Division One of the Leicester and District League continues to build up very nicely with the top two teams still with perfect records and the prospect of their match being the final one of each half of the fixtures.
Both are now five wins from five as a result of Knighton Park defeating Arnesby 8-2, the latter including a rare appearance by Abraham Conteh who won both in the Park’s 8-2 success. Even he could not get the better of Chris Rogers, who remains undefeated, being well backed up this time by Karen Smith and Les Baker taking two each. The two leaders are each on 20 points.
The pair at present with 17 points and vying for third spot both won, with Electricity first team defeating their own second string 10-0 and showing no mercy as Dave Grundy, Andy LeButt and Mat Hobday put the metaphorical boot in.
Ajax Wolvey were also in good form against Holwell Sports in winning 8-2 when Aidan Walsh and Jon Williams each took three and Mick Allsopp two. James Morley won Holwell’s lone singles and those doubles that Ajax keep conceding may yet come home to haunt them if sets average comes into play.
Blaby and Whetstone II are at present running away with Division Three, having won all six matches played thus far, the latest another close one against Knighton Park VI. John Winsper is relishing his ease down from Division Two and is unbeaten so far with a very easy three straight maximum in this one, while Eileen Shaler took two and Paul Hinson one.
Although Blaby’s position looks dominant, Arnesby II have matches in hand and look very handily placed with Rhys Emery playing very well, bringing his tally to 14 from 15 with a full house against Syston Casuals III. Dave Wagstaffe and Dave Small both won two in support, Wagstaffe going down 15-13 in the fifth against John Henshaw.
Another team so far unbeaten, albeit with a couple of drawn matches, is Knighton Park VII, who beat Electricity IV 6-4 in their latest fixture with a very good in-depth team performance. Martin Pember and Tracey Smith each won two and Simon Aldis one and they maintained useful doubles form when Pember and Aldis captured full points with that success.
Division Five may be the lowest sector of the league but there is certainly no lack of interest as it is the only division bang up to date with every fixture up to date.
Goons are top and unbeaten, drawing one, and they defeated Winstanley Wizards II 7-3 in the latest round of matches when Scott Robinson weighed in with an excellent full house, Steve Harrison two and league treasurer, Steve Webb, one.
Unicorn leapfrog Syston Casuals IV with a very useful 9-1 success over Knighton Park XI with Tony Geanta and Berkerley Young in top form, winning three each, and Paul Chung one. One team has a bye each week and it was Syston’s turn as they saw Unicorn move past.
Blaby and Whetstone III will need watching as they are second, albeit with their bye to come and having lost two. A 7-3 win over Abbots Road IV showed Blaby’s potential with Tom Phipps winning three, Allan Willson and Jack Angrave two each.
Gary Featherstone’s very good maximum spearheaded an 8-2 win for Regent Sports IV over Nomads. Bob Smith and Richard Just supported well with two apiece while Julie Edwards, who moved from Regent this season, won the two for Nomads.
Shock of the week came in Division Two when top team, Knighton Park V, were soundly beaten by Regent Sports who had Martin Bolton, Kevin Sanderson and Charlie Bateman running riot with just one set needing a fifth game when Bateman got the better of Dean Jordan 13-11 in the fifth.
Regent now reside in second position as a result of Unicorn II defeating Blaby and Whetstone 7-3 when Ben Stone showed how much he is progressing with a well-constructed maximum, backed by two from John Genovese and Jianglong Guo chipping in with one.