Division 1
The top flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues saw a week of surprise results where lower ranked teams all excelled against higher opposition.
League leaders Whistlers B were most impacted due to falling to a 6-4 defeat against then 3rd placed side Lions B and now lead by just 2 points. Dan Collenette has been in good form over the past few weeks in league action and he excelled again in this fixture, with an unbeaten evening of action. This included singles wins over Lawrence Stacey, Matthew Casey and Ryan Gilson, the former coming over 4 sets and being his first career win against Lawrence. He also combined well with Phil Ogier to win the important doubles encounter against Stacey and Casey over 4 sets. Ogier himself added comfortable singles wins over Casey and Gilson to make sure of the win for his side, but he fell to Stacey over 4 sets. Each of the Whistlers players earned singles wins over Andre De Carteret.
Lions B moved into 2nd position in the table due to an extremely unexpected slip for the defending Champions Lions A, who slumped to a 5-5 draw with the side at the bottom of the table, Whistlers A. The Whistlers side were missing Dawn Morgan, but did remarkably well to secure the unexpected point. Ellis Tomlin led the way for the Whistlers side strongly due to his singles wins over Jamie Ferbrache and reserve Steve Ozanne, whilst Whistlers own reserve Paula Le Ber did a lot of damage herself due to singles wins over Ozanne and Ryan Bichard. Her win against Bichard was an excellent scalp for the Division 2 player who has been in good form this season. She won it in 5 sets having come back from 2-1 down. Sam Clark earned the final Whistlers win in the last match of the night, coming back from 2-1 down against Ozanne to edge the final 2 ends 12-10, 11-9.
5th placed side Whistlers C were the other side to win this week after they came through 7-3 against a weakened 4th placed Lions C outfit. Joshua Stacey was in good form for the victors due to his singles wins over Paul Hainsworth, Andy Gill and Division 2 reserve Jonah Ingrouille. He also combined strongly with Mark Pipet to overcome Hainsworth and Gill over 5 sets in the doubles clash. Pipet defeated Gill in 4 sets and Ingrouille in straight sets to make sure of the win. Charlotte Casey picked up a further victory over Ingrouille in 4 sets to extend the margin of victory. Hainsworth earned straight sets wins over Pipet and Casey, whilst Gill overcame Casey in 4 sets for the defeated side.
Division 2
It was a good week for leaders Whistlers D and their main title rivals Lions D as both sides won their matches this week. Prior to the week it was a close three-horse race, however as both of these leading sides overcame Lions E, the E side is now 6 points behind the leaders.
Whistlers D played against Lions E on Monday evening and narrowly squeezed through 6-4. Kay Chivers was pivotal towards this victory and won all 3 of her singles matches on the night. This included a first defeat for Jez Powell, who fell 15-13 in the deciding end of their epic encounter. Powell had come back from 2-0 down to level matters and also fought back from an 8-2 deficit to lead 11-10 in the decider before eventually narrowly being edged out. Chivers other singles wins came against Caden Brouard and Jonah Ingrouille in straight sets. Junior Ben Sharp also played well in this fixture due to his wins over fellow juniors Ingrouille in 4 sets and Brouard in 5 sets, the latter seeing him need to overturn a 2-1 deficit before winning the remaining ends 11-8, 11-9. Keith Opie held firm against Ingrouille in the deciding 5th end of their match and used his experience to close it out 11-2.
Lions D are now only a single point behind the leaders after winning both of their matches this week. Monday evening saw a comfortable 9-1 win over Lions F where Steve Ozanne and Carl Le Tissier won all of their matches against Andrew Ferbrache, Steve Potter and Sue Ferbrache. The only defeat came when reserve Terry Trustum lost out to Sue in 5 sets.
Their other win came in exactly the same manner as the leaders, as they too brushed past Lions E 6-4. Tim Le Page and Ozanne each defeated Brouard and Ingrouille in singles action and also combined to earn a good 4 set win over Powell and Brouard in the doubles. Le Tissier picked up the decisive 6th rubber when he beat Ingrouille in 4 sets. Powell was unbeaten for the defeated side in singles action, whilst Brouard picked up a nice 5 set win over Le Tissier in the opening match.
Whistlers D and Lions D will meet this week in a massive top of the table clash. The Whistlers side have been top since the 3rd week of the season, but a defeat would see the Lions side dismount them from the top of the table. Interestingly, the Lions side also have the stronger games ratio at the present moment, so every point this season is vital.
Division 3
League leaders St Pauls B held onto their commanding 5 point advantage at the top of the 3rd Divison, but they did drop points for just the second time this season when 2nd placed side Ravenscroft Panthers D held them to a 5-5 stalemate. Mick Ingoruille and Mark Windsor played very well on the night as each earned singles wins over Brian Le Cras and Derek Carter. Rob Vile overcame Le Cras to make sure of the draw and was also very close to beating Carter, losing out 11-9 in the decider. Craig Dunning once more proved to the difference maker for the leaders due to his unbeaten night of singles wins and doubles win alongside Carter over Vile and Ingrouille in 4 sets.
Whistlers I lead the 4th Division table for the first time since the 6th week of the season following an emphatic 10-0 whitewash of Whistlers L. Andy Le Page, Joe Le Page and Max Burrows all overcame Len Bretel, Sabato Folmi and Matt Hale in singles action. Le Page and Burrows also won the doubles clash against Bretel and Hale in straight sets.
