Obi, the latter making his club debut, supporting with two each while Sam Radenhurst won two for the Sparks plus the doubles with Adam Pettitt.
For the second year running it was the bottom level, Division Five, the only sector coming through with all matches played and no postponements in the first week, the completely new and unknown quantity of Unicorn having a bye in a nevertheless tough division.
Goons II used all their experience when defeating new team, Winstanley Wizards III 10-0, with Steve Webb, Steve Harrison and Scott Robinson all dropping only one game.
Meanwhile, the Wizards’ second team were beating Nomads V 9-1 when Julie Edwards, making her Nomads’ debut, prevented the clean sweep. For Wizards, Himansu Mishra and John Hirst were both unbeaten while Marcus Harvey won two.
There were two 6-4 results when Abbots Road IV beat Desford Village IV thanks to a Dave Rana maximum, while Blaby and Whetstone III defeated Syston Casuals IV by the same score in a match where no-one won or lost all three.
For Blaby, Tom Phipps and Alan Willson took two each, Jack Angrave one, losing the other two in five games. For Syston, Scott Morris won two, Wes Glauds and Tony Monteiro one each. Blaby secured the all-important doubles by way of Angrave and Phipps.
Of other matches around the league one that stands out is an excellent performance by new player, Freddie Jones, who could not quite stave off defeat for Lutterworth Rotary against Desford Village II in Division Four. The latter showed greater depth with Luke Blair and Alan Oxbrough two each, Keith Adams one, and the first two the doubles in a 6-4 success.
Two 9-1 results in Division Three saw Blaby and Whetstone II home against Nomads II, John Winsper and Phill Hinson unbeaten, while Chris Woodward and Sheriff Makhani were both undefeated when Electricity IV beat Syston Casuals III 9-1.