10/02/2019
Division 1
Kingfisher A expectedly beat Albany B. Only a Karen Pye and Fran Hellier split prevented a whitewash in the levels and the mixed ended 10-2 for a final score of 21-3. Kingfisher maintain 2nd spot. Alex Mackie, Adrian Greenwood and Luke Bennet won 8 whilst Karen also won a mixed for her 2 games.
A close match was anticipated between Pilling A and Lids A and so it turned out to be. It was 6-6 going into the mixed where Pilling won the first set for 8-6, Lids won the next 2 sets to lead 10-8 and Pilling won the 4th set to square the match at 10-10! However Lids finished strongly and won the last 4 games through Hannah Parr & Dan Cooper and then Jen Tsang and James Leigh. Pilling’s Elaine Danson won 7 and was POTM despite being on the losing team. Jen,James and Gee Him Sui won 6 in a great team performance.
Needing just a point to retain their title Fleetwood A proceeded to put on a champion’s performance and outclassed Albany A who won only 2 levels and 2 mixed. Although there were plenty of close games Fleetwood always had that extra edge and experience. Jenny Stothard and Lee Williams won 2 for Albany but Caroline Andrew was POTM for winning all her 8 games.
Division 2
Relegated Lids C were unable to match high flying Kingfisher B eventually losing 20-4. Despite the score line Lids C fought hard and were rewarded with 3 levels and 1 mixed. Mark Green ending up with a creditable 3 wins. Bernadette Tomlinson was POTM for winning all 8 games. Kingfisher clear in second with 2 games to go but 1 of these is against the division’s top team!
Lids B had a great away win against Project 12 to stay in 4th. A fantastic levels score of 11-1 put them in the driving seat and although Project came back in the mixed, Lids ran out winners 18-6. A total of 5 games went to settings including both games in a mixed set which ended 22-20 for Lids pair Lisa Munson and James Leigh against the unfortunate Nicky Carr and Paul Whitehouse from Project. Jon Jackson won 4 for the losers but young stars Steph Tsang and Dan Cooper won 3 level games and all their 4 mixed together for a match winning 7 games. Lids still outsiders for promotion whilst Project are far from safe with 2 very difficult games remaining.
League leaders Hesketh A, without a win in their last 2 games, had a tough match against next to bottom Fleetwood B who had only lost once in their previous 5 matches. Hesketh’s ladies easily won their 6 but Fleetwood responded by winning 5 mens. Each team won 3 of the next 6 to make the score 10-8 to Hesketh. When Fleetwood won the next set for 10-10 the match could have gone any way but Hesketh kept their nerve winning the last four games for a 14-10 final score. Hesketh need 1 win from 2 matches to win the division whilst the bonus point for Fleetwood means they could still avoid relegation. Hesketh’s Nicky Johnson and Fleetwood’s Alan Connolly had a great match each winning 7.
Division 3
2nd place promotion contenders Kirkham Charter A were easy 18-6 winners against Kingfisher C who despite their league position fought hard especially in the mixed. Katie Kinder won 8 games to be POTM and Harry Heywood managed to win 3 games for Kingfisher.
3rd place promotion contenders Ribby Hall A were also comfortable 18-6 winners against Stanley B. They got a match winning 10-2 lead in the levels and won the mixed 8-4. Gareth Jones had a great match for Stanley as he split all his games but it was Ribby’s Melissa Jones who was the star of the night for winning all 8 games. Ribby stay third only 2 points behind Kirkham and with a game in hand. However their last 2 matches are against 2nd place Kirkham with a final match against league leaders Hesketh !
Levels
Mid table Fleetwood had a good 12-4 win against Warton B. Proving that experience is still important, senior players Ant Cross and Mike Cooper were the best scorers on the night ! Ant won 8 for Fleetwood and Mike won 3 of Warton’s 4 games.
