The penultimate week saw crucial results in the final two divisions of the Doric Insurance Senior Leagues yet to see champions crowned.
They ensure that a final week is required to determine the destiny of the titles in Divisions 2 and 4.
Division 1
Whistlers A were officially crowned champions last week, however they showed no signs of easing off, a strong 7-3 win achieved over 3rd placed side Lions B.
Joshua Stacey is in 2nd spot in the averages and remains in contention to secure the highest averages accolade. He has lost just 5 singles matches of the 60 contested and in this fixture he was again unbeaten.
Despite his success, he came mightily close to losing his first match of the night against Jamie Ferbrache. The Lions man was quick out of the gates and impressively secured a 2-0 lead. Stacey fought back well and comfortably won the next 2 sets. The decider was a tight affair and it saw Ferbrache hold a match point at 10-9. This was saved well by Stacey, who eventually closed it out 13-11. His other wins came over Phil Ogier in 4 sets and Steve Ozanne in straight sets.
Matthew Casey and Joseph Bourgaize each showed good form during singles wins over Ferbrache and Ozanne to secure the victory for the champions.
For the defeated Lions side, Ogier was a strong straight sets winner over both Casey and Bourgaize, whilst Ferbrache and Ozanne earned a tight 5 set win over Casey and Bourgaize in the doubles rubber.
Whistlers B have put themselves in a strong position to secure the runners-up spot after their tight 6-4 win over 7th placed side Lions E was assisted by a defeat by another side in contention for the runners-up spot, Lions C.
The Whistlers side have been led strongly by Lawrence Stacey, who leads the averages. He has lost just 4 matches of the 57 played and here he was unbeaten again. He was a strong winner over Ben Foss, Matthew Stubbington and reserve Ollie Sparkes, dropping just a single set to Stubbington in the process.
Junior Oskar Cleal has enjoyed a solid debut season in the top flight and he was on hand to contribute strongly to their success in this fixture. He defeated Stubbington and Sparkes in matching 4 set wins, whilst reserve Mark Pipet picked up an important straight sets win over Sparkes to secure the 2 points.
For the Lions side, Foss defeated Cleal in 4 sets and Pipet in straight sets, whilst Stubbington battled back from 2-0 down to edge past Pipet over the full 5 set distance. The doubles was won by Foss and Stubbington over Stacey and Cleal in 4 sets.
The surprise loss for Lions C, who are in joint 3rd place and 2 points adrift of 2nd, came at the hands of a 6th placed Lions D side by a 7-3 score. The C side were however missing their leading player Ryan Bichard as well as Connor Powell, with Division 2 reserves Caden Brouard and James Crocker standing in.
Jez Powell was the best performer for the victorious D side as he enjoyed an unbeaten evening of singles action. He defeated Dan Collenette and Crocker in straight sets, finishing off with a hard fought 5 set win over Brouard.
Craig Dunning impressed with a 5 set win over Collenette and a straight sets win over Crocker, whilst Paul Hainsworth added straight sets wins over both Brouard and Crocker. Collenette picked up a consolation straight sets win over Hainsworth in the final match of the night, whilst Brouard defeated Dunning in 4 sets. Collenette and Brouard won the doubles clash against Powell and Dunning in 4 sets.
5th placed side Lions A condemned bottom placed side Ravenscroft Panthers A to their 4th 10-0 whitewash of the season. Joshua Butler, Liam Robilliard and Sam Clark were victorious in all singles rubbers contested against Barnaby Groves, Nye Matthew and Andy Gill. The closest of these encounters came between Groves and Clark, in a match which Clark led 2-0. Groves fought back well, but Clark managed to come through the decider 11-8. The doubles was won by Butler and Clark over Groves and Gill in 4 close sets.
Division 2
The race for the Division 2 title and runners-up spot will be decided on the final night of the season, after title hopefuls Whistlers D inflicted a crucial 6-4 defeat on league leaders Lions F in the pivotal top of the table clash.
