Lillington Free Church D pip Flavels in close match

Second placed Flavels hosted Lillington Free Church D, in third, and the match could have gone either way. In the end Church pipped their rivals 6-4, thanks to a treble from Owain Jones who notably managed to win 11-9 in the 5th against Shivam Kapur.

Jeff Harris added two including a 12-10 in the 5th verdict over Trevor Bradley, and Harry Purewal got Church over the line with a single. Kapur (2), Bradley (1) and the doubles made for the closest of contests. Leaders Nomads Aces increased their lead when defeating WCC Coots 7-3.

Simon Nolan bagged a triple, Paul Rowan’s double included a 15-13 in the 5th win over Mark Freeman and Andy Davies contributed one, as well as winning the doubles with Nolan. Arun Jogi was the Coots’ mainstay with a brace and Freeman beat Davies 11-8 in the 5th.

WCC Bears in 4th are not out of the promotion picture and overcame Whitnash A 7-3. Chris Hughes bagged a hat-trick, Clive Irwin won two as well as the doubles with Hughes and reserve Steve Proctor chipped in with one. Andy Coonan led the reply with two and Richard Smith notched a single, Nomads have 122 points from 18 played, Flavels have115 from 18, Church are on 108 but have played 16 and Bears have 100 from 16.

In Division 1 leaders Free Church A crushed their C team 10-0 but it was not plain sailing. Lee Dorning won his three relatively comfortable but Sam Weaving’s maximum included an 11-9 in the 5th win over Daniel Stone and Rex Wong pipped Chris Blowey 15-13 in the 5th.

Dorning and Wong took the doubles 3-1. Free Church B squeezed past St Gerges B 6-4. Church number one James Berry was in top form to post a triple, Tom Brocklehurst won two , overcoming John O’Donnell 11-9 in the 5th and Greg Swan contributed one. Mark Jackson (2), Mark Rose (1) and O’Donnell (1) plus a doubles success for the two Marks, responded.

Free Church B had previously been held to a draw by lowly WCC A. Berry again remained unbeaten, Brocklehurst won one and the duo snatched the doubles. Chris Brewer (2), Taran Dhillon (2) and Naill Herbert (1) made it a good night for Council. Rugby B visited Colebridge A in a re-arranged match and came away with a 6-4 win. Adrian Pilgrim won three for Rugby, Tomas Jacko won two, losing in 5 to Craig Allen but beating Michael Browne in 5 and the duo won the doubles. Allen (2), Browne (1) and Mike Rinnhofer (1) replied.

Rugby D look assured of the title in Division 3 and romped to a 9-1 success against Eathorpe D. Dave Cox and Martyn Lilley were unbeaten in singles and doubles and Kal Singh won two, losing to Luis Baxter. Whitnash B in second , overcame Moreton Morrell Tennis Court Club 6-4. Moreton number one, Kannan Nithi won his customary three, though Len Coonan took him to 11-9 in the 5th.

Lloyd Pettiford won one. Coonan (2), Cristian Balta (2) and Paras Tejani (1) got Whitnash home when Balta and Coonan secured the doubles. Fourth placed Free Church F recovered from 0-3 down to earn a point against Nomads Dragons who are now 7th. Morgan Page (2), Cherry Matthews (1) and Nick Newman (1) plus a Newman/Page doubles win got Church to 5 with Janice Rowan (2), Jill Weaving (2) and Catherine McAuley (1) replying. WCC Flounders, in 5th, defeated Eathorpe C 7-3. Andy Caine and Steve Proctor earned all of WCC’s points.

Daniel Hadley, Darren Hadley and Jamie Sayer shared the villagers’ points. Free Church G in 8th upset the form book against third placed Nomads Codgers with a 6-4 win. Radu Draghici won his three. Although he beat Les Hoggins in three, the third game resulted in a rare 23-21 scoreline. Michael Khovanov also posted a hat-trick which included 5 set wins over Hoggins and Richard Miles and he teamed with Draghici to collect the doubles. Hoggins, Steve Kurle and Miles each won one. Rugby E in 11th enjoyed an 8-2 win over WCC Dinos who are 13th.

Jack Kuomi won three, defeating Colin Astbury 11-8 in the 5th. Ian Evans and Hurshvardhan added twos and the two latter pocketed the doubles. Astbury won Dinos’ points. Free Church H hammered Ashorne A 9-1. Deva Bakthisaran and Nick Darwen were unstoppable and won 7 of the points. Sajiv Swamy, who stepped in at the last minute, won two, losing to Martin Hamer.

The bottom two teams clashed in Division A with Free Church I triumphing 4-1 over Radford A. Finn Bradley won two, though Ian Ogden extended him to 5, Alex Bosworth won one and the pair won the doubles. Gary Edwards got the consolation.

In Division B FISSC enjoyed a 5-0 win over Free Church K, Robert Bartowski and Neil Mudie collecting the points.

The Division D leaders, Eathorpe G, showed no mercy to their young Eathorpe I club-mates. Guy Ashworth and Richard Freeman used their experience to secure all 5 points but Luke Hadley and Joseph Titmas will surely benefit from their debut season and will be more of a force next year. Free Church Q faced their P team in a mid table clash with Q winning 3-2 in a very close match. Anay Aroon and Campbell Turner won singles for Q and Paul Emberson and Vishwa Modi also had a win apiece. Q won the doubles.