12/01/2019
Division 1
A great match to start 2019 as Albany A defeated Kingfisher A 15-9 in a game they had to win to have any chance of finishing runners up. Whilst the ladies ended 3-3 , Albany won 4 mens to move ahead 7-5. Kingfisher won the opening mixed set to tie the match at 7-7 but Albany won the next 2 sets to edge nearer to victory at 11-7. When Kingfisher closed the gap to 11-9 it was still game on but Albany finished strongly and won the last 4 games to claim a hard fought win in a great team effort. The win moves Albany into second place 1 point above both Kingfisher & Poulton. Jenny Stothard and Rob Oakes won 6 for Albany and Jess Logue and Jonathan Mosley won 5 for Kingfisher.
Poulton A had a satisfying home win against Pilling A to keep them in contention for second place and once again it was Poulton's strong ladies who gave them a great start by comfortably winning all 6. The men's were more competitive with Pilling winning 4. However the home team stormed through the mixed for a final score of 17-7 as Pilling just missed out on a bonus point. Poulton now equal 3rd and just 1 point behind Albany. Dawn Whitby was POTM for winning all her 8 games for Poulton, whilst Andy Davis had a great match as he was involved in all of Pilling's 7 wins !
Lids A conceded their home match v Fleetwood A.
Division 2
Another great match to start 2019 for a 2nd v 3rd contest between in form Pilling B and Lids B. Pilling won the ladies 5-1 with Lids winning the mens by the same score for a tied 6-6 score line. Into the mixed where the scores changed frequently...6-8 8-8 8-10 10-10 before the home side won the 5th set to lead 12-10. However Lids, with a combination of youth and experience, were not to be denied with Carole Booth and Dan Cooper winning the final set for a hard fought draw. 2 points for each team putting them in joint second on the same points with Pilling just 1 game better ! Jane Gray won 7 for Pilling and Simon Tebbutt won 6 games for Lids.
Division 3
Ribby Hall B consolidated their mid table position with a seemingly straightforward 18-6 win v bottom team Kingfisher C. However most of the games were actually quite close with just a few points separating the scores. Unusually, everyone for Ribby won 6 ! Statistically though, Melanie Bunney was POTM for having the best points difference. For Kingfisher Debby Oddy managed to win 3 games.
Ribby Hall A kept in touch with 2nd place but had to work very for their win against a struggling but determined Kirkham Charter B. After the levels, Ribby were down 5-7 and then 5-9 after the first set of mixed. However a run of 6 consecutive games changed the match and took them into the lead at 11-9 and as the last 2 sets were split, they ran out winners 13-11. Emma Nickson won 6 for Ribby as did Katie Kinder for Kirkham.
A close match was anticipated as leaders Hesketh B played 2nd place Kirkham Charter A with the pressure on Hesketh not only to maintain their unbeaten run but also their top spot. Kirkham pushed Hesketh all the way but unfortunately were not strong enough as the home team went 9-3 up after the levels and then won 10 of the 12 mixed games to win 19-5. Best performers for winning 7 were Angela Fletcher, Vanessa Butcher and Andy Manson from Hesketh and Ian Cartmel won 4 of Kirkham's 5 games.
Levels
Stanley were too strong for struggling Albany winning 12-4. Kyle Copeland and Richard Bates won 3 for Albany but it was Steve Wyatt of Stanley who was POTM for winning all his 8 games.
Warton were on the wrong end of a surprising result losing 9-7 away to Fleetwood. Only Jeremy Cara won more than half his games for Warton with 5/8 whilst another veteran Anthony Cross was POTM for winning 7!
