Leicestershire Police, having previously pulled in a fixture from the future, have put down a significant marker in Division Four of the Leicester League, especially as their two nearest rivals both missed chances to maintain touching distance with 5-5 draws.
Leicester Electricity V had Dave Greasley in top form, winning all three including one in five games against the canny Mal Woodfield, who otherwise won one for Syston Casuals II. Dave Bray gave his team-mate support with two but that was it, with John Henshaw taking two for Syston and Terry Wale the other singles. That final doubles, as is so often the case, proved telling with Syston winning three straight to take a share of the spoils.
Abbots Road IV are third and they also lost ground with a draw, in their case against Regent Sports III. Allan Clarke was man of the match for Regent in taking three, working hard with two of his sets needing five games, while Dave Dewsbury supported well with two. Raju Rahul won two for Abbots while Shabnam Ahmed and Aftab Gaffar both grabbed one and Abbots needed the doubles to keep their challenge alive.
Regent’s previous match was against Knighton Park IX, who had Mike Smith winning his first maximum of the season in a 6-4 success, beating the high-flying Allan Clarke, who otherwise won two, in five. Bill Walmsley won two for Park and Kenny Obilaso one.
Another close result witnessed a very good team performance from Wigston Conservatives when all three players, Pete Garford, Ian Lockington and Dave Starkie, won two in a 6-4 victory. None, however, could get the better of Steve Lomas who maintained his unbeaten tag at the top of the averages. His team-mates Keith Adams and Steve Arscott fought all the way, going down several times deuce in the fifth.
The top place in Division Five was settled, at least for the time being, when leaders Knighton Park XI defeated nearest challengers Winstanley Wizards 7-3 to open up a decent gap. Nikki Farrall was again in superb form for Park with three, while Paul Ducksbury won two including a win over Jack Kermode, although Chris Webster scored an excellent victory against Ducksbury later in the match. Ange Bowness won one for Park while all the Wizard’s players came away with one, including John Hurst.
Desford Village IV are now challenging for second spot after defeating Abbots Road V 9-1, with both Luke Blair and Mike Pratt maintaining high individual records winning three each, good support also from Lee Berrill who lost to Josh Greaves, a very young player showing good promise who prevented the full house.
Meanwhile at the other end of the scale in Division One, Unicorn forged ahead with a terrific 9-1 victory over one of their nearest challengers Ajax Wolvey. Unicorn are looking tremendous with both Jared Patel and Cavan Tian Van Foo recording maximums. For Ajax, John Fuller beat Tim Sheppard in five to avoid the whitewash.
Knighton Park keep plugging away in second spot, hoping their rivals will make a mistake and a very good 7-3 win over Electricity will help the cause. Chris Rogers emerged unbeaten, while Karen Smith won two and it is good to see junior Tobit Dehnen back from significant injury. He won one and showed he is back to full fitness when all three sets needed five games. Andy LeButt won two for the Sparks, Mat Hobday one.
Reza Kiani continued his good form for Knighton Park II with three against Desford Village in a 5-5 draw, beating Richard Hayes 11-9 in the fifth. George McClurkin offered support with two, while Hayes also won two for Desford.
After an uncertain start with an uncertain team line-up, Abbots Road are now running along nicely in the top sphere. Dave Gannon won all three against Syston Casuals, Ali Ahmed and Ross Adams two each, and this trio could yet have a big say in the final placings.
John Bowness (publicity officer)
November 24, 2014