It went down to the wire in Division 2 and 4 of the Doric Insurance senior leagues.
In the end, Lions F took the second division crown with a young Ravenscroft Panthers G side taking Division 4 in the final fixtures.
Division 1
Whistlers table tennis club completed their strongest season in history following the runners-up spot that was achieved by Whistlers B, with the A side having secured the title a few weeks back.
The B side knew that a point would be enough to seal the runners-up position, however in the end they romped to an 8-2 win over a Lions D side missing both Paul Hainsworth and Jez Powell.
The fixture was also significant in that it saw Lawrence Stacey secure the honours of the highest average in the Division. He achieved this in style due to victories over Craig Dunning and reserves Caden Brouard and Ollie Sparkes, without dropping a set.
Oskar Cleal capped a fine debut top flight season off with straight sets wins over Brouard and Sparkes, whilst reserve Mark Pipet also contributed strongly with a four set win over Dunning and a straight sets win over Sparkes. Stacey and Cleal combined to overcome Dunning and Brouard in four sets in the doubles clash.
The matches won by the Lions side were both hard fought, as in each case they were secured from a deficit of 2-0 and these took place in successive matches. Dunning was embroiled in the first with Cleal and having dropped the opening sets 11-9, he romped through the next two to set-up an intriguing deciding set. The decider went all the way and Dunning just came through 13-11.
Brouard was up against Pipet in the other encounter. The pair have had a few tough clashes in Division 2 this year, with Brouard having come through victorious in two of their three meetings. Pipet however looked in control when he took the second 11-6 to lead 2-0. Brouard won the next by a matching 11-6 score before continuing the fightback exceptionally, clinching the next two tight sets by mirror 12-10 scores.
Champions Whistlers A signed off in style when they defeated fifth placed side Lions A 7-3. Averages runner-up Joshua Stacey was unbeaten in this encounter, as was Matthew Casey, who had his strongest night of the season. Each defeated Joshua Butler, Liam Robilliard and Sam Clark in singles action.
Joseph Bourgaize also impressed during a strong four set win over Robilliard to extend the margin of victory. Butler and Clark both earned consolation singles wins over Bourgaize, whilst Butler and Robilliard fought back from 2-1 down to dispatch Stacey and Bourgaize over the full five set distance in the doubles rubber.
Lions B secured third position following a strong 8-2 win over Lions C, who finished fourth as a result. Phil Ogier led the way strongly for the victors with an unbeaten evening. He defeated Dan Collenette, Connor Powell and reserve James Crocker, dropping just single sets to Collenette and Powell in the process. He also teamed with Jamie Ferbrache in the doubles match, where they defeated Collenette and Powell in straight sets.
Ferbrache and Steve Ozanne each picked up singles wins over Powell and Crocker to secure the win. Collenette fought back well from 2-0 down to overcome Ozanne in five sets in the match opener, whilst he also defeated Ferbrache in four sets in the penultimate encounter of the night.
7th placed side Lions E concluded their season with a narrow 6-4 win over bottom placed side Ravenscroft Panthers A. Ben Foss was unbeaten in singles action with wins over Nye Matthew, Andy Gill and reserve Ben Foote, whilst Matthew Stubbington fought back well from 2-0 down to defeat Matthew 12-10 in the decider, as well as earning a straight sets win over Foote.
Charlotte Casey secured a vital win over Foote in the match opener after reversing a 2-1 deficit to win over the distance.
Division 2
With a superior games difference ratio than title rivals Whistlers D, Lions F knew that any victory would do it for them to secure the title. They did however have a tough test lying in front of them as their final fixture was against the strong third placed side Whistlers C.
Confidence would have been taken from the fact that strong victories had been secured against this side in both prior meetings, however nonetheless it was a tough test. In the end however, they did just enough and managed to secure a narrow 6-4 win.
Caden Brouard has been pivotal towards their title success and once more he strongly led the way, a performance which also secured the Division 2 highest averages honours in the process. He was the epitome of quality and calmness on the night as he defeated Kennedy Chepkor, Paula Le Ber and Martin Sarre without dropping a set. Fittingly his match against Sarre was the one that secured the title in the final match of the night. Despite it being 3-0, it was a very tough clash and the scores of 13-11, 17-15, 13-11 reflected that. He also played his part in the vital doubles match where alongside James Crocker they fought back from 2-1 down to see off Chepkor and Sarre.
Crocker picked up an important singles win of his own when he beat Le Ber in 4 sets, whilst Jonah Ingrouille also added an important contribution when he earned a super straight sets win over Sarre.
Division 3
Ravenscroft Panthers D have become the first side in recent memory to complete the perfect season. Their 11th 10-0 whitewash of the season resulted in a completed season that saw 28 wins out of 28.
The side at the wrong end of this brush was third placed side Whistlers G, which evidences the sheer dominance of the champions, who lost just 36 individual matches out of the 280 completed.
Averages winner Micah Cohen, Shaun Mosley and Steve Martin all won their matches against Shane Cotter, Ken Falla and Ian Fitchet, whilst Cohen and Martin defeated Fitchet and Cotter in straight sets in the doubles match.
Division 4
The final division to be decided was also the most intriguing as it saw a final match decider between the two title rivals battling for the spoils. In the end however it turned into a precession as the youthful Ravenscroft Panthers G side eased into a strong 8-2 win.
Thea Cummins and Isla Bretel impressed with singles wins over averages winner Rolands Tracums, Val Guilbert and Diane Le Page, whilst Olivia Gilbert played her part also due to wins over Tracums and Le Page.
Guilbert defeated Gilbert in 4 sets and also teamed with Le Page to earn a five set doubles win over Bretel and Gilbert, however despite both these wins coming in the first half of the match, the Panthers side motored through the final five matches of the night to seal the title in style.
Players Player of the Season
The Players player awards were also handed out during the traditional end-of-season buffets at the GTTA centre following conclusion of the action on Wednesday and Thursday evening and there was a distinct youthful feel, with all winners under the age of 18.
In Division 1, the honours went to Oskar Cleal, who has settled into the top flight very well, having won over 40% of his singles matches and having obtained some notable victories over higher ranked opposition.
In Division 2, the accolade went to 12 year old Luke Evans, who has continued to show his improvement over the course of the season. Having won over 70% of his singles matches in his maiden Division 2 campaign, this was capped off with an excellent 4 set win over Kay Chivers in the final match of the season, where he was unbeaten.
In Division 3 it went to Xavier Ingrouille, who was the shining light in the Division outside of the dominant champions. He won over 80% of his matches and was also the only player to inflict defeat on averages runners-up Steve Potter, with all three of their matches going the full 5 set distance and Ingrouille winning 2 of them.
Finally in Division 4 the award went to Ella Le Ber. Le Ber has shown good signs of improvement since last season and this saw her win almost 60% of her singles matches across the course of the season.