The result sees the Lions side top, but only by virtue of having a stronger games ratio, whilst 3rd placed side Whistlers C, who compete against Lions F in the final fixture of the season, are only 2 points adrift and can also mathematically win the title, if Whistlers D do not win their final fixture and they defeat the Lions side heavily. For the Lions side, the equation is simple, a victory of any kind over Whistlers C will result in the title being theirs.
The victory for the Whistlers D side came largely due to the outcome of 3 tight consecutive matches which took place after the doubles match, with all of them going the way of the victors. At this stage of the match, the Lions side held a 3-2 advantage and looked in good shape to secure at least a draw.
Henri Whitehorne was the player embroiled in 2 such matches and when he lost the opening 2 sets to Jonah Ingrouille for the loss of just 9 points, things were looking grim for the Whistlers side. To his credit he turned the game around incredibly and stormed back to win in 5 sets. His next match was against James Crocker and in this match he held a 2-1 lead before Crocker edged the 4th 13-11. Many would have expected Crocker to come through the final set, however Whitehorne showed his fighting qualities once more here and took it 11-8.
The other tight match sandwiched between these 2 was between averages leader Caden Brouard and Kay Chivers. Brouard had lost just 3 singles matches coming into this match, however he was on the ropes after Chivers won the first 2 sets by close scores of 11-9 and 12-10. Brouard fought back valiantly, taking the next 2 ends 11-3, 11-9 to set-up a tense final set. The final set was also close, however Chivers used all of her experience to navigate through 11-9. On the night she also secured important singles wins over both Crocker and Ingrouille in 4 and straight sets respectively, whilst Keith Opie’s 4 set win over Ingrouille in the match opener was also key in the result being obtained.
For the defeated Lions side, Brouard beat Opie and Whitehorne in straight sets, Crocker beat Opie in straight sets and the youthful duo earned an impressive straight sets win over Chivers and Opie in the doubles rubber.
Division 3
Ravenscroft Panthers D are now just 1 victory away from securing the perfect season. Such a feat of a team winning every single match in a league season has not occurred in any Division of the Doric Insurance sponsored senior leagues in the past decade and likely a lot further back than that still.
This Panthers team has however been utterly emphatic throughout and this week saw them rack up an incredible 10th whitewash of the season. The St Pauls B side on the wrong end had already been brushed earlier this season and were to offer very little resistance on the night.
Averages leader Micah Cohen, Shaun Mosley and Steve Martin were ruthless winners over Rob Vile, John Wills and Brian Le Cras, with Vile’s 2nd set triumph over Martin being the solitary leg won by the St Pauls side in the fixture. Mosley and Martin defeated Vile and Le Cras in straight sets in the doubles clash.
Division 4
Division 4 has an identical scenario to Division 2, with the leading sides level on points heading into the final week of the season. The only difference here is that the final fixture of the season pits the 2 title rivals against each other and with the fact that no other side is in contention, making it a winner takes all clash.
Lions K had led the Division by a single point, however they slumped to a 5-5 draw with 5th placed side Bribar B, a result that sees the youthful Ravenscroft Panthers G side now officially top as they have a better games ratio. This means that as long as the Panthers side can secure at least a draw next week, they will be crowned champions.
The draw for the Lions side came despite an unbeaten evening for Rolands Tracums. Tracums defeated Simon Carter in 4 sets, Daniel Martin in 4 sets and Sam Cox in straight sets. He also teamed with Diane Le Page to earn an important 5 set doubles win over Martin and Carter. Val Guilbert added a 4 set win over Carter and came very close to getting her side over the line. She was ousted in 5 sets by Cox. Each of the Bribar players earned wins over Le Page, whilst Martin also earned an impressive straight sets win over Guilbert.
The Panthers side on the other hand crucially overhauled the games ratio deficit due to a crushing 9-1 win over Lions L. Thea Cummins and Isla Bretel were undefeated in the fixture, with each defeating Helen Barker, Ella Le Ber and Frank Coppolo in singles action. Olivia Gilbert added wins over Le Ber and Coppolo, whilst she also teamed with Bretel to defeat Coppolo and Barker in 4 sets in the doubles clash. The whitewash was prevented due to Barker’s 5 set win over Gilbert.