There is an intriguing relegation battle developing near the bottom of Division Four of the Leicester & District League where Regent Sports III are surely doomed at the foot, suffering a 7-3 defeat at the hands of Lutterworth but new signing, Keaton Bayliss, picked up one and should provide a good foundation.

Four other teams are all within a whisker for the other official relegation place including two who clashed when Winstanley Wizards II defeated Knighton Park VII 7-3 to take the Wizards to one point above their rivals. Elly Bajarias won all three for Winstanley, Callum Dale two and Kelsey Andrews one, while Paul Duckworth, Abe Lam and Nadir Sayani all took one for the Park.

Nomads II did themselves a bit of good by sharing the spoils at Electricity VI when Chris Weston and Terry Wale each won two and the doubles at 5-5. Dave Silvester and Dave Bray each notched a couple for the Sparks with Dave Cox supplying the other. Meanwhile Nomads’ third team were going down 7-3 to Syston Casuals III who had Wes Glauds and Ian Lockington undefeated. The two Nomads teams each have 24 points, Knighton Park 25 and Winstanley 26.

The two teams at the top clashed when Unicorn III defeated Goons II 6-4. Goons retain top spot but Unicorn will overtake them should they win their one match in hand. Nicolas Iancovou won three for Unicorn, John Brindley two with the latter combining with Jordan Tweed for the crucial doubles win. Kevin Edward took two for Goons, Steve Harrison and John Jacques one apiece.

Nipping up to Division One we find two 5-5 draws including Unicorn II against Knighton Park’s first team. This Unicorn team have become a force to be reckoned with but none could get the better of Chris Rogers who emerged unbeaten while Jack Rogers took one and the father and son combo won the doubles. For Unicorn Craig Witheford and Luke Greenfield each won their other two and Alexander Robinson one.

The other draw came between Arnesby and Thringstone when the former’s Ian Brown notched a splendid maximum including a 3-2 (7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 12-10) victory over Maurice Newman who won his other two while Alastair Hawthorn did the same. Darren Bramhall and James Lancaster each supplied a singles for the Arnesby cause.

In Division Two Osman Bawa won three for Knighton Park IV against Electricity III but the man of the match was undoubtedly Zia Malik who did the same but having a much lower grading at 169. His successes included victory over the 223 graded Steve White as well as Russ Pettitt and Preetpal Sangha. Mike Lapworth supplied the other for KP.

Regent Sports only had two players at Great Glen in Kevin Sanderson and Charlie Bateman, but that was all they needed for a 7-3 victory with Glen only recording the three defaulted sets but at least gaining a point.

Division Three continues to supply the most competitive matches in depth. Bottom placed Unicorn III were at home against top team, Holwell Sports in a much closer tussle than expected at 7-3 for the leaders. Dave Roche and Mike James were both unbeaten, the latter retaining his individual top position, but not before getting home by a 12-10 in the fifth short head against Tony Geanta. Geanta won one as did Paul Chung and Justin Ho.

The teams at three and four in the table met when Syston Casuals entertained Fleckney with the latter winning 6-4. For Syston Chetan Tailor won two while Terry Hall, graded 128, scored a great victory over Jason Prescott (183). Pete Jamieson, playing his first match for Fleckney, took three, James Robertson two and Prescott one, thus cementing third position.

Electricity V maintained second position but things are tightening after their 5-5 draw with Goons with the in-form Andy Wright again coming up trumps for the Sparks and unbeaten, Bryan Moylan taking one and these two with the doubles. Graham Cutler and Scott Robinson each earned a brace for Goons and Barry Robinson one.

Martin Taylor won a very good maximum for Nomads against Knighton Park VI, but also a good team performance to notch a 6-4 success when Mark Clay won two and Laszlo Kocsis one. The Park trio of Steve Adams, Dave Mountain and Eddie Kwok all took one.