Whistlers C continue to be the leading force in the race for the honours in the top-flight of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues.
Whistlers C made it 6 consecutive wins but were made to work hard by Lions B and narrowly edged through 6-4. Alice Edwards, Dawn Morgan and Mark Pipet each contributed equally to the win as they all overcame Jamie Ferbrache and Chloe Le Tissier in singles action. The 2 decisive rubbers however that decided the affair were the encounters involving Pipet, as each went to the final 5th end. Le Tissier led 2-1 before the Whistlers man comfortably navigated the final 2 ends, whilst against Ferbrache, Pipet regained focus impressively in the deciding end to win 11-2, having lost the 4th 11-1. The man of the match however was Ben Foss, as he put in a superb performance on the evening and was unbeaten. This included the first league defeat of the campaign for Edwards, with Foss's 5 set win ensuring that the duo are joint top of the averages with 20 wins from 21. Edwards did look to have the match in her control after winning the close 3rd end 12-10 to lead 2-1, however Foss went from strength to strength and romped through the final 2 ends for the loss of just 8 points. He had another 5 setter with Morgan on the night but came through that one 11-6 in the decider. His final singles win came against Pipet in straight sets, whilst he teamed impressively with Ferbrache to beat the previously unbeaten doubles combination of Edwards and Morgan in straight sets.
Whistlers B managed to keep the gap to just 4, but also were up against it and narrowly came through 6-4 against a bottom placed Lions D side which saw Paul Hainsworth go unbeaten in singles action. Hainsworth opened the evening with a surprise 4 set win over Joshua Stacey and followed up with a straight sets win over reserve Stuart Sarre. It looked like his hopes of an unbeaten night were in danger when trailing Matthew Casey 2-0 and despite edging a close 3rd end 11-9, found himself 10-6 down in the following end. Incredibly he fought back and saved all 4 match points on the way to a run of 6 consecutive points to take it 12-10 and he finished the job comfortably 11-4 in the decider. Andy Gill beat Sarre in straight sets, however the Lions side were unable to find a further win to gain something from the encounter. Gill came closest during his encounter with Casey. Despite leading 1-0, Casey fought hard and managed to come through in 4 sets. The Whistlers side won all remaining singles matches against Gill and Charlotte Casey, whilst it was the team of Stacey and Casey that overcame Hainsworth and Gill in straight sets in the doubles to secure the victory.
The battle between 3rd and 4th placed sides Lions C and Lions A ended as a 5-5 stalemate, which in turn increased the deficit to the league leaders to 5 points. The match was one which saw no player go unbeaten, with players beating each other. Liam Robilliard had a good evening for the C side which saw him open with a superb 4 set win over Phil Ogier. He followed up with a straight sets win over reserve Nye Matthew but was unable to go unbeaten as he lost out to Jez Powell in straight sets in the final match of the night. Matthew Stubbington also had a strong evening which saw him as the only player to beat Powell, a feat which was completed in 4 sets and this was the same score that he beat Matthew by. Josh Butler picked up the final rubber for the C side when he beat Matthew comfortably in straight sets. Powell had earlier beaten Butler impressively in straight sets in the opener, whilst Ogier bounced back from his loss to Robilliard by beating Butler in straight sets and Stubbington in 4. Ogier and Powell won the important doubles match against Robilliard and Stubbington in straight sets.
Whistlers A moved up one spot in the table to 5th after their hard-fought 6-4 win over 7 placed side Lions E. Recent Whistlers Open Singles Champion Lawrence Stacey was central to the victory as he was unbeaten on the night. He beat Ryan Bichard, Steve Ozanne and Sam Clark in singles action, however his win over Bichard required him to battle back from 2-1 down before he clinched the decider 12-10. Ryan Gilson and Ben Sharp added wins over Sam Clark in 4 and straight sets respectively to put the side on the brink, with Stacey and Gilson coming through a very close doubles match against Bichard and Ozanne 13-11 in the 5th end. Bichard and Ozanne each beat Gilson and Sharp in singles action.
Lions F started the second round of matches in the same manner as the first had concluded, with yet another win - their 8th consecutive of the season. Their 6-point lead at the top looks strong, however they have not had it all their own way as half of their wins have been edged 6-4, including their win over 7th placed side Lions H this week. Nye Matthew and Caden Brouard's form continues as the 2 leading players in the Division 2 averages went unbeaten in singles action once more. They each beat James Crocker, Jayden Tucknott and Carly Tucknott, however each needed the full 5 sets to get past Crocker and both trailed the left-handed youngster 2-1. Connor Powell was very unfortunate not to add to the victory as he lost 12-10 in the decider to Carly and 15-13 in the decider to Jayden during the match opener and match closer respectively. The doubles was won by Jayden and Crocker over Brouard and Powell in 4 sets.
Ravenscroft Panthers C now have a clear 2 point advantage at the top after their nearest title rivals Ravenscroft Panthers D slipped to a defeat.
The C side capitalised on this by beating Lions J 8-2. Becks O'Keefe is one of just 2 players remaining in the Division yet to lose a singles match and she maintained this by beating Graham Mallett, Derek Cave and reserve Steve Gilman. She was however surprisingly pushed to 5 sets by Gilman in the match opener but battled back strongly from 2-1 down to win. Juliette Yeaman was also unbeaten in singles action but was pushed to 5 sets by Cave before winning the close final end 14-12. The duo combined to win the doubles clash against Mallett and Cave in straight sets, whilst Vikki Stacey added a further singles win over Gilman in 4 sets. Mallett and Cave each beat Stacey in straight sets to prevent the whitewash.
The slip from the D side was a 7-3 loss to a 3rd placed Lions I side that are now just a single point behind them. The Lions side contain the other player in the Division yet to lose a singles match, Steve Potter. Potter led his side well in this fixture and he comfortably defeated Mark Windsor, Mick Ingrouille and Pierre Jehan in singles action without dropping a set. He also teamed with the rapidly improving junior player Cameron Powell to overcome Ingrouille and Windsor in straight sets in the doubles match. Powell showed his improvements during singles wins over Jehan in 4 sets and Windsor in straight sets. He came very close to going unbeaten, but was edged in 5 sets by Ingrouille. Mother Jenny added a further win after she battled back from 2-1 down to beat Jehan 12-10 in the 5th and final end.
The largest Division across the leagues is also the closest as it sees Lions O and Lions L level at the top, with each side having won 6 of the 7 matches contested so far this season.
The O side have the superior games ratio and they were comfortable 8-2 winners against Lions N this week. Andy Ozanne and Aiden Ozanne each were unbeaten during wins over Alex Hutchinson, Ollie Sparkes and reserve Lionel Jones. Luke Evans added wins over Hutchinson and Sparks but was ousted in 5 sets by Jones in the final match of the night, despite having led 2-0. The other match won by the defeated N side was the doubles where Hutchinson and Sparks earned themselves a nice 4 set win over Aiden and Evans.
